The hubs and I are very different people. He is organized, decides to do things the moment he thinks of them so he doesn't forget, and likes to avoid spending money at all costs. I, on the other hand, have an organized mess around me at all times (that's what we disorganized people say to try to gain credibility amongst the organized group; however, I recognize that just because I can find my water bill in one of the four piles of papers on my desk in less than 15 minutes, it does not mean that it is organized, it is simply a mess), I put off things that I think of that I should be doing because whatever activity that I had previously decided was important should not be interrupted (however, that important activity that I am doing often includes looking at wedding pictures on facebook of someone that I don't know just because one of my friends was tagged in 2 of the 169 photos that this person posted and the person who posted the album has their security settings turned down low enough that any creepy person can view their pictures), and reason that as long as "I got a really good deal" on something or "I have been wanting one of these for a really long time" (at least 8 minutes) is a good enough reason to burn through all of the money in my wallet.
These three differences all became apparent today.
1. Organized vs Organized mess
The hubs decided today that he should update a manuscript that required corrections in order to be published. They had asked him questions about data that he acquired three or four years ago and in less than 15 minutes he was able to find the data, run an analysis and answer the reviewers question.
I spent my day reorganizing the downstairs. This is not because I felt a need for my things to be organized. Rather it is because my in laws will be here on Wednesday and I realized that it might be slightly mortifying for them to see the normal condition under which I am happy to live. My day of organization started by pulling things off of my bookshelves and piling them on the floor. This is because I wanted to put different things on the bookshelves that were already on the floor in piles. And no, none of these things are books. I have those packed in boxes in the crawl space. I removed yarn and half finished knitting projects from the bookshelves in order to put Mary Kay merchandise on the shelves. This was an important change because my Mary Kay merchandise was "organized" in piles and I kept on ordering more and more items because I thought I had sold all of a particular product, but it was actually under other products. Because I don't want to run us into the poor house, I think it is important to keep the Mary Kay on the shelves rather than tangled up balls of yarn. But this led to a conundrum - what was I going to do with all of the yarn? I postponed coming up with a solution to this for a while by trying to untangle knots and by unraveling unfinished projects. After about 1.5 hours of that I realized that while I had cleaned up several small piles all over the den I had created several more. To eliminate the piles of yarn I put them in boxes and then piled those boxes in the corner of the room.
This was also evident when the hubs and I decided to hang up some pictures in our dinette. Here is my process for hanging up pictures: Rummage around until I can find a few random nails of various sizes. Pick a place on the wall that "feels right" to hammer in the nail. Hammer the nail in all the way accidentally. Try to pull the nail out half way. Realize that the nail is too loose and that every time I put the picture on it it pushes itself back into the wall. Remove the nail from the wall. Pick a spot 1/2 in to the right of the first spot and try again. Repeat until I hammer the nail into the wall the correct amount and manage to get the picture to hang evenly. Here is the hubs' process: Have patience to wait for command strips to go on sale at the store and stock up on special command strips for hanging pictures. Get out the necessary supplies: pencil, large level, small level, command strips. Measure the wall several times while wife sits at dinette table saying "Why can't we just eyeball it?" Have a debate with self regarding if the picture should be hung centered on the wall or centered above the table which isn't centered on the wall. Listen to wife once again providing her solution "Why don't you just hang it there," and then pointing to an arbitrary spot on the wall. Measure the wall. Calculate the halfway point in your head. Double check your calculation on a calculator. Write the measurements on the back of the picture frame so you have an easy reference in case you have to hang the picture up again in the future. Ask wife to read the measurement off of the measuring tape. Realize that Wife rounds to the nearest inch. Have to remeasure the wall. Rely on self to read the measurement off of the measuring tape to the nearest 1/8 inch. Make sure that the command strip is even vertically using the small level. Give wife job to keep her busy: tell her to apply pressure to the command strip for at least one minute in order to make sure that it has tightly adhered to the wall. Put up the second command strip for the second picture using a similar process to the first. Use the large level to make sure that the command strips are level in reference to each other. Make wife press command strip to the wall again. Repeat with the third command strip. When wife tries to hang up pictures explain to her that you can apply absolutely no weight to the command strip until it has been on the wall for 24 hours so the pictures cannot be hung up until tomorrow. Put everything away, neatly, where it should go.
This is much different than the way that I have used command strips. Usually I forget that I need them until the last second and have to run out and buy them at full price. Then I eyeball where the command strip should go on the wall, I give it a light push to secure it to the wall and then hang up the picture immediately. While I realize that the directions technically say that you should wait 24 hours before hanging anything on the hook, I have never had a hook detach from the wall when I have hung things up after just 30 seconds.
2. Does things right away vs procrastinating
The hubs was working on the revisions for his paper within two days of receiving it.
I have had piles of stuff sitting in the basement since February.
3. Saves money vs Spends money
The hubs spent no money today. In fact he turns off power strips in order to prevent the expensive drain of electricity caused by appliances and electronics.
I rationalized spending $9.99 on a "Misto." This is a steel canister that you pump to create pressure which allows the Misto to act like an aerosol can. My plan was to put olive oil in it. Then I realized that I had a can or olive oil Pam spray up in the cabinet. I have wanted a Misto for a long time however, since before Olive Oil Pam Spray existed, so I decided to get it anyway.
Despite our differences, the hubs and I love each other enough to accept and adapt to each other. Last weekend, for example, the hubs asked me to clean his glasses. He got his microfiber cloth from his glasses case and handed me both. I cleaned the glasses and then nicely folded the cloth in half and placed it back in his glasses case. He said thank you for putting the cloth away neatly the way that he would do it. Little did her know that initially I was planning on throwing the wadded up cloth into the car. My next plan, when I realized that this would make the hubs unhappy, was to put the crumpled up cloth into the glasses case. Then I thought "What would the hubs do?" and I realized that the answer to that question never ended in anything being crumpled so I nicely folded the cloth before placing it in the case. This is true love.
