Tuesday, October 27, 2009

This & That

Posted this in the wrong blog!!!

When I am already behind in my Christmas shopping!!!!!! Usually, by October, I either have everything bought or a very definitive idea of what it's going to be. Out of the 9 people, I want to do gifts for this year, I have already given 1 hers early, I have bought for 1 and I kind of have an idea for a couple other people. but, the rest, I am lost.

I also need to plan our Thanksgiving dinner menu. We're probably going to spend the actual day at Anjuli and Mike's again BUT I'd like to do something at my house as well.

We won't be home for Christmas this year. for the first time in probably decades, Jeff has a job where he gets holidays off. So, we're off to spend X-mas with the Williams' side of the family in LA and then on to India to celebrate New Year's with the Khajuria clan. But, in those travels, we'll miss our wedding anniversary. We fly on the afternoon of the 29th from LA and we get in very late on the 30th in India, which will be our 4th anniversary.

Another reason I'm grumpy is Halloween. We do have plans for friends to come over BUT people aren't responding. there are a lot of "maybe"s. What's up with that? just say yes or no. I am grumpy enough to just cancel it. Which is weird for me; I love entertaining. I love having people over, cooking and creating new cocktails or bringing out old ones. But, this year, I am just Scroodgilicius. Maybe it's all the hospitals I have been in or the fact that the darn insurance still hasn't straightened it all out. Whatever this is, I hope I snap out of it soon. I don't like this person who cannot seem to enjoy shopping or planning for a party! This is not the me I know and love!

Wednesday, October 21, 2009

Mars vs. Venus

There's been some hubbub out in the blogworld about the whole men and women thing and do we think differently and do men do some things wrong on purpose so we won't ask them to do it again. I thought about this long and hard and I've been known to accuse Jeff of doing that. But, i don't think, at least in his case, that that's the case at all. Let's point out some things:
1. Folding laundry: he folds the towels and t shirts differently than I do. Does the world end? No. Do they not fit entirely as cleanly in the drawers as they would have my way? Maybe. After some years of marriage, did I give up on having them folded "my" way to just enjoy the convenience of a husband who will do laundry without asking? HELL YES!
2. Loading the dishwasher: he won't always put the smaller bowls on the top. Used to bug the sh!t out of me. Do I care anymore? Ummm, nope. He does the dishes; the man actually LIKES doing the dishes, he can do them whatever way he damn pleases.
3. Finances: I do them all. I create our budget, tell him what we can spend on what each month. Does it bug me that he doesn't pay the bills? Actually, no, because this is where I believe that each one of us has his/her strengths. I enjoy dealing with numbers, doing our taxes, looking at our accounts. So, he lets me do it. If I may speak for him, I'll even say he wouldn't like to do it all. Trust me, he's said it.

Electrical stuff: He can do it all. I couldn't care less. What, honey? you want the Phillips head? Sure, that's something I can do and then get out of your way.

And, if I happen to thank him for vaccuuming the house one Sunday, he thanks me for cooking every day. I don't think thanking the other person for something that is supposedly a house chore and should be done no matter what makes it a big deal. (This came from something out there that why should a wife have to thank her husband for taking the garbage out or doing laundry or something similar).

We each have our own strengths and ways of dealing with situations. A marriage will rarely be 1/2 and 1/2. Maybe 5/8 and 3/8 or 2/5 and 3/5. But, you'll never be able to split everything down the middle. It's technically infeasible. I cook and do the finances. He does the handyman work and vaccuum. Every now and then, I vaccuum. Should I not be doing that since that's "his" chore? We both take the dog and the garbage out. I don't let him touch the mailbox. Actually, I should just take his key away. But, the point is a marriage is a partnership, not a contract.

I can't figure out how to end this, so here's a quote from Joseph Barth: "Marriage is our last, best chance to grow up."

I agree with it wholeheartedly, for both sides, the man and the woman.

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Goodbye to little kitties

No, nobody's little pets died or anything. What happened was that I stayed in a house with 2 cats this last weekend. And, it proved to us that we can never have a cat in our house again. not unless I like the feeling of not being able to breathe and getting up in the middle of the night to suck on my inhaler or finishing 2 boxes of tissues per day.

It sucks. I loved Bandit and I would have loved to have gotten another little kitten someday. But, apparently my body has different ideas about this.