We have reached the point in summer where I have no idea what day it is, or what time it is. It’s hot, that’s what time it is. I’m vaguely aware that fall is approaching at breakneck speed, and I’m just planning to ignore it until we collide with the first day of school.
Speaking of things I’m ignoring, instead of trying to come up with Dinners This Week (I am making this tonight and that’s the only thing I have planned), I thought I’d discuss my husband’s meal plans. For the past few weeks, he has been talking about Meals He’ll Eat While We’re Away; Carla and I go to visit my parents for a week or so in their summer home most summers, and my husband usually stays home to work. One of the best parts about staying behind is that he gets to make whatever he wants for dinner. He and I have a decently wide overlap of things we both enjoy eating, and he is also amenable to eating pretty much anything, even if it’s not his favorite. But there is a swath of foods he loves that I dislike – borscht comes to mind – and our annual girls’ trip is his opportunity to eat everything he misses out on the rest of the year. He likes to make things like stuffed pepper casserole and green chili, and he’s mentioned wanting to try Spam while we’re gone this time.
I’m trying to think back to what I like to cook for myself when my husband isn’t around. Fortunately, he hasn’t done any traveling without me/us in a long while. I think I used to like making salmon with magic sauce when he was gone, because he doesn’t like the smell of the sauce (nor does he like salmon). Beyond that, I can’t really remember. As the primary meal planner and cook in our household, I already get to eat what I want every day. Maybe if he and Carla weren’t around, I would make a big batch of fire fry, extra spicy because I wouldn’t have to share it. And I wouldn’t have to put any meat in it! That’s probably the biggest difference in what my meals would look like without my husband: I wouldn’t feel compelled to add meat to everything.
If you normally live with other people, how often are you truly ALONE in your home? I have the luxury of being by myself most school days, but my husband is almost never alone. Maybe once in a while I will take Carla to a school event or an activity or something that my husband won’t or is unable to attend, but that’s only a few hours at a time. More typically, we spend the evenings and weekends together, all three of us. Which means that when we’re in the house, we’re ALL in the house. I think my husband relishes occasional days where he doesn’t have to deal with either one of us. I mean, he loves us, of course. But sometimes you just NEED SOME SPACE.
Do you remember the phrase “Secret Single Behavior” from the earlier days of blogging? Am I making that up? I seem to recall people posting about how they would wear pajamas all day and eat cookie dough and popcorn for dinner and binge-watch Hallmark movies while their significant other was out of town. Stuff that you’d never do with a roommate around.
Since I get a lot of time on my own, I think my Secret Single Behavior is limited to, like, eating food in my office (food is allowed Only In The Kitchen in my house) or watching Frasier reruns in my bathrobe or reading an entire book in one sitting. Oh, I know something I like to do completely by myself: I like to go to garden centers and wander around, looking at their overpriced and delightful merchandise (dish towels and s’mores kits and outdoor pillows and pretty planters) and all the plants I’d love to grow. That is not something Carla or my husband would have patience for.
My husband will probably play video games and play guitar, which he gets to do far too infrequently when his attention is being demanded by his child and wife. Oh, and I think he likes to watch shows I refuse to watch with him, like Black Mirror.
What would your “Secret Single Behavior” be? Would you let the dishes pile up for days? Would you wear your pajamas nonstop? Let the dog sleep in the bed with you? Invite the gang over for poker? Subsist entirely on pretzels and cheese dip? Crank up the soundtrack to Dirty Dancing and belt out every song at the top of your lungs? (I used to do that last one when I was a teenager. It’s a really great soundtrack.)