Another Wadder and Free Marriage Counseling

Instead of a picture of my flounce blouse on me, you will get a picture of NOTHING because my pretty almost-finished new blouse ended up in the trash.  I messed it up.  I don't know if you can EVER have enough sewing experience to not screw up a project.  It is why I don't like to buy really expensive fabric.  Lesson learned -- well let's say RElearned for the zillionth time -- always make a muslin of a new design, pattern, style -- whatever you want to call it.

So here it is Friday night, and I am all alone.  Can't go home until Sunday for the craziest, but valid reason:  The trash goes out Sunday night to be picked up Monday morning.  One of the hassles of having two homes.  I'll put it out early Sunday and head back to our real home where Jerry is waiting for me. 

Mr. and Mrs. Boo Bear will be coming the next weekend for three days, so I want to get prepared for their visit.  That should be a pure delight!  She loves to cook, so maybe I will have some help in the kitchen.

We will actually go out onto the lake we live by!  That will be something new and different.  We used to drive 2 1/2 hours at least two Friday nights a month to go to the lake with the kids when they were growing up.  We would stay until I threatened divorce late Sunday evening when my husband just HAD to stay a little longer for one of two reasons:

Reason #1:  We haven't caught any fish, and they may start biting any minute.

Reason #2:  The fish are biting so good.  Do we HAVE to leave?

Many times we would get home at midnight or later with two sleeping girls and a truck full of stuff that had to be washed, cleaned, emptied, filled, dried out and/or put away.  Then we both had to be at work at 8 AM the next day.  I used to do this because I thought it was what a good wife did.  After we had been married for a loooooooooong time, I finally told Jerry, "I don't CARE if you love me, hate me, or couldn't care less either way, but I am NEVER going camping again, and I am NEVER coming home late Sunday night again!!!!!!!!!!  We've been married 37 years now, so I guess it wasn't that big of deal -- or maybe I had waited long enough to explode.

I don't know how many times we arrived late Friday night at some campground and had to PUT UP our tent.  Then when we left Sunday night, we had to TAKE DOWN our tent.  Then when we got home much later that night we had to PUT UP the tent in our yard until it dried out because it had rained all weekend!  Catching some fish just never was worth all that work to me.  Good heavens!!!  We could have gone to the Fish Market and bought every fish there for less money than we spent going camping!

Men are very one-thought-at-a-time thinkers.  Each thing that happens in a day is just an "event", and one event doesn't have anything to do with another.

Women are a tangled web of a million thoughts, worries, emotions and ideas.  Every little thing that is said or done all through the day combines to put them in whatever state they are in at the end of the day.

This is really true.  I learned it years ago at a marriage seminar our church put on.  Jerry and I both went to it.  This information REALLY helped me.  It certainly made me realize what Jerry's main problem was -- other than ME -- and that was just that he was a male.

There are exceptions to this, of course.  I have known some VERY strange husbands married to my friends or fellow workers.  My personal assistant's husband comes to the store and FEELS THE ENGINE OF HER CAR to see if she left the store at lunch time to go have an affair.  BAZAAR!!!!

I told Jerry one time that when he left, I was going to have my boyfriend over. 

His response was, "Will you see if he'll mow the lawn?"

I better go.  Jerry isn't here to get our cats in the garage for the night, so I have to do it.  We bribe them in with a plate of tuna fish or chicken broth.  Otherwise, they just don't think they should have to be bothered coming when we call.  Whatever.  Jerry wouldn't consider my letting the cats disappear just another "event", I assure you!  He would be VERY upset with me!

Hugs, Joy