Friday, October 9, 2009

Friday Foibles ~~ Marital Mahem





Hope you're enjoying these little TGIF fun-starters. Ah, the human condition, with all its warts and zits, hunh?

Today's entry comes from my own shameful personal case files.

Really, I'm a low maintenance, non-diva, decidedly un-fishwiferly type spouse. Very little is required to make me happy; common courtesy and consideration, honesty and equitable arrangements. Now, is that too much to ask, I ask you?

Things that bother my married women friends -- dirty shoes in the house, long spousal working hours (or God forbid, a job that entails  lots o' travel), loud personally offensive bodily noises, bad table manners, neglectful parenting practices, refusal to share household chores, sports addictions...you get the picture. Those things flow like so much murky water under my marital bridge.

But what does bother me (or, "get my goat," as is the popular old regional saying goes), is something I've fought valiantly, but without any success, to correct lo these 25 years now......



......I mean........REALLY?.......







And what's your relationship pet peeve?


42 comments:

Anonymous said...

ahhhhhhhhh, i see you are still backerds in your thinkin'! not gettin' that pet peeves should be self-directed, hon. the problem, dear twinny, is your lack of insight in figgerin' out WHY he must rush from the toilette (that's french for 'outhouse'). i know all men are flyin' out so quick they just simply forget to re-roll--maybe to put the lid down, too?. whizzin' outta there to get to work early and make money so ya can enjoy the fabalous lifestyle they's affordin' ya! take my advice: be gratefull and look inward fer all answers.
time for another cup fulla perspective-cream & accountability-sugar. want one?

Carol Murdock said...

Ha! Ha! Ha! Mine is the "paper" too! I like it to hang frontward and he takes it off the stand then puts it back on backward! I can't get it to come loose! :)

Donna M. Kohlstrom said...

Frying food! I never knew that one person frying food (and then walks away) can leave such a greasy mess that it covers the kitchen, never mind smokes up the house. Most times I consider getting a powerwasher after he fries or make him do it outside from now on! Please don't tell him I wrote this comment! LOL!

Janna Leadbetter said...

LOL! I hope you noticed this problem before you sat down. ;)

I think it's similar but more generic for me - leaving multiple things like that for me to come by and fix, clean, what have you.

CKHB said...

If you constantly take dishes and glasses OUT of specific places in the cupboards, why are you not capable of putting them BACK in those same places? Short glasses on the right! Tall glasses on the left! How hard is that? It's always been that way! Why can you not empty a dishwasher?!?!

And don't get me started about hanging up wet towels...

Jody Hedlund said...

Too funny! I just sat down to that very situation, but since I have five kiddos, I'm having the trouble of teaching them to replace the empty roll!! :)

Angie Ledbetter said...

Dear twin: Thanks for finally explaining things to me. It's been MY fault all along. Figures. :) And no thanks on the coffee...I've way too much of that kind already, but I DO know several people who need to be introduced to it.

Carol - I'm a frong hanger too. (The correct method.) :D

LOL Donna. Mum's the word. Using a frying pot lid seriously helps with the greasy mess & smell.

Janna - I learned long ago to keep extra full rolls nearby. (We have the same problem with dropped Splenda packets by the coffee pot, etc.) I have wondered if it was a genetic glitch, but I know several men who somehow manage to change rolls, fill ice trays (back in the day), pick up little messes they make, etc. We'll just attribute it to bad "raising." hehe

CKHB - Amen and ditto!

Jody -- Train up those children the right way, dear. :D

JKS said...

Alas, I feel it is my obligation to the world to replace empty TP rolls, even in public restrooms. Over the past year I've replaced 27that I was not personally responsible for emptying... really, I counted!

Rebecca Nazar said...

I have the same problem at my house, and I'm the only one clever enough to change one.

Regina said...

Okay- my hubby leaves his socks on the kitchen counter. He kind of likes to *strip* down when he gets home from a long day and that's where I usually am- in the kitchen- so he just starts there! Then he's off to something else and there are his socks, like part of the dinner menu!
;)

Suldog said...

My pet peeve is crumbs and other small bits of detritus left on the counter by the sink. Just brush the damn stuff into the sink. Not that hard.

Overall, though, MY WIFE and I just put up with whatever small things the other does that might be 'wrong'. That's why we have a very happy and stress-free marriage. Both of us figure that whatever thing the other is doing to piss us off, we must be doing something like that ourselves, so letting it slide is usually best!

Stacy Post said...

Hilarious, Angie! My pet peeve? I can't stand to ride in my husband's car. He drives all over the state and never bothers to clean out the dirty cups, fast food bags or paperwork. I avoid riding in his vehicle as much as possible. (We usually take my vehicle.) He's not that way anywhere else. But my sons have the TP trick down pat! Argh! :)

Diane said...

Love the visual! Have a great weekend. :O)

Carrie Wilson Link said...

Peeve? Singular? I only get one?

Angie Ledbetter said...

JKS - LOL. I never realized how widespread this problem is. Thank you for being an agent of ...change. :)

Rebecca - Cleaver or just not lazy? hehe

Red Bird - I'll swap peeves with ya! :0)

You are so right Suldawg. Sometimes it just helps to vent, though.

Stacy - I guess it wouldn't help to give him coupons or gift cards for birthday/Christmas to have his car cleaned? eww. Sorry about sons following in the "lazy TP changer" footsteps. :)

Have a great weekend yourself, Diane.

LOL Carrie - You can add an ess. Let 'em out girl!

Sandra Leigh said...

Suldog is right. That said, I think the TP problem is universal. It's part of a set that includes sugar bowls, salt shakers, and pepper mills, all of which can only be refilled by one person in the household. In our household, that's me.

I try to remind myself that there are other tasks that would never get done if my husband didn't do them (mostly outdoor stuff). I still grit my teeth, though, when confronted with an empty pepper mill/paper roll.

Michelle D. Argyle said...

Oh, I'm holding my stomach and laughing!!!! My husband does that too. URGH!

Tere Kirkland said...

LOL, is it an instinctual thing, or do they teach them that when we're all learning about the miracle of cramps and bloat and crabbiness? ;)

Angie Ledbetter said...

Well, thank you Sandra. I finally understand now. :D

Lady G. - Is it part of their gene coding, like male pattern baldness?

Tere - I just don't know what's the deal. Is that big heavy roll just too much for them to lift and replace??? LOL

Sugar Creek Beads said...

What makes me nuts is that when he, or anyone really, stands up from his chair at the dining table and doesn't push it back in. Such a simple thing to do when you have to pull it out to begin with to sit down. That and leaving cabinet doors open drive me slightly crazy everytime. Love all the comments. So funny! Jeanne

Scott said...

I don't think I have enough time or space . . . kidding.

How about taking out the trash in the kitchen and not putting a new trashbag in the container? Oh, then there's the fact that I'm not allowed to place anything - candle, picture, knick-knack - in any room of the house other than my office. If I do, I can place money on it that beloved love of my life will move said item when I'm not home.

Now, if I'm in a snippy kind of mood, I'll wait until beloved love of my life goes to work and move said item back to where I had it in the first place. Then, beloved love of my life will move item when I go to work.

Then, if I'm really, really in a snippy mood . . . I'll go through the house and slightly adjust the pictures/paintings on the walls so they're just a wee bit crooked. That drives beloved love of my life absolutely crazy.

Yes, it's the small battles in life that are the most worthwhile.

And . . . I rarely do the picture tilt thing . . . just every now and then to relieve the stress caused by the beloved love of my life.

S

Kasie West said...

LOL Ah, yes, one of my pet peeves. And is it wrong or is it the sign of being a writer that I don't mind when my husband has long work hours or goes out of town (it's more time for me to write without feeling neglectful). :) But, one thing that has bothered me from week 2 of our marriage--the man swallows loud. I know, it's so petty, but come on, take smaller bites or learn how not to gulp. LOL

Rebecca Woodhead said...

Hee hee! Where do I start? Hmm...Oh I know: he says he'll do the washing up and he does it but he leaves one item in the sink at the end. There's no reason. Why?

Rebecca
www.rebeccawoodhead.com/diary

Jane! said...

Ah, so much to pick from....
I'm going to have to go with his inability to master the use of hangers. I have to say his shortcoming has inspired me to think of many creative applications of said hangers.

Kathryn Magendie said...

laughing - which is why I have my own bathroom, thankee lawd!

Analisa said...

When I was married my husbands normal routine was to get up in the morning and take a shower.
My pet peeve and heads up to all the men who would like a little lovin' from your wife. Come to bed clean. There is nothing like the scent of a clean man. Shower twice if you need to but come to bed clean.

I live with a 17yr old teen and we each have our own bathrooms. It will be the only thing in the prenup if I marry again, my own bathroom.

Michelle H. said...

I'm not married. But I remember a pet peeve from the menfolk in the family. They would eat nearly an entire bag of potato chips in one sitting, but then stop while leaving a few chips inside. They would put the bag back into the pantry without touching it again until those few chips go stale.

Just finish the blasted bag! Eat those piffling crumbs or toss them out!

Karen said...

My hubbie-asking if I want on the computer, I respond yes. I stop what I'm doing and go to the computer, and then he's started something else on it. Oh for two computers!!

Jill Kemerer said...

LOL!! Yep!! And the overflowing garbage bag that only I seem capable of taking out to the garage. Love your Friday posts!!

Angie Ledbetter said...

Sugar Creek Beads - Those things could make me crazy(ier) if I didn't hurry up and just "fix" them. :)

Scott - Sounds like BLOML has just a touch of the Jeff Lewis going on. LOL

*shudder* on the loud swallowing noises, Kasie. What's up wit dat?!

Rebecca - Just a little act of passive-agressive rebellion? :}

Angie Ledbetter said...

LOL Jane. Might one of those uses be a sharp whack to the bahonkus?

That's right Kathryn. Come here and bragggggg! *grin*

Analisa - Hmm, a prenup with a cleanliness clause. I like it!

Michelle - yeah, but if you eat 'em all, you have to throw the bag away and admit you consumed an entire bag!

I hope you ask Santa for your own laptop for Christmas, Karen. REAL good deals going on now.

Thank you Jill. And what IS up wit dat?! Same at my house.

Belle said...

Love the picture - so funny! My husband is actually the one who does most of the cleaning and cooking around here, so my pet peeve is probably not as common. He's forever putting things away and not remembering where he's put them. Or putting things away that weren't supposed to be put away - and not remembering where he's put them. The constant refrain around here is usually, "oh, no, where's my homework/permission form/favorite top" to which the reply is always "you'd better go ask Dad. Hope he remembers."

Sarah Wylie said...

Haha!! Actually, that bothers me too! But with roomies, not husbands ;)

Thanks for stopping by my blog and following! It's nice to "meet" you!

Angie Ledbetter said...

LOL Belle. We all have our little gripes, hunh? Thanks for coming by!

Ditto Sarah. :D

Elizabeth Bradley said...

I am doomed, doomed to be the one to replace the toilet paper roll. And how hard is it, to throw your poo poo undies in a hamper, when it's not three feet from where you dump them on the floor??? Oh well, I don't gripe about it. After all these years I just throw the dirty clothes in the hamper myself.

Laura Martone said...

Hmmm... This is a hard one for me to answer 'cause I'm usually the one who forgets to change the toilet paper roll. Gulp.

Still, I sure wish he'd throw out empty packaging and spoiled leftovers instead of leaving them on the counter, only a few feet from the garbage can. But then again, my issues with the toilet paper irk him something awful. So, all's fair in love and war, I say.

Angie Ledbetter said...

Elizabeth & Laura - At least I'm in good company! I just wonder what's up with that can't-throw-things-away/put away-even-if-the-recepticle's-nearby syndrome?

Jessica Nelson said...

That is TOO funny!

My pet peeve is hubby yelling for me from across the house, and expecting me to come running. LOL

Hilary said...

Like Suldog said.. sometimes you've just got to roll with the punches. ;) Funny post ... the image made me laugh out loud. Frank actually REMOVES the roll from the holder because he thinks it's an awkward reach... sigh!

Deb Shucka said...

So funny! Mine is the empty ice container in the fridge or the empty coffee cup on the counter - right over the dishwasher.

Dorothy said...

LOL, you've got one of those?
The empty toilet paper dispenser is my greatest pet peeve, right up there with empty ice trays left on the counter.

K. said...

I would take the lazy toilet paper avoidant any day! My hubs is OCD and is cleaning up after I already clean up!!! That's my pet peeve...

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