I Am Not A Maid

French or otherwise.

I started this post a couple of weeks ago and deleted it, because it seemed kind of silly after a while. But Soldier crossed a line the other night, and here we are. 

The background is that Soldier has a tendency to do things to the extreme, which I think is kind of crazy. The other night he decided he was going to cook some chicken tenderloins for his lunch this week. Which quickly turned into him cooking all of the chicken tenderloins. This was like 15 of them. A little excessive, no?
After he had cooked half of them, I asked him not to cook the rest; I had a plan to make chicken piccata for dinner the next day. I did not win. 

This might not be making sense. A big part of the reason for the irritation was that I didn't want to have to go grocery shopping the next day. For one thing I've been fighting a cold...I always have a hard time with them and my jacked immune system doesn't help. So I've been pretty miserable. Another reason was that it requires going to two different stores. I also always try not to go to Costco by myself since Soldier can carry stuff easier than I can. (If you don't have Costco, it's a wholesale store where you buy everything in bulk. So no matter what you're getting, there's a lot of it, and it's usually heavy.) And it doesn't just require going to the grocery store. I have to come up with food ideas, grocery lists, and try to find coupons. Wah, wah, first world problems.

So he finished making all of the freaking chicken and came back to bed, but was surprised that I was irritated. He kept saying that he was just making his lunch, as if I never make food that he can take. 
He asked what I was doing and I angrily told him I was figuring what to make because now I had to go shopping the next day. To which he replied icily, "what, did you have something else to do?" Boom. Shots fired.

After a beat I told him it was rude, and he told me I was being rude to him. I haven't said much else to him since then...which was about 2 days ago. I'm not really sure he grasps the impact of what he said. 

I realize I don't bring any money in, but I do a whole lot of work. On any given day, there's cleaning and straightening up to do (which half the time means cleaning the same thing every day because my husband is kind of a glorified teenager), vacuuming, laundry, ironing, dishes, wedding planning, wedding flower construction, job searching, and having dinner ready or close to ready when he gets home from work. 
I do all of this because I love him and I want him to be happy to come home. Also because I may be a bit of a clean freak. But with those few words, he turned all that stuff into a chore; into something that I'm expected to do. Needless to say, this is no bueno. But now that a couple of days have passed, I don't really know what to say. It's kind of like the Sneaky Hate Spiral (refresher:  http://hyperboleandahalf.blogspot.com/2010/05/sneaky-hate-spiral.html). Eh, maybe I'll just be nice to him when he gets home. Or...nicer. Slightly.  

In other news, I've rejoined Twitter. Follow @RaffMcGraff for doses of lovable inappropriateness in 140 characters or less. 

169 Books: Afghanistan

The Kite Runner

These are my thoughts as I'm reading. Warning: there may be spoilers. 

• This is a really nice story. I'm sure it won't last.
• Aaaand there it is. Jesus, kid, it's a freaking kite.
• I always have to wonder a bit about the people who write this stuff solely from their imagination. Although I suppose it could be from real life. But...really? Is that how it works in some countries?
• It's getting really hard to like this protagonist. And a little bit his father, too. These two need therapy. 
• Seriously, this kid is a dick. 
• WHY is there so much ass rape?!?!
• When Kamal's dad is screaming that his son won't breathe I totally pictured Cedric Diggory's dad from HP Goblet of Fire. It always comes back to Harry Potter.
• And now Baba sounds a bit like Donald Trump. Charming.
• I'm actually really excited that Amir got a Grand Turino. I finally saw that movie a couple of weeks ago. Oh Clint Eastwood, you courageous son of a bitch. 
• Alright, Amir is becoming more endearing as he's growing up.
• Awww, he's in looooove!
• I love the way lovers are described in books. I wonder if Soldier ever looks at me with that kind of admiration. I look at him that way. I'm still in awe sometimes that I get to spend my life with him.
• Cancer?! Oh come on!
• The dad's kind of a dick too.Stubborn old git.
• Ugh. I'm a sucker for a good love story.
• I truly hope I never have to see someone I love go through cancer. What an awful, debilitating parasite. 
• Oh. Oh my word. That wedding part was beautiful. And his dad is finally proud of him!
• And then sad again. I'm not gonna lie, I teared up between the wedding and Baba's death.
• Oh Lord. Okay I read this kind of stuff and I can't help but think about my parents dying eventually (hopefully in a very, very long time). I don't care that I'm 30, I would still be absolutely lost without them. 
• If this is true to Afghan life and customs, it's really sad. Like I may not have made it. But I suppose you have to deal with the cards you're handed. 
• I like the wife, she's sassy. 
• I really like that he gets to see his/his father's old again, but I don't like that another person is dying.
• The plot thickens! I just told Soldier I wanted to finish the chapter, then sheepishly asked if he minded me reading another one. This book is hard to put down. 
• Oh my gosh, Hassan is the sweetest character in the history of ever. He just cares about his best friend. 
• As a Catholic this may be a bad thing to say, but I kind of like the tradition of passing under the Koran for all these important events. I'm not sure why...it just seems kind of peaceful. 
• There's a lot of talk about babies. I don't really like it...it makes me think about how much I want babies and what I'll do if we can't have them. I don't like to think about it but it's in the back of my mind a lot of the time. I can't really talk to Soldier about it...there are a lot of feeling type issues that he's pretty nonchalant about. But it is something I actually worry about. 
• It's weird to read the story from the Afghan perspective. But really, if the Taliban killed Hassan, I'm going to have to stop reading for a while. 
• NO.
• OH MY GOSH. THIS JUST GOT SO MUCH WORSE. IT WAS HIS BROTHER. 
• Well I hope he and his wife adopt their nephew.
• Oh taliban, and sharia law. The computer wants me to capitalize taliban, and I say nay. 
• Oh come on. The taliban took the nephew? Of course. Ugh. 
• This can't end well. 
• Oh you've gotta be freaking kidding me! I don't like this story anymore. I can't believe the big bad taliban guy is the original bully. 
• Well that was kind of graphic. 
• Crying again. This is crazy and tragic and beautiful all in one. 
• I know it would be more happy-ending-ish, but I'm kind of glad the adoption wasn't easy. It's a bit more realistic that way. 
• WHAT. WHY. WHY WOULD HE WRITE THIS. THIS IS AWFUL. 
• The pain of all these people is heartbreaking. 
• Ah, there's the happy ending.

Okay, first book in the challenge. I'm SO glad I started with this. I've kept hearing what a good book it is and kind of shied away from it after seeing some of the worst parts of the movie. (Like I knew the first ass rape was coming). 

This was an absolutely amazing story, and I had a hard time putting it down, except to collect myself after some of the sadder parts. And I surprisingly liked not entirely being able to tell if it was a true story...granted, it would be pretty miraculous if it was, but still. If you haven't read The Kite Runner, I definitely recommend it. Just have some tissues handy. 

169 Books

Reading my way around the world.

Today I started a challenge I've been excited about for a while. It combines some of my favorite things: reading, and learning about different cultures/living vicariously through the author. 
So with that, I'll be reading a book from every country. Every. Single. Country. 169 of them. It sounds like a lot, but I read just about every day so I don't know why it seems like a lot.

I found a blog from someone who did this challenge, so I'm using her list, which gives book options for most countries. And I guess if the book doesn't sound interesting, I'll search for my own. 

A couple of people on Facebook asked if this meant the book is set in that country, or if the author is from that country and, honestly, I don't know. But I'd rather it be set in that country so I can learn about different places. And I think I'll post a sort of review of each book on here when I finish it. My inner nerd is doing cartwheels with this. 

First up is Afghanistan: The Kite Runner. I think many people read this in high school, and I'm not sure how I didn't. If I remember correctly, that would have been my senior year and I was in advanced English. We were given choices for summer reading, and I think that just wasn't one of the ones I picked. So anyway, it's time now. 
Although I think I may have seen the movie, or part of the movie, and if it's the one I'm thinking of it was really sad. I'm bracing myself for that. 

So I'll keep all of you lovelies updated on my journey round the world whether you care or not. And for my readers in different countries, if you have a favorite book set in your country send it my way. 

Now my inner nerd has stopped doing cartwheels and wants to go back to reading.