My own quirk—mine and his—has not gone unnoticed, and I have wondered at it for many a month. Nick is a hardcore bathroom cleaner, which is not a bad thing. I have known men to stray in quite the opposite direction and it is not pretty. I, myself, reap the benefits of this, but do not clean bathrooms to such a degree. "A lick and a promise," as Mom would say...that's what I give bathrooms. I keep them picked up, but without the lingering aroma of Clorox. It is a failing of mine, I know.

Conversely, I need the kitchen spotless. SPOTLESS. Seriously, those three crumbs on the counter next to the stove are making my eye twitch. My foot begins to wag anxiously while Nick and I watch a movie, and eventually I vault from the couch to silence the fingers-on-chalkboard grating in my mind. Then I can enjoy the movie. Nick is a tidy guy, but he doesn't particularly care about those three crumbs. Or the fingerprint left on the microwave control pad. That dried coffee drip is of no importance because, well, someone will inevitably drip their coffee there again tomorrow.

As I said, quirky...that we should have such different priorities in the caring and keeping of a home. It is lucky, I should say, that we're paired together and, in our combined forces, can keep both areas clean. And unlucky, I have to say, that I have a deeper love and respect for eating than I ever will for digesting. Perhaps if I was so gosh darned good at one of them and so lousy at the other...