Stories Collected While Living in France

French la Vie

Why Did I Agree to His Idea of Fun?

plan de paris

 

The glue was ready,

Wall measured,

Tools in place,

Turgot's map four rows across, five deep, stacked and waiting,

French Husband came home, beamed and wanted to help.

He thought it would be "fun" to do it together.

Inside my beetle I wondered if sharing my happy place, my love for wallpapering, was worth the "fun" he assumed?

I can tell you this… he is a perfectionist, he is a dot to dot kind of person,

My ducks are barely hatched, 

and far from being in a row.

How to stay married 101… 

Give and take, or in other words,

Wallpapering a little bit his way and a little bit my way.

Some quacks, some rows with glue holding it together.

 

 

Comments

32 responses to “Why Did I Agree to His Idea of Fun?”

  1. Shannon

    Try not to quack under the pressure 🙂

    Reply
  2. Marilyn

    Love Shannon’s suggestion!
    Take deep breaths! You will love it when it is finished.

    Reply
  3. Kathie B

    “[Partner] came home, beamed and wanted to help.” This is wonderful!

    Reply
  4. Anjanette

    Love!

    Reply
  5. Zosia

    Sounds to me like you complete each other. Looking forward to seeing your common effort.

    Reply
  6. Celeste Coelho

    Reading your post to: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vEZDP_NVklc
    Had to laugh.

    Reply
  7. Sharon Penney-Morrison

    never a good idea to wallpaper together, unless you can bite your tongue…or similar..tongue in cheek!!

    Reply
  8. Chris Wittmann

    Gee if my husband came home and offered to help with a wallpapering project I would have to think he either lost his mind or it was someone else disguised to look like him 🙂 Now if he knows what he’s doing, you have a true helper. If, on the other hand, he is like my husband (who can’t hammer a nail) then maybe you should find another project for hubby 🙂

    Reply
  9. Rebecca from the pacific northwest

    Maybe he’s wanting to be a spotter when you’re balancing perilously on the top of a ladder?
    My husband and I had to divide the gardens early in our marriage: both techniques produced great gardens but the sparks flying from the other person doing it the “wrong way” made it worth our while to divide and conquer. These days we’ve sort of eased into his types of duties and mine, gardenwise.

    Reply
  10. Cheryl ~ Casual Cottage Chic

    I’m just relieved hubby was there when you were going up and down a ladder!! You two sound like me and Mr. CCC….to hang a frame he has to measure and mark and remeasure; me…I just put the nail on the wall, hammer and viola! Done 😉 But sometimes you just have to let them think they are in control. Oui???

    Reply
  11. martina

    Aw, he really loves you! Glad he was there to help you and make sure you were safe on the ladder.

    Reply
  12. Mardog

    If you’ve made it 25 years, I’m sure you can weather this joint adventure. Keep a bottle of wine near by.

    Reply
  13. Shelley Noble

    He’s smart, he gets the best view while holding the ladder for you 😉

    Reply
  14. Mar-see-a

    I have told several friends who were contemplating marriage to make sure to hang wallpaper together first. If the relationship could make it through the project, they stood a pretty good chance.
    Yes, I speak from experience- and have lasted through 30 years of marriage. I was the perfectionist and American Husband the “slap at it” type. I swear I thought I would kill him.
    As you can imagine, your post gave me a good laugh and brought back memories I thought were long dead and buried :o).

    Reply
  15. Suzanna

    aww, sounds fun sweet Corey! :-))

    Reply
  16. Ann

    I once read that if you are married and share a project, then one person has to be declared the leader of that project and does what the leader says. Otherwise, it can ruin one’s fun. DH offers to help me with my antiques but I won’t let him because that is my happy place and I certainly don’t want to be arguing over stuff that makes me happy and that someone else can’t see the value, beauty or potential. A happy place is sacred ground….

    Reply
  17. Momof5

    This made me laugh! My hubby and I only wallpapered together once! I switched to paint and never looked back. ‘Marriage 101’

    Reply
  18. carol

    That’s some strong glue you’ve got! 😀

    Reply
  19. 24/7 in France

    Sounds like your two heads are better than one…..”Coin, coin”!

    Reply
  20. TEXAS FRANCOPHILE

    Can’t wait to see results of the dueling wallpaper hanging!

    Reply
  21. Kit

    I love your ducks in a row imagery!
    With at least forty just grown-up ducks on our farm now I realise that it is more or less impossible to ever get any number of ducks in a row, at least for any measurable time – they always start quacking and jostling each other and changing direction. Duck society is loud and quarrelsome, at our place at least.
    Hope your wallpaper hanging had great results without too many feathers flying!

    Reply
  22. jend’isère

    Don’t forget that French duck say “coin coin” pronounced qwaaa-qwaaan!

    Reply
  23. jend’isère

    In response to your recent enquiry of our favourite posts…this is the type which I can read and reread at different levels.

    Reply
  24. Jan

    Love it! We are about to celebrate 35 years of marriage, only because after wallpapering together in year one, we vowed to NEVER do it again! 🙂

    Reply
  25. Tracy

    A wonderful metaphor for marriage! I hope you share pictures of the completed wall!

    Reply
  26. Jillayne

    Haha – compromise huh? It’s not the easiest thing to have your spouse decide to help with a decorating project – mine usually hasn’t got the same vision as I, and is still in the questioning stage of most everything I want to try, usually beginning with “Are you daft? Nobody does that?” and ending with “I never would have thought….”
    I’m thinking French Husband might have an ulterior motive here – either making sure you STAY on the ladder, or doing the ladder work himself!

    Reply
  27. La Contessa

    THis is FUNNY!My ITALIAN husband is a PERFECTIONIST TOO!!!!!!!!He actually measures the wall, back of picture to hang I just eye ball and pound the nail!I drive him crazy and he drives me crazy……….and the wallpaper is UP?!!!!

    Reply
  28. Jan

    I love you, I so look forward to your post with coffee in the mornings. You have a way with words and always make me laugh which I have vowed to do more of in 2013! Thank you! Hope we get to see the end results. Have a great day.

    Reply
  29. Tongue in Cheek

    Oh God… it is up.

    Reply
  30. peggy braswell

    From one “oh let’s just get it done” to another + eat your tongue sandwich while smiling! xxpeggybraswelldesign.com

    Reply
  31. Karen Mitcham-Stoeckley

    Before we were married my husband wallpapered my guest room to perfection…except it was a hung upside down!!! I should have stayed home that day! Forunately we stilled married and I moved out and let the new owner deal with it! Now we do not use wall paper at all!

    Reply
  32. Rebecca from the pacific northwest

    I completely agree! I love these humorous “slice of life” posts. Not to mention all the wonderful comments they call forth.

    Reply

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