Mars/Venus: Household roles

After living by myself the last four years, I wondered what it would be like to finally have a roommate again -- especially since that roommate would be a man. The only males I've ever lived with were my dad and my brother. Not quite the same thing.

The biggest surprise in living with K is how sentimental he has been about everything. I've always been a sentimental person, but for some reason, I've been more anxious to get things done before I take a break.

After we finished unloading everything from our cars into the house the day we got our keys, I was anxious to get inside and start unpacking the few things we had with us. When I got to the door, though, K stopped me. "What? What is it?" I said. He picked me up and carried me over the threshold. Then, he wanted to hug, give me a kiss, and really take in the moment that we were in our first house together.

It was a sweet moment and everything, but after days of traveling, going from place to place, and living out of suitcases, I was anxious to finally start getting settled in.

The same thing happened the first time we used our new dishes. And the pots and pans. And the first time K cut the grass. And when we finished painting the guest bedroom.

After each "first" marker we reach, K wants to stop, take it in, hug, and give me a kiss. I want to photograph it, then clean up whatever we've messed up (whether it's cleaning dirty dishes, rinsing paintbrushes, or putting away the lawnmower). I know you're supposed to stop and smell the roses, but I'd much rather smell them AFTER we've completely finished the task, when I can really relax.

And remember how clueless I am when it comes to cooking? Well, now that I have a boy roommate who* I happened to have married, I'm supposed to know how to cook. He doesn't expect it of me, but somehow, I all of a sudden expect it myself. I want to be able to cook for him.

Trouble is, we registered for some nice stuff -- stainless steel pots and pans, really nice knives, a pretty and expensive wooden cutting board ... All of these things have to be handwashed to keep them looking nice, which means I spend a lot of time handwashing dishes, which means I have become ridiculous about keeping the kitchen clean and pretty. (Also? Those really nice knives are really sharp, which means I have used a lot of Band-Aids lately.)

Along with K's sentimentality comes his eagerness to use our shiny new kitchen gadgets. "Is it lame that I want to use our new pasta pentola, even though this is a small amount of pasta?" he asked one night when we were making a quick boxed dinner because dinnertime snuck up on us with all the unpacking.

"Yes! I don't want to have to wash them just for that amount. We'll make spaghetti tomorrow. How's that?"

We've had similar conversations a few times. Like tonight, when it came time to use lettuce as a garnish (a garnish!!!) on the chicken enchiladas I'd awkwardly, frustratedly, and painfully (literally -- I cut my finger slicing onions!) managed to put together for dinner. K actually wanted to use our food processor to slice the lettuce. Instead, I asked him to use the cutting board and chef's knife. Even though I'd just washed them from preparing dinner, doing it again would be easier than dragging out, figuring out, and cleaning out our unused food processor.

It's cute that K has been so sentimental about things. I'm usually a really sentimental person, so I certainly never thought I'd find a guy who would be more mushy about all these little firsts than me. Then again, maybe it's just my way of balancing us out. At least this way, I make sure K gets to the next sentimental marker that much faster.

*(Sorry, I hate the word "whom.")