"You have to train them"

No, I'm not talking about dogs.  I'm talking about men.  I can't tell you how many times I've had this statement "You have to train them" repeated to me.  My mom's said it, my friends have said it, even my younger cousin has said it - while her boyfriend sat right next to her.  This advice hasn't exactly been solicited, but wiser women feel the need to say it to me every time I mention that my fiance is moving in. 

My fiance and I have been living together for about two weeks now, and it's been bliss so far.  We've already had our first domestic fight, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.  One night while I was lying in bed, I saw Devin carrying one of our bed's throw pillows, which is adorned with a $40 Pottery Barn pillow case that I had to wait three months to get as it was on back order.  I calmly said, "What are you doing with that pillow?"  And Devin looked at me innocently, "I'm going to sleep on it.  I need two pillows."  I then, of course, lost my temper and said, "Oh no you're not. That's for decoration!"  "It's a pillow."  "It might as well be a picture on the wall because you're not sleeping on it!"  It was at that point that Devin realized that I was a little out of my mind at the time, so he just got into bed as far away from me as he could and faced his back to me.  

What I'm basically trying to figure out is how to talk to him about stuff like this that is common sense to women but unreasonable to men.  Another day, he unloaded the dishwasher without me asking.  Awesome.  Except later, I found a bunch of Tupperwares in with the drinking glasses.  How do I fix these kinds of things without discouraging him from emptying the dishwasher again?  I guess this is where the "training" comes in.  Maybe I should get some treats...

Getting Ready

A new decade is two days away and I couldn't be more ready for it.  Looking back, last decade had some crazy ups and downs.  I went through high school and college, met the love of my life, made and lost touch with a lot of friends, and moved around quite a bit.  My fiance and I went through 5 deployments, and we've finally settled in Jacksonville, Fla., where we are ready to start our lives together.

The 00's have been tumultuous for the world, too.  9/11 happened, Michael Jackson died, and Snuggies were invented.  We are trillions of dollars in debt, but people are finally starting to think positive and get ready for change.  Right Obama?  

I recently heard a great speaker - John Chappelear - say that if you're not constantly trying something new, whether it's in your business or your life, you're not going to survive.  I want to do more than survive in the "teens decade."  I want to thrive.  So I'm setting some lofty goals for myself for the next year (which I will add to every year so I don't get ahead of myself), and here they are:    

1. Keep up this blog...at least once a week
2. Read at least 15 books
3. Finish my marathon training plan
4. Buy a house
5. Travel to New England to visit Devin's family
6. Start participating in a local nonprofit
7. Increase my weekly media hits to get at least 1 per week
8. Write at least 30 book pages
9. Become overprepared for our January 2011 wedding
10. Train my dogs to stop jumping and stay

Once I put these goals out there, I think I'll have to stick to them.  That's all for now.  Lemon martinis are waiting for me...