All in all, a pretty good Sunday is coming to a close

Even though things have not gone terribly well all weekend, Sunday actually turned out to be a pretty good day. Despite the fact that it was a bad sports day (both Mavs and Rangers lose today), I did get a chance to hang out with a friend of mine while my wife and daughter attended a baby shower in their neighborhood.

On the way home from there, I asked my wife if she wanted to go "piddle around"--something we used to do a lot on Sundays. We generally hit a few stores and just wander around looking at stuff, buying a bit here or there, trying to decide if we really need to spend money on this or that item. We did some clothes shopping--we'd spend a little time in the men's section then wander through the women's section, kids placed firmly into a cart, if possible. There's nothing more fun for a child than to hide in the racks of clothing until the parent(s) begin to panic and start looking around for pedophiles before they eventually come jumping out from a rack of denim capris or somesuch.

So we picked out a little here and a little there. The kids (as usual) were well-behaved, and we had a really good time. It had been a while since I had actually been anywhere outside of my house with my wife, so it was a pleasant surprise that we can still enjoy each other's company. She hardly ever buys any clothes unless I'm with her, mainly because I am very honest about telling her what looks good and what doesn't. After all, I don't want her wearing something that'll embarass me. Plus, she tends to get stuck in a rut (a couple of years ago, it was black pants/slacks and a white shirt--I thought I would have to burn them in order to get them out of her daily wardrobe rotation). So I give her good advice. For those that would consider this to be a bit weird for a man to do, just consider that as a man I know what looks good on a woman, sometimes better than they do.

On the other hand, I never let my wife pick out my clothes for me. We never agree on what I should wear, mainly because I think she wants me to be as unattractive and unstylish as possible--this is done in order to ward off the onslaught of sexual advances I get from the hordes of women who seek my favors. Or so it would seem anyway, based on her selections. So she usually gives advice which I discount immediately. One could probably argue that her taste in clothing is as bad as her taste in men, but that's probably an issue for another day. Or maybe she just wants me to start wearing overalls or T-shirts with Tweety or the Tasmanian Devil on it--these often tell others "hey, I've given up on life. Don't pay me any mind."

But, back to the point of this post. I really had a good time today with the old ball and chain. We didn't argue or even try to argue. We laughed a lot about stuff that was really funny and laughed about other stuff that wasn't funny at all. But we laughed anyway. It was a good day. Maybe it's because the semester is coming to an end, and the stress is considerably less magnified. Or maybe it's just because my wife isn't really the person I see every day, the one who probably does more for me than anyone else, the one that's constantly burdened by the everyday pressures of multiple roles as breadwinner, mother and wife. So it was good for her to get out for a while, too. I think it probably did us both a lot of good.