The old saying is that opposites attract. Dave and I are so similar... yet so different. The first question posed in the memory book for this block asks:
What were some adjustments you had to make since you were living together?
He grew up in a metropolis area (45 miles NW of Chicago). I grew up on the plains of southern Colorado. He can be loud and rowdy and when he walks into a room, he will generally make his presence known. While I like to laugh and have a good time, my entrances to a room are much quieter.
We both prefer to have things around us calm, well-organized and tidy. He was known (and given a hard time) in the dorm to have the cleanest room.
I don't recall having any real difficult adjustments since we had both moved from living with our parents to living as a married couple. We had discussed how we would divvy up the household chores. Since there was no "yard work" that accompanied the apartment setting we had, he helped out with a few dinners each week on the days he was off. (He worked weekends and had 2 days mid-week as his weekend.) Once I found a job, I worked the more typical M-F, 8 am to 5 pm. He would help with house cleaning so that I wasn't responsible for all of it when I was off.
I do recall that I had a few complaints about the toilet seat being left up. hahaha... I also recall that he would take his socks off and leave them wadded up in a ball. He would toss them into the laundry basket, but all wadded up. We must have had a night at the gym, and I was doing laundry the next day... I had to unwad those socks and one was still sweaty and gross! DISGUSTING! I only asked one time for him to please make sure that his socks were not in a ball. After I explained why, he understood, agreed that it had to be pretty gross, and complied.
We agree that over the years we have simply grown up together. And attribute that as the reason that our transition to living together was so smooth. I see some couples nowadays that struggle with the transition of living alone to having a roommate or spouse. (I do admit that I struggled with roommates in college. ;) The rooms were very small, and the first roomie was from Japan and didn't speak English, and a smoker... the second wasn't bad, but an anorexic partier. The third became a bridesmaid in our wedding. Third time's the charm.)
As I mentioned, Dave worked weekends and had two days off mid-week. The business he worked remained open until "dusk". Which meant that during summer, two nights a week, he would not get off of work until nearly 9 p.m. But it was made up for in the winter when he would be home before 5 p.m.
I spent a fair amount of my weekends and evenings hanging out in the retail store and his shop. Evenings that Dave was home, we always enjoyed watching prime time television. Some of our favorites were Family Ties, Magnum PI, Growing Pains, Full House and MacGyver. I think ER and LA Law were a few years later, post-children and after their bedtimes. I could often be found on the couch working on a cross-stich project as we watched the shows.
Dave and I both still enjoy television in the evenings. We have learned that if we don't have the mindless downtime, we don't sleep well. So, we have returned to some of the same classic shows or even older shows from our childhood era. Since we cut the cord to satellite tv and strictly stream (Frndly TV and Netflix) we have enjoyed MASH. NCIS is another staple for our evening entertainment.
When with friends, we do enjoy a good game of some sort... though we will not sit next to each other because we have had a few good arguments about the constant beating that one or the other can get in a game like UNO or other card games. ;)
That covers most of the questions with this section of the memory book that accompanies the quilt. This Noon & Night pattern can be found in my payhip store. Head over HERE now.
But before you go, tell me what your typical evening looks like.
I'd love to hear from you! And don't forget to come back to link up your finished block.
Keep Piecing,
Melva
Linking with:
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This is a beautiful block, Melva! We're going out of town for a week on Tuesday, so it may take me awhile to get it done, but I will get there. Thanks for making me think about the beginning of our marriage and how we started out! We do enjoy watching TV in the evenings. Throughout my teaching career, I graded student work and did planning in the evening, with the TV on. Now it's hand stitching all the time. It's so nice to be at this place in life!
ReplyDeleteI love that block, especially the print one! I hadn't thought about how we adjusted to one another - that's an interesting thought. We have "grown up together" too, as we started "going steady" at 14 and married at 21. I think my Hubs' mother trained him pretty well - he has never left the toilet seat up - lol!
ReplyDeleteOur typical evening is sitting on the sofa watching whatever shows we have recorded. I just told Hubs about how you have cut the cord with satellite. We have DirecTV, and he says we might consider just streaming next year - something to think about.
Lovely block! Wouldn't it be pretty with a colorful print or a fussy cut in the center and pick up the colors in the pieces surrounding it? We 'grew up' together when we married, too. I was 18 and 1 week (waited till payday to marry) and he was 20. We had one car - his GTO. The first fight we had was over dinner. I'd made sweet & sour chicken with real mashed potatoes & a veg and he didn't like it - his mother made her mashed potatoes, when she made it, from a box and the dish was new to him! His mothers idea of 'cooking' was soup and sandwiches every night. I left the apt in a huff and went for a walk....and got lost. The local cop asked if I needed help and as I was telling him the apt complex we lived in & that I was lost, up drives hubby behind the cop. We've just celebrated our 50th anniversary this year. He's still a pain in the *** when it comes to cooking -- so I solved that problem. He fends for himself and I cook what I want. Works for me!
ReplyDeleteI really like your stories!! its funny how you kind of *grow up * together and blend so well . I love hearing stories like that!
ReplyDeleteNice block! I enjoyed your story about the early times. Thanks for sharing on my weekly show and tell, Wednesday Wait Loss.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.inquiringquilter.com/questions/2024/09/04/wednesday-wait-loss-396
I enjoyed your recollections and thinking how we grow and adapt as married couples. We also like to wind down of an evening with a favourite TV show - mainly via DVDs these days. We are enjoying re-watching Endeavour, the prequel to the Inspector Morse series. I like ER but watch that when my husband is out (he doesn't appreciate the blood and surgery!). But I have become a bit of a cricket addict through 37 years of his influence so will watch the hi-lights with him :-D
ReplyDeleteHi Melva, I love your block! I've started watching tv a little bit with either my hubby or daughter but I much rather sit quietly and read in the evening. I have to be careful about stitching at night because I sometimes get too excited and then have trouble sleeping - but then I often stay up very late reading too! Thanks for linking up to Free Motion Mavericks!
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