The best wife a wife ever had.

Puppy tired...need nap...here look fine.

So, I have actually been told by a "professional"  that I have some pretty severe OCD (I won't get started on shrinks and their propensity to label and medicate everything...that touches too many people personally and it is just my opinion). Hey, I like to clean and I like things in order...so sue me.

Maswa...a pretty cichlid.

My wife works out in the real world with office drones and the like while I am home putting in my full day-plus as a writer and editor. And while many people think it is a life of luxury...I probably put in more hours than most "office drones" while at my desk doing something that is much more difficult than it looks. Think of Cirque du Soleil...they do all that stuff and make it look easy. Anybody good at their job does that, be it construction, baking, or writing. But rest assured, it really does take focus and long hours.

To all the haters :-P (I really can be petty sometimes)

One of the things that I do to clear my head in between each carefully segmented session (editing or writing, I ALWAYS parcel my work...writing is done in 500 word blocks, editing in 5 page blocks) is clean the house. Yep, I like to clean. I do laundry, vacuum, do dishes, scrub toilets, and all the other glamorous jobs people never think of when I say that I am a writer and have the luxury of working at home. And my wife loves it, she says that I am the best wife a girl ever had. Some folks get all funky when she says it. Listen up, I got enough "man" going on to not give a crap. I bench around the 300# range and squat over 400# (I can do rep sets of 20 at 315# if I take three weeks and whip my legs into lifting shape, and that is at age 47). I take it as the compliment that it is intended. I got over labels a long time ago.

Two sittings of almost 4 hours each...and I laughed.

I am okay where I am at in life right now. I overcame obstacles to reach this point, and now I get to do what I love. I just happen to keep a clean house in the process. Oh, and I like to cook. I am addicted to the Food Network. The other day I created my first rub for boneless pork ribs. It was espresso, cocoa, smoked paprika, a dash of sage, brown sugar and cinnamon. Denise took a bite and her eyes closed in bliss. So when people ask if I feel emasculated when my wife makes that comment...uh...no. I an make her smile the moment she walks in to a clean house after a day out in the world, moan with bliss at the dinner table, and sigh in contentment every night when she snuggles in to my (her words here) "big, broad, snuggly" chest.

September 7, 2013...I will be ready

People are funny. They love to pick at things. And I used to care about it. But somewhere along the way, I figured out the game. I only need to make one person in this world happy. My wife. So I treated it like I do anything else that I want to be great at and I studied. What made her smile? What made her get the look she gets when she feels special? She hates housework and I don't...so I clean. She likes little gestures. So every morning when she steps out of the shower as she gets ready for work, I am there with her towel...I dry her face and give her a kiss to start her day...she smiles. I plan dinner and watch videos on different preparations after picking the menu, then have it plated and ready for her when she walks in the door each night (it is like the last 30 seconds of an episode of Chopped in the kitchen as she is pulling in). That makes her a happy wife, which makes me a pretty damn good husband. But what's in a label? Not a damn thing...it is what is in your heart and head that matter.