reaching and settling

In life, we constantly try to improve ourselves, our lives, our houses. We upgrade, modify, or all together change things to make our lives better.

In that vein, let me tell you the theory of reaching and settling. A popular TV show once said that in every relationship, one person is the reacher, or the one trying to upgrade, and the other is the settler, or the one who definitely lowered their standards.

In my marriage, I am definitely the reacher. Here are my reasons:

1.) Melissa gave birth to 7 kids, six of them naturally. She has survived Gangrene, MRSA, a pinched nerve, and my unnaturally funny jokes. And, despite all this torture which, let's face it, is originally my fault...she still loves me.

2.) Melissa's father hated me at first. Now, every daughter is her father's little girl, and despite this, she still loved me and knew from the get go we were to be married.

3.) She hates pizza. OK...let's face it...that last one is a deal breaker. I should kick her out of my house right now. And despite my unholy love for pizza, she puts up with it.

4.) She is the most beautiful woman in the world to me. I look like shi tzu...a bald shi tzu...

So, there you go. Melissa is definitely the settler. I am the reacher. But, that's OK. I will still stay married to her, despite her obvious lack of taste in men. Besides, tonight's pizza night!

Anywhere he was going, he was running...

Have you heard that line before? If you have, than you have seen "Forrest Gump". It's a movie about a simple man whose life is full of extraordinary events. One of the pivotal spots in the movie, starring Tom Hanks, is when Forrest's girlfriend leaves him. He is so upset, he just decides to run, and in doing so, runs back and forth across the country, coast to coast, 3 times. And at the pinnacle of this event, when hundreds of people are following after him on his run, he just suddenly decides to stop and go home.
Why do I bring this up? I have recently began to run. OK, I lied. I am walking/running. I have started a new program called "couch to 5K". It is a running guideline for people who have pretty much lived a sedentary lifestyle and want to run a 5K.
It starts out walking and running, and over the course of 9+ weeks, you will end up being able to run 5K. And, for the record, I have eaten a few too many Twinkies in my life.
I started this program this past Wednesday with my daughter. I believe the last words of wisdom I imparted to my daughter at the end of the run was "tell my wife I love her". Yes, I am pretty sure I was at death's door. In fact, I was so out of breath, I was not only at death's door, but I was invited in for dinner. Luckily, I wasn't hungry, because anybody who is anybody will tell you, death makes a mean meatloaf...it's to die for.
However, since then, I have run twice more, and will go out again tonite. So if you see me, I will be running...or walking...or having hor-d'ouvres with a hooded fellow.