Love and Respect

Recently I went over to my neighbor's house to help her organize. She is chronically unorganized. I seem to attract those kinds of people. I am like a beacon for the messy room set. I am very organized so I offer my services when needed. I like to think its an even trade. My messy friends toss a few recipes and cooking tips my way and I help them with their piles. It works beautifully.

As I said my friend was working on a pile and was losing motivation so she asked me to come over and keep her company. While going through some drawers she came across a video series call Love and Respect. I know, everyone has either seen it or read it but me. I have been recommended it on several occasions. About 99% of those came while I was either complaining about Dan the man or making a joke at his expense. So naturally I ignored those attempts to fix my attitude and subsequently my marriage. People just need to get a sense of humor.

Needless to say I was a bit skeptical about watching marriage videos that were offered up by the humorless crowd. My friend however has a fantastic sense of humor and if she thought they were worthy of my time then I would give them a try.

Well let me tell you, I laughed, I cried, and I learned. They were spot on and I was so surprised. I learned a lot about what makes men tick. I consider myself somewhat of an expert on male behaviour. Afterall, I have a dad, a brother, a son, and have been studying Dan the man for nearly 11 years now. I shoulda known you can't know everything. It really helped me understand what was important to him. While I can't claim that I care what is important to him, I mean I have my reputation to think of, I am at least educated. I can claim ignorance no longer. Which means when I make a joke about him from now on it will be deliberate. I will know the full ramifications of my comments. And its kinda heavy.

I will have to choose my words.

I will have to learn new words.

I will have to stop talking completely.

Dan the man will rejoice. I do hope to stumble onto a middle ground. There must be a way to be myself and a good wife at the same time. The two cannot be mutually exclusive. They must meld somehow. And that is why there is God. I think he is pretty good at curbing undesirable tendencies. He certainly has his work cut out with me. So I will work on that and you will just have to trust that I am making progress because Dan the man has better things to do than blog. He has to get off the wii and finish watching the Love and Respect videos so he can see how messed up he is because I refuse to be dysfunctional on my own. Its something we can do together. Shoulder to shoulder.