Pink Sheets

It may seem strange to you that I am writing about our bed, but this is what I thought of while cleaning the house (yes, despite the last entry, I DO clean the house...) and specifically putting the (pink) sheets on the bed yesterday.

Let me preface this with a little story:
When Andrew and I first got married we both had a really difficult time sleeping. We concluded it was because our bed was too small and that we needed to get a king-size bed. We both worried about kicking each other or pushing the other off the bed. Andrew so desperately wanted to build the bed frame however. I was skeptical to say the least, but who am I to thwart ones creative genius?? Well, Andrew built a king-sized platform bed frame, we bought a king-size bed, and wouldn't you know....king-size sheets aren't cheap! We bought a set at Ross to start with.

Now: a couple of months ago while in Ross again (we spend a lot of time there it seems..) I found some sheets that appeared Red. They were really nice, good quality, high thread count, you know...all the things that matter when buying sheets! Andrew told me he thought they looked kind of pink, but I insisted they were maroon or red or something other than hot pink. He let me get them. Well....after getting them home, washing and drying them and putting them on the bed I saw that, alas, they were (and still are!) hot pink.

Yes, Hot Pink. So, although it is slightly embarrassing when we take our pillows somewhere for us (especially Andrew) to be traipsing around with a hot pink pillow, it's what we've got! And ya know what, when all is said and done, it doesn't really matter that much because...the bed is made!

(The cat is NOT just an accessory). Coincidentally, 3 1/2 weeks later for Christmas we got a brand new set of nice, neutral, brown sheets. Hey, you can never have too many sheets right?

Anyone trying to say the sheets are NOT pink is like saying that my parents house is not pink. If you have ever seen my parents house, you KNOW that it is...PINK. Yes, they live in the desert of Arizona and so many people say, "Oh, I'm sure its a taupe, or a brown, or a sandstone color. Maybe even mauve. Typical colors for adobe type houses." No, my parent's house is pink. With purple trim even! And we love it.

Gender Roles

Andrew and I often discuss how we tend to gravitate toward the opposite gender role than that of which we were born into. We regularly joke about this and wonder if it will cause our children much angst. Let me explain to you what I mean.

Andrew is currently a full-time graduate student at Colorado State University. He has had a couple really busy semesters, but has also had a couple semesters that have been ridiculously light. I currently work full time and commute about 35 minutes each way to and from work. I also work what we will call "overtime" hours, which has made it so recently I've been working about 50-60 hours per week. This is how the morning works:
I wake up at 5:40am, start getting ready. Andrew wakes up at 6:05 am, asks what I want for breakfast and lunch and heads downstairs to start getting it ready. I come downstairs, he hands me my breakfast, and finishes making my lunch. I finish my breakfast, he hands me my lunch, my keys, my purse, my workout bag, my coat and kisses me goodbye, sending me off for the day while I hollar, "Please remember to clean out the litter box this morning!", that is 6:25 am.
Often times I will not get back up until 8 or 9pm due to work. He calls around 7, asks if there is something I'd like to have for dinner. Usually something is ready when I get home.

Example number 2: My idea of relaxing on a day after work, or on the weekend after a crazy week is sitting on the couch staring at a movie or at the tv, or even just at the blank screen. Andrews is the make granola or bread. I've never made bread in my life. Andrew makes it every couple of weeks. He also makes awesome granola for us to have for breakfast. He also really likes baking cookies. A lot. I don't.

Next: It was Andrew that made the final decision to start trying to get pregnant.

And then there are funny things like Andrew's field of study is Marriage and Family Therapy. He is sensative, soft spoken and an awesome listener. I am an Athletic Trainer. I deal with sports injuries, blood and broken bones all day long. I have to yell at people and tell them to calm down, fight with parents and coaches and high school kids all day long.

Something we have very much in common is the fact that we both like shoes. Yes, I still have more pairs of shoes than he does, but he has a lot more shoes than the "average" guy (whatever that is...). Story: when we were moving 2 months ago we had andrews shoes packed in a large plastic bin labeled "ANDREW'S SHOES". He specifically told me, only 1/2 joking, that he didn't want any of the guys taking that bin out to the moving truck. He said he didn't want anyone knowing his secret! All of the sudden from the back room I hear one of the guys helpping us start laughing and say, "holy cow! This ENTIRE bin is FULL of ANDREW'S SHOES??" I naturally run back to the room and say, "er, you weren't supposed to see that!".
On the good side of that, we keep eachother in checks and balances when it comes to the purchasing of footwear.

Andrew likes to grocery shop. I hate it. If we don't have a minor spice or ingrediant for a meal I say "Skip it, we make the meal without it." He says, "Ill be back in a jiffy! We NEED to have paprika in this recipe!"

Don't get me wrong though, ladies and gentlemen. There are plenty of manly things that Andrew is good at. He changes the oil, brake pads, rotors etc on our cars. He's a crazy good long-boarder and hockey player, he's a great raquet ball player, snowboarder and skiier. Plus, he cannot seem to understand why I make such a big deal about when the bed doesn't get made, floors mopped, cars vacuumed, dishes put away etc, and if he had it his way, we would have a picture of Albert Einstein's head on our bedroom wall forever because "its cool".

I just love Andrew. We have a lot of fun together, we laugh even more, and we balance eachother out really well. The way we have worked out our specific roles works for us right now. We will adjust when then time comes.