Empty Water Glasses and Too Many Pillows

And I'm back. Who's back? Bryant's back! Sarah's been posting here as if she was getting paid by the letter (unfortunately, she's not), but you haven't heard from me since way back on January 1. I've been laying low. Maybe I have been a little scared. Everyone fears the sophomore slump, and my first two posts were - let's be honest - special; but both of our regular readers (hello to Amy and Stephan) have been clamoring for my return. Well, perhaps they haven't been clamoring, but they've at least been curious. So, here I am minus the pictures. Sarah is the half of us with the spiritual gift of photography. I am a mere wordsmith. Call me Ishmael.

At any rate, it occurred to me that both of our regular readers (hello again to Amy and Stephan) might want to know how life in the Big Apple has been proceeding since Sarah left town early last Monday. In short life has been black and white (a little boring but not creepy in that Pleasantville kind of way).

Anyone that knows the Lees should have no trouble mentally casting the roles of play-by-play man and color commentator on our fictional - but wildly popular - broadcast team. Ida would of course fill the role of odd third wheel in the vein of Dennis Miller or Tony Kornheiser (Stephan, you what I'm talking about). I am a meat and potatoes kind of guy. Just the facts, ma'am. We have to keep the trains running on time. Sarah wants to have fun along the way, and she generally ensures that we do. I have the pictures - literally thousands of them - to prove it. We're pretty much the perfect pair. Jealous? Tear.

Don't feel too sorry for me, though. I've been law schooling, and that takes up a good deal of my time. There have been some notable changes in my life, however. For example, there is no longer a standing collection of assorted women's clothing in a pile by the sink in our bathroom. Gone is the possibility of Del Frisco's table scraps for dinner. That only happened once, but the steaks were so good that the mere possibility alone got me out of bed in the morning for two weeks. Also, I have absolutely no idea who was voted off American Idol this past week. Is the dreadlocked Aggie still in play? Inquiring minds want to know!

More importantly are the ways in which my life has gotten easier. I no longer have to wonder if Sarah is going to steal a pillow from my side of the bed if she makes it there before me. With the roughly two dozen pillows that currently are in residence on our bed, you wouldn't think that this would be an issue. However, Sarah has been known to abscond with my favorite fluffy pillow and feign sleep as I try to blindly (post contact removal) find a replacement (she's so cute that I can't bear to "wake" her up). Not a problem now. I also only have to fill one glass of water before turning in for the night. There is an empty glass on Sarah's bedside table that hasn't been used in a week. Hey, that's one less glass to wash.

The thing is that I miss washing that glass, and I miss getting Sarah water before we go to bed. I miss watching her pretend to sleep, and I miss hearing her promise that she is going to pick up her pile of clothes tomorrow. But I better not move it because she knows exactly where everything is right now. I can identify with that, I think.

I miss you, Sarah. I am proud beyond words of your work in (Holy) Toledo, but life in the city is more colorful with you as a part of it. I am off to get you a glass of water. Goodnight.