Four Months

Joe and I have been married now for just over four months.  It’s nearly Christmas, and it doesn’t seem like any time has gone by at all.  Is that good or bad?  I don’t have any previous frame of reference with which to gauge these things.

Joe got us Netflix for the Wii, which is pretty much the best present ever right when going on vacation.  Usually, Winter Break signals a period of manic boredom when I start to clean things with a bucket of bleach and a fresh toothbrush.  Now I can watch nature shows, A Bit of Fry and Laurie, movies, or what have you rather than resort to crawling around on my knees getting high on carpet cleaner fumes.

We had an early Christmas dinner here this evening with my mother, father, and youngest brother in attendance.  I made a duck, with stuffing, taters, green beans, and sweet potatoes, all from scratch.  I love to cook, as long as I have the time and ingredients to do it “right”.  This means that I like to cook twice a year.

Joe opened up one of his presents early – the Samsung Intercept.  He was quite happy, which makes me quite happy.  He doesn’t really need another tiny, shiny screen to stare at, but what can you do?  TOYS!

We are set to leave town for Christmas, visiting Joe’s sister, brother in law, and nephew in Minneapolis.  My MIL bought us the plane tickets for Christmas, which was very kind and thoughtful of her. The weather outside (their house) is frightful, so (hopefully) their fire (will be) so delightful.  Even if their “fire” is just baseboard heating.  I’ve lived in Seattle my whole life.  I really don’t do anything sub 20 degrees very well at all. Except complain.  I can complain at ANY temperature.

Anacortes is Love

I just returned from a three-day vacation with Joe in Anacortes.  Needless to say, it was grand.  I feel very relaxed – I did not want to leave.  Joe got us a great room at the Anacortes Inn – the room had one of those in-room hot tubs, a king bed, and a giant television.  We brought the DVD player and our NES – the evenings in Anacortes are not exactly hopping with activity – and played the crap out of Super Mario 3.

There was an old A&W that is no longer an A&W – it decided to stay an awesome drive-in instead of keeping the A&W name and becoming a nasty franchise.  It is now called the Fidalgo Drive-In, and we ate there as soon as we got into town. I recommend the Tillamook Bacon Burger and Draft Rootbeer Float. There was a bowling alley right across the street called the San Juan Lanes, and we bowled a few games both Thursday and Saturday nights.  There is a cafe in the bowling alley with the best, most affordable prime rib I’ve ever had.  I know that sounds incredulous, but it was so good that Joe got some for take out to bring home with us.  All through Anacortes, when we would ask people where we should eat, they would tell us to go to the bowling alley and they weren’t kidding.

We spent a day at Rosario Beach up at Deception Pass – it was a beautiful day during which we BBQ’ed and I dominated at Risk.  I poked sea urchins, and Joe and I climbed rocks.  We also played catch, but as we predicted, we lost the ball in some brambles.

Joe and I spent a lot of time talking about what it would take for us to be able to move up to Anacortes – steady work being the chief issue.  If I could get a teaching job up there in the next five years, and Joe could sell a manuscript, we would most likely wave goodbye to Seattle and hide from the world.