Keeping up appearances

Do you know what I did shortly after getting in this evening?

I emptied out the dishwasher. I'd run it right before leaving, because RM would get back shortly thereafter, and I'm not sure he knows how to run it. I thought it would be more roommately to leave him with a clean, rather than dirty, set of dishes.

It also would have been roommately of him--he who is always trying to pretend to be helpful--to have emptied it out, rather than leaving it for me to do after a three-hour drive. I know he *noticed* the dishwasher, because he'd opened it (but didn't leave it open for the top rack to dry out, which is what I generally do and what he's seen me do).

I mean, if you're going to make a point of pretending to be helpful, emptying out the dishwasher is a no-brainer, right?

***
I told you that on Saturday, I drove up to Baltimore (well, actually past Baltimore) and that on Sunday, I rode (in someone else's car) somewhere three hours away. It was actually VA Beach (where RM has a house and spends most of his weekends). All I could think on the way to Baltimore, passing all those towns where I know people actually live was how glad I was to live closer to the city. Indeed, I couldn't understand the appeal of living so far out. Of course, I knew, in my head, that the issue was affordability, of much nicer houses. I pulled up to my destination-- a gorgeous Tudor with massive lawn and backyard, that had cost my friends about the same as a two-bedroom condo would in DC. Nonetheless, I was thrilled to live in a small semi-detached townhouse in Alexandria. One of their friends asked where in Alexandria I lived, asked whether I could walk to King Street, walk to the nightlife. I could, I told him. "Ah," he said. "I'd love to live somewhere like that, but my wife wanted a big house." Shrug--to each her own.

I also thought this was notable because RM, by definition, also lives where he could "walk to the nightlife," but doesn't (he drives). I don't *get* it. But we've been over this.

So, over the last couple of days, we stayed in VA Beach town center. We could walk to a mall, and a few strip malls. There was kind of a fake Main Street. I'm sure there are beautiful parts of the city--closer to the beach--and we just didn't have time to go there, but driving around the area, all I could think was that living there would suck my soul away in a heartbeat. Strip mall, after strip mall, after strip mall. But the roads were in great shape--goes to show where the tax money goes. No love for fake Virginia, I tell you. But I digress.

As always, I'm not slamming other people's lifestyle choices or trying too hard to justify my own-- although it is nice to remind myself, as I prepare to send out another mortgage payment, why I pay so much to live where I do. My issue is bigger than that: it saddens me to drive through this beautiful state and see how much of it has been converted to strip malls... and towns built around strip malls.

***
Doesn't Alyson Hannigan look great now that she's not emaciated? I hope this week's episode of HIMYM is better than the season premiere. In any case, it's good to see NPH alive and well, and sans branding iron.