What I 'Mint' to Say

Just inside our apartment, sits a wooden bowl containing a various assortment of things. The husband has always admired Sheldon and Leonard's from The Big Bang Theory and was thus ecstatic when he found a similar container at the D.I.  shortly after we moved in.

 

It was originally intended as a place for dropping keys and various other pocket contents upon arriving home. However that function has expanded to include housing various toothpicks (the husband's obsessed with them), approximately ¢.18 in change, a few crumpled receipts and, inexplicably, one clear marble.

 

Recently, three small boxes of mints have also come to reside there. So a few days ago when I passed, I couldn't help but notice they seemed to document the course of our relationship, in a way.

 

The first box was purchased in November of 2011 when I took a road trip with my besties to fabulous Las Vegas, Nevada. I had driven down the strip before but never really seen much of the city and had an aunt and uncle who were more than delighted to allow us to crash at their place.

 

I also had a new boyfriend who, truth be told, hadn't worked up the courage to kiss me yet. It had been close to a month that we'd been 'official', and I was antsy to get down to business! So when Lacy-Hacy insisted I buy a little box of personalized mints we'd found, even my momentary hesitance over the awkwardness giving such a gift might create was quelled.

 

Upon arriving home and reuniting with the BF who had also just gotten back from a hunting trip, it took me a few days to work up the courage to give him his presents.

I stayed on the safe side by first placing a small shot glass with a decal of a flexing bicep that read 'Vegas Stud' in his waiting hands, then (before I had time to chicken out) handed over the tin of mints and smiled anxiously as he slowly read the words on its colorful lid..

I'll never forget the look on his face as he stared at them for a moment then quickly glanced up at me. It was a mixture of sheer terror and utter panic. The quintessential 'deer in the headlights' sort of expression.

I waited for what I assumed would inevitably follow. But after sensing what was a sort of frightened pleading in his eyes, I quickly made a joke of it and started talking about something else.

Inside my head, I couldn't believe what had just happened.
If there had been any question in regards to my intentions before, there certainly couldn't have been any longer. What was he waiting for!??

The good news is, we are now married and what seemed like an eternity at the time chalked up to only a few weeks of excited anticipation for 'the first kiss'. Granted, I had to hint at it repeatedly and eventually took matters into my own hand by initiating the first move, but that's a different story.

The second box of mints I received as a gift at my bachelorette party. Wish I would have known that I'd be given breath fresheners as a present when the husband's sweet little grandma asked (with what I hold was a knowing twinkle in her eye) 'what kinds of things we do at bachelorette parties?..' 

All I managed to splutter as my face grew increasingly redder was, "Oh, you know. Give silly gifts and play silly games..." I think it was a trick question, and I'm not so sure I passed.

Nevertheless, the front features a cartoon couple smooching surrounded by floating hearts while the back reads as follows:

This represents the 'engagement' portion of our relationship.
I say that facetiously, because (as those who attended the party can attest) when asked what our biggest fight was over in a game where I was challenged to guess what he would answer to each videoed question, we both responded the same.
We've never had a fight.

The man is an angel, I tell you. He puts up with all sorts of feminine foolishness without so much as a cross thought. I post all sorts of embarrassing lovey-dovey-ness, and he just pockets his man-card, swallows his 'I'm not a hopeless romantic' pride and smiles.

And now that he's stuck with me for time and all eternity, the last box of mints (also a bachelorette gift) comes into play. Though I'm not single and far from my 30's.

I assumed there would be interest surrounding when to expect little Nays after the wedding from family members and friends, but didn't comprehend to what extent. I can hardly mention words such as 'maternity insurance' before someone jumps the gun.

Easy people. Settle down.
Don't worry, I'm following the instructions carefully.

 

And for those of you who are ever-suspicious,

this isn't an announcement.