My Better Half

Joseph's mouth has been hurting him for the last few months.

He also has this pain in his back that comes and goes. I'm pretty sure it's from poor posture and working at a desk all day. Sometimes he goes to the chiropractor.

I like to think that the first 27 times I heard about the pain I was pretty sympathetic.

On Monday I worked from home. I had a project I needed to finish that day, and someone was counting on me. I don't usually have any problems working from home, but for some reason my computer froze a couple times. And there is nothing more frustrating than a frozen computer, a deadline, and that helpless feeling when you're wondering if you're going to lose the work you did after your last save.

I saw somewhere on the internet that said, before you marry someone, see how he/she reacts to a slow internet connection. I don't think that is very fair, because I consider myself a pretty decent person, but a slow internet connection when I need to get something done transforms me into a fire-breathing scorpion with knife-throwing skills. You don't even try to kill that bug, you just let it have your house.

So it's about this time when J texted me (I was in the living room and he was in the office) and told me he was in pain. I didn't bother to text him back, but I had to pee so I got up. As I passed his office I said something to the effect of, "I'm sorry you're in pain, but maybe you should make an appointment with someone" in a rather snippy way, and continued on to the bathroom. When I passed his office again, he really quietly asked me if I was ok. I told him I had a deadline and my computer froze again. He offered to help. I stomped back to my computer and he quietly helped me. He gave me his heartbreaker look with a little half smile, the one he gives me when I am hormonal and raging and he's afraid of moving too quickly because it's never smart to anger a rabid dog.

Oh, the guilt. My sweetie was in pain, but could tell I was frustrated and upset, and was helping me. He could have very easily snapped back and things would have escalated, but that is not how my J handles things.

It's interesting. He is the reason our marriage is so happy. By treating me like a princess, it makes me want to be a better person. I was able to calm down and apologize. He was able to fix my problem and I got my work done.

And he made a friggin chiro appointment and a dental appointment. And after he gets his root canal I'm sure he'll feel a lot better.