Archive for November, 2011

Moral High Ground and the Crunchy/Creamy Debate

Posted in Fighting, tagged on November 30, 2011 | 4 Comments »

Sometimes I think the real question of marriage isn’t Who is the right person?, it’s, Are you a crunchy person or a creamy person? Yes, I’m talking about peanut butter. Because it’s virtually impossible for a creamy person to happily eat a crunchy sandwich. And crunch lovers know a creamy sandwich is lacking. Maybe your more »

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Choking: Ten Years of Marriage, and I Still Can’t Parallel Park with Cliff in the Car

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged on November 29, 2011 | 1 Comment »

I remember taking driver’s ed as a 15 year-old in Warrensburg, Illinois, population 1400. It seemed a little ridiculous that parallel parking was a requirement of the test. When would that ever be needed in Warrensburg? Fast forward ten years to the Uptown neighborhood of Chicago, where finding a parking spot was roughly equivalent to more »

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Six Ways the Holidays Can Hijack Your Marriage (And How to Avoid Catastrophe)

Posted in Communication, Housework, Money, tagged on November 28, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Photo by AussieGold. Used with permission from Flickr Creative Commons. Christmas, Hanukkah, and the other festivities we celebrate can be beautiful expressions of our faith; terrific excuses to gather family around us; and gentle reminders to give more to others. Or the holidays can be a living hell. It just depends. No where is this felt more »

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Are You Ready for Some…Parade Floats?

Posted in Communication, Housework, tagged on November 25, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

Those of you who regularly read this blog know that I (the husband) have a penchant for sports and pop culture. Thus, I also have a penchant for reading Grantland, the sports and pop culture site recently created by ESPN writer Bill Simmons. Earlier this week, Simmons made the following comment during his weekly football more »

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Taking the Gratitude Thing One Step Further

Posted in Happiness, Uncategorized, tagged on November 23, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

After yesterday’s post on the discipline of gratitude, a friend sent a link to an article from the New York Times called A Serving of Gratitude May Save the Day. It’s a great article, and I suggest you read it. But knowing you have a turkey to bake and pies to make, let’s assume you more »

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Giving Thanks: The Year-Round Practice of Gratitude

Posted in Communication, Happiness, tagged on November 22, 2011 | 2 Comments »

Photo by gisele13. Used with permission. Earlier this year I was at a meeting. The leader called us to order and asked us each to share a spiritual practice you do daily. Not your average ice breaker question.  The people around me gave all sorts of great practices: yoga, Scripture reading, prayer. I struggled to more »

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Have You Ever Lied about Telling Your Spouse Something?

Posted in Books & Culture, Communication, tagged on November 21, 2011 | Leave a Comment »

About twice a week, Cliff and I have a conversation that goes something like this: Cliff: Don’t forget I’ll be home late tonight. My meeting goes until six. Amber: Six? Cliff: Yes. We talked about this. Remember? You said it was no problem. Amber: [Clears throat. Tries to recall.] When did we have this conversation? more »

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Top Chef, Marriage: Please Pack Your Remotes and Go

Posted in Books & Culture, tagged on November 18, 2011 | 3 Comments »

My wife and I have been married just over 10 years now. That’s a lot of memories, a lot of evenings at home and a lot of fighting over the remote control. You see, we have slightly different television watching habits. I prefer live sports and dark critically-acclaimed dramas. My wife prefers HGTV and shows more »

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Date Night is Dead. Long Live Date Night!

Posted in Advice & Tips, Parenting, tagged on November 17, 2011 | 1 Comment »

Our Date Night kit: cocoa with a generous smidge of Bailey’s (or the generic equivalent). It’s time you ditch date night. “Have a weekly date night” is a standard bit of marriage mantra you probably had drilled into you by friends and family from the first time you hinted you might take a long walk more »

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Sleep is the New Sex: How to Get More of Both

Posted in Housework, Research, Sex on November 15, 2011 | 1 Comment »

Disco Nap Copenhagen by KathyC81.  I am not a night person. Anyone that has seen me try to make a coherent argument after 10 p.m. can testify. Likewise, I’m not really a morning person. Anything before 7 is just too early. What am I? I’m a sleep person. I love sleep: my perfect REM cycle more »

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