Being Honest

I had a bit of a meltdown last night.

I mentioned here that I was feeling sick and hoping for a relaxing evening. Well, my last meeting of the day (scheduled from 4:00 - 5:00 but actually ran until 5:30) ended up being a pretty stressful one. When I finally made it out of my office I was spent...mentally, physically, you name it. I called Drew to see if he was already home so that one of us could pick up dinner - cooking was not something I wanted to deal with. (Quick bit of history: since being pregnant, dinner time is my absolute least favorite time of the day. I'm often exhausted when I get home and if I didn't have the sense to set something out of the freezer or plan the meal before going to work in the morning it becomes an agonizing decision at 6:00 every night. Drew & I go around and around about what sounds good (usually nothing) or requires the least amount of effort (usually going out). This is a new pregnancy thing...normally I love to cook, grocery shop, plan menus, etc. And while my husband does many things around the house, if it involves the kitchen he is useless.) So back to last night. My phone call home was met with the usual routine of "nothing take-out sounds good". I was finally so frustrated I just said forget it I'll be home in 15 minutes.

I pulled in the driveway, walked in the door and heard Drew cussing his new watch because he couldn't figure out how to set the alarm. No "Hi Honey". No "How are you feeling". Nothing. I walked upstairs without saying a word to him, starting making tacos and burst into tears. Dramatic, I know.

Drew came upstairs about 10 minutes later and started helping with the tacos. He was horrified when he noticed I had been crying. He asked what I was crying about to which I replied, "Sometimes a girl just needs a good cry". To which he replied, "Not the girl I married". True. I'm not much of a cryer. He then assumed it was work related and told me I should leave work at the office as I'm always telling him to do. I then replied it wasn't work that made me cry, it was him.

This is the part that never ceases to amaze me about men and women. We are so completely different. In my mind, I had called home and expressed that I was sick, tired and didn't want to cook. As far as I was concerned that was enough information for my husband to magically read my mind and greet me at the door with a hug, large glass of lemon water with dinner half done in the kitchen. Of course, I expressed none of that in words. He was supposed to "just know". And he didn't. After I explained that to him his reply was that he had no idea that's what I really wanted (and how could he...I never said it!) Now that he had that information, he felt really bad and was a total gem the rest of the night.

There's truth in all of those comedy routines that poke fun at men (the hunters and gatherers) and women (the nurturers). We just think differently. Which reminds me of an e-mail forward I received ages ago and liked so much I saved it. It's called "The Guy's Side of the Story" and is totally worth a read!

So that's me being honest. And despite our inherent differences, I really wouldn't want it any other way. Oh, for the record, after my meltdown it really did turn into a relaxing evening.