DUG

Back in August I wrote about our tenth anniversary and mentioned the gifts Kristin got me. It's been almost two months and I've yet to take off the titanium neckchain she gave me, but I didn't have as much luck with the flask. We left the next week for TransRockies and, before going, I filled the flask with some Bushmills Black Bush whiskey. It was to be my celebratory drink for when I finished the race. Well, I finished the race but when I went to bring the flask with me to the finisher's ceremony later that night, it was leaking. There was a small crack in the bottom of it. Fortunately, my toolbox has a roll of duct tape in it and I was able to repair the flask well enough to prevent further leakage.

Believe it or not, this is another post that references that "name" article I wrote earlier in the year.

The flask she had given me had my "DJW" initials on it, but I had asked Kristin that she not use all three initials on the replacement flask. I thought "DW" would suffice. I'm not a big fan of middle names. It's one of my quirks. So, when Kristin was at the jewelry store getting another one ordered, she decided to call me to double-check if that's what I really wanted. Was I sure I didn't want DJW? Did I really just want DW?

I thought about it some more. Just as I don't really see myself as a "Douglas Joseph Walsh" I don't really see myself as that much of a flask guy either. And monograms are nice and all, but they're just not me. Too... pretentious is the word I think I'm looking for. So I thought we'd have a little fun with it.

"Why don't you have them engrave DUG on the flask?"

Proof that Kristin is the perfect yin to my always incorrigible yang, she didn't laugh or act surprised at this seemingly absurd request. She knew exactly what the significance of the letters were and also the "deeper" meaning I had for picking it. It was done.

DUG was the perfect way of disarming any self-conciousness I felt about having some hoidy-toidy monogrammed flask and, surprise as you may be, wasn't just a goofy way of spelling my name (albeit, a phonetically correct one). It just so happens that I've been using the initials DUG dating back to the 1980's when I first ever got my name in the top ten on an arcade game. So it was a win-win on a couple levels and best of all, Kristin gets to see me enjoy one of the gifts she gave me.

And while it may have taken forever, the new flask was finally ready for pickup today and it's great. It's got the dimpled pewter finish (like a golfball) and is also a bit smaller than the original leaky one she picky out -- which will make it easier to carry in a pocket. I can't wait to smuggle a little Knob Creek into the next Seahawks home game!