Chris had found some old wood during a hike awhile back, probably at least a year ago if not more, and it had been laying around. Before Christmas we decided we were going to buy ourselves a Christmas present in the form of a photograph from a local photographer we both like, Paul Marcellini. We ordered the photo and he picked it up from him on Christmas Day, but we didn’t have the frame yet.

The past few weeks Chris has been working away, making a mess, too, and made a really awesome frame for the photo. He bought some acrylic and foam board from our friend Kathy who works at a framing shop and finished up the frame the other night.

It isn’t the best photo, but you get the idea. He says it weighs about 40 lbs…we’re gonna need some heavy wire to hang it!

On Thursday we went to the dentist and while Chris was in the chair I ran to the post office to mail something. On the way back I was listening to NPR and the Diane Rehm show, which I don’t usually get to catch because I’m in the office, but she had Elizabeth Gilbert on the air. If you haven’t read Eat, Pray, Love, you should. She has a new book out Committed a follow up to EPL about her second marriage and about marriage in general. Anyway, I found the whole Diane Rehm show fascinating because of everything they were talking about around the culture of marriage.

It was on par with a discussion I had with my carpool the other day after we heard something on the radio where a listener was upset that his fiance didn’t want to take his name. I carpool with two guys so I’m the lone voice in that argument, but I could see the fiance’s side of things. When I got married I didn’t want to change my name. I did and it doesn’t seem like as big of a deal now, but it was an identity change of sorts. I don’t know if men could even understand that; maybe some do. The whole tradition of changing the name—it’s just weird.

Alas, the hour long talk can be found here and scroll down to Elizabeth Gilbert “Committed” and hit play. I’m excited to read her book. She had a lot of good insight into marriage failures and the culture of thinking someone completes them, ie: the Jerry Maguire syndrome, she called it.

Listen to it while you are making dinner or surfing the ‘net. I’m up for a discussion if you are.

I figured out the comments…they are back up! WOO!