training tip

Not a training tip for running. I go on about running ad nauseum, I'm afraid. No, this is a training tip for being a good spouse. Here's the tip: Even though stupid/lazy/bad cook/spendaholic/bad driving/whatEVER spouse jokes are all the rage on every stupid sitcom on television, they are not funny in real life. Some people, like me, don't even find them funny on television. (Husband finds this kind of humor very funny.) Because this thing called marriage is hard enough without the whole culture of "it's fun to put down your spouse or talk about the old ball-and-chain or how now that you are married, hoo boy, will your life be one long miserable drudge.

Case in point: standing in line at the farmer's market today, husband was purchasing some elderberries. Since we had not ever had raw elderberries, I asked the man if they were sweet or tart. He replied, "They have no natural sweetness at all." My husband said, in retort, "Just like my wife." Both the fruit vendor and the guy standing next to us looked at husband with not happy looks on their faces. The guy next to us actually scowled at husband and said, "That's something I would have kept to myself." Oh ha ha ha, it was just a joke, right? They do it on tv all the time. I shouldn't be so sensitive. But we were not with friends, joking around. We were just buying fruit. And it was a lovely day, and I had had a very difficult week but was feeling upbeat. And I am a sweet person and display this sweetness to the hubby as much as any human can. In fact, I'd just said something very positive and nice about him to friends we'd talked to not five minutes before this. Take this as a tip: do not cut down your spouse in front of total strangers. (Friend to whom I relayed this story called it "the elderberry principle".)  Let's move on to happier letters of the alphabet. Totally unrelated photo except for the alphabetical theme thing: a Truckload of Teagues--my grandparent's, my dad, and his two brothers. I don't know why my dad appears to have two black eyes, but having raised two boys I can imagine.