Thoughts on marriage

My Mom sent me this thought-provoking list of things to consider before marriage. I found this interesting enough to be worth posting:

PLEASE DO NOT MARRY IF:
1. You are unwilling to put the needs of another person above your own.
2. You are easily offended, carry grudges and are unwilling to forgive.
3. You are an abusive person (Mentally, emotionally and physically).
4. You are unwilling to commit.
5. You have an unresolved addiction problem.
6. Your career is the most important thing in your life.
7. You do not share the same beliefs, values, life priorities or vision.
8. You are unwilling to be an active partner sexually with your spouse.
9. You are unwilling to agree on an approach for handling finances,
children and life decisions.
10. You expect your spouse to change after you get married.

This all makes sense to me. Some parts of it sound harder than others, but we each have our own unique flaws and struggles, so the items we find most challenging are likely to be different from others, even our partner. Thoughts?

The dilemma

It was recently requested that I update my blog, so I've decided to write about a very serious and pressing dilemma for which I have no good answer. That dilemma is seasonally themed underwear. Mostly, Christmas and Winter themed boxers.

Is it appropriate to wear these boxers in other seasons? Is that a serious fashion mistake? Am I somehow jinxing myself? I must admit, I do feel a bit odd wearing my boxers printed with pictures of a dog with an antler headpiece or skiers in 90 degree weather. But what is my alternative - to only wear these boxers during the Winter months? They would sit around for 2/3s of the year, taking up space and according undue wear to my other, less seasonally specific underwear. The utilitarian in me says to just wear them, and so I do. But every time I put them on, I feel a bit discomforted. The dogs with their antlers almost look back at me in embarrassment, as if they are saying "really dude, you are going to put antlers on my head in this heat?"

Dishwasher serenity

At my Oma & Opa's house, the kitchen is right next to, and open to the family room. Often, my Oma would load the dishwasher and then set it to run right before going to bed. This would often drive me a little crazy because I would on occasionally stay up after they went to bed. I would try to watch TV in the family room, with the volume turned down given the late hour, which made it rather challenging to hear the TV over the rather loud dishwasher. And yet, the noise of the dishwasher often also had a calming affect on me.

When I moved into my apartment in Philly last Summer, I was very excited to have a dishwasher for the first time in 5 years. I must say, I've been less than pleased with its paltry cleaning ability. I have to scrub my dishes pretty clean before running them through the dishwasher, which really just serves as a glorified sanitizer. And the thing is fairly noisy, too. But nevertheless, I find myself typically running it right before I go to bed, and I frequently leave my bedroom door open so that I can hear it run. There's something about the sound of it running as I try to drift into sleep that is strangely soothing. It makes me miss my grandparents, but it also makes my apartment feel a little more like home. Whatever that is.