Where's Pat?

When I get the treat of talking with friends and family on the phone, they get to test their listening endurance while I ramble and rant and rave and contemplate and do all the thinking aloud I should really do in my mind.  Once we hang up, I realize how many questions I forgot to ask about the other person and then I feel really self-centered.  There also seems to be a point in the conversation where I start running out of breath and there's a bit of a pause on the other end when that person is wondering whether I actually have a spouse.  Wasn't his name Pat?  I could have sworn I was at that wedding...  Then the person asks, "Um, how's Pat?"  And this is what I say:

He's good.  He's great!  He likes work.  Busy, but not too busy.  Good!

On to more important things such as Sawyer's school happenings, local food, how to get Ikea covers to fit these chairs, local food.  Here's what Pat is really up to.

• Pat has taken up running using the couch to 5k app that I rave about and he actually enjoys it.  I'm most happy that he runs because I think it's much needed reflective time for him out in the park.  There's nothing like fresh air, trees, and only the sounds you want to hear, be it your music or the sound of your feet on the gravel trail.

• Pat has started brewing his own beer and so far has cranked out two spectacular ales.  One was a pale ale and the other a pumpkin ale.  He's about to move on to darker beers but I don't know how he can top the pumpkin.  I'm a sucker for seasonal brews.  Watching him tinker around with tubes, jugs, giant stock pots, and bags of hops (is it hops?) in the kitchen is a much needed reminder for me that it's okay to spend some time doing something fun which is also unnecessary.  Knitting sometimes comes with a tad bit of guilt for me as I try to ignore the fact that the bathroom needs cleaned and Hadley hasn't been doing stimulating activities.  It's really okay to let the kids do their own thing while we do ours.

• At night, usually if I've hit the sack early, Pat watches t.v. or reads or flips around on articles on the ipad.  In the morning, I know he's been thinking of me because my inbox has at least 2 or 3 recommended sites from Pat.  He scouts out recipes and sends them to me - not ones he demands me to make but ones he knows I'd like to make.  He sends me articles on education and on travel ideas.  Speaking of travel ideas, he's our travel guide.  Many of the wives around here have taken it upon themselves to research and plan trips to other parts of Germany and Europe.  I suck at this.  Pat has taken over and it's inspiring how easy he makes it seem to book a hotel and plan some sight seeing.  Why I'm so bad at this I'll never...oh yeah it's because I can't think past 10 minutes from now.

• Pat brings my favorite flowers home when I'm sick (this has been often the past month).  

• He also solicits group hugs from the kids if he knows I'm about to lose it, or if I'm in the middle of losing it! And there are many times Pat knows to just let it go and let me be a toddler about something...his silence is usually my cue to remind myself to grow up.  At the same time he's been really great at being a warm shoulder for my tears when something has gone wrong.

• Pat watches Downton Abbey with me and he's as obsessed as I am.  No he's not.  But he really does like the show.  It must be the first show we both were crazy about since Lost.  

• If we're having a party, I always send Pat to the store for the final, last-minute shopping trip.  This isn't because I'm lazy.  It's because he always goes way overboard on just how much we need and throws in lots of extras that we don't really need but are always nice to have.  I think this is cute.

• I only just realized Pat and I have the same funny parent habit.  Hadley still has a bit of that baby smell.  She always seems to smell good these days.  The other day Pat was holding Hadley as we walked somewhere, maybe downtown.  Hadley irritatedly told her daddy, "Stop smelling me!!!"  He must have been snuggling her or something.  It's the same thing I do when I hold her.  You can't help but smell her and give her kisses.  She's over it.  

• Pat is now a coffee snob.  The old Pat didn't even drink coffee.  The new Pat is preposterously snooty about this coffee.  In addition to the Nespresso machine we have (which I still sometimes accidentally refer to as the Nescafe machine), we are only allowed to buy a certain coffee brands from the store.  He won't even let me buy Duncan Donuts coffee anymore!  I think he makes it too strong either way but he will disagree.  

So there you have it.  He's a good guy.  He's doing well :)