Yesterday Lissie and I spent the afternoon talking about our future.  What are our marriage goals?  What do we want to do over the next few years.  It’s fun to sit and have these kinds of discussions.  Some of the things that we’ve got going on in the near future:

• Attending an adoption workshop.  We want to adopt.  They want to teach.  Seems like a good fit.
• More medical testing.  For her, not me.  That ‘ole heart issue doesn’t go away, and the doctor thinks that the tilt test will be helpful.  My wife has her doubts.
• Starting a business?  Who knew that this website could launch a business?  Stay tuned for details on that.

Anyway, you know the drill:

1. Decide what romantic thing you’re going to do for your spouse this week. Could be anything. From as simple as giving a foot rub to planning a romantic date, to planning a romantic vacation, the idea is for you to do something.

2. Let us know what you’re going to plan by leaving a comment below. If you want it to be a surprise, then just give a general idea (I’m planning a date), or, if it will help you get rolling, leave as much detail as you want to.

3. Let us know what will motivate you to make sure it happens. Plan a reward for yourself, or plan consequences if you fail, but make sure that it happens! My goal as A Good Husband is to help inspire all the guys out there to go the extra mile, and, even more so, to make sure that I go the extra mile. I want my wife to know that she is incredibly special, and this is a great way for me to do that.

This week I’m going to use one of those things that I learned from Dr. Phil’s book: asking the question, “What can I do to show you I love you?”  We all know that it’s a little difficult to always know what our wives want, and Dr. Phil (whether you are a fan or not) hits upon a good suggestion here.  Sometimes your wife has a specific need and asking her what it is can be the perfect way to show her you care.

If I don’t do this by the end of the day today, I will buy her a dozen roses.  I’d rather save the money, but the gesture never hurts…right?

Ladies, do your husbands a favor and let them know what they can do to help you feel loved this week.

Guys, what are you going to do for your wives this week?

After a week of fixing things and tweaking, and praying and cursing, the site is back up, minus just a little customized header that I can’t make work.  If anyone’s a WP guru who wants to take on a project, let me know.  I’d love to get my beautiful, self made, totally stunning header back on this page.  Let me know what you think of the new digs.

Isn’t it beautiful?

1. Decide what romantic thing you’re going to do for your spouse this week. Could be anything.  From as simple as giving a foot rub to planning a romantic date, to planning a romantic vacation, the idea is for you to do something.

2. Let us know what you’re going to plan by leaving a comment below. If you want it to be a surprise, then just give a general idea (I’m planning a date), or, if it will help you get rolling, leave as much detail as you want to.

3. Let us know what will motivate you to make sure it happens.  Plan a reward for yourself, or plan consequences if you fail, but make sure that it happens!  My goal as A Good Husband is to help inspire all the guys out there to go the extra mile, and, even more so, to make sure that I go the extra mile.  I want my wife to know that she is incredibly special, and this is a great way for me to do that.

This week my wife is going back to college.  It’s been a long road for her, but she’s finally getting back and I’m very excited for her.  I even volunteered for extra chores.  So, here’s the deal: I promised her that I would make sure that the apartment is clean and organized on Monday and Wednesday evenings when she gets home from her night classes.  In addition, I’m going to do the laundry.  That’s usually her chore, but I can take it over for a week.  I’ll feel all self-congratulatory and everything.

Hey, besides all this, with the advent of my new Wordpress upgrade, I’m hosting a little re-invention of this blog.  When I started back in December of last year, I embarked on a journey of self-discovery.  I was wondering what it really means to be a good husband.  Since then, I’ve met some amazing people that inform me daily what it means to be a better man and husband.  I’m going to share with you some of their insights this week.  See you tomorrow!

I’ve been working from wherever I could steal an internet connection for the last two weeks. You see, with the recent move, Comcast decided that they needed 3 weeks notice to turn on the Internet, and then when I had to reschedule, they needed to move it out another 2 weeks. Can anyone tell me why there has to be a person who comes to your apartment to turn on your cable internet, even though the person who was there previously had it so we know there’s no connection problems? Free 200×200 ad spot on this blog if you can give me a really good explanation.

Now, this week:

1. Decide what romantic thing you’re going to do for your spouse this week. Could be anything. From as simple as giving a foot rub to planning a romantic date, to planning a romantic vacation, the idea is for you to do something.

2. Let us know what you’re going to plan by leaving a comment below. If you want it to be a surprise, then just give a general idea (I’m planning a date), or, if it will help you get rolling, leave as much detail as you want to.

3. Let us know what will motivate you to make sure it happens. Plan a reward for yourself, or plan consequences if you fail, but make sure that it happens! My goal as A Good Husband is to help inspire all the guys out there to go the extra mile, and, even more so, to make sure that I go the extra mile. I want my wife to know that she is incredibly special, and this is a great way for me to do that.

Last week I said that I was going to be there for my wife to help her paint our apartment. Apparently last week was bad timing for both of us, because neither of us put forth much effort to get it done. Does it count as a strike against me if my wife didn’t want to paint either?

This week I need to do something extra nice for my wife. Some long time readers may remember me talking about the heart condition that she has. This week she’s visiting the doctor. It turns out there’s some new research that shows some improvements in treatment of her condition. We’re hoping it will apply to her case. If so, it could be huge for us, especially for her. I’m asking for your prayers and your support.

We’re still supposed to paint this week, but the really big thing is helping her through the mess that is our modern medical system. Wish us luck!

3 comments:

Hayden Tompkins said…

“Apparently last week was bad timing for both of us, because neither of us put forth much effort to get it done.”

It just means you wanted to enjoy your new love nest!

September 8, 2008 8:24 AM

orlund said…

Internet companies want to make sure the cable is tightly screwed on by a fully qualified tech. It requires a high school diploma which some people don’t have. OK that’s a bad reason but if you like it you are welcome to paste my face in the 200×200 ad spot on your blog.

September 8, 2008 12:21 PM

Russ said…

Re: Comcast

I don’t work for Comcast, but I work for another company in their high speed internet technical support department and I can only speak for the way we do things.

With us (and probably with Comcast, too), we measure our calls with “first call resolution” agenda. This means that when you call, we want to resolve the issue without requiring you to call back a second (or third, etc.) time. In order to achieve this goal, we need to verify that all the existing hardware is working. While the representative on the phone can activate your internet by flipping a switch, it is generally not done this way. The reason is that if there is a fault in the cable run somewhere, your internet might be spotty, slow, intermittent, or it might not even work at all. This could require a second call, which generally causes more frustration to the customer, and costs us more than if we had dispatched a technician to come out in the first place. So, to save the frustration of going through the “it doesn’t work” back and forth motions, we will generally dispatch a technician for new service, even if existing wiring is in place.

Unfortunately, if given the choice, most people would elect to “flip the switch” and if it doesn’t work, users would get frustrated and blame the service provider when it was the internal wiring that was at fault. It is much easier for everyone involved to have a technician dispatched to the location to verify the installation and test the connection on site.

As far as the two and three weeks out for a technician to come on site.. well, unfortunately, the cable and phone companies have been quite busy lately with all the upgrades to high speed internet. We aren’t quite that far out with dispatches, but I’ve seen them go out as far as 3 or 4 days.

Hope this helps. =P

It’s a busy, busy Monday morning. I don’t have The Internets at my new apartment yet, so I couldn’t put up this post until now. You know the drill.


1. Decide what romantic thing you’re going to do for your spouse this week. Could be anything. From as simple as giving a foot rub to planning a romantic date, to planning a romantic vacation, the idea is for you to do something.

2. Let us know what you’re going to plan by leaving a comment below. If you want it to be a surprise, then just give a general idea (I’m planning a date), or, if it will help you get rolling, leave as much detail as you want to.

3. Let us know what will motivate you to make sure it happens. Plan a reward for yourself, or plan consequences if you fail, but make sure that it happens! My goal as A Good Husband is to help inspire all the guys out there to go the extra mile, and, even more so, to make sure that I go the extra mile. I want my wife to know that she is incredibly special, and this is a great way for me to do that.

Since our apartment is a terrible mess, we don’t have a bed yet, and we’re bookshelf-less, I think the most romantic thing I can do for my wife this week would be 1) Get a bed, 2) give my wife a budget for getting bookshelves (and other apartment stuff) and then help her get them to the apartment. Maybe then she won’t be so stressed out with the mess that is our current state of existence.

So, what will you do for your wife today?

Hey good morning everyone! Thanks for being patient with me while I was gone celebrating my 6th anniversary. I know I’ve made a bit of a big deal out of it and that six years really isn’t all that long, but it’s a big deal to me! I’m glad most of you have stuck around. We’ll have a “what I did on my anniversary” recap later this week.

Now, it’s a new week, and while the anniversary was great and all, it’s all about the new week, right?

1. Decide what romantic thing you’re going to do for your spouse this week. Could be anything. From as simple as giving a foot rub to planning a romantic date, to planning a romantic vacation, the idea is for you to do something.

2. Let us know what you’re going to plan by leaving a comment below. If you want it to be a surprise, then just give a general idea (I’m planning a date), or, if it will help you get rolling, leave as much detail as you want to.

3. Let us know what will motivate you to make sure it happens. Plan a reward for yourself, or plan consequences if you fail, but make sure that it happens! My goal as A Good Husband is to help inspire all the guys out there to go the extra mile, and, even more so, to make sure that I go the extra mile. I want my wife to know that she is incredibly special, and this is a great way for me to do that.

This week we are getting ready to move. We’re changing apartments in the city, so it’s not terribly far, but it’s still a move and it’s still a big pain in the booty, so I need to think of something nice I can do for her, that doesn’t cost anything (moving and an anniversary took a little chunk of change).

Later this week, when she’s stressed out because of the move, I shall give my wife a foot rub to help her relax. Foot rubs are one of the things that she loves the most, so I’ll make it a 20 minute foot rub, and that should make her happy.

If, for some reason, I don’t give her that foot rub, then I shall give away two $25 gift certificates to Anthropologie - one to my wife, and one to a lucky reader who posts a comment here on this post. All you have to do is let us know what romantic thing you’re going to do for your spouse this week.

Last week was the first Monday Morning Amour.  How did it work out?  Well, it worked for me, as I got myself motivated to get my anniversary trip planned, and at least two other people told me about romantic plans they made with their spouse.

The winner for last week’s free publicity contest (sending the highest amount of referred traffic to this site) is:  Derek from DerekSemmler.com.  I also have to give Lin from TellingItLikeItIs some serious props for starting a StumbleUpon campaign that sent a landslide of traffic my way.  If the two of you want to send me your buttons or banners today, I’ll put them up for a week.

This week, I don’t have an anniversary trip to plan, so I have to come up with something else romantic to do for my wife.  You can all help me (and yourselves).

Here’s how it works:

1. Decide what romantic thing you’re going to do for your spouse this week.  Could be anything.  From as simple as giving a foot rub to planning a romantic date, to planning a romantic vacation, the idea is for you to do something.

2. Let us know what you’re going to plan by leaving a comment below.  If you want it to be a surprise, then just give a general idea (I’m planning a date), or, if it will help you get rolling, leave as much detail as you want to.

3. Let us know what will motivate you to make sure it happens.  Plan a reward for yourself, or plan consequences if you fail, but make sure that it happens!  My goal as A Good Husband is to help inspire all the guys out there to go the extra mile, and, even more so, to make sure that I go the extra mile.  I want my wife to know that she is incredibly special, and this is a great way for me to do that.

So, this week I will write my wife two handwritten notes telling her I love her.  They’ll be at least a few sentences, and they’ll be legible.  If I don’t accomplish this task, I will give away a $25 SmartyPig gift certificate to one of the readers who participates in this week’s Monday Morning Amour by leaving a comment below detailing what they will do for their spouse this week.

Thank you to everyone who Stumbled, Dugg, and otherwise book marked last week’s post.  Let’s keep it going!

I have long admired Wendy Piersall’s Monday Motivation.  There’s nothing like starting your week off by prioritizing the things that you really need to get done.

So here’s the question?  When you’re putting your priorities together, do you take into account your marriage?  Where does your relationship fit on your priority list?  I know that I’m just as guilty as the next guy in forgetting to plan my wife into my busy weeks.  I need a little help reminding myself what’s most important.

With that said, and with all due respect to Sparkplugging.com, I’m announcing Monday Morning Amour - a weekly motivation to get myself (and all of you) to plan a little more romance into marriage.

Here’s how it works:

1. Decide what romantic thing you’re going to do for your spouse this week.  Could be anything.  From as simple as giving a foot rub to planning a romantic date, to planning a romantic vacation, the idea is for you to do something.

2. Let us know what you’re going to plan by leaving a comment below.  If you want it to be a surprise, then just give a general idea (I’m planning a date), or, if it will help you get rolling, leave as much detail as you want to.

3. Let us know what will motivate you to make sure it happens.  Plan a reward for yourself, or plan consequences if you fail, but make sure that it happens!  My goal as A Good Husband is to help inspire all the guys out there to go the extra mile, and, even more so, to make sure that I go the extra mile.  I want my wife to know that she is incredibly special, and this is a great way for me to do that.

So…what’s my plan for this week?

I’ve been planning a romantic vacation for my anniversary.  Unfortunately I’ve been planning it for weeks and weeks, and haven’t finished yet - not because it’s so involved, as because I’m totally afraid of making the wrong plans and messing it all up.  Our anniversary is just over two weeks away and I need to pull the trigger.  So here goes - I will finalize plans and book whatever hotel(s) and transportation are necessary for my anniversary vacation, and I will do it by the end of this week.  We’re going to the Oregon Coast.  I just have to finally pick where.

Leverage.  If I don’t get this anniversary trip planned by the end of this week, then I will cut myself off from playing Xbox or watching TV until I do get it done.

But wait, there’s more….

I’d like as many people to know about Monday Morning Amour as possible.  If you have a website, blog or are otherwise influential, let other people know about Monday Morning Amour.  At the end of this week, whoever sends the most traffic to this post will get some free advertising from me - I’ll put up a button, banner or other ad for a week.

I can’t wait to read your romance ideas. Let ‘em rip!

Oh, and do me a favor and Stumble/Del.icio.us/Digg or otherwise book this post if you like it!  Thanks!