The Bonds of Matrimony

Lately, I've been enjoying the minutiae of marriage. The way in which my partner, who rises much earlier than I, covers up the cat vomit with a paper towel so that I won't step in it. Remembering laughing in bed last night, but not remembering what about. The way he always does the laundry, scoops the cat litter box, and manages our Netflix queue and library requests. How he's so quiet in public, but thinks and write deeply and shares those things with me at home.

How he calls me "smokin' hot wife" even when I've only worn various combinations of pajamas, workout clothes, and non descript tshirts in this final week of breathing before school begins again. How he tells me to "take a nap" when I'm tired, or to "stop cleaning already, we won't die if there's water spots on the sink." How he finds obscure music, books, movies, and television shows that make me grow and think outside of myself. How his desk looks neat, but I know the hoarding mess that's within its drawers (well, maybe I'm not loving that...but amusedly smirking how some things never change). How he will fight with me when I become too big for my britches, and make me mix cd's full of angry songs when I'm processing through a needed angry time.

I love the joy on his face about our new DVD recorder, and his insatiable committment to watching "Countdown," "The Daily Show," and "The Colbert Report" although it annoys me at times. How when he comes home from work today, me in my ratty clothes with no dinner made, he'll be just as in love with me as the days when I tart myself up and cook a real dinner. That he notices when I tart myself up and cook a real dinner.

And its all these small things that make marriage a joy worth fighting for during those times when marriage isn't easy. When you're on each other's last nerve, the checking account is overdrawn, and your single friends seem to have a freedom that you gave up years ago. When he did this or she did that, it's hard to see or remember the covered up cat vomit and the sweetness in it. So, right now I'm enjoying the details, and thanking my partner for them.