strolling the stacks

Last night Beautiful and I went to the bookstore just to get out after putting the boys down. That is a huge benefit to living with others that we are lucky to take advantage of. We wandered isles and talked about covers making a slow meandering track through the colored rooms and multiple levels of Powell's. It was a wonderful treat that would have been made only slightly better by having any money to buy books. I say slightly better because the joy of wandering the book store, and especially Powell's is a real treat for Beautiful and I. We have that in common, that love of books and the conversations that this book or that one will bring up. There was a section of books in the lower room that had a connection with Northwest in some way and in that section was a book that I knew Beautiful would love. I pointed it out and she gave a passing glance and said "yeah nice." But she wasn't looking, if she were really looking, if she really saw the book she would take it from me and start to covet. The book was the one above, a cookbook from Mother's Bistro in Old Town Portland. This is Beautiful's favorite place to eat, where she takes visting friends to convince them to move here. The restaurant is her to a T from the decoration to the menu and the book I held in my hands was that entire experience with a sturdy binding. She finally saw, and snatched the book from my hand. She fingered through the toille pages and hearty comfort food recipes and she loved that book. We put it back on the shelf and continued our stroll talking about birthday presents and putting money aside for books. A cheap date, but I think we both had a great time.

P.S. If anyone needs an idea for a gift for Beautiful Click on the picture above.

Married Vs. Dating

On our way home from a very nice holiday party the subject of Football came up. We are in the heat of the playoffs and I lamented the fact that my Raiders were no longer prominently involved. Lately when I bring up the Raiders, and it’s not that often, Kate tells me she doesn’t believe me. She doesn’t believe I am a fan of the Raiders or even of Football in general. How dare she! She must have had too much to drink at the party, why am I letting her drive in this condition? I asked her to pull over right away so I could issue a sobriety test, but she called me an idiot and reminded me that she is 8 months pregnant and hasn’t even had a sip tonight. I thought it would pass but Kate fells strongly about this subject. She said I just like saying I’m a Raiders fan for the reaction. She said I care more about story then games and being a Raider Fan is just a convenient vehicle for telling stories. She is really making me angry at this point but she is far from done. She said there is no question I love the Lakers or the Dodgers because I talk about them a lot. She repeated a lot while making an exaggerated head nod for dramatic effect. The only time she hears me talk about the Raiders is when other people ask if I’m a fan of the Colts. I still think she is drunk at this point but it can also just be the rampant hormones in her body from the pregnancy, either way she is out of her mind. She is wading into dangerous water and I am not sure she can see the shore anymore. She badgered me to admit she was right, but I will never do it. She is dead wrong. Hitting her stride she offered as evidence the Kobe trade talks with the Lakers against the Randy Moss draft day trade. Kobe didn’t even get traded and I talked about it every day for two months. She only heard that Moss was a Raider from an NFL broadcast. Please, you can’t compare Kobe to Moss, that is just crazy. She said I am married to the Lakers, I am married to the Dodgers, but I am a best friends with the Raiders. She said I’m not even dating them, I’m not even best friends with them, they are just people that I know and might have grown up with but their not in my fantasy league or anything. They weren’t invited to my wedding, hell their not even friends on Facebook. Though it’s 11 at night she demands that I give her my phone so she can call Kyle. He will agree with her. I wouldn’t give her the phone, Kyle would never agree with her and besides it midnight in Arizona. Even if he did what does that prove, no he wouldn’t agree. Kyle may hate football but he wouldn’t question my fanhood. Would he? HE DID! Kate chatted with him the next day on gmail and that Judas took her side! Et tu Sezo? He said Mark is married to the Raiders, but James is just friends. Can they be right? They can’t be right, I mean the Raiders and I have had some good times. Sure we have had some fights over money and the chores but who hasn’t? We may not be in love anymore but I made a commitment when I was 12 and 18 bad years can't erase the 3 good ones!