Hi Jennifer, I don't know what to make of either story. Maybe it is too late and I am too tired to think straight, but I do know that your steady DBing, even in the face of S not "behaving" as you expect or prefer often brings about the very stuff you are looking for. For example- 1)the table fiasco, you chose to "act as if" the day you left, and ended up with a warm email telling you he was looking forward to your weekend in VT. 2)the mattress/bedroom dilemma and initial pouting but then you read up and decided to "act as if" and he responded with affection. So I am hoping you are able to keep DBing and overlooking it when he isn't up to snuff so you get to some good stuff this weekend together.