Category: family

So, we were trying to go to sleep last night, my wife and I. We were talking, as we normally do, when Jen let loose one of her famously mispronounced words (she doesn’t think they are… maybe she speaks her own dialect?). JenWords come in two varieties: the emphasis-on-the-wrong-syllable and the mixed-up-first-sound. I don’t even remember what it was last night that go me started… but it made me laugh. Now, I love JenWords. They keep me on my toes, and I think maybe she does it to make sure I’m paying attention, because to miss a JenWord is to miss something beautiful and original.

I must also say that most of these happened while Jen was pregnant, and therefore must be attributed to hormones or something. Otherwise, it’s just an endearing quirk that I hope never goes away. Here are some of my favorites of both types:

emphasis-on-the-wrong-syllable: (phonetically)

• cement: SEE-mint, so it sounds like semen with a t.
• drixoral: dricks-or-ALL, you know, the allergy medicine.
• mercury: I don’t even know how to do this one, just be sure it’s funny.
• syllable: sill-AAAAA-bull – makes me giggle every time.

mixed-up-first-sound:

The wonderful thing about these is that 1) they’re hilarious, and 2) you never know when she’ll do it. The emphasis words are pretty regular, but these are gems!

• french onion: fred onchion – we went through this phase where chopped up potatos + some mix + 400 degree oven = yummy when we first got married. fred onchion potatos was Jen’s suggestion one day. We still bring up good ole Fred whenever we need a laugh.
• great outdoors: bud ortdoseman – Sunday morning shortly after moving to Virginia, she asked if SportsCenter was coming on after that bud ortdoseman show… she meant The Great Outdoors… really, it was funny at the time. Now, Bud and Fred are friends.
• Buddhist Monks: Moodist Bunks – This one was recent, so she can’t use pregnancy as an excuse… eating dinner at my mom’s. I don’t know why we were talking about Buddhism, but there you have it.\
  There are others, and I’ll add them if I remember them, but you get the idea.

So, where was I yesterday? I went to the Baltimore Museum of Art with my wife, son, mother-in-law and mother. Other than taking the looooooooooooooooo-oooong way there through downtown DC (all to avoid congestion on the beltway. reminder to self: never trust mom with a map), it was a great trip. Max was an angel the whole time. We saw some great art.

If you haven’t been, and live in the area, I totally suggest it. It’s not as impressive as the old Getty or the LACMA, which are full of the paintings you see on postcards and calendars. It still has a very nice collection of Matisse, Picasso drawings (which I enjoyed more than the paintings), and some great abstracts by some of my favorite artists like Paul Klee and Kandinsky.

It really got me in the mood to paint again. There’s something wonderful about seeing real paint on canvas. The texture of paint is so gorgeous. It’s never carried over in prints or even in reproductions. And it’s funny, it’s those details that make a work great. Looking at some Matisse in books or postcards makes it look hurried and childish. On closer inspection, the care taken in the brush strokes to bring out the knee and calf of a dancer, or a painter in a grove of olive trees make the painting beautiful and complex. I loved it. I need more…

We also ate at the museum restaurant, which, in most cases is a baaa-aaad idea. But, this museum has Gertrude’s (which I hear is closing… so sad). The food was AMAZING and the place was packed. I had the salmon alla bella and almost died of seafood happiness. It was the best I’ve ever had – and I’m an expert on restaurant salmon. Everyone else got crab cakes, and they were a little too full of old bay spice for me, but they were still very good.

My mother-in-law is headed back to Tucson today. It makes me sad. Yeah, really. I dig my in-laws. They’re fun, funny and caring. They’ve accepted me and my family and are always great to be around. I really wish they were closer or could visit more often. It also makes me feel guilty for dragging their daughter and grandson across the country. When we’re independantly wealthy, we’ll make it up to you Connie, I promise.

I have a job. I work a lot. I’ve worked for the same company for almost six years (my entire 20’s experience almost). My dad has had more jobs in the past six years than I’ve had in my entire life. He’s not even a bum! These jobs are well-paying and pretty cool. Am I TOO stable? Am I TOO predictable? Beats me.

So, my brother and his wife are here, and I took Max over to play last night. It was so great to see my son and my brother playing together. Tim chased Max around the yard, showed him flowers and leaves, and played Max’s “Pick up rock, drop behind my back” game for a good long while. It made me want to cry, but my knee hurt so much, and my allergies were so bad, I forgot.

Oh yeah, my stupid knee. I had my ACL replaced on 5/4 of last year. I figured, “Hey, it’s been a year, let’s try some volleyball”. Yes, you can call me a dumbass now. I don’t THINK I didn’t anything serious to it, but my kneecap hurts like hell, and walking sucks. So, I’ll give it a couple days, and then call up my patient and long-suffering doctor.

And the worst part about it is that I’ve done this to my wife already. It was really hard on her. I feel guilty already, and I don’t know if I did anything to it. I’m sorry, sweetie. I will never play sports again, ever ever ever.