Thursday, August 2, 2012

Catching up to promises

I know I know I know, I am behind on my promises. I owe you the continuation of our exchange student story and a report on my latest hubby experiment. Let’s start with the second promise (yes I like to be different and start with the second thing on a list): the experiment.
So even though I am way behind, I was able to pull off four of the corny tasks that I set myself to do. Here they are:
·         Text him at work that you were just thinking about what a great man he is and that thinking of him made you smile:  I did and He texted back: “Little Doggie (he calls me that :P) I also love you sooooooooo much” ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!! Maybe this experiment is not so bad after all…maybe this is the kind of thing that a husband appreciates!

·         Take a photo of yourself with your kids and text it to him with the caption "Hi, from your fan club": The only kid we have is Babu, so I took a picture of me, cuddling with our four legged little girl and sent it to him with the suggested caption while he was on his way back home from work….I waited and waited and no reply. When he got home I asked him, did you get my text? He said “yes”, “Are you going to reply?” I enquired….. His texting reply (while sitting right next to me) was: YES…WTF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!??????? He obviously has to be in the right state of mind for this kind of corniness…..whatever dude, your fan club just lost two members (just kidding)!

·         Send him an email just to say you love him and appreciate him: Again, I did and I got a good short and to the point reply: “I love you too” I take it!!

·         Put the kids to bed a little early and offer him a head massage.  Lay him back in your lap and rub his scalp and forehead.  Dab some sweet perfume on your wrists before you start: Again, not kids to worry. I didn’t really plan this one but one night when we were lying in bed I happended to touch his head and he immediately asked for a head massage, one of his favorite things in the world. I usually say OK and scratch his head for about 5 minutes and then I am done. Not this time, this time I did it the pro way: scratching and massaging, giving him the whole works. There wasn’t a square inch on his round head that didn’t get the treatment. It lasted for a long time…at least 20 minutes. Of course one can never get enough of a good head massage (I LOVE them as well) so even though I put my best effort forward, he still asked: you are done? So soon?
So mixed reviews on this experiment so far. It is obvious that I picked the easiest and less corny tasks to start, but it does come to prove that the little things and gestures do make a difference when it comes to relationships. This is not a lesson learned for me because I have known this for a looooooooooooonnggggggg time….why don’t I do it more often you ask? Cause I am lame and lazy I suppose and like many spouses I start taking my amazingly handsome hubby for granted. At least I have 26 more tasks to go so the good news is that there will be no taking for granted in the next few days J
Moving on to our exchange student:
So before we picked up our student I typed a piece of paper with all kinds of useful information (phone numbers, addresses, directions, instructions, a hilarious joke) and left it on his bed. Pablo congratulated me for the great idea but made sure to tell me that next time we should be more professional and laminate it……….HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA OK!!!?? What about getting wasted with the student or taking him to a jell-o wrestling match or to an adult kickball game…how professional is that!!! (Anyway I am getting ahead of myself)
We picked up Jonas (23) at the airport on a Sunday and he is super cute! Feels like we have a new son and we love him and his little broken English immediately. He is super friendly and social, so much so that by Monday he already had a better social life than we do. During the weeks that followed we didn’t really get to see him that much because he felt in love with Vegas (spent two weeks there) and like I said before he was too busy making friends to spend time with his old host parents. I am proud of the fact that when we did hang out we were good sources of cultural information for our Swiss boy. For example: When he asked: “why do Americans have so many trucks?” we explained that Americans just like big stuff. When asked if he could really have unlimited refills at restaurants we replied: “YES!” is one of the reasons Francesca decided to stay forever. When he asked: “what is the difference between “maybe”, “perhaps” and “I might?” we replied: “I have no idea.” So yeah, we did make a difference in somebody’s life and it feels awesome. Plus like I said before we taught him to play adult kickball, took him to his first MMA fight, and invited him to my dog’s birthday party and to my debut as a jell-o wrestler. I am pretty sure he will not forget this experience any time soon. Neither will we Jonas, neither will we J