Men

   I do not propose to know about the inner workings of men.  Good grief, some days I can't even figure myself out!  It's just that I'm married to one.  A man that is.
   He's so... male sometimes.  Now don't get me wrong, I find this attractive.  It's why I married him.  I love that he's a manly man, I just don't understand the way his male brain works sometimes.
   We are sitting at the table after dinner.  The girls are excused and are running around in the living room.  My farmer is sitting there with a "thinking" look on his face.  I ask him what he's thinking because it looks deep and I want to know about his inner thoughts.
   With a startled expression he looks up at me and says, "I wasn't thinking anything."
   "Your mind was just blank?"
   "Yeah, pretty much."
   "Okay, fine you don't have to tell me."
   "No, seriously, I wasn't thinking anything."
   How do men do that?  I can't imagine having an empty mind!  I write my grocery list in my sleep for crying out loud!  I've heard on good authority that my man is actually telling me the truth!  Men have the ability to have nothing on their minds!  I believe it, but I just can't conceive it.  God knows what He's doing and so I trust that He gave them that ability for a good reason.
   Another example of our differences.  Not only can a man blank out his mind, he can shut it off completely and go to sleep in mere seconds.
   We are lying in bed.  I was reading my Bible until my farmer came to bed.  He crawls in and I tell him that I have a question.  He grunts.  I ask my question.
   Silence.
   "Are you asleep?"
   Grunt and then, "Huh, I missed the last part."  He laughs sheepishly.
   I repeat the question.
   He is gone to dreamland and doesn't hear me.
   Or we are praying and he just stops in the middle of a sentence and I wait for a full minute wondering what's going on. I finally ask if he's okay.
   "Huh?  Didn't I say 'amen'"?
   "No."
   "Oh."  A slightly embarrassed laugh.  "Amen."
   And he rolls over and goes quiet again.
   How does he shut his brain off so well and so thoroughly?  It takes me a few minutes (sometimes HOURS when I'm bothered by something) to drift off.  Even when I'm totally exhausted.  I'm kind of jealous truth be told.  I wish I could just tell my brain to shut up and it would oblige.  I think I'd have a lot more energy to face the day if I could just learn to pray about it and then leave my problems in God's capable hands.  Instead I lie there and have a one sided conversation with someone in my mind.  (Now don't tell me that you've never done that!  I know better!)  My hubby says that he occasionally does that too, but he's much better at telling his mind to be quiet.
   Another thing about men that is a bit mystifying is their ability to use "blah" words to describe how they feel about things.  If I make a meal that I think is very tasty and I ask him what he thinks, I get an "Oh, it's fine."
   "So, it's okay this once, but don't make it again?"
   "No, I said it's fine!"
   "Well, does that mean that you like it or you are tolerating it because you don't want to hurt my feelings?"
   By now he's exasperated and so am I.
   "No!  It's good!  I told you, it's fine!  You can make it again!"
   I'm still a bit fuzzy as to whether he truly likes it or not, but I'm getting the vibe that it's probably okay to make it again.  It's just hard to know because sometimes he says something is fine, but he's not all that impressed.  Or sometimes it's fine and he's really impressed.  It's like, where did you go to school and did they forget to teach you about the beauty of adjectives?  Or is it just that men come with one pre-programmed adjective?  Kind of like God hardwired one descriptive word into their DNA and it's the only one they know!  I dunno.  It gets interesting when I parade in front of him in a new Sunday dress that I've just made... Yes, you can imagine the conversation that follows!

Daddy and his girls.

   Occasionally I mess with him just for fun.  I'll wear a new dress and not say a word.  Sometimes it can take him a couple of Sunday's to notice, but when he does, he usually has a very nice compliment!  (Yes, it's better than the odious word "fine".  He's learned some new words having lived with me for almost 9 years!)  In his defense, he is the Sunday School Superintendent and his mind is usually occupied with more important things on Sunday morning.  I actually think it's kind of funny.
   When his little girls get new dresses, they make sure that they get a compliment from him!  Even my 18 month old will seek him out for his compliments!  It's very cute.  He makes a big fuss over them and it totally warms my heart!  It means so much to them to know that their Daddy thinks that they are beautiful.
   I don't think that I'll ever completely figure out my man.  But I guess that the fun is in trying!  I am amazed at how much better I am at reading him now than when we first married.  Then I'll read him wrong and I'll be amazed at how much more I have to learn about him.
   We are SO very different.  It's not bad... just different!  I know that there are things about me that make him want to roll his eyes and throw his hands up in the air.  (Occasionally I see the eye roll and then he pays dearly!)  Like when I forget to take my list to town with me and he has to go get it and read it off to me.  (Sure I can write it in my sleep, but I have too many other things on my mind to actually remember it!)  Or when I make divots in the lawn with the wheels of the lawn mower because I turn too sharp when the ground is soft.  Or when I order something online, but forget to order the other thing I needed and we have to pay shipping twice.  Or when I want to talk and he wants to sleep!  Or when I decide that I don't like a picture on the wall and I ask him to move it for the umpteenth time!  And the list could go on.
  I hope this makes you smile!  A person can't survive marriage without a sense of humor!