in which i shortcut life

It turns out I'm in the running for a Lifetime Achievement in Wifely Laziness award.

Here I sit, browsing all these blogs I read (which numbers seem to increase daily now that I'm not so wrapped up in myself and my own awesomeness and the awesomeness of all my personal friends because, while I/they am/are awesome, it turns out there are hundreds of really, really interesting and awesome bloggers out there who are are much more awesome than I am-- or my awesome friends-- and there's something thrilling about scrolling through all those frequent updates because these are peoples' lives, here; lives of people I don't even know that are super awesome because I don't know them and yet they seem so similar to me, so maybe, just maybe, I might actually be awesome because of the influence of true, anonymous awesomeness), a stack of essays beside me which I kept from college, and a bottle of bright blue nail polish on the coffee table, waiting patiently.

Ames is currently measuring and penciling and hammering in preparation for a(nother) hanging wall shelf in our living room. I'm obsessed with these hanging wall shelves. This will be the third in our living room, there's another in our bedroom, and I'm planning to put one in our laundry nook. I'm finding the hanging wall shelves give some semblance of decorating, like I know what I'm doing when it comes to putting things prettily around my house. They're also functional-- the one in the laundry room will hold useful things like detergent and cleaning products which probably should come out from hiding more often. This little bitty one in the corner will hold a plant, which was a belated wedding gift. It's the kind of plant that will never die in spite of being owned by inherent (and accidental) plant killers like me. It'll be nice to give it a place of its own, off the side table and out of the way of our fish (Walter, Edward Cullen, Ms. Jay, Julie, and the snail, Harvey [after the gay political activist]).

But my wifely laziness.

Over the summer, as I prepared this little place for Ames to move in, I was a master of domesticity. Laundry, dishes, cleaning were never a problem. And I also made my bed each morning. These days, sadly, the same motivation is there but the follow-through is a little less common. Except that it all still gets done because Ames is now the master of domesticity.

Now I'm not all into preconceived gender roles, especially since I'm the breadwinner right now, providing for our new little family, but there is a certain satisfaction that I do have in making dinner and having a tidy house for Mr. Ames to come home to.

Before the shelf hanging, Ames also cleaned the bathroom and the fish tank (not with the same products), made the bed, and neatened up the living room. While I did do that huge sink full of dishes, he was the one to dry and put them away. He also helped clean up my parents' house in anticipation of my Dad's return today after we took care of their dog Sprout earlier this week. All in a Sunday, I guess.

Except that he's also managed to do all the laundry this week, mop the kitchen, vacuum the whole house, change the bedsheets, take care of other loads of dishes, get ahead on his homework, audition for a new play, and start operating sound for a show at school that opens in a few weeks.

And here I sit with my blogs, nursing a bottle of Crystal Light (aka low-calorie juice powder) while dinner simmers on the stove: creamy tuna casserole out of a box by Kitchen Creations (the Kroger off-brand of Tuna Helper, the sub-brand of Hamburger Helper) to which I'll add some broccoli (frozen, Target brand, in no way freshly chopped).

Why?

Because I am a Lazy Wife, who also (side note) whines more than I should, which may or may not be justifiable but is still a reality.

And for whatever reason, Mr. Ames still likes to snuggle me while we watch Canadian TV on DVD (Slings & Arrows-- Netflix it, only three seasons/18 episodes, you won't be sorry) and entertain my constant need for Diet Coke and new nail polish.

I offer the Lifetime Achievement in Extraordinary Husbandship award to Ames. He deserves it.