Lotta strands in the ole Duder's head

posted by Melissa
Things on my mind:

I never updated on the therapy vs. poker experiment.  It sorta worked for a bit.  I found out the when you want to be "princessed" (i.e. treated like a princess) for 2 weeks, you should probably have a concrete idea of what that means.  Otherwise, you will never get what you want, likely because you have no idea what the hell it is in the first place.  (ps...I have no idea where this princess thing came from, and am more than a little bit embarrassed to be writing about it.)

And your husband will fail, through no fault of his own.  (I can't believe I admitted that last part.)  Men need lists, whether it is for the grocery store or for treating you like you want to be treated.  And this is especially true if you are making up a new word for what you want, it's not like he could even look it up in the urban dictionary.

OK, I just looked up "princess treatment" (because it was the closest thing I could find) on the aforementioned urban dictionary.  Holy shit, I had no idea.  And no thank you, Jamie.  My two weeks is about a lack of touching, and licking.  Ok, TMI.  Moving on.

Beets and Collard Greens, grown from seed.
I also forgot that I wanted to mention in May that I continued on with last May's topic, Growing our own food.  I replanted my little garden plot out front.  It seems to be doing quite nicely and I even have room for more plants.  More lettuce?  Kale again?  So far I have sugar snap peas, sun gold tomatoes, beets, collard greens, spicy lettuce mix, dahlias, a sunflower or two, bee's friend flowers, thyme, sage and marjoram. 

On the bowling front:  Jamie and I went to the Garage on Saturday night to try and get a game of bowling in.  The place was so packed that we never did get a lane.  The frustrating part for me was that there were empty lanes.  It's just that people were chatting or eating and not bowling, but paying for the lane.  

On the upside, we heard lots of good music, Eazy-E "The Boyz in the Hood" being one of my faves of the night.  I learned that the lyrics are "talking that trash we'll pull your card."  I always thought they were working in a car shop or something and they would come and "pull your car."  Like tow it or literally I pictured all these gangsters lifting the front of some big ass car and pulling it down the street.  Wow, all these years, singing Eazy-E all wrong.

My school quarter is almost over.  And unlike my lyrical rap skillz, I hope to do much better when it comes to remember the quadratic formula or naming ionic compounds.  I have finals this week.  I do love math and chemistry, but today I'd rather be outside in the sun.  Or at the bowling alley.  Or reading a novel, or poetry.  Or maybe cleaning out my closet and doing laundry.  Or blogging.  I just have to sit my ass down and open the book and get to work on some problems.  Once I am there and in it, I do love it.
And finally, I have been thinking ahead for the blog.  Next month is reciting a classic poem.  I have a few in mind.  Wondering if you all have any ideas?  So far I am thinking: T.S. Eliot, "The Love Song of J. Alfred Prufrock" or something by H.D. or Denise Levertov or Shakespeare.
Who are your favorite poets?
(damn Blogger, I cannot get this centering to change, it is not an artistic touch, more a technical ineptitude)

There you have it, a tiny glimpse into my mind, at the moment.  And now onto studying, if I don't get an A in all three classes (and fine, I'll settle for an A-) I know I'll be disappointed.  Wish me luck!

-Melissa

Location, location, location

Yes, I do think this setting makes everything easier.

I am sure you are all asking yourselves the same question...."How is the bet between Jamie and Melissa going?  Is it really better than therapy?"

The answer is..."Yes!  It is better than therapy, so far."

Paradise

The update:  So far Jamie has had his two weeks, wherein we live in our marital bliss by his standards.  I would have to say it has gone very well.  Considering that the weeks prior were spent arguing talking about our relationship at every given free moment, having two weeks of relatively "talk" free bliss was heaven.  Now is the fist day of my two weeks, and all I can say is let the Princessing (as I have coined my two weeks) begin.  

It could have made it easy for me to be the one to give in and let things go my spouse's way, given that we spent the last week in the Bahamas.  Yes, we were taken to the beautiful resort called Atlantis on Paradise island.  It was so fun and sunny, lots of swimming and time spent looking at the unbelievably blue water.   Why did we move to Seattle????

Dianne scooping up her chips!

And we did get a game or two of poker in while we were away.  Jamie, me and his Mom, Dianne, all sat down for a night of poker.  She shared a lot of stories about how her and her friends used to get together and play poker quite a bit.  I really enjoyed listening to her and thinking of how generations can enjoy the same things, I bet her parents had poker nights too.  What I did not enjoy though, was the fact that I was the big loser again.  Dianne took the pot that night, but luckily we didn't play for money.  And lucky for me, I was the big winner anyway, just for being able to be there on vacation with everyone.  Thanks, Pete and Dianne!


We have a couple more poker nights coming up this weekend, so stay tuned....
Melissa

Who needs therapy when you've got poker?

Poker: Winner for 'Best Couples Therapy'.

Poker has infused the Baumgart home in many ways.  Not only have we been hosting the somewhat weekly poker nights, but we have taken to using gambling on poker games as a way of solving family quarrels.

Last night, after  years of arguing over some relationship issues, Jamie proposed a new plan of attack:

"How about this?  Why don't we play poker and whoever wins gets to have things their way for two weeks first.  Then the other person gets to have things their way for two weeks."

"Hmmmm," I reply.  "Sounds good to me.  We both get what we want, but who has to give in first?  I can play for that. "

"Totally.  And then we'll just keep going like that, two weeks on, two weeks off."  He says somewhat assured of some success in the endeavour.  "I mean, therapy didn't work, but maybe poker will."

We set up the chips and started playing.  We called an hour limit to the game.  And I knew I was going to win.

I didn't.

Today started day one of my two week, things go Jamie's way lifestyle.  So far, it ain't so bad.  And now we can be pretty much guaranteed four weeks of not arguing.  We have to at least honor the poker table.  I actually think that this is going to be great.  We get to get our way, without fighting about it, and maybe...just maybe we will see the beauty that is held within the other's needs and desires.

Next up, was another hour long game...but this time with the kids, the older ones.  The stakes: the apartment building chore.  We live in a community oriented building where every apartment has a monthly chose.  This month our is cleaning the back stairwell.  Vacuuming, dusting, sweeping.  With three minutes left to play, and one more hand of poker, Levi (in the losing seat at this point) decides he is out.  He wants to stop playing, and therefore, not be held to his wager.

That's my boy.  He whined and negotiated and tried to talk his way out of it.  In the end, his big sister, you know "the good one", she stood up and took it on.  Today she did the chore, and somehow got Tallulah to help her.  And while I still want Levi to get that he needs to follow through on his word, I am pleased to see how one of my kids stood up and took care of the other in what seemed to be a place of utter pain.  Being faced with a chore.

So, you see, poker just might be the solution to many dilemmas here at the Baumgart home.

And some people say it is unhealthy to gamble.  We'll just see about that!

Tonight we are hosting a Mother's day edition of Poker Night.  I say house rules are: You better let the Mama of the house win!

-Melissa