(Whoa, I remembered this being a Madonna song. That’s not right at all.)
Just so you know, I’m not the only one hard at work in Maplewood 2. The way I see it: I do the projects; Jarrod does the necessary. He moves the dishes from one side of the sink to the other and, via some black magic, they turn clean in the process. He transforms lettuce into salads and beans into coffee. He does something that makes the trash and recycling receptacles become empty – it’s quite inscrutable.
Three of Jarrod’s other major contributions to Maplewood have been:
1) Painting the top edges of the walls that I can’t reach.
2) Shimming our leaning bookcases so that they work with our uneven floors/window moulding.
As a reward for wrestling with these bookcases, I devoted an entire shelf to nerdery.
3) Becoming The Keymaster.
Before we moved in, I was given a set of seven keys. Amazingly, this wasn’t enough to get into the apartment. Seven (7! se7en!) keys, but I was missing the keys necessary for various locks on the front, back and garage doors. One of our first mornings in the apartment, the only garage key accidentally went to work with Jarrod, leaving me unable to get to the car, unable to leave for work, crying in the backyard, drinking my breakfast smoothie. (This was probably the height of the “I’ve made a huge mistake” phase.) After that incident, Jarrod gathered all of the keys left for us (like, all 30) and painstakingly tested, labeled, and organized them. I got a bunch of copies made and now we each have a complete set and I haven’t cried since. Except for that one scene in Friday Night Lights when Becky talks to the strippers about Luke. So sad and sweet!
Good work, Keymaster.
Project Palermo 
Yeah! Jarrod!!
Jarrod’s key configuring makes me envious. Chris and I just fumble about with one billion keys on our key chains. Also, Jarrod will occasionally make OUR trash disappear from the back porch as well. Magic!
Yep, every visionary needs someone like Jarrod to keep the day-to-day operations going. I wish we had a Jarrod to keep us organized. You should see our bedside tables and refrigerator.
Oh, and I love 1) your bookshelves, and 2) the song “Let’s Hear it for the Boy”
P.S. That key organization project is astounding. I would have given up immediately.
OMG you are sooo funny – I can’t believe the amount of keys!!! haha
And NO, Madonna didn’t sing that song…come on now, you gotta love it from Footloose – I used to have that cassette tape, and I’m pretty sure you, me and Julie all did a routine to that song on the back brick steps of Grandma’s house!!! Hmmmm I know there is a picture of that somewhere…
Holy Pee Poo. I covet the key organizing! We don’t even have keys to our house! Sadly, I don’t think Matt is into that sort of thing. He’s really more of a pants puddler and occasional trash minimizer.
Nice work, Jarrod. Well done.
I also totally thought that was Madonna. The color-coded keys are kindof amazing looking, and put our system, which involves storing a bunch of keys (that may not be to anything in the great state of Iowa) in an old Solo punch glass, to shame. Good work, Jarrod!
I’m envisioning your place as the scene in HP where all the keys are flying around and attacking them. I’m glad you have the magic Jarrod and were able to show the keys who is boss. Keep up with the HP style magic tricks, can’t wait to see them in action in a few weeks!
Who would have thought jarrod would turn out to be so helpful (and clean)… From what I remember, he was always trying to avoid chores when we were growing up! Feel free to come and do stuff around my house any day little brother. Can’t wait to see how it all looks soon!
thanks dudes! i’d like to point out that, amongst the nerd books are a “picture book of saints” and an illustrated “animals of the bible”…
All I noticed was the book “The Kid stays in the picture.” What is that about anyway?
Jenn, it’s an autobiography about Hollywood and film making in the 60s and 70s. I haven’t read it, but from I understand it can be summed up thusly: drugs were done, egos were stroked, and wives and girlfriends were repeatedly left for younger and younger lead actresses.
If you want a book recommendation from the nerd shelf, you might enjoy ALCOHOL: What It Is, What It Does.
Yikes – I already know what alcohol does, but i don’t really want to read about it!! haha – I just try to forget until I just can’t help but reach for another glass!! ;)
Wait. Is that the same Bombay Saphire bottle I saw pictured on a shelf in Doozy’s new concealed shit-cave? Is this some blog product placement or is this just run of the mill Alcoholism? In either event I’m buying some this weekend.
One and the same. Jarrod wrestled the bookcases into submission on Tuesday and I unpacked our books and relocated our scant bar stock yesterday.
gin used for these:
Madonna?! Are you kidding me?! Matt and Marti, I order you to watch _Truth or Dare_ immediately.
I LOVE those bookcases! Where did you get them?
Thanks! They’re from Crate & Barrel – the Sloane Leaning Bookcase. We’ve had them for over four years and they’ve held up really well.
This really made me laugh; I too have a dude who “moves the dishes from one side of the sink to the other and, via some black magic, they turn clean in the process. He transforms lettuce into salads and beans into coffee. He does something that makes the trash and recycling receptacles become empty – it’s quite inscrutable.” He would never have been able to handle the organizing of the keys though, so bravo to Jarrod! I loved how many keys you had to your apartment and still couldn’t get in. Awesome post.
Thanks for checking out my blog! I see that you’re in Chambana – we lived there for a year when I was in grad school and really liked it. Black Dog and The Blind Pig are tops in my book.