Ordinary Day

I was treated to a Surprise Sleep-In Day on Saturday morning, which was most excellent, as it turned out I was painfully hungover from consuming two (2) glasses of wine in too-quick succession the night before. (Boozer!) I’d never been so grateful for the words, “I’ve got it. You sleep,” followed by a kiss on the head as I lay there, wondering how long I could get away with staying in bed as the dulcet sounds of my daughter’s feet against the wall between our rooms, combined with perfectly synchronized cries of, “MA! MA! MA! MA!” reached a fever pitch.

I awoke several hours later (10:45!) to Sam hovering over me, “MA? MA?” and it was as though the hours never passed, because there she was, little Stewie Griffin, “Ma? MAMA? Mummy! Mom! Ma?” just as she was first thing in the morning. Adam apologized for not letting me sleep later (!!), but apparently she would not be held off any longer.

***

Sunday morning, I returned the favor, and Sam and I headed out to go to the grocery store, only to discover that our driveway was a sheet of ice. I realized this too late, unfortunately, to stop both of us from making it deep into the center of the driveway, away from the safety of either the house or the car to hold onto. Sam thought it was great fun, slipping and falling, then getting back up to do it all over again. At one point she held her balance long enough to skate down the gentle slope, her little sneakers as good as a pair of skis on the bunny hill. It was only when she doubled over with laughter that she lost her balance and fell on her well-padded backside, giving me the opportunity to go rescue her.

***

Later, Sam had just finished her lunch, and while I was making mine, Adam took his lasagna into the family room to eat while he watched the pre-game festivities. Sam, never one to pass up on food that is not her own, hauled ass in there to steal bits of his lunch. He let her, of course, but not before exclaiming, “You have schmutz on your face! Let’s get that off!” and wiping her down with a napkin while she laughed and he kissed her. I watched them eat together, her little feet dangling off the edge of the couch as he gave her bites of his noodles and brushed her hair out of her face while she chatted excitedly about life, the universe and Elmo.

**

Adam and I have been together almost twelve years. I still remember the first time I met him — I was just about to graduate college, grabbing a drink with friends at a bar I rarely frequented, and while waiting for my beer, there he was, the Adam I’d always heard about from our mutual friends. We talked for a while, and I liked him quite a bit. He was funny and smart; I was drunk and extra-talkative. Our conversation was cut short when my boyfriend’s identical twin appeared behind me to say hello, and Adam mistakenly thought he was the real deal and was pointing confusedly — not that it mattered, for he was attached to someone else, too.

(Side note: dating a twin is kind of annoying.)

We didn’t meet up again until a year or so later, when I ran into him on the street on my way home from work outside of the Park Street T station. We hugged, exchanged information, and struck up a friendship. That part was easy — we’d had all the same friends, but somehow avoided meeting each other until just before college was over altogether. I was dating someone else at the time, and after a few months and a solo dinner out, wherein I molted like a shedding snake into my asparagus salad, thanks to an unfortunately vicious sunburn, he asked that I break up with my boyfriend and give him a whirl.

And here we are.

I’m not sure I ever really imagined what our lives would be, this many years later. But if what I’ve got isn’t it, what would it be? I shudder to think.

Yes, here we are.

Taken by Adam in a hilariously weird kitchen-themed photo shoot I walked in on.

*Vanessa Carlton. Who was Sara Bareilles before Sara Bareilles came onto the scene.

36 comments February 6th, 2011