Friday, March 14, 2008

Energy is neither created nor destroyed!

1st Law of Thermo....at least if memory serves, and if I'm wrong, it's obvious that I don't feel like looking it up.

Well, I'd say that the first law of thermo holds true in the realm of physics as well as the realm of emotions. E-MOTION, stands for energy in motion.

So, this evening, on the way back from our business trip down in Virginia Beach, I transferred all of my negative energy over to my wife Missy. Yes, that makes me "jerk husband of the week."

I don't do it on purpose, but having made this same error multiple times during our ten years of marriage, I'd say it qualifies me as a jerk husband of the week. I'll take it in stride, and stand up for the guys on this one. Sometimes, we deserve to be jerks once in awhile.

I got invited down to Liberty's Corporate HQ in VA Beach to hear "The Opportunity" also know as "the sales pitch" for another level of investment into LTS. Generally, I go to these things solo, but Missy decided she'd go with me and accompany me. I think she felt sorry for me after my terrible day on Monday where I had some miserable issues at the office, and then to cap off the day I totaled the beautiful red truck of my dad's, or was it Joseph's....or was it his wife's???? I'll elaborate another day.

Anyways, I digress. Missy decided she'd go with me to VB and hear the pitch. They put us up in one of the fanciest hotels down there, we were on the 12th floor, the bathroom had not only a bath tub, but a fancy stand-up shower with glass doors and walls, and it even had two shower heads. Don't let your mind race too much, I noticed the dual shower heads solo, so we really didn't take full advantage of them.

So, I was excited to spend some alone time with Missy, get jazzed up on Liberty again, watch some HD cable television (watched LOST in REAL time on a widescreen t.v.!!!!!) and escape EVERYTHING ELSE for nearly 72 Hours, from Thursday afternoon to Saturday Morning. Corporate paid for Thurs night, and Friday night, checkout isn't until 12.

We made the last minute arrangements to have Magra, Papa, Joseph and Alicia pitch in to watch the kids, which included getting Brighton to school and then loaded our stuff up and headed down. Conversation was good on the way down for the most part, except for the normal annoyances of me eating the ice from Chick-fil-a lemonade and Missy harassing me about driving too fast.

Overall the trip was going well. Missy was a champ for coming. She only nagged me here and there about talking too much or stop clicking my pen compulsively and only told me once to not follow the CEO John Hewitt around like a lost puppy...which I didn't' do.

Missy really wanted to come home Friday evening, rather than get up early at 6am (morning sickness) and drive back to make it for her church duties for the Young Women's basketball tournament. This frustrated me a bit but, I conceded with a "As you wish" like Wesley would have said from The Princess Bride. (BTW - One of Missy's favorite movies that she practically has memorized. I NOW hate the film b/c Missy's serious boyfriend that I stole her from when I got home from my mission was named Wesley. That ruined the movie for me and ruined a good family name I had picked out.)

So, once we got on the road, at 5:30pm Friday evening and start heading back, and after we got through the busiest of the traffic, (Hampton Roads Tunnel Friday Rush Hour vs. 6:30 AM Saturday Morning!!!!! COME ON!!!! Urrrrgggh) I decided I wanted to discuss some of my frustration with my dear wife. I thought I was civil about it, which I was. DIRECT and POLITE. I wasn't all emotional about it, BUT, I did transfer all of my negative energy to her. That wasn't my inital goal, I just wanted to express some of my dissatisfaction and try to come to a sensible compromise for future events.

My wife is tough as nails, and if you know her, you know that about her. But, if there's anyone that knows her soft spots that's me. And so, after having her go out of her way to be with me, and after she gave up a day of time with our precious children...which honestly, that's a testament as to how great a mother Missy is....she's not excited to "Get Away" from the children at all, she's quite the opposite and would much rather stay with the kids than to take these excursions with me......

I could have said, "Thanks for coming with me." Or "you're the hottest wife in the world" or "thanks for a great night even though you're pregnant and I nauseate you."

NOPE!! I BLEW IT!!!!!

I asked her if we could talk about some of the things that she does that REALLY annoys me.

I'm such an IDIOT! But, that's what us guys are good at...being idiots and nauseating you.

After that, there wasn't much conversation on the 3 hour ride home. So I wanted to get us home as quickly as possible so that we could get past the sounds of silence. And since I'd already ticked her off, and since she wasn't speaking to me, I figured I'd drive the way I like to drive when she's not in the car with me.....it gives new meaning to "The fast and the furious."

Again, I'm void of emotion during this drive. It's not that I was angry in any way. Remember, I transferred all of my negative energy to Missy. E-motion, energy in motion.

SO, I bump through traffic between 80 and 90mph. No wrecks on this day friends, the wreck story from early this week will be saved for later. But, there were speeds and maneuvers that on most ANY other day I would have surely heard this from my shotgun companion:

"How fast are you going?" (Like she can't look over at the speed odometer)

"Or, YOU"RE GONNA BREAK THE CAR!" (This comes during a hard downshift and sudden burst of acceleration when trying to jump over into quicker moving lanes)


So, away we go. I get to zoom through traffic and enjoy myself without hearing a word from her. I guess it's a side benefit of the energy transfer. Plus I'm feeling especially free and pretty manly for taking up for myself and trying to unload some of the crap that gets built up on a husbands mind....so my driving reflects some of the aggression too. Again, no energy was created nor destroyed, I wasn't frustrated anymore, Missy was holding it all.

My driving wasn't excessive in anyway.....I do tend to drive this way when I don't have other passengers in the vehicle. PLUS I didn't forget that I have very large and very visible Liberty Tax Service stickers on the car, so I was a little bit aggressive AND YET polite at the same time as a driver..........the way I felt I was with Missy.....a little bit aggressive and POLITE!

On more than one occasion I KNEW she just wanted to say something about my driving....but she'd mentally taken her oath and vow of silence. I knew that if I got a speeding ticket she'd probably just laugh.

SO - THEN...when we were almost home. Missy finally transferred the negative energy back to me!!!!!!!

UNBELIEVABLE!!! I don't know how she did it, but somehow, someway, without saying a word, without lifting a finger she shifted all that negative energy back into my brains. She made the transmission to our car start acting up right at the end of our trip as we pulled into town.

GREAT! Another aggravation for me to deal with. I destroyed a truck this week, and it looks like I get to add a blown up transmission to the list!!!!!!

Karma I guess.


I love my wife. She's incredible. I love her because she's as tough as nails, as stubborn as a mule, as pretty as (insert Hot supermodel name here), the greatest mother on earth, smarter than Einstein, AND she'll follow me to the ends of the earth as I chase down dreams....what more could a guy want?

What can I say...I'm just a guy....I can figure out a lot of things like physics, calculus, accounting, finance, partial differential equations.............................................

I just can't figure out women. It's been ten years so far. I think I learn more and more everyday....I just wish I could say I have it all figured out.

Maybe someday.

I love you sweetie and I'm sorry I'm such a big, fat, jerk. I promise I'll work on it.....I'll go to the gym five times this week.

3 comments:

Rach said...

So I got Dave to read your blog, mainly because I want him to start his own blog as he is a phenomenal writer, but also because he has a tendancy to release all of his negative energy on me sometimes... it's hard to handle especially when I have had a great day and then I hear all of his woes, but at the same time it is not fair for him to take the load on himself all the time, after all that is what marriage is all about... so I just try to pick him up again with positive energy and throw him back into the world for the next day... sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't, but I truly believe in the whole "positive energy" (the book The secret) philosophy to gain true happiness...

Unknown said...

Not to be insensitive to your confession and repentance process via the blogging world (one of my favorite kinds of posts by the way)

I have to say that you can take a lesson or two from LG...he is a snail of a driver! And, I don't know if I understand your negative energy thing, which tells me that LG is good to me that way.

Or, he may be just a little afraid of me. (so, I guess I should be the one to learn a lesson)

I have to say that I am cracking up at the transmission thing....thank goodness for Joe!

And, the dual shower heads...I am not saying anything, besides the fact that LG and I would have noticed those off the bat!

But, then again, I haven't been pregnant in 5 years and am the kind of mom who can't wait to have a day away from my kids,, especially with my hot husband who spent a whole evening of our honeymooon hanging out with his cousin, Jarrett.

But, Missy with her keen use of the silent treatment..that's something that I am not so good at! ha ha.

Missy truly is a gem. It is just unfortunate for the male species, that a woman has to leave him on his own to figure things out once in a while.

crashomatic said...

Well, that was an unedited, very long post.

I don't think Missy has even read it yet.

Rachel, I enjoyed your comment - "pick him up again with positive energy and throw him back into the world for the next day...."

that's all a guy can ask for.

AND ALI - having grown up with LeGrand, you probably will rarely see any negative energy from him. He may be a snail of a driver, but that's b/c at any moment he could draw from the heavens and time warp at will....that's why he's never in a hurry.

Thank goodness for Joseph, b/c the rebuilt tranmission, at our cost, is still $2200. Arrrrrrrrgggh!

Think positive, think positive.....time to sell some stuff to pay for this one!!!!