In our pantry, there is a large bin filled with travel water bottles and another filled with travel coffee mugs.  Tonight, Kyle and I cleaned out both bins.  We disposed of those that were grody or in rough shape.  We matched errant lids to their owners.  We scrubbed and hosed out the bins.  We swept the floor, and made a sad face that one of our formerly favorite water bottles didn’t make the “keep” cut, and moved some of the lesser-used mugs to the top of the pile.  It took us an hour; a very sexy hour. 

If Kyle ever leaves me for a twenty-five-year-old tattooed beach volleyball player who laughs at his jokes and showers on Sundays, when I look back and wonder where things went wrong, I can promise you that I’ll say to myself,

“Well, I know it wasn’t the water bottle sorting hour, because that was very sexy.”

While it may seem like I’m being sarcastic, I’m not.  Kyle found a coffee mug we affectionately call “the bullet” because it’s about 3” tall and dome-shaped like the tip of a bullet; if you’re in the market, it’s from REI and it’s one of our Top Five best mugs.  We had been missing the bullet for over a year – and if there’s one thing Kyle loves, it’s finding missing objects.  If there’s another thing Kyle loves, it’s matching stuff.  He has been our family sock-matcher for almost fourteen years; he got the job when I threw in the baby sock, I mean towel, almost immediately following the birth of our oldest.  Tonight, he matched at least a dozen lids to their bottles and was pret-tay, pret-tay satisfied about it.

While it may seem like the water bottle sorting was the high water mark for our relationship this week, Kyle and I had an equally romantic date on Saturday when we biked to the butcher shop.  I have spent an inordinate amount of time this summer trying to get my family to take bike rides with me.  Obviously, Kyle – who has reached the “I’m hanging out with Mom because I want to and not because no one else wants to” stage of our relationship – is my legally-bound best customer.

“Let’s go for a bike ride,” I said to my family on Saturday morning.  “We can bike down to the Farmer’s Market.”

“Nooo,” Thirteen said, stretching out the length of the couch.  “I just woke up.  Let’s go later.”

“I don’t want to go now OR later,” Ten said.

“I’ll go for a bike ride with you,” Kyle said loudly, even though he was sitting right next to Ten.  “We will ALL go for a bike ride with you.”

They did not all go for a bike ride with me.  Only Kyle.  To be fair, I didn’t get my act together in order to go for a bike ride until 4:00, and, also, it was raining.  Still, Kyle was motivated to go along because he wanted a certain kind of sausage for dinner and he probably figured that there was less of an opportunity for an “Oh, while we’re out, let’s also run to these other five stores” situation if we biked.

I had given Kyle a backpack cooler – as in, a cooler bag with backpack straps – for whichever anniversary was the “Cooler Bag” anniversary, and he put that on and we headed out.  It was lightly drizzling, which was convenient because the ride proved to be much more strenuous than expected and I was really sweating a mere five minutes into the journey.

“What’s up?”  Kyle asked after he had to wait for me to catch up for the second time on the ride.

“I feel like I’m pedaling in pudding,” I said, huffing.

Kyle pinched my tires, which was not a euphemism.

“Your tires need air,” he said.  “Well stop at the gas station after the butcher.”

“Hot,” I said.

“I know,” he said.

We made it to the butcher.  We bought two kinds of sausage and a package of meatballs and put it all in the backpack, and then put the backpack back on Kyle.  We rode over to the gas station, where Kyle filled my tires, which was still not a euphemism.  Since we were already at the gas station, we popped inside to wipe some of the rain (and sweat, in my case) off our faces.  We also bought a gallon of milk and a Gatorade.

While we shared the Gatorade, Kyle repacked the cooler bag with the milk, sausages, and meatballs.  It was very impressive considering the meat had taken up the entirety of the cooler when I had shoved it in not ten minutes earlier.

“That was very impressive,” I told him.

“I know,” he said, winking and taking a long swig of Gatorade.

I helped him get the backpack back on his back and we biked home.  Later, we took the kids for ice cream.

As I type this, we are sitting on the back deck.  Kyle is playing the New York Times’ Spelling Bee.  I am wearing Gap khakis and between Spelling Bee words Kyle keeps lobbing actual euphemisms at me like, “I’d like to be a part of your Friends and Family deal,” and “Maybe later you can show me how to fold a pair of jeans,” so, yeah, the romance is alive and well at the Kosiors.

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As I type this, Kyle is regaling the neighborhood kids with our new camera drone. The photo above was taken as he was taking their picture.

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This week on North Dakota Today we talked about Amy and Torrie Enget, my Nice People of the Week, as well a Bismarck man who lent a hand immediately following the Jamestown tornado. (Valley News Live)

Speaking of people lending a hand after the tornado, here’s a group of 50 who helped out in Valley City after a text message was sent around to a few people. (Valley News Live; Found from “Oops Only Good News”)

Cody Mauch’s completely free Youth Football Camp is now in it’s second year. (KVRR)

Jamestown’s Dave Shaloski will be riding 17,000 miles (which will take two years) to raise awareness for PTSD-related mental health issues and let people know “There is no shame in asking for help.” (Facebook)

Want to help unearth a dinosaur?  Now’s your chance. (Grand Forks Herald)

Want to help with a once-in-a-generation archaeological survey?  Now’s your chance. (Facebook)

Happy 701 Day (yesterday)!  Love this quote: “I mean, if you’re [sic] living in the state why not celebrate it?” (Valley News Live)

No matter how much technology progresses, there’s never a wrong time for pack mules. (Fargo Forum)

Grand Forks’ Cody Olsen and his dad, Mark, won the 11th annual Boundary Battle Catfish Tournament with 4.22 pounds of catfish; this is where you say, “That’s a lot of catfish.” (Grand Forks Herald)

McHenry’s Klay Frappier is the latest Jeopardy! champion. (Valley News Live)

LOOK AT THESE CUTE KIDS. (Facebook)

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