Meeting the Other J

Y'all, my husband-to-be is ridiculous. This is important because I, too, am ridiculous but homeboy takes it to another level. Have you ever spent time with a child in a place like Disney World? If not, I'm sure you can picture it.

You are holding his hand as you walk up to the park's gates and he catches a glimpse of those iconic ears and *squeaks* with glee. He then proceeds to forcefully tug on your hand to race through the park, careful not to miss a single ride or character sighting - all the while donning a megawatt smile spanning from Fort Lauderdale to Los Angeles? See below for image.

Well, this is Jonathan at the grocery store. In line at the post office. Doing dishes. Brushing his teeth. Even flossing! I'm.not.kidding. Who is excited to floss?? This guy.

So, now imagine Jonathan at a place meant to inspire, excite, or delight. He is a bit like Tigger when Tigger is being Tigger.

Because I am the author of this blog, readers are privy to my anxiety thoughts but you've perhaps not seen much of Josie's other X chromosome provider save for second-hand stories. Well, today that changes.

Jonathan and I went to the Brooklyn Museum on Saturday to compete in a scavenger hunt against other couples -- even at 21 weeks pregnant, I am conditioned to kill, kill, kill. I told Jonathan to hold me back because the last time we did this I was racing around Manhattan in heeled booties and was exhausted after. You see, I am also like that little boy pictured above but more psychotic goal oriented, focused, and determined.

It turns out the hunt was cancelled so we spent a leisurely hour or so "enjoying" the art. It occurred to me that in all of our adventures, we hadn't visited many museums together. I know this because Jonathan in a museum is HILARIOUS. I am sure I was disrupting the thoughtful, reserved visitors around me with my snorts and squeals but just listen to this maniac!

I made him pose with several paintings so I could remember his observations. He oscillated between first-person narration and general commentary. PS-he will also do this at a winery, is equally absurd, and for hire.

"ME? I have the longest stem? Awwww..."

"She is a sassy Morticia Addams"

"Mary was never able to conceive children of her own 

but she treated those watering cans like they were her own flesh and blood."

He did this for probably 17 more paintings but my phone was dying. I was also dying laughing.

As I am writing this, Jonathan is on the couch next to me on the phone. With my dad. When Jonathan had the "So, how do you feel about this whole me marrying your daughter thing?" conversation with Popsicle, my dad was pretty into it with the stipulation that Jonathan call him once a week. My dad sent us a reminder text this morning that he misses us and Jonathan is a very dutiful son-in-law-to-be so he called right after our Babies and Beers Jersey City Moms afternoon gathering. They spent about 30 minutes recounting the stories my dad used to tell toddler through school aged Jaimie. My dad's creativity knew no bounds when I was a child and his stories helped me make sense of the world. Among them were such hits as:

• The Bandaid Fairy: this was ESSENTIAL after my dad ripped off a bandaid without my permission. We basically had to have a fairy for everything in the Krause house after that.
• The Three Squirrels: I was informed three was to become five with this tree house tale. Jaimie Squirrel probably had mixed feelings about this as she enjoyed being a spoiled solo squirrel.
• The Witches with Green Tongues: a way to incentivize vitamin consumption. I'm not sure it ever worked.
• Little Miss Messy: okay, maybe I wasn't always so neat but something triggered later in life because don't even think about putting a glass down on my coffee table sans coaster.
• Crash and Wheels: post-game analysis for Jaimie the soccer player + any teammate in the car ride home. I probably played college soccer just to see what happened when Crash grew up.

Jonathan was particularly amped about The Bandaid Fairy and is looking forward to introducing her to Josie. 

He is now baking a cake. How did I get so lucky?