Hooray! Hurrah! Hip Hip!!

Being married to another writer is...interesting. I learn a lot from him. People imagine we discuss things like Shakespeare and the Oxford comma, and sometimes we do.

However, I sometimes think I learn the most about writing, and life, from our conversations about other things.

Like toilets.

For the past few weeks, we've been addressing various issues around the house. Like toilets. We have a well that's slow to fill, so we always watch our water use. With the holidays, we had guests showering and flushing (thank goodness), so our cistern got low. The cold weather sometimes freezes water in various places in the system, which causes the cistern to fill more slowly (as in, not at all).

We were therefore hyper-aware of every potential leak. The kind of leaks that people on city water systems never notice. Including those in toilets, like the toilet on the main floor. Which my husband recently fixed. "Recently," as in about two weeks ago.

The picture above shows the congratulatory note, written to himself. It's there for anyone who goes into that washroom to see. I suspect it will stay there until I get grossed out and throw it away, but I'm leaving it for now -- because it's a good reminder to me.

I rarely say to myself, "Good for me! Hooray! Yippee!" or anything like that. When I hear good writing news, I might share a little excitement with someone else (my husband or sister or writer-friends), but then I'm apt to think, "Don't want to break my arm patting myself on the back!" or "Yeah, but I haven't done _____" or "Of course, that's not as good as _____."

In contrast, my husband regularly says, "I'm so glad ______." Fill in the blank with "we got the new car," "that project turned out well," "they accepted your story." Or even, "I stopped that leak in the toilet."

He's expressing more than simple gratitude or congratulations, though it is that, too. He's acknowledging that whatever we, he, or I did required some work and now it's done, and life is better. Hooray! Let's celebrate!

Apparently there is no statute of limitations, either. He recently said, "I'm so glad we got this chair for you." The chair in question is 7 years old.

What is not to love about that attitude? How can I do more of that for myself?

P.S. I swear this is what keeps me playing Angry Birds. I'm addicted to the birds' cheering when I finally eliminate those nasty pigs.