Thursday, November 29, 2007

A year ago, well almost a year ago, we drove through a blizzard up to Brett’s parents’ house, wherein we spent a most festive Christmas. It was happy and comfortable and they are so good at making me feel like a true part of the family. However, one evening, we all settled in to watch slides of Brett and his brother when they were kids. Also present for the festivities were Brett’s brother and his then fiancé (they got married this past summer). The slide projector was set up in the basement family room, which also houses the wood burning stove. (side note: Every house in Montana has a wood burning stove. If the house does not have such a stove, a true Montanan finds a way to put one in, using sometimes questionable methods. I desperately want a wood burning stove.) Here’s the wondrous thing about wood burning stoves: they heat the entire house, which is great, except that the room that contains the stove is about 3,000 degrees. It’s like having a room sized sauna that also smells like the north woods. Delightful for 5 minutes; hellish for 3 hours.

Anyway, to add to the general feeling that one could possibly spontaneously combust from the unrelenting heat; the carpet in that room is shag, and also red. Not like a dark red, or a rust red, or a maroon, but a blazing-bright-burning-hot-innards-of-the-earth kind of red. And did I mention that it was shag? Shag.

So we all settled in to watch slides of the cuteness that was/is Brett and his brother. Brett and I next to each other, but there was no cuddling or holding of hands, because of the aforementioned temperature problem. The heat did not prevent Brett’s brother and fiancé from snuggling, however. No no, they were all wrapped up in each other the entire 3 hours, and I seriously could not figure out how they were managing such stifling closeness. The last thing I want when I’m hot is another hot body glued to mine. I didn’t even want my body to touch itself, or the chair for that matter. If I could have hovered, I would have. However, these two are also the no-sex-before-marriage kind, and I think that had something to do with their incessant touching. Nothing like unrequited sexual urges/tension (28 years in the making) to make you do all sorts of weird stuff, like public displays of affection. Gross.

At any rate, the home movies/slides were adorable and I got to see Brett in his underoos, which all 70’s/80’s era children had to wear. Additionally, I learned the Brett’s father had to work away from the family for months at a time, and so Brett’s mother was alone, with two young kids and a job and a house, and her family was far away in North Dakota. When I learned this bit of information I inquired, “How did you manage?” She shrugged her shoulders and said, “I just did because I had to.” She’s awesome. Sometimes you just have to do what you gotta do, and that’s what you do. Simple and effective.

6 comments:

Tess said...

I would pay CASH MONEY to see pics of little BR in his underoos. He has like 3 pictures of himself as a kid and they start at like age 10.

That story about Brett's brother reminds me of a guy I dated in college whose family was definitely the no-sex-before-marriage type. He had an uncle who never married until he was 40, and my boyfriend kept making little comments about his wedding night until I burst out with "Sorry, but that fucking guy is NOT a 40-year old virgin!". Then he got all huffy and we got in a fight. The end.

Jess said...

I hate touching people when I'm hot. When Torsten tries to hold my hand, even, and I'm hot, I always yank it away and say, "It's TOO HOT!" It makes him grumpy. But damn. I just can't stand it.

Stephanie said...

My dad has a wood burning stove in his house and HOLY CRAP it gets hot in that family room. My parents are kind of cheap asses so they turn off the heat in the rest of house, which is fine if you're in the family room, but once you leave after being adjusted to the 80 degree heat, you freeze your ass off. Ahh, wood burning stoves, the joy.

Anonymous said...

Wow, I didn't know there was shag carpet anywhere left in the world. Although, to be fair, before my Mom redid the floors in the living room (hard wood)when I was a kid there was mustard yellow shag carpet in our house. Oy.

Anonymous said...

Underoos - hee!

My parents have a wood stove - love it.

Marie Green said...

Yes, that is how you manage through parenting and also ear infections! It's amazing how resilient we humans (read: women) can be!

I rememeber wistfully when DAvid and I were in the "can't keep our hands off each other" phase. And we are NOT the no sex before marriage types. In fact, if I had a personal motto on the subject (which I don't) but if I did it would be: have as much sex as possible before marriage- when your young and beautiful and stretch-mark free. Not that stretch mark sex is BAD... ok, now we're going into TMI territory, so bye!