The Christmas Husband

I hope you husbands out there that celebrate Christmas are using this time of the year to enjoy your mate. By this I mean, enjoy the season, the atmosphere, the spirit and your wife's unique quirks and of course her family traditions that might differ from yours.

This picture of our tree shows a relatively normal looking Yule evergreen until you look closely at the ornaments. Many are handmade, some by me and some by our kids and grand kids. In addition there are picture ornaments, ornaments with dates memorializing family events, and ornaments given to us as presents.

The Santa Box at the lower right hand corner is one of those security gift bags that sounds an alarm if moved. I bought this for my wife's gift after warning her that her peeking days were over this year. It speaks in Santa's voice if you get near it and warns you not to peek.

Of course this is all in fun, yet there is an element of reality in choosing this item. My darling wife is a woman with a great sense of curiosity and that sense seems to be heightened at Christmas time. I spend a good deal of energy in attempts to outwit her each year as to the size, number and type of presents she'll be receiving. It adds to the fun of the season for us and has become quite a tradition. When we had kids in the house I would enlist their aid in hiding her presents and managed more than one surprise.

Our Christmases are always great fun because our anniversary is during the preceding week. We usually travel or plan some fun event for that occasion. This year we're headed to Laughlin, Nevada for a few days and then back to Phoenix to celebrate Christmas with family.

Here's hoping you have a very Merry Christmas!

The Daily Husband

Thanksgiving at your In-Laws

Like most of you Husbands out there, I follow my wife's lead as to where we spend our Holidays. This Thanksgiving we spent at her next oldest sister's house. There were probably 25 or so for the meal. It was nice to catch with my nieces and nephews, as well as Vicki's other siblings.

We played a new game (at least to me) called LRC. ( Left, Right, or Center) We played for quarters and I won. I am spending that money at Starbucks as I write this blog.

In addition, my sister-in-law has a baby grand piano that is mostly in tune. I spent a great deal of the day at the piano composing a melancholy etude and enjoying the sounds of the piano.

I hope your Thanksgiving day was a happy one.

The Daily Husband

Happy Thanksgiving to all those Husbands out there

I woke my wife up this morning to get this picture of a rainbow that greeted me as I walked to the car. (She had stored the digital camera in a place unknown to me) I think she'll forgive me when she sees it.

I am thankful to have her and our relationship this year. I do my level best to not take that for granted. Having her as lover, friend and companion for the last 27 years has been a blessing indeed.



I hope all of you have a wife that tops your thankfulness list.



The Daily Husband

Thanks for the Kudos

My friend Robert at My Wife has Agoraphobia laid a couple of awards on me this week and I want to thank him for the honors.

The Daily Husband has had many changes in direction and content, but still remains a blog about being a husband.

I believe that it is the most important role in a married man's life. Nothing can be more rewarding or fulfilling than being the best mate, friend, and companion to your wife.

That someone else out there get's that is award enough in itself.

Thanks Robert

The Daily Husband

T minus 6 and Counting

OK, it's almost time to leave the "Rents" and move into our little rental in Sun Lakes.

The "Move" or ordeal as I prefer to call it, starts Sunday morning. We must pull some furniture from our storage facility. In order to accomplish this task, all items will need to come out of the storage room and then re-stored if not needed in the place we're renting.

There is so much junk stuffed in this thing that just getting the door open requires an effort. We have hired a couple of guys to help us get it out and on the truck and reorganize what has to stay. Wish us luck. This kind of project is the kind of thing that hurts people, ruins marriages and turns good furniture into trash and bad furniture into firewood.

The upside of all this is that we should be able to sleep in our own bed by Monday night. I am looking forward to the experience. Along with sleeping in our own bed we look forward to having a place to chill out by ourselves. Both of us want to do as much as we can for Vicki's folks, but we are of the opinion we can do it from a distance. (In this case, less than a mile)


In addition, we are scheduled to get high-speed Internet hooked up that Monday and I should be able to get back to a normal routine instead of my daily visits (more like camping out really) to Starbucks.

I should miss "Bucks" society, but I probably will not. I'm more a Folgers/Safeway coffee drinker than a Grande/Latte/Venta Mocha Frappacrappacichino drinker. It's understandable that folks with extra cash should buy would they consider to be premium coffee, but I drink Starbuck's house blend every day and it ain't all that good to me.

Still, I am grateful for the Wi-Fi and some of the friends I've made here. I won't miss the place, but I just might miss talking to some very interesting people that I met in my local "Bucks".

The Daily Husband

IKEA - Swedish for bring your lunch

As most Husbands will do, I started something today I may live to regret.

Vic and I were not wanting to look at our storage unit today, because we know our furniture and belongings are just stuffed in there and will need much blood, sweat and tears to remove. It will also take a couple of guys with young legs and good muscles as well. But I digress..

So on the way to the storage unit I asked her if she would like to go and see the big IKEA store. I had no idea what I was letting myself in for on this occasion.

They give you a map and a menu when you walk in the door. That should have been sufficient warning, but it wasn't. This first clue should be enough let you know you've entered an alternative universe in which shopping for Swedish furniture and household goods requires walking miles, seeing thousands of items and stopping for refreshment and a meal in between. No kidding.

I thought it was pretty cool, till I realized they were doing this as a necessity. Husbands have been lost in this store for hours and sometimes days on end. Without food and water they would perish.

A few hours later we popped out the other end of the gigantic structure with pictures of modern Nordic furniture and decorating items burned into our memories. For a while I thought I was back in the 60s. Had there been a few more folks in bell bottoms the spell would have been complete. Luckily I escaped without a bad LSD flashback occurring.

Be warned my fellow Husbands; IKEA is Swedish for bring a lunch and they ain't kidding.

The Daily Husband

People that the world revolves around

Everyone has had a friend, neighbor, teenager or someone in their life who thinks the world revolves around them. My in-laws have a family of people like that as their neighbors.

This morning I was wakened from a sound sleep by the sound of a horn honking, repeatedly.

It seems the next door neighbors use the horn on their motorcycles and three wheelers to signal people inside their house to close the garage door. Now I know you're saying to yourselves, "Man, they could just use a remote or get off their bikes and close it." But these folks are not that swift.

Instead,the rider will signal with the horn. Too bad if you're trying to sleep right next door and your open bedroom window is assaulted by the horn.

When they woke me this morning I bounded out of bed in my shorts, went to the street and confronted a rider on a Harley three wheeler. The rider was dressed all in black leather and even had on a black wind scarf. I was without my glasses and couldn't tell the gender of the rider at first.

I pointed to my bedroom window and asked that they please not honk their horns and wake me up. From beneath the wind scarf came a little squeaky "Sorry". I guess it was one of the biker chicks on the three wheeler this morning.

More than likely the image of me in my pajama shorts with hair looking like antenna will stay with her long enough to remind her to find another way to get the door closed. It was not a pretty picture and I was somewhat perturbed as well. My guess is that she picked up on that too.

We move in to our own place the 1st of December, so the problem will solve itself eventually, but I react very unfavorably to being awakened in so thoughtless and uncaring a manner.

Some people really think the world revolves around them and their every need and action.

It ain't so.

The Daily Husband