Project Happily Ever After

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Today marks the official end of Dina Lynch Eisenberg’s Gratitude Project. If you have not been reading along then a quick recap: she’s challenged us snarky married types to thank our spouses three times a day for 10 days straight.

I took on the challenge. I’ve written about some of my experiences so far:

* My Gratitude Project

* Can a Natural Complainer Learn How to Give Thanks

How did this go overall? First, I can’t say that I thanked my husband three times a day every day as directed. I sort of forgot to do it here and there.

What can I say? I’m busy. He’s busy. We’re busy. There are days we barely talk more or less do or not do something that generates a thank you.

I can say that I did thank him a lot more than usual, with my usual amount of thanks being close to zero. My thanks ranged from the mundane (thanks for muting the TV so I could listen to my music) to the truly heartfelt (thanks for coming home from work early because I was so tired that I could not stand up.)

Perhaps my deepest thanks came mid last week when my husband knocked himself out and made a casserole dish full of baked ziti. As I dished my portion, he was busy doing laundry in the basement. I asked him if he wanted any. He said he would in a little while. I ate. I put my plate in the dishwasher. I left the ziti on the stove for him.

Then I went to my computer to do a little work.

Then I heard, “Bad dog!”

Then I heard, “Why did you let the dog eat the ziti?”

Then I thought, “Why did I ever marry you in the first place?” I won’t write all of the other things I thought because they are all R rated for language and violence.

I stood up and turned toward the kitchen. Then I thought better of it. I sat back down.

I heard him tell the dog to “Git!”

I waited.

Then, he did something he never does. He walked over to me and said, “I’m sorry I yelled at you. I was just frustrated. I know it wasn’t your fault that the dog ate the ziti.”

“Thanks for apologizing,” I said. We hugged.

And I really was thankful, because my husband almost never admits he’s wrong. That he admitted it so quickly? It said a lot about how far our marriage has come in the past year.

The Gratitude Project seems to have made us a closer and happier couple. It’s made me a happier person, which got me thinking. If noticing the good-for-something nature of my husband can lead to a happy marriage, can noticing the good in life lead to personal happiness? So I’ve started giving thanks each day to the greater universe. Today I am giving thanks for:

The Power of Mommy Bloggers. Motrin Gate proved to us that Mommy Bloggers rock! You can read the best of what mommy bloggers have to offer at the Best of Mommy Bloggers carnival, hosted by Under the Big Blue Sky.

Coffee. My husband is bringing me a latte. I can’t wait to drink it. Sure, I will get instantly hooked and then have to wean myself off the stuff. But it will be worth it! (For more about my on again off again love affair with coffee see My Husband, Coffee and Bad Food). Oh, and I’m thankful that my husband called me and offered to make a latte delivery—just because he apparently loves me that much.

That I ran this morning. I’m done with all things exercise until at least tomorrow. More important, I haven’t been running much because of a pain in my hip. It didn’t hurt that badly today, so I must be getting better.

The sun. It’s out today. I like that.

Fleece and flannel. I’m wearing pink plaid flannel pants I found at Old Navy and a red fleece top. I might not match, but I couldn’t be more comfortable. And I’m warm enough that I can turn down the heater and save money, too.

BounceU. My daughter and I went to one for a birthday party last night. I usually abhor kid’s parties, but I have just two words for this one: Holy Fun. BounceU is a giant gym full of those blow up bouncers and slides. And the adults can bounce, too. My favorite part was fitting my oversized bod into a little sack with my daughter and going down the big slide at 50 mph. Just putting this out there to the greater birthday universe: if any child would like to have a party at BounceU, our 4 year old would be happy to attend.

Coming Tomorrow: The Art of Not Showering

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Tags: gratitude, happiness, Marriage Advice

This entry was posted on Tuesday, November 18th, 2008 at 11:24 am and is filed under Happiness advice, Random Musings. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.