K: So, lately I’ve been thinking about how we keep our marriage happy.

C: Like… this is something we have talked about off the podcast. 

K: (laughs) Well, because, like, the quarantine – and we’ve been in quarantine for a long time together. And I think what’s working in our favor is that you really are my best friend. And, so, I feel like, “cool, now I get to hang out with my best friend.” Really, I guess – kind of a lot more but not really because I’m still working, and you’re still working, and Rasta’s still working.

C: Yes. 

K: So, I’m really fortunate that we’re all able to work, and that our apartment is big enough that Rasta’s in a different side of the house, and that, when we’re working, we’re all able to be in three separate, distinct locations, so we’re not on top of each other.

C: Yes. We have a horizontal apartment rather than a vertical one.

K: (laughs) We know some people – I feel… like a lot of people are in a one room apartment with someone else.

C: Yeah.

K: And that’s not a lot of space.

C: Well, and when we looked at places for your office, there were some that were vertical, and the real estate agents were like, “you’ll love it being so small horizontally, but there’s space above and below.”

K: Yeah, no. I was like, “nooo.” So, I feel – so I’ve noticed in the past month that there’s been… a slight increase in couples’ counseling. 

C: Mhm.

K: and I feel like the strain and stress of the pandemic, which I’m not going to focus on that a lot, has really impacted people’s marriages in a negative way. And that’s what the APA is saying – the American Psychological Association – and the Japanese Psychological Association is. But I don’t find that those type of outside stressors really impact our relationship. AT least, I don’t think they do. Do you?

C: No, I don’t think they do. I think some outside stressors do, but… close proximity is not one of them. 

K: Yeah. And spending a lot of time together is not one of them.

C: Right. But we started off our relationship by spending a lot of time together.

K: Yeah when we were just friends. 

C: Yeah.

K: And we would spend almost every day together. 

C: Yeah. Because we met at school, we’d see each other at school, we’d hang out after school.

K: Yeah, and we’d hang out on the weekends.

C: Yeah. 

K: So, I’ve always really, really enjoyed looking at your face.

C: Yeah?

K: (laughs) Yeah. You have the best face. I love your face. 

C: Thank you. I love your face, too.

K: Thank you. So, I feel like… for… what I always tell people – and I always tell our son – is that, “don’t date people you don’t like.” Like, don’t date someone based on just sexual and physical attraction. But then I’m a real trampy, and I’m like, “you can just have sex with someone, and that’s all you do together.”

C: Mhm.

K: Like, meet up, have sex, and then separate. 

C: Or just stare at their face.

K: (laughs) 

C: Because you’re like, “don’t focus on the physical. But your face.” 

K: (laughs)

C: I feel like I’m getting mixed messages, here. 

K: So, you know that you’re one of the few people that I even liked that I was – when we started sleeping together, you were the only person out of everyone that I was sleeping with that I liked.

C: Yes.

K: That I actually enjoyed their company. And that was kind of like a staple for me is that I would have sex with people I didn’t like because I find most people are attractive until they open their mouth.

C: Mmm.

K: And you’re the exception to that rule because you’re dead sexy, baby. Like, with your mouth open, closed, whatever becau