Question, is it normal for the the GALing to piss the wayward spouse off?
Yes as Steve said it's normal. He wants you sitting at home crying and pining away for him. He wants you secure as Plan B in case his grandiose plans of finding the perfect replacement don't pan out. When you instead go out and GAL and (GASP!) even enjoy yourself, well then he realizes he's losing his Plan B and doesn't have the control he thought he had. And that at first will make him angry, then later make him sad, then yet later possibly make him question what he's done and start the process of sorting his life out.
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I've noticed he's been making some really snotty/passive aggressive comments about my running, my diet changes, and social media posts where I'm tagged out with friends (I am not like hanging on randos at the bar, I've mostly been 3rd wheeling with married friends, being in larger groups of married people, or with just my girl friends). I've been ignoring it.
Good, ignoring it is exactly what you should do.
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But yesterday he walked into the MBR and said "you bought a new scale?" (this thing was like $15 so it clearly wasn't about the money) I said "yup," and just kept eye contact. As much as I wanted to ask why I knew I shouldn't. After an uncomfortable amount of eye contact he finally broke gaze and said "oh" and turned around and walked out. It was a super weird interaction.
Perfect!
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I didn't think GAL would irritate him.
It's not the GAL that's doing it, it's his realization that he can't control you and keep you where he wants you. He's got to learn to miss you.
