Sharing Blankets

I officially became Mrs. jigg on Friday, September 3, 2010. The wedding was short notice and somewhat unexpected, leading some family members and friends speculating about a potential baby on the way. For the record: I’m NOT pregnant.

We originally planned to get married next September – with the tea ceremony, western ceremony, BBQ reception, and the whole shebang. However, a couple of weeks ago, jigg’s dad (who was never a fan of a long engagement) suggested we do a civil union before he flies back to China in mid-September – probably so that he can bring happy news back home. jigg and I didn’t have a problem with it since both of us were eager to do it anyway. My mom and aunt had planned to visit NY for the long Labor Day weekend, so the scheduling worked perfectly.

jigg ordered his ring online, THE ONE RING in black tungsten a week before while I had to put a custom order for mine because my ring size is just so ridiculously small.

Our wedding was simple. On Friday morning, jigg and I went to the Staten Island City Hall. Our guest list was small, consisting of my mom and aunt and his parents, sister, brother in law, nephew, and best friend. We didn’t mass announce our wedding because it was impossible to fit everyone in that tiny little room. I wore an old white summer dress and flip flops while jigg, being jigg, suited up.

The ceremony was short, lasting less than 15 minutes. The Officiant skipped right to the important parts: asking for objections, confirming with the witness, exchanging vows, etc. My biggest fear was that I may not get the ring into jigg’s finger when it was my turn. But everything turned out well…the Officiant and jigg even cracked jokes with each other throughout the ceremony! The Officiant originally asked how I pronounced my Chinese name – I didn’t tell him to use my English name because it wasn’t the name on the license. However, when he asked jigg why he was here, jigg referred to me by my English name instead.

Officiant: (to me) What name do you want me to go by?
Me: (to Officiant) Karen.
jigg: (to Officiant) Yeah, I didn’t find out her real name until much later. She lied to me at the start too!

At the end of the day, the marriage life isn’t anything different. Yet, actually being Mrs. jigg feels much more awesome.

As jigg’s parents will inevitably become my future in-laws, I have been trying to earn brownie points with them.

During a dinner conversation that occurred during the second or third time I met jigg’s parents, I found an opportunity when his dad mentioned how many kids these days don’t appreciate bitter melon because their parents do not force them to eat. His proposed solution is simple: assimilation – if kids eat a little bit of it on a regular basis, they would slowly develop the acquired taste for it. jigg then added that it only took him a little bit over a year of constantly eating bitter melon to like it.

Image Source: www.redcook.net

Based on the number of times (it’s a lot) that I have noticed bitter melon as the ingredient in jigg’s dad’s subsequent dinner entrees and how he fondly speaks of its deliciousness, I think I could assume that bitter melon is one of his favorite vegetables. I thought that it would surely be impressive if I could develop an acquired taste for it too!

So for the past several dinners, I have been eating bits of bitter melon each time. Personally, it is not something I would eat on my own free will. Bitterness is a taste that I associate anything that is gross with…like medicine and ear wax (yes, I have tasted that and it is bitter). To date, I still don’t like bitter melon.

When I asked jigg what he had for dinner last night and guessed whether it’s bitter melon, he laughed and told me that bitter melon season is over.  Me –>