I've Made Little Progress in Some Areas

I sometimes use this blog as an outlet for thinking about how much I've changed as a result of being married. I ponder everything from how my bathroom is now filled with a bunch of objects I never knew I needed, to what it means to move cross country in scholarly pursuits while balancing being married to a woman who has her own very important career interests.

As fun as it is to talk about transformation, it's also useful to step back and realize areas in which I've made no progress in. Take for example social cooth and preparation at holiday potluck dinners. I vividly recall attending my first holiday party with a white elephant gift exchange when I went to college in 1999 -- I had to stop at the store to buy cookies and what would turn out to be a terrible gift (I believe it was some sort of candle in a glass minutes before the party. Although no one ever said it, I know the cookies were terrible and the person who got stuck with my gift disliked it as well. Flash forward some ten years to a holiday gift exchange potluck I had today, and it is like time has stood still for me. I had to stop at the store to buy a pie because I don't know how to bake anything tasty (and not to mention I would have to cook in a commercial oven that looks intimidating), and I bought what I thought was a great "white elephant" gift (it was a do-it yourself lead detector kit with a note on it that said "have a SAFE holiday). Others had equally tacky gifts, but for the most part they were quite useful. (I would argue that mine was quite useful, too, but in a sort of way that anti-venom is useful to someone who lives in the north.) So, suffice it to say that I have made little progress in the way that I prepare for and engage in holiday functions.

Perhaps some day I will have a real kitchen, a couple of good recipes for tasty potluck food, an ability to discern what would be an appropriate gift. Until then, I will show up with store bought bakery goods and do it yourself lead tests. Or, in the case of the holiday party I have to attend for Erica's work on Thursday, it's store bought salad and a "grow your own bonsai tree" kit. Yikes.