Last night and tonight Rachel's sister Jennifer, her housemate Susan and her housemate's dog Jessie are staying over due to hardwood floor refinishing going on at her housemate's house. I am currently the only male in the house out of seven living beings (one man, three women and three dogs). Some notes on the experience:
As we were getting ready for bed in our room last night, Rachel listened to all the activity going on outside and commented that it was like living in a girl's dorm. This gave me a small but not unpleasant artificial feeling that I was getting away with something...
When we woke up this morning Rachel told me that she had an unpleasant dream last night that she was only one of my many concubines. The irreverent part of my mind recalled our hospitality situation of these two days, and i laughed and told her, "Don't worry, you'll always be my favorite concubine!" She only partially appreciated that...
Everybody had a bad day today. Rachel had her annual performance review at work today, harrowing under any circumstances; Susan's loaner car broke down downtown (her actual car having broken down in the middle of a cross-country July4th vacation), my day at work was a little empty and boring, and Jennifer, being empathetic, was having a bad day because everyone else was having a bad day.
For my wife's sake primarily, I was on my best behavior. I made dinner, did the dishes, delivered the tissue box, and tried to help everyone feel at home. At one moment, when everyone was at the diningroom table commiserating, I walked in with the glass snack-cube, saying: "It is my decree as head of the house that everyone who had a bad day today must eat at least one chocolate-covered nut." This was met with general approval and kudos for Rachel from our guests for training me so well.
