Long Relationships

Hello and welcome to the Friday Free-for-All!

Inspired by the Weekend Soiree over at Wifely Steps (and pretty much using her idea, to be honest, but you can go over there and play on her site as well!), we’re going to have a bit of conversation here on site. I’ll be responding when and where I can, but it would be great for the readers to respond to each other as well.

If you make a comment and it doesn’t show up, let me know using the ‘contact me’ button under the site description on the right. That way, as soon as I see the email I can rescue it from the depths of the spam filter. But, seeing as the spam filter is no longer regarding me as spam, I’m hoping none of you will have any problem.

The way the game works is this:

I pick a theme that we’ll be talking about and will start off things with a question. The first person to come along will then answer that question and ask another question still relating to the theme.

(Remember to ask another question! It makes the game harder if people only answer them.)

Eg. The theme is peanut butter. I ask, “Do you like peanut butter?” Someone answers and at the end of the comment asks, “When was the first time you tried peanut butter?” So on and so forth.

Easy? Yes, I thought so. Which brings me to the theme and the question for this week:

Theme: Technology

Question: Do you have a mobile phone?

Hello and welcome to this week’s installment of love questions. I think you all know the drill by now. If you have any questions, just keep reading because you’ll figure it out.

While he’s incredibly bashful about it and doesn’t really believe me for one minute, there is a lot I find incredibly attractive about my husband. Physically and personality-wise, there are things about him that I sometimes almost can’t believe I found a man who loves me possesses.

I’m sitting here trying to avoid going into drooling statements about how I love this and that about Mr. JM because, while it might stroke his ego, I really don’t think the readers here are all that interested in how sexy this or that is.

Must avoid talking about his…

Ahem.

Mr. JM is a pretty shy guy, mostly modest with the best of intentions (even when it gets him into strife). I’m not all that surprised that he would refuse to agree or disagree with whatever statement I made about his best features.

So while I may not be able to complete this week’s love question in all ways…

This week I’m wondering:

(If you’re not with anyone at the moment, feel free to call on past relationships.)

If you do answer on your blog, please spread the link love and link to:

Aud from Mom.Dad.Chat
Jenera at Just Me

And, of course, I always appreciate your links to me.

Don’t forget to leave me a link in the comments to your response.

Have fun!

Bonding With Your Pets
By Rebecca Camarena

Bonding with animals is something that humans have been doing for thousands of years and each relationship between animal and human is especially unique. In the years that I have had my two dogs I have developed a special bond with each of them.

Spencer was my first dog and he was a 10 week old shepherd mixed with Labrador when he came to live with us. He was a challenge as he saw his position as being the Alpha male dog and I was the Alpha human female. It took a lot of years for him to come to an understanding of how to behave. It was in those years that Spencer destroyed everything in the backyard. He dug out trees to chew on the root ball, dug up the entire sprinkler system and ate all the piping. He was an aggressive dog who resisted training even though I worked endlessly with him.

It took six months before he learned to sit, but at age seven he is settling into old age, and has become a calmer dog that has learned to sit next to me and take advantage of getting the attention while the younger dog retrieves the ball. Spencer hasn’t completely given up being a rogue, but we are on to him and when that cloud of dust appears in the yard we know he’s behind it.

If there’s a chance for an immediate bond between human and animal then it happened as soon as I picked up Tasha and held her in my arms at 8 weeks. I knew that she was going to the best dog that one could ask for. She is a purebred female German Shepherd, her mother a purebred of descendants born in Germany. The father dog was the biggest American Shepherd I had ever seen.

I was more terrified of taking the dog away from the parents then of raising the dog. I had no need to worry about raising her as she was quick to learn commands unlike Spencer who required repeated lessons before it sunk in. Her role is as family protector and sheep herder. I guess she considers us her herd of sheep. She runs from room to room and never sits down to rest until she has brought all family members together in the same room.

Sometimes I wonder what my life would have been like without dogs and I can’t. Oh, my yard would have a few more trees and be minus a few big holes that Spencer has dug. There would be less hair from Tasha shedding and less dog chores to do, but my heart would not be as full of love for the dogs that have given me unconditional love for years.

***
Rebecca is a freelance writer in So. Ca and aspiring children’s authors. Her articles have appeared in local newspapers and community newsletters. She once interviewed Sam Yorty the former Mayor of Los Angeles in the 1960’s. She is an aspiring author of children’s character animal stories, blogging about dogs and cats, book authors and Hollywood. Find her at:

Dogs Rule Cats Drool, http://dogsrulecatsdrool.wordpress.com
Paperback Writer, http://rebecca2007.wordpress.com
The Real Hollywood, http://valleygirlmusings.blogspot.com
Top Notch Writer at Twitter, http://twitter.com/topnotchwriter.com
Dogs Rule Cats at Twitter, http://twitter.com/dogsrulecats

Sassy the Cat – My Constant Companion
By Rebecca Camarena

You never know much your heart can expand to love another animal until the need arises. When my cat, Sassy entered my life I had not thought of having a cat and was allergic to them so imagine my surprise and dismay when this stray cat that I had never seen before was sitting on my front porch. Feed her was what I did and she never left.

She took up residence in the bushes and delivered her first liter of kittens. Being very protective of them and wary of me she kept her distance. As the weeks went by we would find her moving the kittens around the front yard, but each time closer to the house. When the kittens were 8 weeks old they were stolen out of the yard and so I moved Sassy into the garage.

The second litter of kittens wasn’t far behind the first and I made sure she was in the garage during delivery. The timing was right and I was there at her side during delivery and wearing a glove so as to not leave my scent on the kittens so she wouldn’t reject them, I helped guide each kitten into the world. She hardly had time to clean one up before the next one wanted out into the world. After kneeling for two and a half hours and delivering 4 kittens I didn’t think I would ever stand up again. When I returned three hours later another kitten had arrived.

After delivering her kittens Sassy would let me touch and play with them as they grew. At 10 weeks we gave the kittens away to good homes and had her spayed. With no litters of kittens to keep her busy she spent more time in the house.

I don’t know how it happened or when, but I noticed that Sassy became my constant companion and she trusted me completely. Along with her trust, unconditional love and my nurturing our relationship continued to grow deeper and mysteriously my allergies disappeared.

***
Rebecca is a freelance writer in So. Ca and aspiring children’s authors. Her articles have appeared in local newspapers and community newsletters. She once interviewed Sam Yorty the former Mayor of Los Angeles in the 1960’s. She is an aspiring author of children’s character animal stories, blogging about dogs and cats, book authors and Hollywood. Find her at:

Dogs Rule Cats Drool, http://dogsrulecatsdrool.wordpress.com
Paperback Writer, http://rebecca2007.wordpress.com
The Real Hollywood, http://valleygirlmusings.blogspot.com
Top Notch Writer at Twitter, http://twitter.com/topnotchwriter.com
Dogs Rule Cats at Twitter, http://twitter.com/dogsrulecats

It is my pleasure to welcome my guest this week, Rebecca Camarena. She’s here to talk about her beloved pets Spencer, Sassy and Tasha. I hope you’ll join me in welcoming her.

Spencer and Me, My Faithful Companion
By Rebecca Camarena

When I bought a dog after buying a house, I naturally assumed that I could get a loving dog that would sit at my feet while I spent hours at my desk writing. I was unaware that a relationship with a dog required training, perseverance and patience. My childhood family dog was shared by everyone and he never graced us with his cheerful personality. So when I brought home my German Shepherd lab mix home, we named him Spencer and he was going to be my companion.

Spencer was as loving as he was disobedient. The disobedient part seemed to start from the minute we brought him home. I had wanted to raise Spencer as an inside dog, but he got into trouble everywhere he went. One wag of his tail and everything on a low table was all over the floor. He was incorrigible, stubborn and resistant to house training. No became my favorite word as I tried harder to train him. Often times he lost his footing on the tile floors and ended up sliding across the floor knocking over whatever he landed against. I hadn’t bought my house a fixer-upper, but it was soon to be one with this out of control dog. I thought how will I ever manage with this horse in my house?

Spencer was known as The World’s Worst Dog before Marley the dog ever came along. After some agonizing moments I decided to let Spencer live outside. A dog house was built for him and we had a party to go along with him moving to the yard. You couldn’t have asked for a happier dog, the yard was all his and Spencer took on the role of an Alpha Male dog.

By now, he weighed 90 pounds and he greeted us by jumping up on us and putting his paws on our shoulders. With more energy than sense he took it as a challenge to dig, chew and destroy anything that was in the yard. Spencer chewed window screens and dug out newly planted trees and jumped on the metal box that housed the air-conditioning fan system and stood tall as king of the yard.

I hoped he would soon outgrow this behavior because I didn’t have much of a yard left. I thought maybe Spencer just needed more attention. Spending the morning outside writing would be perfect for both of us. Spencer greeted me in his usual way with his paws coming to rest on my chest licking my face as if he hadn’t seen me in days never mind that I was holding a hot coffee mug. It was a greeting I didn’t return because I saw my chair, (webbing on a metal frame) was shredded in pieces all over the yard.

I could only respond with “Spencer you dummy, you ate my chair.” Even as I yelled at him he still had that goofy good natured look. Putting my coffee down so I could pet Spencer, feeling bad that I had yelled at him, I didn’t want to give up hope that someday Spencer would be my faithful companion, but he seemed to prefer doing it on his own time.

***
Rebecca is a freelance writer in So. Ca and aspiring children’s authors. Her articles have appeared in local newspapers and community newsletters. She once interviewed Sam Yorty the former Mayor of Los Angeles in the 1960’s. She is an aspiring author of children’s character animal stories, blogging about dogs and cats, book authors and Hollywood. Find her at:

Dogs Rule Cats Drool, http://dogsrulecatsdrool.wordpress.com
Paperback Writer, http://rebecca2007.wordpress.com
The Real Hollywood, http://valleygirlmusings.blogspot.com
Top Notch Writer at Twitter, http://twitter.com/topnotchwriter.com
Dogs Rule Cats at Twitter, http://twitter.com/dogsrulecats

Pinched from Hanlie

1) Are your parents married or divorced?
Married, the last time I heard. I wouldn’t be surprised if they now don’t ‘believe in’ divorce.

2) Are you a vegetarian?
Ha. At the moment, I’m as close as I ever will be, but I love meat too much to ever go all the way.

3) Do you believe in Heaven?
That would really depend which concept of heaven you’re talking about.

4) Have you ever come close to dying?
Yes.

5) What jewelry do you wear?
A silver necklace with two ankhs on it is almost always around my neck. I always have a stud in my nose. My wedding ring on my finger.

Other accessories come and go as the mood strikes.

6) Favorite time of day?
Sunset

7) Do you eat the stems of broccoli?
Yeah… Why wouldn’t you?

Do you wear makeup?
Rarely. My skin is entirely too sensitive for me to wear it more than just every once in a while.

9) Ever have plastic surgery?
Nope.

10) Do you color your hair?
I used to, but I stopped when I was told you can’t donate coloured hair.

11) What do you wear to bed?
To bed? Pajamas. In bed? Nothing.

12) Have you ever done anything illegal?
Of course. Hasn’t everyone?

13) Can you roll your tongue?
Oh yeah.

14) Do You tweeze your eyebrows?
Occasionally. I wish I could go get them waxed.

15) What kind of sneakers?
The kind that fits my feet…

16) Do you still own vinyl?
Vinyl what?

17) What is your hair color?
Dark brown.

18) Future child’s name?
I think that’s something that will be discussed when we figure out if I can get pregnant or not…

19) Do you snore?
Nope.

20) If you could go anywhere in the world where would it be?
To a house bought and paid for, owned by me and my husband.

21) Do you sleep with stuffed animals?
Nah, pillows are good.

22) If you won the lottery?
House. Clothes. Car. World Trip.

23) Gold or silver?
Silver

24) Hamburger or hot dog?
Australian hamburger, thank. Everything else is not worth the calories.

25) If you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?
SUSHI!

26) City, beach or country?
Country. Preferably by mountains.

27) What was the last thing you touched?
My mouse.

28) Where did you eat last?
Right here at my desk. I had some grapes and strawberries.

29) When’s the last time you cried?
About a month ago.

30) Do you read blogs?
All the time. I love blogs.

31) Would you ever go out dressed like the opposite sex?
I do quite a bit. Guys’ clothes are more comfy most of the time. HAHA.

32) Ever been involved with the police?
Nah, they’re a bit too straight and narrow for my tastes.

33) What’s your favorite shampoo, conditioner and soap?
I don’t really have favourites, though I do use Dove soap because they don’t put bloody laurel sulfate in there.

34) Do you talk in your sleep?
I’ve been told I do. In different languages, even.

35) Ocean or pool?
Ocean.

36) What’s your favorite song?
And so it Goes - Billy Joel

37) What is your favorite color(s)?
Green, blue, purple

39 Ever met anyone famous?
Met in person? Famous authors, yes. On the net, some other famous authors. I’ve met some bands and musicians, too, but not beyond the ‘hello, sign this, on your way’.

40) Do you feel that you’ve had a truly successful life?
I don’t think I have lived long enough to give an answer to that.

41) Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it?
I’m a twirler.

42) Ricki Lake or Oprah?
Neither.

43)Basketball or Football?
Aussie footy.

44) How long do your showers last?
Longer than I do.

45) Automatic or do you drive a stick?
I don’t drive these days, but I drove an automatic in the States.

46) Cake or ice cream?
Ice cream.

47) Are you self-conscious?
Usually.

48) Have you ever drank so much you threw up?
No, but I’ve drank so much I *wanted* to throw up.

49) Have you ever given money to a tramp?
Not that I know of.

50) Have you been in love?
Still am.

51) Where do you wish you were?
In that house I mentioned before…

52) Are you wearing socks?
Nope.

53) Have you ever ridden in an ambulance?
No, and I don’t intend to.

54) Can you tango?
I wish.

55) Last gift you received?
Pens! Lovely pens from my husband.

56) Last sport you played?
Frisbee in the park a couple weeks back.

57) Things you spend a lot of money on?
Travel.

58) Where do you live?
On Earth.

59) Where were you born?
See above.

60) Last wedding attended?
My wedding a couple years back.

61) Favorite alcoholic drink?
Hmmm. Hard to pick just one. I do like a Smirnoff, but a grasshopper with creme de cacao added in really hits the spot sometimes. On a hot summer day? Gin and tonic.

62) What did you do last weekend?
I can’t really remember. That’s kind of sad. Hmm. Bloody. I can’t think at the moment.

63) Most hated food(s)?
Most things with “in a can” or “on a stick” as their main selling points.

64) What’s your least favorite chore?
Probably dusting or doing the dishes.

65) Can you sing?
Of course I can sing. Singing well is something else entirely.

66) Last person you instant messaged?
Not a clue. I haven’t IMd for a long time.

67) Last place you went on holiday?
Western Victoria

68) Favorite regular drink?
Water

69) Current crush?
????

Hello and welcome to the Friday Free-for-All!

Inspired by the Weekend Soiree over at Wifely Steps (and pretty much using her idea, to be honest, but you can go over there and play on her site as well!), we’re going to have a bit of conversation here on site. I’ll be responding when and where I can, but it would be great for the readers to respond to each other as well.

If you make a comment and it doesn’t show up, let me know using the ‘contact me’ button under the site description on the right. That way, as soon as I see the email I can rescue it from the depths of the spam filter. But, seeing as the spam filter is no longer regarding me as spam, I’m hoping none of you will have any problem.

The way the game works is this:

I pick a theme that we’ll be talking about and will start off things with a question. The first person to come along will then answer that question and ask another question still relating to the theme.

(Remember to ask another question! It makes the game harder if people only answer them.)

Eg. The theme is peanut butter. I ask, “Do you like peanut butter?” Someone answers and at the end of the comment asks, “When was the first time you tried peanut butter?” So on and so forth.

Easy? Yes, I thought so. Which brings me to the theme and the question for this week:

Theme: Holidays

Question: What is your favourite holiday?

Hello and welcome to this week’s installment of love questions.

In my opinion, Mr. JM and I didn’t spend a lot of time as friends before we became romantically attached to each other. In fact, we may have spent all of three seconds as friends, if that.

We may not have admitted it to each other straight away, but near from the moment we first started chatting, Mr. JM and I were attracted to each other. I don’t think it’s a bad thing that we weren’t friends first, and I don’t think it puts us at some sort of advantage to have been so nearly instantly attracted. That’s just how it worked out for us.

I certainly consider Mr. JM my closest friend now, but I don’t think of him - nor have I ever really - in traditional friend terms. Being my husband is just plain different. It doesn’t feel quite right for me to say “My husband is my best friend” like some other people do.

Maybe that would be different if we had been friends first. Maybe it wouldn’t. I’ve never had a friendship that later turned into a (two-sided) romantic relationship.

This week I’m wondering:

(If you’re not with anyone at the moment, feel free to call on past relationships.)

If you do answer on your blog, please spread the link love and link to:

Aud from Mom.Dad.Chat
Jenera at Just Me

And, of course, I always appreciate your links to me.

Don’t forget to leave me a link in the comments to your response.

Have fun!

VERY QUICK STORY CALL OUT FOR NEW TITLE!
TWO WEEK DEADLINE!!

Chicken Soup for the Soul: Count Your Blessings
101 Stories of Gratitude, Fortitude, and Silver Linings

This follow-on book to Chicken Soup for the Soul: Tough Times, Tough People continues Chicken Soup for the Soul’s focus on inspiration and hope in these difficult times. These inspirational stories remind us that each day holds something to be thankful for — whether it is having the sun shine or having food on the table. Power outages and storms, health scares and illnesses, job woes and financial insecurities, housing challenges and family worries test us all. But there is always a silver lining. The simple pleasures of family, home, health, and inexpensive good times are described.

We are looking for true stories and poems written in the first person of no more than 1,200 words. Stories can be serious or humorous, or both. They should not have been previously published by Chicken Soup for the Soul or other major publications.

Here are a few suggested topics:

This book is in the process of being completed and will go to the printer in September for publication in October! It is a featured Chicken Soup for the Soul title for Christmas 2009. The deadline for submissions is soon, so if you can submit quickly you have a better chance than normal of being chosen.

If your story is chosen, you will be a published author and your bio will be printed in the book if you so choose. You will also receive a check for $200 and 10 free copies of your book, worth more than $100. You will retain the copyright for your story.

SUBMISSIONS GO TO http://chickensoupforthesoul.com/form.asp?cid=submit_story.

DEADLINE IS MONDAY AUGUST 3rd. THANK YOU!

This weekend wasn’t long enough. I did have a great weekend and all, but I’m feeling more tired than usual lately. I just want another day to sleep, play and sleep some more.

Unfortunately, my pleading to the vacation gods wasn’t quite enough. Due to some silly things I won’t go into on a public blog, the plans to take off the last week of July fell through like a boulder through a piece of paper.

Well, maybe not that dramatically because we could have made it work, but it’s not the kind of destination to do anything and everything to make it work. Not to mention our financial life isn’t the greatest right now anyway.

I’ve been doing a lot of self-examination lately, and I might end up prattling on about it in future posts. Every now and then I just get this ‘antsy’ feeling before I start looking at everything I’m doing and whether or not I want to keep doing it. Bleugh.

I am very happy to say that I have some guest posts coming up next week by a coworker of mine who loves her pets! She has three pets and will be here next week talking about each one of them. If you want to get in on the “Long Relationships With Your Pets” series, please contact me by emailing me (if you have my email address) or by clicking the ‘contact me’ button on the right, under the site description.

I think that’s all for me for the moment. I need to go figure out where I left my brain.

For a while here on Long Relationships, we had people who wrote in about their relationships. How they met, how long they’ve been together now, that sort of thing. All those posts are under Our Story.

Because I’m a curious person by nature, I would love to get that going again, so here is the official call out.

If you want to enter something for Our Story, you have two ways of doing it.

The easier/shorter way is to answer the questions to the meme I have put after the more tag.

The longer way is to write a post with 250 - 500 words about how you met your partner, how long you’ve been together, and anything else you think is important to include.

And, of course, whether you write a post or participate by filling in the meme, I am happy to link to any/all of your blogs (unless you have five million of them or you run a pornography blog - I have to at least try to be somewhat age appropriate here).

To get in contact with me, all you have to do is email me if you have my email address or click on the good ol’ ‘contact me’ button on the right under the site description.

Thank you to everyone who even thinks about participating!

(more…)

Hello and welcome to the Friday Free-for-All!

Inspired by the Weekend Soiree over at Wifely Steps (and pretty much using her idea, to be honest, but you can go over there and play on her site as well!), we’re going to have a bit of conversation here on site. I’ll be responding when and where I can, but it would be great for the readers to respond to each other as well.

If you make a comment and it doesn’t show up, let me know using the ‘contact me’ button under the site description on the right. That way, as soon as I see the email I can rescue it from the depths of the spam filter. But, seeing as the spam filter is no longer regarding me as spam, I’m hoping none of you will have any problem.

The way the game works is this:

I pick a theme that we’ll be talking about and will start off things with a question. The first person to come along will then answer that question and ask another question still relating to the theme.

(Remember to ask another question! It makes the game harder if people only answer them.)

Eg. The theme is peanut butter. I ask, “Do you like peanut butter?” Someone answers and at the end of the comment asks, “When was the first time you tried peanut butter?” So on and so forth.

Easy? Yes, I thought so. Which brings me to the theme and the question for this week:

Theme: During the Day

Question: What is your day job?

Hello and welcome to this week’s installment of love questions.

I’m apparently feeling a bit philosophical this week, and I’m contemplating the very nature of romance.

It sounds very impressive when I put it that way, doesn’t it?

Honestly, a Saturday a couple weeks ago sucked something terrible and I ended up working for nearly the moment I woke up to late at night. Mr. JM left me alone to work, which was nice but depressing at the same time.

That night, as I finished up the final bits that needed doing, he walked over to me and gave me a neck and shoulders massage. Wow! It felt so incredibly good, especially after such a long, annoying work day that should have been a lovely, enjoyable weekend day.

To me, that massage was an incredibly romantic gesture. Without words, he said he was sorry that I had to work on the weekend and that he commiserated with me being pouty about it. In my opinion, the small, lovely gestures are the ones that are the most romantic. Romance is doing the things your partner would like without them having to ask. Anticipating their wants and needs and treating them to things they wouldn’t think to treat themselves to.

This week I’m wondering:

(If you’re not with anyone at the moment, feel free to call on past relationships.)

If you do answer on your blog, please spread the link love and link to:

Aud from Mom.Dad.Chat
Jenera at Just Me

And, of course, I always appreciate your links to me.

Don’t forget to leave me a link in the comments to your response.

Have fun!

As I have mentioned, this past week or two, I have been feeling overwhelmed. Between work and regular life things, all I want to do is run screaming to the hills for a week of quiet and relaxation.

Unfortunately, I have too much to do to run off just yet.

With breaks for little things, I pretty much worked all through this past weekend. A last minute trip the week of the 27th has come up – but isn’t for sure yet – so the pressure I was feeling before pretty much doubled. So I worked in order to not get flooded by stress.

While I’m feeling good about all the work I got done – plus some work done on personal projects – I still felt the little knot in my belly pretty much all weekend. And that, wonderful readers, is the time when Mr. JM really shines.

By now, Mr. JM is used to things that I most often get behind on (book reviews) and what stresses me the most. Without being asked, without me muttering a peep about wishing I didn’t have to work on the weekend, I had not one but three emails pop up in my inbox.

The first was a link to a funny video. (One of my jobs is writing for a video website.) The second was a poem to put up here when I start getting into long friendships with pets. The third was a book review (yay!).

And all without me having to ask.

Now I feel bad because I need to get more creative than the usual ‘bring some beer and a nice, big salmon cutlet home’ to thank him. Hehe.

Throughout our relationship, I have always – for a reason I’m not quite yet sure of – worn a sort of invisible badge of pride for every remark made about how I’m not the ‘stereotypical’ wife. Now, I don’t think any woman out there is the stereotypical wife. They are either much nicer or much worse, in my experience. Even so, I was always proud to be on the side of ‘nicer’.

One of the stereotypical wife’s faults is expecting her husband to know what she’s thinking without her telling him. Granted, there should be some things a man can just guess after a given amount of time, but mind reading all the time is too much to ask.

I was always proud that I didn’t expect Mr. JM to read my mind. We talked about things – really talked – and worked them out. I always caught myself when I started getting upset with him for something we hadn’t actually talked about.

Of course, recently life decided to remind me that I’m not the super-wife of pure awesomeness that I thought I was.

Like many things, mind-reading can come in different shapes and forms. This past week, I am terrible when it comes to expecting Mr. JM to do mind-reading of a different sort: reading my moods.

Poor Mr. JM has been batted around like a tennis ball for about a week now as I have been getting increasingly cranky and tired with the pressure of everything I have been trying to get done for work. Admittedly, I have been going over the top and letting every little stress get to me.

And I’ve just been expecting Mr. JM to know.

Ugh. Minus one from my awesome wife points.

Now that I’ve noticed the behavior, I’m trying to fix it. But I hate it when the world knocks me on my behind just when I get to feeling pretty awesome about myself.