On "The" Suitcase

Last week we were at dinner at some good friends' place. They live in an area where we've been looking for a new house to rent, so we stopped by and ended up staying for dinner. We had a great time, especially because we learned about The Suitcase.

Our friends have been married about 20 years, so they have A LOT of experience on being married! They keep all their luggage in their garage for when they travel, except for a single suitcase that resides in the master bedroom's closet. Apparently, every now and then- and always in turn!- one of the two gets so fed up with the other that starts packing to leave. We were incredulous!!

"What do you mean you pack to leave??"
"Well, either me or her get so pissed off with the other we decide we're going to leave. So while one packs, the other goes and bothers: "Did you remember the underwear?", "Have you packed enough socks?", and so on. We usually make up before the suitcase is closed!"
"Wait- don't you feel a bit silly every time you pull out the suitcase screaming "I'm leaving!", knowing you won't really?"
"Well, every time we really think it's going to be the last time we do it!"

And I thought we were weird because we always speak Italian, but we argue in English!

On Knowing Each Other

Overheard at dinner last night:
"So what is your wife's degree on?"
"I don't know about her undergrad, but she has a master in linguistic."

The wife in question was not obviously there. I advised my friend that he was threading dangerous waters. Not knowing what her undergrad is is pretty dangerous. That is the kind of thing that, at the beginning of dating, you're supposed to pay attention to. Because it's not okay, two or three years after you have met each other, asking "so, what did you graduate in?" It doesn't fly!! We told him we were going to make sure someone else asks her when he's not around, or he should go back to his in-laws and figure it out.

Now I have to wonder whether my husband knows what my undergrad is in. And then again, I'm an engineer- if you have been around me, you know it's pretty hard to forget that!! :D

On Husbands in School

While my husband is pursuing an MBA at the same as me while keeping a full time job to pay the bills, my friend’s husband is also in school, getting his JD in LA. We rarely talk about this side of our husbands, but today was venting day, and so we decided that it was time for it to happen. We just so happened to be talking about our fabulous weekend in Napa, a girls’ retreat that did all of us a lot of good, when I mentioned that my husband was a bit upset about leaving him behind and all alone on Easter day. Well, I wasn’t really having any of it, because:

1. 1. I have spent way too many weekends locked up at home because he needed to study;

2. 2. He was just in Italy for about ten days, doing little to no work, and

3. 3. I was NOT going to stay home just to hear he could not do anything ‘cause he has final this weekend.

I thought I was absolutely brilliant in deciding to spend the weekend away, and it turns out he was a bit disgruntled about it. My friend’s take was that although he did not want her to go visit, he decided to spend the weekend without studying. As said before, it’s good to know you’re not the first, nor the only person struggling with the same issues!

I am so ready for my husband to be done with school… I might be a pain when I am bored, but he’s a whiner when he’s miserable, and he’s been miserable several times (and WAY too often!) during the past year. And I understand the pressure of being a triple-A performers while keeping a full time job, but my argument is…

Are we really sure that the A+ in Organizational Behavior is better than spending a Sunday outdoor with your wife???

On Being Arrogant

Game Theory class, 8 am, Tuesday morning. My team and I have built a pretty tough reputation- for which we got called arrogant, stand-offish, impossible. But we're making a lot more money than anyone else. we got grilled last week on our attitude, but this week we're getting some pretty good rewards.
"Being arrogant pays off", I say to our professor.
"Apparently," he replies, "however my wife doesn't seem to think so".

Good to know other people's marriages work exactly like mine!