The Jim Stafford song above talks about a clueless guy who, after a woman hints around about making out and says, “Do what you wanna do” – HE says, “I got silly and found a frog, in the water by a hollow log; And I shook it at her and I said, ‘This frog’s for you!’  She said, ‘I don’t like spiders and snakes; And that ain’t what it takes to love me, you fool, you fool!'”

Oh yeah, sometimes guys are clueless. (But not you, baby! Not you!)

When we packed up to move to this house a few years ago, the bubble wrap came with a little added extra – a family of mice that got loose in the house. This is a conversation I had with Alpha Hubby about it. He was at work:

Me: You got another mouse (in sticky mouse trap).
AH: Did you take it outside?
Me: NO!
AH: Why not?
Me: Eeww, it’s still alive! It might fall off the sticky trap and fall on my foot! And then where would we be? I’ll tell you where we’d be – dealing with the screaming meemies.”
AH: (laughing) Oh, come on. What’s the big deal? You gonna wait ’til I get home?”
Me: (silence)
AH: (snickering) OK, OK, I’ll get him out then.

Now, truth be told, Alpha Hubby does understand and knows BEYOND A SHADOW OF DOUBT that I do not do spiders, snakes, roaches, frogs, mice, skunks, and any other sort of unnatural beastie or being on this earth. He is a learned man. Educated in the ways of women-who-hate-the-aforementioned. He’s covering his butt.

So when someone says, “It takes work to make a marriage relationship last” I often hear people whine, “But it’s not romantic to say that! I want that fairytale romance!” Hmm, I had the dancing, singing mice but it sure wasn’t a fairytale Disney world I was living in there (hee hee).

Sure it takes work but here’s the funny part:  what people are now calling WORK are things we all used to LOVE to do for one another. Those things that we did in the beginning – look nice, do little things to make them smile or feel good, take time to listen, make sure that intimacy stays fresh, current and hawt, and looking at them like they hung the moon and stars (even when we know *things* about them now we didn’t know before).

It does take work to keep that stuff up. But it is also a reminder of why we fell for them in the first place. If we don’t forget that, if we protect that, then it is such an amazing lasting relationship, and something few really ever experience.

Back then I waited for him to come home and become The Mouse Exterminator once again, and deal with Mouse #4. I was also thinking about how much I love this guy, and still stand in awe and amazement that God loved me so much, He gave this man to me as a gift to share my life’s journey with here on earth.

Man, makes me want to break out in song, “You are so beautiful to meee….” accompanied by those little squeaking voices in the background.