Archive for January, 2012

Top 3 Predictors of a Happy Marriage Among Parents

Posted in Happiness, Housework, Research, Sex on January 24, 2012 | 1 Comment »

Photo used with permission from Elvert Barnes. One more quick thing to note from Tara Parker Pope’s coverage of the National Marriage Project’s recent generosity survey of nearly 3000 men and women: The top three predictors of a happy marriage among men and women are … wait – take a second, close your eyes, and guess. more »

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Not the Results I Expected

Posted in Research, tagged on January 23, 2012 | 4 Comments »

I’m an A student. Always have been. So I was disappointed with the results of a New York Times quiz I took this afternoon: how’d I do? Just average. Average is a curse word. Even worse, the quiz was, I thought, in my wheelhouse. Featured on Tara Parker Pope’s column (she’s a favorite of mine), the quiz more »

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Three Positive Parenting Tricks That Will Work On Your Wife Too

Posted in Advice & Tips, Parenting on January 20, 2012 | 2 Comments »

Cliff’s been out of town this week. And like all weeks where I’m on my own as a parent for several days in a row, by the end of it I have to work especially hard to hold my parental, err, stuff, together. Thankfully I’ve got a bag of parenting tricks that I often remember more »

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Why Reading Fiction is Good for Your Marriage

Posted in Communication, Research on January 18, 2012 | 2 Comments »

My daughter with the books she felt she must read before nap.  Guess she’s on her way to high emotional intelligence.  I love novels but I try not to read more than a few a year. Why? Because when I let myself get lost in a book, I get really lost: I’ve found myself praying more »

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When was the Last Time You Made an UglyDoll?

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged on January 17, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

Photo used with permission, by hahatango. I’m a sucker for a good love story. Let me share one I learned of this past holiday season. Our son Sam, now 5, added “UglyDoll” to his very short Christmas wish list. Since my knowledge of what’s hot in childhood toys is stuck somewhere around Cabbage Patch Dolls more »

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The Marriage Particle Accelerator

Posted in Communication, tagged on January 11, 2012 | 1 Comment »

You probably think that a particle accelerator is a device that uses electromagnetic fields to propel charged particles towards each other at high speeds. But marriage particle accelerators look a little different. You don’t need a synchrotron or beam aperture to propel two spouses towards each other at high speeds…you just need a small space and lots of uninterrupted more »

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The evilOlive Theory of Relationships

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged on January 10, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

If you ask me, Chicago’s nightclub evilOlive receives my award for Best. Name. Ever. I’m a sucker for a palindrome. I can’t vouch for the actual quality of the club: never been inside. The Yelp comments – “Ambiance: hipster,” “Porn and Chickens Monday,” “crowded with some shady dudes” – have dissuaded me. Just the same, the club more »

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Would You Please Make a Decision For Us?

Posted in Uncategorized on January 9, 2012 | 11 Comments »

Have you ever avoided doing something you need (and want) to do, simply because you can’t make a fairly basic decision? In the business world, they call this Analysis Paralysis. In my personal life, I call this The Last Four Months. We’ve intended to give the blog a new name and its own URL for more »

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The Rule of Anecdotal Value (A Resource for Marriage Decision Making)

Posted in Communication, Happiness, tagged on January 4, 2012 | 2 Comments »

Yep. There’s a story in the making. Cliff and I have been into The Moth lately. For those of you that aren’t hip and trendy like us, The Moth is a national group that features story tellers telling stories. Because what else would they do? The stories are all true, and are told at regular more »

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If You Want Your Resolution to Stick, Resolve Together

Posted in Uncategorized, tagged on January 3, 2012 | 2 Comments »

In January 2011, my New Year’s resolution was to start a blog – this one. My goal was to end the year with a minimum of one post per week. At the close of December, Cliff and I had 133 posts on this blog (and that was with taking much of the month off), so more »

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