Okay, so Matt and I spend a lot of time together. A. Lot. Not in a weird, “I-can’t-be-apart-from-you-or-I’ll-die” kind of way, more like, “I-like-you-a-lot-and-we-want-to-do-the-same-things-so-why-not-do-them-together” kind of way.
Recently, however, Matt has found himself, hm, how shall I say…STUNNINGLY over-committed. Let’s start with the basic 40-hour a week contract gig. Fine. He and I both have the experience and the work ethic to prefer something just a bit more demanding, so I thought it was perfectly reasonable for him to start looking for part-time contracting gigs on the side.
He and I both have the same compulsive obsession to help get stuff done, as well. This leads to a bizarre existence where I sometimes wonder what it would be like to teach, keep my current job, work at a yarn store on weekends, and as a barista one or two nights per week. Any “Help Wanted” sign is a temptation to help out. Matt does this, too, and we talk and laugh about the silliness of it.
The only real cost of this particular compulsion is that is leads to an obligation to take every job that is offered to you. Naturally, Matt being the well-qualified charmer that he is, it is no surprise to anyone that he landed two very different, very interesting, and very well-paying moonlighting gigs. Each of these expected somewhere in the neighborhood of 10 hours per week. So now we’re talking about 60 hours per week of actual working for young Matthew. Tough, but doable, especially considering that one of the part-time gigs was only projected to last through the end of the year, and the full-time one technically ended about an hour ago. So, it was to be Six Weeks of Seclusion for him–working, working, working.
And then, the stars shifted, the universe opened up, and for some baffling reason, my lovely coder of a boyfriend has decided he wants to dabble in law. As in, get accepted to a top-tier law school. No problem, he’s a smart one, and very unique because of his age experience in technology, so I’m sure he’ll do fine. It’s just a matter of getting an amazing score on the LSAT in order to qualify for some achievement-based scholarships. And when is the test? That’s right. Tomorrow. Right at the end of Matt’s Six Weeks of Seclusion.
As if all that working working working weren’t enough, he’s been studying studying studying like mad. He wouldn’t even talk to me on the airplane to or from San Diego. I have a serious love/hate relationship with those noise-canceling earphones of his.
And I, I have been an absolute dream. Though I was accustomed to creative, wonderful, home-cooked-by-Matt dinners, we’ve moved to semi-prepared meals for this time. So, I cook, I go to bed alone, I am more patient and less demanding than ever. In fact, I’m about to go make dinner right now, so that when Matt’s done with the last practice test, we can enjoy the rest of the evening.
Tomorrow, when all this is over, I will be rewarded with a happy, successful boyfriend, a fancy-schmancy dinner to celebrate our one-year anniversary, and Matt will return to his rightful place in the kitchen.
