If I Had Known

One morning this week, hubby was watching me iron my slacks and when I pushed the button to recoil the cord, he was amazed. "Wow, that's so cool", he said. I shook my head.  Welcome to your home, hubby! A short conversation ensued about whether or not he has ever ironed anything in his life.  Nope, he sure hasn't, but he has seen plenty of irons and never once saw a cord recoil into the iron.

He makes me laugh.

This is the guy who stands in front of an open fridge and can't find the ketchup because it is in the 2nd level of food items. My tongue should be in shreds from how many times I've had to bite it when this happens. It's often. That's all I'm going to say about it for now.

This week we marked another anniversary. I woke up in a foul mood on the day marking 14 years and it didn't get better until about 11am. I went about business as usual, getting ready for work, trudging out the door in the shitty weather after ironing my slacks, making my way to work after a wonderful three day weekend. Can I tell you that I nearly cried because I didn't want to go to work?

This post is not about recoiling cords in the iron. It's not about a guy who can't find the ketchup. It is definitely not about crying over going to work. It's about those vows we take. For better, for worse. Seriously. Have you ever taken wedding vows? I have. More than once. One of my greatest faults is that I tend to forget them.

So, I went out on the internet and copied some traditional vows similar to those we took on that day. They went a bit like this:  "I, Susan, take you, hubby, to be my beloved husband, to have and to hold you, to honor you, to treasure you, to be at your side in sorrow and in joy, in the good times, and in the bad, and to love and cherish you always. I promise you this from my heart, for all the days of my life."  I would have added (had I known), and I promise to not get pissy when you ask me for the millionth time where the ketchup is. I promise to smile and gladly find it for you. I would promise a lot of things ... if I had known.

Cuz, really. When you're standing there on the edge of the mighty Colorado River and you're thinking it is all going to be rainbows and butterflies, you don't know that sometimes not finding the ketchup can simply put you over the edge.  My god. That, and so many other things.

I lose my sense of humor some days. And, then it comes back. I don't seem to have much control over it. What I do have control of is how I react in any given situation. That takes constant work on my part.

I love that guy even when the ketchup is right in front of his face. He rarely reads my blog posts but if he ever reads this one, I hope he knows I'm just talking this out. I know I do a lot of things that grate on his nerves. He rarely points them out. Bless him.

love, susan