Tuesday, January 24, 2012

The Compromise

My darling husband and I could not be more different than the Turtle and the Hare. In fact, his nickname among his BoyScout group of friends just so happens to be, Turtle. I suppose this can be attributed to his ultra-mellow disposition, and his “slow and steady wins the race” attitude. Also, I can imagine he got the nickname from the way he looks when he sprints…imagine if you will a turtle running and with each step his head going further into his shell, tucking into his body…kinda cute. A psychologist would classify him as typical Type-B personality. Type B individuals such as Turtle are a perfect contrast to those with Type A personalities (myself). People with Type B personalities are generally patient, relaxed, easy-going, and at times lacking an overriding sense of urgency. These individuals tend to be sensitive of other peoples feelings, selfless, and sweethearts in the eyes of many.

Though hard-working and working often, like the typical type B personality- he prefers taking it easy in his down time doing things like hanging out on the couch, watching football, BBQing, throwing back some cold ones as he assesses the performance of what he calls “modern day gladiators” aka Football players, and rooting for his favorite team, the 49ers (don’t hate…did your team make it this far???)

His wife, myself, is of the hyper-active variety; running circles around him literally and metaphorically. A Type-A personality to the core; ambitious, aggressive, controlling, highly competitive, impatient, preoccupied with my reflection, and tightly-wound. In my free time I like to clean house, run marathons, and start multiple projects that I never entirely finish unless it’s for my benefit-did somebody say selfish??? (yes, my sister says it often…) My Caffeinated blood, and over dosage of B vitamins doesn’t really help Turtle’s efforts to help me relax; so often, he sends me out of the house to run circles around the neighborhood or get a massage when I start to make him too dizzy.

With our personalities being so different, we have had to learn to compromise. In the past few months, we have negotiated partaking in activities that the other enjoys…Turtle decided he would amp up his activities and join me in my quest to become Ms. Fitness Suburbia, so I bought him a bike for Christmas. Now he and the Beasts ride their bikes while I run through trails. Just this morning Turtle requested something unusual…No it wasn’t a 40oz of Old E, not even an 18pack of Coors Light or Carne Asada Burrito…as I was pulling out to take my morning trip to Starbucks, Turtle asked for a coffee! WHAT?! Oh yes he did…so I got him just that, and had the barista add a few shots of espresso to see where this would take us…hopefully to Turtle on a mission & a cleaner garage.



This was not just a one-sided cooperation…with Turtle being obsessive about football, being a coach and a die-hard fan, I figured I could try to like it too…I mean, don’t get me wrong, I don’t hate football, but I definitely liked it more before I met my husband; before I was given excessive weekly, and sometimes daily, exposure to it in multiple hours a day doses. So, I set my heart out to watch a game or two with my Turtle, *but only if I could dress-up and participate in the profane yelling (to me, stress venting) at the TV., Turtle agreed…In time, I found myself actually enjoying these prolonged sessions of vegging on our couch, watching these “gladiators” in tight pants with ripped muscles beating each other down. The margaritas made it even easier to watch this game I had for so long dreaded every Sunday, Monday, and Thursday.

For now, it looks like Turtle and I have turned over a new leaf. Enjoying each other’s company, doing things we love. I like this new compromise business…I wonder how Turtle will react to my proposal to take up Salsa dancing…Slow and Steady will win this race.