"All I Want Is For You To Be Happy......."

I Just Want You to be Happy

Cindy and I have had several days this week when we basically spent all day shopping for furniture.  There is a lot of driving and walking around looking at stuff...a lot of discussion regarding the features of various pieces...and, at the end of the day, fatigue sets in.  Often, we would go to bed exhausted, get up the next day and do it all over again. 

Yesterday was such a day.  We really needed to find a sideboard (buffet) to go with the dining room table we bought the day before.  Cindy had the idea of finding something in an antique store to match up with the new table and chairs.  So, off to the local antique shops we went.

We must've gone into a half dozen stores before I spied a piece that looked perfect. 

Me:  Hey, honey!---Here's the perfect piece!  It's the right color; It's the right length, and it has character!  And, it looks very well made and in good condition!

Her:  I'm sorry---it would be just right but I can't stand that silver hardware on it. 

Me:  We can easily replace the hardware.

Her:  No, the hardware was made for the piece and anything else wouldn't look right.

Me:  But......

Her:  I don't think this is what we want, but we can think about it.  After all, I just want you to be happy.

Your Happiness Means Everything

OK, I thought---fine.  This is gonna be more difficult than I thought.

A couple of hours later, I found a buffet that I knew she would like.  It was perfect, I thought.  stupid me

Me:  Honey!  Here it is!  And it doesn't have any shiny hardware! 

Her:  Sweetie, it is almost what we want, but it is a little too low in height.

Me:  But.......

Her:  No, I think we will know what we want when we see it.  but I just saw it!  You know, Your happiness is all I care about.

At the end of the day, around 5:00, I was draggin'.  We went into one last store.  By this time my body and mind were shutting down. I was beginning to think about how good a nice martini would taste.

It was then she walked up behind me.

Her:  I've found it.

Me:  You did?

Her:  Yes---come see.

I examined it.  It did look good.  It did have character.  The price was better than I dared hope for.  We bought it.

On the way home, I asked her if my input really meant anything to her.

Believe Me, I'm Happy If She's Happy!

Her:  Oh, honey, yes!  All I care about is your happiness.

My Day ........

When I mentioned to Cindy that I was going to west Knoxville to run a few errands, she decided she wanted to go with me.  Well, good, I thought.

But the reality is that a man can go shopping and return home with the goods in 1/4 the time it takes a woman.  It is a phenomenon I have observed thousands of times over the years.  I have concluded it is a genetic thing because that is the only way I can understand it.  Women find it desirable to touch everything.   And women also talk to everyone.  It was these two traits that turned my planned one hour trip into a four hour ordeal.

I have also noticed that women pay attention to detail when they venture forth into the shopping world, while men are like horses with blinders.  When I come home from a trip to anywhere, Cindy asks me questions about whom I met or what I saw.  I never notice anything or anyone, so I am never able to tell her anything at all about my trip.

Cindy always runs into folks she knows from her past.  It is uncanny.  Today, for example, we are sitting at a stop light.  She looked to her right at a car turning into a gas station and shouts in an excited tone, Look!  There's Mike! 

It turns out that Mike is an old boyfriend whom she has not seen in decades.  Part of the reason she knew it was him is because he still drives the same 1984 Cadillac that belonged to his mother when Cindy was dating him.

Cindy seemed to be quite smitten by the sight of her old beau and his old car.  Must've brought back some pleasant memories?  As I accelerated at warp speed through the green light, it occurred to me that Cindy seemed a little too enthusiastic about the near encounter with this old flame.

I asked her about that.  She said, "Oh, no...not at all.  It's just that you two are very much alike."

Say what?.......

So now, as I ponder all of this, there are more questions than answers.  Too funny.  But, I do wonder what her reaction would have been if our roles had been reversed.....hmmmmmm.........  :)