New to the Boards. Marriage in Crisis.

[Chris73]

So today I reached further in my attempt to GaL.

Got up at 4:45 and took the train in to the city early so that I could hit the weights at the gym. It's been a while since I've done any strenuous exercise other than running and I was surprised that I'm actually a bit stronger than I thought I was.

I spent last night alone with my kids while my wife worked late. It feels good to have the opportunity to take care of them both on my own (cook dinner, homework, baths, playtime, bedtime). By the time my wife came home everything was done. We had pleasant casual conversation and she seemed a little more willing to be close to me (she initiated a few kisses and hugs). I poured us each a cocktail and we headed down to our basement to watch the election coverage.

But there is one minor setback that I have to mention. Every year during the holidays we hire a professional photographer to take photos of our family. Most of the photos are of our kids, but there are a few of all of us together too. The photos always come out great because we go outside and the kids run around and we get some really good candid shots.

This year my wife told me that she would prefer that we didn't do the photo session beause of "all the things that are going on with us right now". I was a bit crestfallen hearing this and started to argue "but we're still a family right?". But then I stopped and realized that one of the things that my wife always complained about is that she didn't have a voice in our decision making and that there were many times where she felt like I pressured or strong-armed her into a decision.

So I dropped it and told her that I would respect her wishes and not persue the photo session any further. She said that we should still get the kids pictures taken at a portrait studio for the holidays.

But this morning I got inspired with an idea...

Why not take them out myself, with my own camera, and do a holiday photo shoot? It will turn out better than anything we'd get at a photo studio. Plus it will show my wife that while I respect her wishes, I still have some control and I plan to leverage it.

Idk, maybe I'm making too much of a big deal out of this.

Anyway, I also got my copy of the DR yesterday and zoomed through the first chapter. I'll be spending my lunch hour reading more.