P.S. « Temporary? Insanity

P.S.

by Kym on January 23, 2009

For those of you starting to think my husband is a thinly disguised ogre (I have reacted to your concern by feeling incredibly touched and by grinning a bit), I should clarify things by pointing out that Neil is one of the most generous hearted of men. Saying no isn’t something he does, when someone is needing help of one kind or another. Sometimes this does cause conflict in our marriage, and I’ve had to (gently) point out to him that his family needs him as much as the world does, but it’s the main reason I fell in love with him.

In fact, eight years ago we were doing a long drive to meet his family for the first time and he saw a mini-van pulled over on the side of an icy road with an obviously flat tire. Without even hesitating he pulled over, helped the two stranded woman remove all the Christmas gifts from their van, find the spare tire, put it on, and then loaded the gifts back in. All in freezing cold weather in the middle of a windy mountain pass.

I love the kindness in him, and am glad that he’s teaching me how to be more charitable.

Sometimes though, I do want to smack him upside the head or pull on the reigns and say “Whoa boy!” It does get a bit much sometimes. This isn’t the first time we’ve played bed and breakfast to people passing through, and I doubt it’ll be the last. I think it has something to do with these small northern communities of ours. People are, in general, much more friendly and giving. The people staying with us are people who would gladly open their homes to us as well. Truly, we’ve had offers.

It’s a bit tricky for a city girl like myself to get used to. And I like to grumble about it even as I admire the heck out of the attitude of service that dominates the lives of so many of the people I’ve come to know and respect here.

Oh, and Neil offered me a cleaning lady once but I sad no. Curse my stubborn pride!

Thanks for all the love and concern. I’m feeling saner now and trying to find gratitude for these experiences that teach me so much about myself.

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9 comments

I knew he must be a good guy at heart, because YOU seem like a great woman! Blogs are good for venting. (-:

Whaddya MEAN you said no to a cleaning helper?! Ask if you can change your mind. Really! You will be SO SO SO glad you did! Believe me, you won’t be sitting around eating bon bons (I straighten MORE when it’s cleaning day!), but you WILL get more of that organizing done (and things STAY more organized) when someone else is doing some of the cleaning. Try it!

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by Debbie S. on January 23, 2009 at 9:59 am. #

I vote with Debbie! Why not just try it? I bet you’ll love it!

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by JustRandi on January 23, 2009 at 10:12 am. #

Ask him if he’ll reconsider–cleaning ladies are wonderful. As soon as I can afford it again, I’m getting someone else to mop my floors and clean my bathrooms. I had one for two years and it was wonderful.

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by Josi on January 23, 2009 at 10:53 am. #

Um – you need to ask for a do-over on the whole cleaner question.

YES YES YES would be my suggested answer.

I mean it’s not forever, but when you’re got young kids it can be such a huge help.

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by Tracy on January 23, 2009 at 1:48 pm. #

You turned down the chance to have a cleaning lady?!?!? ;)

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by Summer on January 23, 2009 at 3:16 pm. #

I’m just adding my own little praise of the cleaning lady here. Seriously, I know my bathrooms and floors are cleaned on a regular basis, so I can actually plan things like having carpets cleaned without it taking 8 days. So worth it.

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by mamalang on January 23, 2009 at 5:28 pm. #