June 10th, 2010

More Than A Feeling

I looked out this morning and the sun was gone
Turned on some music to start my day
I lost myself in a familiar song
I closed my eyes and I slipped away

-“More Than A Feeling” by Boston

I’m getting married in 16 days, and there’s a lot of hustle and bustle in preparation for it – emails, phone calls, meetings with photographers, decisions about program order,  flavor of cake (hoping for lemon!), playlist for the reception… and on and on it goes.  It seems like there isn’t much time to sit back and enjoy the fact that, hey, I’m getting married!

Amidst all of that, we are slowly moving stuff from Megan’s apartment over to the house, box by box.  We’ll have one major moving day the week of the wedding and get all the rest of it, and she’ll stay with friends for a day or two here and then will stay at her dad’s for the days right before the wedding.

It struck me this morning as I was getting ready that my life is about to change.  Sure, that seems like something a person would have realized a lot sooner, and I had – you know, in that deep, meaningful, life-altering I’m-going-to-spend-the-rest-of-my-life-with-this-person way.  But this morning I was struck with something seemingly insignificant, that kind of turned into this whole big deal in my head.

My morning ritual is to wake up to the radio (tuned to Jeff 92, since they don’t have commercials there’s a better chance that I’ll actually wake up to music), then turn that off and turn on my Zune as I shower and get ready.  I’ve got 468 hand-picked songs on my Zune, and I set it to play randomly, so I’m listening to stuff I like, but there’s enough of a mix to keep things interesting.  Here was this morning’s songlist, for example:

  • “Warning Sign” – Coldplay
  • “Better” – Regina Spektor
  • “Fix You” – Coldplay
  • “Wise Up” – Aimee Mann
  • “New Slang” – The Shins
  • “That Thing You Do” – The Wonders
  • “Sweetest Thing” – U2
  • “Stars” – Hum
  • “Angel” – Sarah MacLachlan

The Zune goes from “1234” to “Ziggy Stardust” and it’s not uncommon for me to go from a song by the Newsboys or TobyMac to one by KISS or Boston.  Today’s playlist was Coldplay-heavy, but tomorrow’s looks to have The Beatles, Weezer, and Britney Spears.

So, anyway, the thought that crossed my mind is that this Saturday is the last day I’ll be able to listen to music as I get ready in the morning.  I have it cranked up pretty loud so I can hear it over the sound of the shower, and it can be heard in every part of the house.  While I’m not getting married for two more weeks, I am getting a houseguest this Saturday who will be staying with me for the next two weeks.  Playing music loudly at 6 (or so) in the morning isn’t very considerate of those who might still be sleeping, whether it be houseguest or wife.

From there I went into this whole “What else will I need to change?” whirlwind – not, it should be noted, from a negative viewpoint (“I can’t believe I have to change that, that sucks!”), just from a “What’s on the horizon that I haven’t thought about?” view.

What are some things you’ve had to change that you hadn’t thought about before having to make the change?

5 Comments on “More Than A Feeling”

  1. Eric says:

    Making the decision to have children, then realizing that I probably shouldn’t do such and such any longer since it is a bad influence on the kids. Not bad change, but something I hadn’t thought about prior to the kids actually being on the scene. Good post.

  2. LJ McGehee says:

    Sharing the covers. Turning up the heat (or the AC). Deciding where the bowls, plates, etc go. Order of the CDs on the bookshelf. Coke v. Pepsi. Who gets to clean up the cat yack.

    And I have found that:
    1- Covers can be negotiated. Get your own blankie if you can’t share. Same goes for extra pillows.
    2- Get a sweater…or learn to dress in light layers.
    3- You could put the dishes in a different place every day…as long as they are clean.
    4- Get rid of CDs & you should each have your own iPod..or ‘zune’ (ack)
    5- Drink whatever she drinks or buy both.
    6- Get a dog. Usually the first line of defense when dealing with cat yack. Gross? Yes. True? VERY.

    My point? So much of what we think matters really doesn’t in the end. It’s all a small, small price to pay for the privilege of spending the rest of your life with your best friend.

  3. daniel says:

    Laura and I have been together so long, I forgot what I had to change when we started living together. Having kids changed my morning routine of having music. Then again, working from home also completely changed my routine by demolishing the need for it.

  4. Scott says:

    Most of the things I noticed with moving in with Kim were like yours – the little insignificant but frequent things that I did were suddenly just different. Nothing negative about it, just different.

  5. Eric says:

    Apparently, one of the unforeseen changes is blogging frequency. Just sayin’

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