Open Windows and Broken Toilet Seats

All night last night I could hear a radio. It wasn't loud but the murmur of it was like a backdrop to my night. At first I thought I had forgotten to turn off the little under-the-cabinet radio in our kitchen.

But, when I checked, it was off.

Then I thought it wasn't a radio at all but perhaps a neighbors' television. It wasn't until 1:00am, when most of the neighbors were going to bed, that I realized it was still droning on.

With all the windows open, I could hear all the little details of our neighbors' lives. Dishes being washed and put away after dinner, the nearly newborn baby crying across the street, the socially inept neighbor whistling his cats in for the night.

Not all of it was good. I also heard the semi-naked guy next door burping and farting on his couch.

And, through it all, that damn radio.

While things on the outside of my house were busy, things on the inside were rather quiet. Adam is away for the week at a training workshop thing so it is just me and the cats.

And the broken toilet seat cover.

And the off kilter bed.

And the back door that doesn't want to close.

And the TV antennae that has inextricably moved out of its "I can pick up Channels 2, 5, 6, 8, and 10 Zone" and is now in a "I will only get Channels 2 and 10 Zone." And no matter what I do, I cannot get it to cooperate.

Most of the time, I'm a DIY girl. I can fix a running toilet, hang curtains, paint a wall decently, put together a crappy IKEA desk and change a doorknob. But for some reason, whenever Adam is gone, all the "Adam" jobs suddenly need my attention.

And I can't quite do them.

I'm sure the 16 year old "I don't need a man" version of myself is cringing. And, if Adam were here, I would probably insist that I could handle all of these things by myself, thank you very much...before I let him handle them.

But I like the fact that we've split up our household duties...without actually having a conversation about it.

I feed the cats.

He cleans out their litter boxes.

And I think we can all agree that I got the better part of that one!