golden rule (of couches)

it started with a bathmat. or rather, a replacement one. roommate said she had reached her limit and was going to buy one of the wooden ones they use in spas. upgrade #1.

it continued with a work trip. to ITALY. upgrade #2.

it was furthered when roommate reached her limit (again) but this time with the couches. we had 3 of them. all 3 were hand-me-downs when we first moved into our apartment 7 years ago. (to be honest, neither one of us expected we’d still be roommates this long, so the hand-me-down couches seemed like the perfect short term solution.) but here we are, still roommates, still with old couches. plus you have to factor in 7 more years of butt sitting and dinners being eaten and beverages being drunk while on them…yeah, ick. we attempted to spruce them up with slip covers, but that didn’t really help. roommate uses the living room more than i do, so it was natural she’d reach her limit before i did. but once she reached it and pointed it out to me, i quickly realized how frumpy that room was. she did some research and ordered 2 brand spanking new couches. and they are lovely. the apartment looks grown-up. upgrade #3.

and then a weird thing happened. E&T went off to visit Japan and needed someone to pick up their CSA farm shares of vegetables and fish during their absence. roommate and i happily agreed. and this past tuesday night, we were inundated with fish and fresh vegetables. upgrade #4. except neither one of us knew what to do. well, to be fair, roommate had more of a clue than me, especially when it came to the fish. i’ve NEVER cooked fish. heck, i’ve only just started eating it. (i rarely ate it growing up. unless it was those frozen fish sticks, which, ick.) long story short — we had a complete dinner of fish and veggies tuesday and then last night, i took the reins and made a baked fish dish with rice. for two nights, roommate and i were able to cook and eat together (while sitting on the floor in the living room so as not to spill on the beautiful new couches!). despite our hectic schedules and the variances in our taste buds, we had our own little family dinners.

eating dinner together as a family is something i treasure because it’s what my family did every single night of my childhood. no tv, no books, no phones, just food and family. sure, when i was a teenager, i wanted nothing to do with these dinners, but the forced regularity of conversation was a lesson that extended beyond the family. (because there are a lot of times here in adulthood when you have to talk to people you don’t necessarily want to.) and frankly, that lesson extended into the family because i got to know the people who sat around me. they’d talk about their days while i secretly tried to hide the fact i wasn’t eating my vegetables.

but what these recent upgrades have shown me is that i am becoming an adult even though i certainly don’t feel like one. when i was little, i thought being an adult included being married and having kids and owning a house. i have none of these things, yet my age says i’ve reached adulthood. the bills and taxes i pay depict adulthood too. but my health and imagination make me feel 10 again. so i guess it’s time to use my mind and start “faking it ’til i make it” to adulthood. or rather, an amended version of adulthood.

i can’t help but think that having a new bathmat, 2 new couches, a kitchen full of fresh food and a person to eat dinner with is a good starting point.