Skip to main content

Pocket Change




From the beginning of time, we women have been trying to train our husbands as illustrated in this cute cartoon from Reverendfun.com.

Since I work with my spouse, I’m always interested in couples that work together so I can observe how they fare in life. When we had dinner with Rick and Barb, we laughed when Barb said that she would never trade in Rick for another guy. They’d been married a long time, and she said that she had him trained. I knew what she meant with her debilitating disease and the way that Rick gets up early and makes the coffee, breakfast and cares for their animals so she can take her time getting ready before they leave for work. I tried to train my husband once but it didn’t work.

My hubby had a habit of leaving loose change all over the house. I let him know this annoyed me, but pocket change continued to be on every shelf and in every nick and cranny. Once, he admired a carved, dark wooden gift box I purchased at a curio shop. When he smoothed his hands over the cutout design, I willingly gave him the box suggesting it would be a great place to store his miscellaneous items and LOOSE CHANGE. He filled it with restaurant receipts, matches, and credit cards. I found loose change on the coffee table, kitchen drawer, near the computer and even by the bathroom sink. Try picking up a penny or nickel coated with soap sitting in a puddle of water.

I attended a church service when we were visiting another town and enjoyed the sermon given by a visiting missionary from Africa that the church supports. To supplement his living, he sculpts safari animals. After the service, all his wares were for sale and I found a cup in the shape of an elephant with huge ears and a big, long trunk. My husband loved it! I didn’t want to keep nagging him, so I purchased the cup and suggested that he place his LOOSE CHANGE in it. Nope. It was only filled with pens, paintbrushes, paper clips, rubber bands and twist ties.

I don’t know when tide turned, but one day loose change was nowhere to be found. I noticed it when I was getting ready to fill my purse with quarters so I could wash the car and had to ask him if he had any change. To my amazement, he walked out of the den with a gallon of loose change. Not pretty but practical, a big ugly glass gallon jar with a rusty cap now held his loose change. My husband trained himself and that’s fine with me.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Venomous Intruder

It’s the middle of rattlesnake season here on the ranch.  The local news anchor confirmed it.   I’ve seen two already.    While driving along our dirt road yesterday, I mistook a virulent enemy for a branch. I backed up the car, looked again and noticed the branch shifted revealing a rattle at its end. At one of our road association meetings in the barn, Shelby stood up and shouted, “ BOB !” to my next door neighbor.  He’s our vice president and the one all eyes were on as he gave a presentation in the middle of the room.  I sensed fear in the way she yelled his name.  I learned after the meeting that Shelby called out to him like that because she saw a rattler slither in the barn door where she and I sat.  Bob yielded to the interruption and quietly dispatched the enemy.  Ten minutes later, this tough guy was back to center stage falling right back in step with the business at hand.   Bob is my new best friend. ...
42 comments
Read more

It's Not Always About the Tomatoes

I like to travel with buddies and rename them.  I vacationed in Costa Rica with Lupe who loves margaritas   and gets a little loopy.   I don’t drink but I’m a fun gal.  Just ask my co-worker, Frank.  I nicknamed him Jellyfish.  I packed my underwater camera.  Jellyfish can hold his breath really long.  He modeled for my underwater photo shoot in the colossal pool at the resort our company chose for us. I am fascinated with rain forests so my favorite thing to do in Costa Rica is to take walks in them.  I signed up for the tour of an organic cacao working farm.  Lupe chose it too.  A group of us piled into tractors to view crops of watermelon, mango, rice and cattle while we chewed on natural sugar cane, their largest product.  We observed monkeys, Toucans, and sloths. The best part of the tour for me taught about climate change and harvest time as we walked single file among papaya trees, cacao trees, as we...
38 comments
Read more

Marriage Tip #44: Do What He Wants

I thought about our upcoming anniversary.   I prayed one morning for the marriages in my family, and a sentence about my own dropped in my spirit:  “ Do What He Wants .”  I paused, “Really?”  He’s his own man.  What if I end up in the wilderness camping by night and target shooting by day?  What if a coyote decides to have me as a late night snack? We celebrated our anniversary early this year, Before the kids come next week.   And we did it his way . This is how it happened. I never asked him about a plan or even mentioned our day.  I remember how it all unfolded at the roundabout just as we drove into Sedona.  He asked me if I would like to go to a baseball game.  I responded excitedly, “Yeah!”  Before the day was over, he purchased tickets for a Diamondbacks home game. He printed them out.  He booked a hotel room so we wouldn’t have to drive home from the city after the late evening game. ...
44 comments
Read more