Experiment Week 2

Monday -- We had our annual Jazz/Celtics game date + dinner. Wasn't really quality time with Joe because he only goes for me. And I was pretty much a snotty bitch all night.
Grade to myself: F

Tuesday -- Got home from work late and Joe was already asleep.
Grade to myself: F

Wednesday -- Walked to the store with Joe, but passed on watching South Park with him because I was tired.
Grade to myself: C

Thursday -- Found time to watch South Park with Joe even though I was hosting a baby shower at our house!
Grade to myself: B

Weekend -- Did the typical stuff (dinner, movies, errands) but nothing out of the ordinary.
Grade to myself: C

Experiment Week 1

Monday -- Had plans to go to the bike store with Joe to get some new gloves. I got off work too late so we had to reschedule. Met up later with Joe and Kyle at the bar for the Jazz game. Joe was entranced by the game so I chatted with Kyle most of the time.
Grade to myself: C

Tuesday -- Censored for your protection ;)
Grade to myself: B
Could have had an "A" if I went to the grocery store with Joe at 9pm for eggs, but I was soooo tired!

Wednesday -- I think this might be starting to work. Joe gave me some nice "Words of Affirmation" this morning, which is MY love language. Had lots of fun together on St. Patty's Day.
Grade to myself: A

Thursday through Sunday -- Went to Vegas with Devyn (my sister) and Kyle (her boyfriend). It was hard to focus on quality time with Joe since we were a 4-some pretty much all weekend. I was probably more ornery than normal because I think I'm over Vegas for a while. Too much walking and staying up too late.
Grade to myself: D

Joe's Love Language

I just finished reading The Five Love Languages by Gary Chapman. It's been on my "list" for as long as I can remember. I finally picked it up a few weeks ago to use with some clients. Turns out it's been way more influential in my OWN marriage than with my clients!

The 5 love languages are:
-- words of affirmation
-- quality time
-- receiving gifts
-- acts of service
-- physical touch
It's pretty easy to identify yours and/or your partner's love languages, but here is an assessment if you need a little help.

I always thought that sex was Joe's preferred way of being shown love -- because he's a guy, and because he's Joe. However, I learned that it's more than just sex -- his love language is "quality time". I guess that could include sex, but it's not just sex, or that would be "physical touch".

I'm going to do a little secret experiment on him and document my experiences here for you all to read! Actually, it's more for my own purposes than for y'all, but why not let you learn from my marriage? My goal is to spend "quality time" with Joe two times each week. These have to be things HE enjoys and wants to do with me. The book has some suggestions of how to do this, but I'm not going to type them all out, so go buy the book if you want to know the details.

Watch for reports to come!

Things That Must Go*

Coworkers who continually ask you for help and reassurance
Coworkers who care more about what's convenient for them than what's best for kids
Coworkers who play their music too loud
Coworkers who complain too much
Coworkers who take my State car
Metro jail policies
Metro jail staff
Snow on my day off
The Hand That Rocks the Cradle
My Zune
Furnaces that leak carbon monoxide
Water heaters that only heat 10-minutes worth of water
Microwaves that stop working for no reason
Computer viruses
Clients with bad boundaries
Clients with lice
Clients who don't follow through with homework
Clients who refuse to take their meds
Clients who try to control me
Old coffee
Houses without a washer or dryer
Dwight Schrute
The Nip/Tuck series finale
Noisy neighbors
Asshole neighbors
Neighbors who think they can park wherever they want
Neighbors who stack trash up next to the dumpster
Neighbors who doorbell ditch
Moms who enable their kids
Moms who blame their kids for stuff they didn't do
Judgmental people
Hateful people

*Title respectfully and thankfully borrowed from X96 Radio From Hell