The Architecture of Love

There are so many important things for you to know about him! You've been asking, and I want to tell you everything immediately!

I'm keeping pages of notes about him, as though he's a science experiment -- which is quite appropriate, considering that he is a very science-y sort of person. So I'm pretty sure he doesn't mind the data collection. Sure, it's a little creepy...but how else am I going to figure out the best way to love him? This is an important process, folks!

So.

Clearly, we like to make forts. The first time he asked me to make a fort (as in, a human-sized fort), I fell for him. Hard. Okay, so I had already fallen for him, but this really sealed the deal. Do I want to make a fort? Um, let's see. Do I want AIR to breathe? Do I want food and sleep and water?

Yes. Yes! Of course! Yes!

It's certainly not everyday that someone asks you to build a fort with them. In fact, I have absolutely no idea why there aren't more adults out there building forts. It's a sad state of affairs out there! Growing up, my brother and I used to build forts with the pillows and cushions in the living room, and we were pretty good at it, although I seem to recall that we usually ended up trying to squash each other with the biggest cushions while giggling hysterically. There wasn't a lot of time spent in the actual fort, though, because building it and taking it down were the best parts. (I'll admit, I was always a little distraught by the deconstruction of the furniture, and was a little anxious until the living room was returned to its normal, organized, non-forted state.) And all of that was good for then. But now?

Well, fort-making has advanced to a whole new level. See, I am (just to remind you, in case you'd forgotten) a real adult, which means that, for me specifically, I have processes and strategies and a very linear organizational pattern. Not just any fort will do, you see. Playing isn't as easy as it used to be!

After drawing up several diagrams and painstakingly strategizing the structure using elaborate blueprints (okay, so they're not all that elaborate, but they at least suggest forethought), I was ready. I will lightly brush past the bit about us not even using any of the ideas I had, because for some ridiculous reason, I did not even consider for one second that the dining room table would make the best fort ever. Let's also not mention how I was SITTING at the table when I was drawing the fort blueprints, and yet my plans included complicated objects that lacked stability and/or promoted danger once one was inside the structure, like a t-square, a gigantic ladder, and stacked-up chairs. Sheesh.

Well, I was eventually guided in the proper direction (thank goodness I wasn't left alone to build this fort!), and the next thing I knew, we had (and still have) a tremendous fort in the dining room. Stable, precise, and very secretive -- just how I like it. See? I told you he had good ideas! Granted, adults over 3 feet tall pretty much will all whack their heads on the fort ceiling, but these are the kinds of adjustments we need to make in real life.

I think I'm getting a bit off track here, since really the purpose of all this is to tell you that he likes Triscuits, which also happens to be my brother's favorite cracker. (Do you see it?? I already have the perfect date arranged for him and my brother! Triscuits + fort building = best friends forever!) So. He likes Triscuits as his favorite cracker, although he also enjoys Wheat Thins (just like my mom!).

Anyway. When my mom and I were on vacation a few weeks ago, I spied a new invention on the shelf at the grocery store: Triscuit babies, aka Triscuit minis! And I think you know what happens next. Triscuit babies came home with me, Triscuit babies were eaten,  and Triscuit babies were discussed at great length (Why did it take them so long to think of this idea? Do other crackers come in baby sizes? Why do they taste so much better than big Triscuits? Are they one-quarter of the size of a regular Triscuit? Will we ever be able to eat a big Triscuit again? How much more equipment did the Triscuit factory need in order to produce these? They aren't as poky! They aren't as dangerous to eat! They are really fun! And...Hey! These would make a really great fort!).

And then we built fort #2. A miniature fort, a quaint fort, convenient for all the small creatures of our imaginations, and all of it very structurally sound, as you can tell. And, most importantly, all extremely delicious. Not to mention, the start of something quite grand.