"I'm So Counterproductive!!"

I do not like to have a messy house, like most people, I'm sure.
My husband, on the other hand, is not like me or most people...

He could live in a mess for months, as long as it is "clean mess" (germaphobe!). This has been our biggest (thank the Lord!) point of contention in our 3-year marriage so far. Though the issue seems small when we're not in the heat of the moment, there have been many times in the middle of arguments where we've both thought, "How on earth are we going to live with each other FOREVER?!" 
Our cleaning styles are very different. I like to come home from work, make sure the house is picked up (or at least do some chores), then be able to sit down and relax knowing that the work is done and my house looks better than it did an hour prior. I know that if I sit down before getting work done, I will not get back up. Who wants to get up and clean when already laying down on the couch watching TV?! Certainly not me!
C, on the other hand, will do just about anything to get out of work. He only "enjoys" work (and I use that term loosely!) when he is so bored from sitting around doing nothing for a few days, that it actually would feel good to accomplish something! In our busy lives, sitting at home bored does not happen often... thus, he doesn't clean unless he "has" to - says me. :)

The other way we differ when it comes to cleaning is our attitudes while cleaning. I like to FOCUS and clean as hard and fast as I can, getting as much done in one fell swoop as possible. C is more likely to dawdle and move slowly while folding/straightening/picking up. I don't understand it! He hates to clean, but when he does it, he moves so slowly that it takes him forever! JUST GET THE JOB DONE! Makes no sense...

Cleaning together can be very frustrating because of this. In an effort to not get mad at each other so that we can enjoy our time together and actually like each other at the end of the day, we make an agreement before we get started that we are not going to fight, no matter what. This seems silly, but it works! Whenever we know we are pushing each other's buttons, we stop and try to restart our good attitudes towards the task at hand and towards each other.

Many times, in an effort to try to enjoy cleaning, C will turn on the TV, claiming he's cleaning while watching (though we both know he can't multi-task and ESPN is much more interesting to him!), or he'll try to turn on some music (but end up spending half an hour watching music videos on youtube!). I can't count the number of times I have to refrain myself from acting like his mother and "making" him turn the distractions off! But I am MUCH better at that and now I just ask him to do it, with a nice calm voice, and he will usually conform and we both stay happy! It's a miracle! :) If there is one piece of advice I'd give to newlyweds, it's to always speak with respect to each other... it goes FAR and you both stay much happier!

So last night was a designated cleaning night - our house was getting out of hand and that makes me irritated every time I walk in the door ("happy wife, happy life" anyone?!). So we made our non-fighting agreement and started working...well I tried to start working. C has a thing about putting off the inevitable. We first had to have dinner, then we had to lay on the couch and do nothing for a good ten minutes... then I put my foot down and said, "ok - we're cleaning! Let's go!" But of course, there's a time limit Caleb imposed on us because the NBA Draft Lottery was going to be on at 8, meanwhile it's already almost 7 and we have a whole house to clean!..

So I was working on cleaning up the first floor while Caleb was upstairs putting laundry away. I thought he was doing so well... till I went upstairs only to find him laying on the bed trying to find the perfect music to listen to on youtube while he folds. UGH! We only had an hour and he was wasting it! I tried so hard not to start shouting as he began explaining to me how the time got away from him and why he still hasn't done anything a half hour later.

Within a few moments, he finds some R Kelly hip hop song that he thinks is funny and starts singing and dancing around the room like he's Beyonce (literally - he said while doing one particular body-shaking move, "I learned this from Beyonce!" lol)! I try to stay looking at the clothes I'm folding so I don't laugh and encourage his nonsensical behavior, but it's just too darn funny! I wind up crying I'm laughing so hard.  He is such a character. I always tell him he's counterproductive because he is constantly trying to distract me from focusing on what I'm doing and he knows I HATE that. Let me focus and get the job done quickly - I don't want to be here all night!
To conclude the evening, after his dance performance, he runs at me, wraps me up in his arms and throws me on the bed and shouts, "I'M SO COUNTERPRODUCTIVE! muah-ah-ah-ah"

Who can resist that frustrating charm? ;)

At those moments, I have to check my attitude and remember that instead of getting mad at him for not being on task at the time I want him to be, enjoy him for who he is and remember that we won't always be young and able to have random dance parties in our room with loud obnoxious music! 

I may occasionally have a messy house, but it's always filled with laughter and fun. Can't ask for more.

Blog Title Explanation

When I say that my husband is wonderfully hilarious, I mean it. It's not an overstatement.
God knew what he was doing when He paired us up! C has amazing comedic timing and is always making me laugh. I often wonder, as he does some crazy antic like dancing with me in the kitchen as he sings a love song to me that he is "writing" as he sings, if other people's husbands are this sweet and funny. Do other wives have these moments where they can't believe they get to be married to a man just PERFECT for them? I'm sure they do, but I definitely have to say that mine is the funniest!

Now this isn't to say that C doesn't have his faults. There isn't a week that goes by that I don't get irritated with him for something... not finishing a project, not taking the trash out, or for leaving his coat on the back of the dining room chair again... but all in all, untidy house or not, I am truly blessed to be married to someone so understanding, sweet, loyal, and loving.

All this raving brings me to my point. My blog title. The name is really two-fold, but it all started because of this:
A few weeks ago, I was at work when I got a phone call from my husband. He and his friend decided that they needed to build us a big shed in the backyard. Now mind you, we live on a postage stamp AND we already have a shed. A shed that we just built last summer; We haven't even had the thing for a year!
C hasn't finished putting the lattice on the front porch since he did half the job LAST year, but he wants to go BACK and re-do something that's already been done and is actually completed (by the Grace of God! ha!).... You can imagine my irritation and cynicism when he relayed to me his grandiose plan. In my mind, the idea was immediately off the table.

Trying to be the loving, respectful wife I know I am called to be, I try to give him a list of all the reasons why building a new shed is completely out of the realm of possibilties, without actually saying the word "NO!", like he's a child.
He could obviously sense my growing irritation and dwindling patience, because he stops telling me his lists of "pros" (I don't remember there being any cons...), and says, "I love you."
I try to push past my animosity for the situation, and I say, "I love you, too" with all the sincerity I could muster.
Not one to be outdone, and, like I said, the boy is made of sweetness and great timing, he says to me, "I love you three."

Who can be mad at a grown man who says, "I love you three"?!
All anger left me at that point. Mostly because of his words, but maybe slightly because I knew he knew.... there would be no new shed. :)

So I had been trying to think of a blog name for weeks and hadn't thought of anything that I deemed brilliant or clever, or even just fitting. But these 4 words, "I love you three" would not leave my head. After a while, I finally decided that this would be the perfect name for my blog because I love the double entendre. As I said in my profile, C and I are planning to start trying to get pregnant within a few months and the next addition will be the third member of our family.

I love my husband, he loves me too, and we'll love our baby, three.

I assume this blog will be made up of silly little stories like this, random ramblings about things I like to discuss, and hopefully soon, some pictures of a baby belly growin'! Can't wait to see how life unfolds!