Happy Friday, RISERS! I hope this week has been good to you. Thank you for your understanding at the absence of the blog last week. We had TOO much going on. My husband and I celebrated our thirty-fourth wedding anniversary. To use an old cliché, it really does seem like just yesterday that we were in high school together. As we enter into the last weekend of September, I hope you can enjoy all of your favorite things.
Happy birthday to all of you who turned a year older this past week. And happy anniversary to those of you who reached another milestone year with your loved one.
Quote of the Week: “We are afraid to care much, for fear that the other person does not care at all.” –Eleanor Roosevelt
Song of the Week: This week’s song is “Everything I Do (I Do It for You)” from the soundtrack of the 1991 movie Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves. I must have watched this movie at least seven times at the theater the summer it was released. My husband was in the Army then and frequently worked long hours on the weekends.
Besides being a sappy, hopeless romantic, I love this song so much because it plainly spells out how the singer of the song feels about his love. As a side note, this song brings out a quote from one of our favorite episodes of The X-Files. In the vampire episode with Luke Wilson, Dana Scully (played by Gillian Anderson) tells her FBI partner Fox Mulder (played by David Duchovny), “I do it all for you, Mulder.” My husband and I bring out this quote at random times to be funny.
Joke of the Week: What happened when the notebook finally married the pencil? She finally found Mr. Write.
Nugget of Wisdom of the Week: With our theme this week being relationships, I thought it would be a great time to share a few observations. I’m not going to say “pointers” exactly, because everyone’s relationship experiences are different.
Some couples have gone to high school together, dated, and then married to spend many happy years in each other’s company. Other couples meet, date, break up, and then realize they are meant for each other and get back together. Still others go through college not even thinking about romance, only to discover a potential pookie (what my daughter calls someone she really likes) later in life.
In most longtime relationships I’ve observed, one person is usually a spender and the other is a saver. Or, one loves to be outdoors and the other is allergic to it. Similarly, one partner is often great at relaxing while the other one needs a little…help. In my marriage, I tend to be more of the dreamer, whereas my husband is more of a realist.
No matter which role you tend to play in your relationship, it is vital to remember that both of you have different strengths, preferences, and beliefs. One of the biggest disagreements my husband and I ever had didn’t manifest as a yelling kind of argument, but one that stemmed from the difference in how we grew up. Grocery shopping on one particular day became a firecracker that went off, causing both of us to re-examine how things really were. We laugh about it now, because my exasperated husband had said, “Why can’t you be more like me?” Compromise is an integral part of any relationship.
Recipe of the Week: Before I forget, I wanted to tell you that I made the Meatball Surprise recipe for my family one day last week. While I gave it a ten for ease of preparation and an eight for flavor/taste, I gave it only a three for texture, due to the noodle becoming crunchy. So sorry. If you choose to make that recipe in the future, consider not cooking the pasta shells completely, so that they won’t get hard once baked.
This week’s recipe is Skinned Garlic Smashed Potatoes.
What you’ll need:
4-6 potatoes of your choice (red, Idaho, russet, etc.), washed and cubed
½ cup sour cream
garlic salt to taste
milk to desired consistency
2 Tbsp. butter
Boil potatoes to desired texture. I like mine cooked until they almost disintegrate. Drain. Add the sour cream, garlic salt, butter, and milk. Mix to desired thickness. For creamier potatoes, mix a little longer, adding more sour cream, butter, or milk. Serve as a side with beef, chicken, pork chops, or your favorite vegetarian protein.
Shout-Out of the Week: This week I want to give a shout-out to everyone in a romantic relationship. Some days you no doubt have the stars in your eyes when you look at your significant other, while on other days you may wonder, “What in the world was I thinking?”
I think the most tension comes when we let doubt creep into our minds and feel what Eleanor Roosevelt expressed in the quote above…that we care too much but the other person doesn’t care at all. Any relationship is worth the time and effort that is needed to make it grow. Compromise is key. You can do this!
Have a great weekend. Remember, you are most awesome, and YOU ROCK!
Marion Rhines is a foster-turned-adoptive parent. She lives in Knoxville, Tenn., with her husband and five children. She has written and published two children’s books as well as two foster-care-themed novels. She has a Facebook blog, Tips from the FLIP Side, and enjoys working with children of all ages.
