Back in the USSA

The honeymoon is over. Or, more accurately, phase two of the honeymoon is over. We got back to Cincinnati Friday at midnight. We immediately drove to Columbus and arrived there at 2:45 AM to go to the football game the next day. After about 5 hours of sleep, it was time to get up to get amped (drunk) for the game. The ensuing 24 hours were awesome and outrageous. We were hosted by the incomparable Jay and EJ who were super hospitable and even better, they were easily entertained by our antics.

Sunday afternoon, we went on a double married date with our friends Nick and Melissa whose wedding we attended about a month ago. We were joking around about how it was such a relief to be around other married people. This was mostly a joke but in reality, I think there was some truth to it. It was really nice to be around people who are in the same life stage and thinking about the same things. On the other hand, there was a level of concern on my part that, "what if this is the beginning of us only hanging out with married people and all we do is talk about the foibles of our partners and discuss the dynamics of being married until we really can't hang out with people who aren't married and people who aren't married don't want to hang out with us? And all of our conversations are about how he likes sports and she likes shopping and don't you wish he'd let you hold the remote control every once in awhile?" I hope this isn't an inescapable inevitability. I really don't think that Kate and I are a stereotypical couple but we'll see. There is some amount of comfort in these roles and stereotypes but I'd like to remain outside the box if possible. Anyway, just a thought.

So, the road trip begins Sunday. Up until we got back from the Caribbean, it all was just an abstract concept. Something that was happening way in the future. Now that the time is drawing near, we actually have to put in some effort to make sure this thing happens and we don't get half way across the country and realize that we've only packed two t-shirts, a banana and some bungee chords. We need to figure out where the hell we're staying, how to get there, and various other things. We need to determine what camping equipment we need (and how to use it). We have to decide what clothes we want to take. After those decisions have been made, we have to make it all fit in the car in a reasonable fashion. (When I started writing that, I meant it to seem like a really long list of tasks that would impress upon the reader how bad we have it and how one can not comprehend all the minutiae associated with taking a cross country road trip but in re-reading it, I realize that it's not actually that much and I'm really spoiled.)

With that said, progress is being made. We've made a to-do list and we crossed several items off today.

Kate and I went to the library today (yay!) to acquire entertainment for the trip and guarantee that we will at no point have to talk to one another. We walked out with about ten books on tape and 12-14 real books. I was surprised (and delighted) to find that our 167 items did not violate any borrowing limit. I've always loved going to the library. I like to read but I'm not as much of a book nerd so much as I'm a wannabe book nerd. I just like being surrounded by all the books and want them all to be in my house so I can just peruse the shelves and wonder what each one is about. In short, the library is a special place. That's why I totally identified with the strict (but fair) policy that greeted us at the door:

"Please help keep the library a special place by wearing a shirt and shoes when you visit."

I don't think I need to say anything more than that.