Just Call Me Julie Andrews
Most women, upon finding themselves alone in their boyfriend’s house for the afternoon, would take advantage of the opportunity to snoop. But not me: I’m rearranging furniture. And drinking tea in the living room, and walking around the house with my shoes on instead neatly piled next to the front door but what can I say?
I’m a free spirit.
And I’ve decided that his children need a bit of free spiritedness in their lives too, so I’ve taken it upon myself to become the Maria to their father’s Captain Von Trapp, starting with the patio furniture.
The Wedding Date has an adorable little patio off of his living room. It’s nothing fancy—just a little alcove beneath a green wooden roof and a rickety glass-topped table surrounded by shrubs and shade-giving trees—but it’s been calling to me since my first visit back in November.
This morning, a few hours after The Wedding Date and his kids left for a three-day gaming convention in North Jersey, it said, “Kat… please come out and play! You can bring your laptop, and some sangria and pretend you’re in Europe” and since I basically loathe the sprawling suburbs in which The Wedding Date lives, I decided to give it a try.
First, however, I had to do deadly battle with the table.
Judging by the amount of dust and grime and foliage piled on top—and the fact that The Wedding Date is usually quite fastidious when it comes to cleaning—I surmised that the poor little glass-topped table hadn’t been used in years. Years! And the man has two children who love to play board games! So I rooted around in the various hall closets until I found a broom and then moved on to paper towels and a spray bottle once the worst of the debris was gone.
I thought about tackling the chairs—four spindly, plastic deck chairs—but a cursory glance revealed that they were beyond the cleaning powers of even the most devoted of Julie Andrews characters, plus The Wedding Date and I haven’t had much luck with chairs lately so I elected to remove a clean, wooden one from the dining room table instead.
The result— although not exactly a balcony in Paris— has been nothing short of fabulous. And the minute the gang returns from their gaming convention, I’m going to gently urge The Wedding Date to start sending his kids outside to play once in a while. I’ve already successfully lobbied for later bedtimes and an unplanned stroll along the beach despite the risk of tracking sand into the car so who knows: by the end of the summer, The Wedding Date may have a couple of free spirited little anarchists on his hands running around dressed in curtains and singing “High on the hill was a lonely goatherd… le-o-dil-le-o-dil-le-hee-hoo!”
Of course, in all honesty, I’d be happy to settle for a lifting of the no-ice-cream-in-the-living room embargo.
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Kat Echevarría Richter 
11 Responses to “Just Call Me Julie Andrews”
You are such a radical, girl. Go for it. It is now or never!
LOL, we could do so much with that cute little patio, never mind the one next to it…a couple of pots of flowers, a ceiling fan, some cute but masculine, lanterns…sigh…and a nice storage cabinet for his board game paraphernalia. Screen that puppy in and it could be THE GAMING site for his neighborhood 😉 Alas, I still remember how dismal Tech Support’s porch was when he lived in Wilkes Barre, guys just don’t care about that stuff…(for the most part) And don’t get me started on chauffeur’s first apartment…blah
You Rebel You! I like the sneaky back door approach… Oh the plans I’m sure you have brewing in your mind…
Ha! Play outside? I’m pretty sure kids today don’t do that. 😉
I know… its so tragic 😦 We’re thinking of doing a camping trip with the kids later this month and I’m afraid they might end up in withdrawal due to the lack of internet access! And don’t even get me started on my students…
Given the choice, I’d much rather be Liesl dancing in the gazebo in a rainstorm 🙂
Haha, that was a great scene, wasn’t it?
It appears to me that this site doesnt download in a Motorola Droid. Are other folks having the same problem? I enjoy this blog and dont want to have to miss it when Im away from my computer.
It seems fine on my Droid… but let’s see if anyone else is having the same problem. Let me know!
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Thanks, and I appreciate your interest. What’s the name/URL for your blog?