A Pleasant Evening
Last night was uneventful in the best way, a comfortably harmonious, conflict-free evening at home alone with my husband. I've spent so much time -- over the months, over the years -- falling into resentments and arguments with Shobhit, usually for the dumbest reasons imaginable, it was refreshing to have a day where neither of us seemed to be on a short fuse, and instead merely enjoyed each other's company. Honestly it's days like this that make marriage worth it, worth all the irritations and heartache. Because the truth is, unfortunately, days like this actually happen more often than not, and we just don't recognize them as often as we should.
I walked home from work, stopping at both Target and Doghouse Leathers on the way. A small bit of shopping to do. I now live a life where I'm conscientious about the size bottle of lube I buy because I want it to be small enough to take in a carry-on suitcase on a plane. That's one concern that it never would occurred to me twenty years ago I'd ever have. Anyway! I got home, turned on the Christmas lights -- which, for once, Shobhit did not complain about -- and Shobhit asked what I wanted for dinner.
I told him I preferred something that would allow me to pack a couple of lunches for work. Under normal circumstances we'd have more of the lunches I typically have at the moment because we'd have gone to PCC to shop last weekend, but we waited until today because it's the starting date of one of the coupons we want to use that we got in the mail for members. I can't even remember which one this is for -- there's four one-week coupons. A pound of Satsuma oranges, maybe?
Shobhit suggested making lentils and rice. Normally this would not excite me. Generally that's a pretty unremarkable dish to me. Still, I happily embarked on chopping the vegetables he needed, as he got to work on the lentils in the pressure cooker: onion; celery; green onion; ginger; mushroom. He decided he'd also add a can of kidney beans. I couldn't tell you what other spices he added, although I do know he added tomato paste, and about half a chopped jalapeño -- which he asked if I'd let him do, and I said fine. He chopped another separately to put extra in his own portions.
The dish, once I added frozen peas to the rice and mixed the rice with the vegetable mix, was far more delicious than I would typically expect a lentils and rice meal to be. I really have to credit Shobhti for that. It even had a slight kick, due to that half jalapeño, that I kind of liked -- making it slightly spicy but still good, if still not spicy at all by Shobhit's standards. He also made Indian chai, which I added Irish cream (and, in mine, rum) to, and it was the best chai he's made so far. When we sat down to eat, I watched the Netflix comedy special just released by Craig Ferguson, and Shobhit watched news shows on his laptop with his headphones.
I suppose to many, all of this might seem pretty mundane. To me, it's significant, not least of which because of how often I complain about him and his behaviors -- and arguably don't spend enough time noting when things are going well between us. I should at least try to be fair, shouldn't I? And it's more than just that: mundane or not, Shobhit and I were working together in a way that involved mutual respect and common courtesies that actually acknowledged each other's preferences and limitations. I often feel like he's not doing well enough on that front, and the reverse is often true as well. But last night we fell into a comfortable compatibility that, however subtle it might have been, reminded me of why I love him and why I'm glad we're still together.
I just had my first of two leftover boxes of that rice and lentil -- ha! Okay, I have to tell you I just accidentally wrote "lice and lentil," before having to correct it. I did not have lice and lentil for lunch. Anyway, the rice and lentil was just as good today as it was yesterday.
There's a Board of Trustees quarterly meeting here at the office today, and it's taking pretty much all day due to several committee meetings also happening since they're all here together. I was sitting at the table in the kitchen with Scott and Noah, all of us in a line facing the windows over Puget Sound, and Elin came in and joined us, sitting on the other side of the table. It was great to see her.
Nancy from HR came and sat next to her, took one look at the three of us across the table and said to Elin, "Hey, it's your team!" Elin worked here far longer but Scott was still technically her boss for a while. She never wanted the Grocery Merchandiser position after Stephanie quit -- and, as I already demonstrated in yesterday's entry, I don't blame her. Who wants that fucking job? Well, Scott, apparently. But he also lives in Sammamish and drives and SUV and owns lots of guns. Those things may not seem relevant, except to demonstrate how very different he is from me. He's tried to convince me several times to go with him to a shooting range. Someday I might actually do it, actually.
The weather's rather nice this week. In fact, Wallace this weekend is looking to be dry with temperatures comparable to Seattle -- mid-forties as the highs, though the lows will be at or below freezing. No precipitation in the forecast, so the outlook is one without the snow I dealt with during last year's December visit. This could conceivably even mean driving over Snoqualmie Pass, which I've always refused to do in the winter, is more plausible. Shobhit has proposed driving over even though we have plane tickets booked, which I really don't want to do, even though it would save us the rental car expense. Even if the weather is likely to be tolerable, I much prefer only having to drive for 80 minutes rather than for five fucking hours. I guess if Shobhit drives then I don't have to drive either way, come to think of it. I'd still rather fly to Spokane as planned -- if nothing else, being on Light Rail and at the airport is a lot more comfortable than sitting in the car for five hours straight.
[posted 12:35 pm]