Pack a punch

We finally got Chris's punching station assembled. It's really cool! I got punching bag and speedbag lessons, and I like it! I think I will actually enjoy using it along with Chris. We did make a trip to Sam's because we doubted that assembly was possible, and made many references to the digital pix we took. What I wonder is how they figured it out.

What is truly amazing is that Chris and I were working together and we weren't getting mad at each other. I was holding pliers on one end of a bolt while he was tightening, and we both looked at each other and said, "Huh! We're working together and we like it!" It's only taken us four years to figure this out! I distinctly remember our first Christmas as a married couple (and we'd been married nearly a year), trying to screw hooks onto the back of a picture frame so we could hang it with a metal wire. We got so frustrated with each other and with the thing, that we fumed and took to separate rooms. We were just on separate wavelenghts, had two different ideas of how it should be done, and weren't effectively communicating those ideas. I'm not trying to imply that we now communicate perfectly, but in situations where misunderstandings that, once upon a time, would have made each of us get defensive and forlorn, we now just have the other person clarify what they want, need, or expect. What a difference that makes! Now I can see how my parents, who have been married for 35 years, dont get huffy with each other when as an observer, I would have expected it. And yet they still don't read each others' minds.

The truly sad part is that now that we have finally figured out how to work together, Chris may not have as much negative energy to take out on the punching bag.