Grown Up Adventures

It’s been a Full and Eventful weekend.

Yesterday Nathan and I did the drive north to see Oma and Opa (my maternal grandparents), and spent a surprisingly pleasant day with them.  I say “surprisingly” not because I was expecting it to be bad, exactly, but because I was expecting (based on ten years of adult experience) to hear something negative about a) my weight, b) my hair, c) my clothes, d) some combination of the above, plus also my nails.  But I did not hear any of those things- instead I was told I was looking slim and fit, asked if my hair was extensions (because it was so long and pretty) heard that my necklace was, “Not her taste, but fine,” and perhaps most shocking of all, the chipped (albeit sheer) polish on my nails passed without comment.

Man, I should have gotten married years ago.

The long and short of it is that I was treated as an adult (and made privy to certain stories I never would have guessed at) and although it was unnerving at first I swiftly accustomed myself to it.  I look forward to spending many long years in this new, privileged status…  Opa, of course, treated me exactly like he always has, and took great delight in giving books to Nathan (he- Opa, that is- is not allowed to buy new books until he gets rid of old ones.  He told Nathan that he- Nathan- was helping the economy by accepting those books.)

As we were driving away, Nathan looked at me with a grin and said, “Actually, I really like your grandmother,” to which I replied, “Of course you do!  She’s old me!”  And it’s so true.  I mean, I already knew that, and had even accepted it, but as I hadn’t seen them in two years I hadn’t really thought about it for a while.  And being around them for eight hours really reminded me just how much like her I am.  I think I’m especially sensitive to it now that I have a much better understanding of my own… quirks, shall we call them?  Anyway to see them in her helps me have more compassion for the both of us...

 We’d already decided that we wanted to do a hike today, so last night I decided we should do Beacon Rock.  It’s a really short trail (about three miles up and back) but steep enough to make you feel like you got a work-out, and with a cool view from the top.  I wanted to ease us into our new, hiking-the-PNW lifestyle, and it seemed to me just the hike for that purpose.  Not to mention the fact that, once upon a time, I’d used that hike as a sort of “First Date Test” for guys.  If they couldn’t keep up with me on Beacon (while holding a conversation), I knew they weren’t going to be a good fit.

We got there and I was reminded of the downside to having a regular work-week: having to share the great outdoors with every other yahoo that also has the weekend off.  ::sigh::  But it was okay, and actually I spent much of the hike being delighted by the antics of small children, and feeling the Baby Fever rise up in my breast.

After the hike we decided to head over to Ikea and pick up a few things for the house, and then on to Home Depot to get paint for the kitchen (the first coat of which is currently drying).  Let me tell you, gentle readers- about five minutes in Ikea not only cooled the Baby Fever, it replaced it with a burning desire to murder all children, and their stupid, stupid parents to boot (nieces and nephews obviously excepted).  I don’t know what it is that gives me such tolerance for children outside, yet little-to-none for them within enclosed spaces.

Anyway we got our few things (without murdering anyone), then got the paint from Home Depot, and headed home to make dinner and begin our Home Improvement project.  Dinner was caramelized onions with blue cheese and pasta, and a German salad, and as much as I dislike certain things about our apartment I must say that I really am awfully fond of our kitchen.  Both of us were able to work in there, without bumping into one another- heaven!  And having a dishwasher made cleaning-as-we-went much easier, not to mention putting Nathan in a much jollier mood than end-of-mealtime used to leave him (since he’s in charge of dishes).

Once we’d finished dinner (with a side of Scrubs- we’re on season three) we started taping up the kitchen- and then began to paint.  With the first stroke I felt a sinking feeling in my stomach- the horrible khaki color of the walls was turning our zesty new “Orange Peel” into a sort of sickly green-orange.  The shadowy corners were particularly unattractive- but we kept at it, telling ourselves that Coat Two will turn it into the juicy room I’d envisioned.

(Oh please, oh please…)