For those who don’t get excited about receiving gifts, giving them can be a chore. Worse yet, gift-giving can become a no-win trap, one in which they are certain to disappoint someone who matters a lot to them. Here are seven ways to have more fun this month if you love giving and receiving gifts but your spouse doesn’t: Create a wish list and make it easy for your mate to find. Find...
My preschooler nephew provided an unexpected reminder on Thanksgiving of how to make love last. After dinner, he helped decorate the Christmas tree, then announced we should all gather around it to sing, “We Wish You a Merry Christmas.” He grabbed me and said, “Aunt Patty, let’s get the books!” I was surprised anyone keeps a set of Christmas carol song books in their...
This blog gets cross-posted in my Facebook Notes, where I was asked an interesting question this morning (well, morning for me, afternoon for David, who asked): Hey Patty, I get Assume Love, but what about expect love. Isn’t that the opposite? Assume love is taking the onus on yourself while expect love is waiting for someone else to give it. Or am I reading too much into this? This is such...
My Husband Made Me Eat It is my new column for married folks trying to maintain weight loss, like me. It’s part of a fantastic web site filled with great tips and advice for anyone losing weight or keeping it off, SecondHelpingOnline.com. Check out recipes like Turkey Burgers Garnished with Chopped Roasted Shallot, Catalan Mushrooms, and Maple Molasses Chipotle Ketchup or easy-on-the...
A lucky few grow up able to see what love is and how their parents love each other, growing better at it every year. But most of us don’t. We go into marriage with something like the Foreigner song lyric lurking in our heads: “I wanna know what love is; I want you to show me.” We meet a good man or woman, discover love, and marry. At first, we’re fine. We feel so loved. We...
