The Life of Mrs. Miles

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I guess the reality of our move is taking hold. Yesterday I began making a list of things which might be done ahead of time - and even took care of a few things. I think I overwhelmed my dear husband. He took me out to McDonalds for lunch ( 'lowwed to have a turkey breast sub) and he had barely asked me the inevatable "So, what's new?" when I whipped out (really really fast) my BIG list... There was a lot of "hmmm, does this have to be done right away? - we have till April, right?" and " I was hoping to help you with this on Spring Break. You KNOW I get spring break in March, right?"

See, his idea is that we wait and get a bulk of it done when he can help me. Its a 'man' thing - he's my provider - and he loves to feel he's taking care of me and helping me - and I respect this totally. On the other hand, he has a 'formal' job, while I do not - and I take pride in holding up my end of things in the realm of 'all things house'. Miles has been under an incredible work load and so I take joy in trying to keep the home fires burning and create a place of peace and rest. My take on the move, is the more that I can do NOW, the better. Every thing that I sort out and discard now, will save us time at the last moment. Besides, experience has taught me there are always things you cannot anticipate which will make a simple looking move into something far more monumental!

The biggest reason of all, though is what I told Miles. I don't want him to spend his Spring Break helping me moving, I want him all to myself - to spend some quality time together before the momentum of the move sweeps us off our feet. I know it might seem strange, but I can't wait to have his undevided attention.

So, I was dismayed to find that when I - for all my good intentions - and in my eagerness to take care of everything right away, that I sometimes get agitated and speak in a less than edifying way to my sweet. LOL! Lets just say that yesterday, as he sat at the lunch table, he was completely hornswaggled a time or two by my stumbling around verbally. Whatever I wanted to say came out in a completley wrong way and we ended up in a tangle. In the end he sat and shook his head and we had a great laugh! You know, I am discovering that if I would just allow him some time to digest things, and give him the lead I would accomplish more than when I take control! This all brought me back to a marriage book which a freind passed on to me a time ago. Heres some helpful guidelines on marital communication from Love Life for Every Married Couple by Ed Wheat:

Nine Ways to Edify

1. Make the irrevocable decision to never again be critical of your partner in word, thought, or deed. This may sound like an impossibility, but it is not. It is simply a decision backed up by action until it becomes a habit you would not change if you could.

2. Study your partner. Become sensetive to areas where your partner feels a lack and think of ways to build your partner up in those areas particular.

3. Think every day of positive qualities and behaviour patterns you admire and appreciate in your mate.

4. Consistently verbalize praise and appreciation for your partner. Be genuine, be specific, be generous. You edify with teh spoken word.

5. Recognize your partner's talents, abilities, and accomplishments. Communicate your respect for the work he or she does.

6. Husband, show your wife publicaly and privately how precious she is to you. and do not express admiration for another woman. This is never edifying to your wife. Keep your attention focused on her!

7. Wife, show your husband that he is the most important person in your life - always. Seek his opinions and value his judgement.

8. Respond to each other physically and facially. The face is the most distinctive and expressive part of a person. Your mate wants to see you smile, eyes sparkling in response to him or her.

9. Always exhibit the greatest courtesy to each other. You should be VIP's in your own home!

I'VE BEEN TAGGED - NOW YOU'RE TAGGED!

I was tagged yesterday - by Amy (thanks for the wet kisses from Emma too! ) I mentioned it was going to take me a day to think of five weird things... trust me, there are a zillion things... its sorting out the five that come to mind that others might think are weird 'bout me...

1. I like to not only shop at the thrift store - I love doing macro-photography there too, for hours on end sometimes.

2. I like eating my popcorn - burnt! Yep, I like to over cook it in the micro till its jussst starting to smoke. I've erred a few times and set off our smoke detector.

3. I like potato chip (bagged variety) and ketchup sandwhiches.

4. I use a diaper bag for my camera bag (complete with pooh - thats whinney the pooh - on the side)

5. I wear my socks inside out in my runners. Saw that on a movie one time and it made sense. When we run long distance, those little seams can make the difference between a blister or not!

I'm tagging the following people:

Becky, Judy, Valerie, Sonya, Gina and these are your rules: List 5 weird things about yourself or your pets. -- Tag 5 friends and list them. -- Those people need to write on their blogs about 5 weird things, and state the rules, and tag 5 more people. -- Don't forget to let the people you tag know by posting a comment on their blog!

BARB'S HANDY TIP #176

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