Sometimes the PMS runs my whole brain.

Might I recommend making a dozen breakfast burritos for your husband and storing them in the freezer? My ingenious (and way sweeter than me) neighbor does this for her husband, and it sounded like a really good way for me to do something nice for Dave that he would genuinely appreciate, as well as eliminate the whole part of his morning routine where he throws his cereal bowl into the sink for me to put into the dishwasher.

The genius part of this plan is that the burritos are wrapped in foil! And dirty foil doesn't GO in the dishwasher! I WIN!

Honestly, Dave does remember to put his cereal bowl in the dishwasher about 85 percent of the time. It's weird, because I worked for years and years and years to get him to put his cereal bowl into the dishwasher and it turns out that I prefer to do it myself. Because when HE does it, he pours the remnants of the cereal and milk into the sink AND DOESN'T RINSE THEM DOWN THE DRAIN. So a couple of hours later, when I come into the kitchen to start lunch or dinner, the flakes of cereal have dried and CEMENTED THEMSELVES to the sink. I would much rather put a bowl into the dishwasher than spend the better part of 15 minutes chipping a cheery amount of Life cereal out of my sink with a paint scraper.

But wait, back to the burritos for a minute. So I made Dave a bunch of breakfast burritos – I chopped up an onion and a green pepper, threw them in a skillet with around eight eggs and a whole bag of precooked crumbled turkey sausage and scrambled the whole mess together. Then I portioned the eggs out into tortillas, sprinkled some cheese on top, and wrapped them up in foil. Then I put them in the freezer. Dave takes one out every night to defrost, and in the morning he pops it into the toaster oven at 350 degrees for, oh, well frankly, it seems to take FOREVER. This is the one downside of the breakfast burrito: that dang thing occupies the toaster oven for close to THIRTY MINUTES every morning. I think that 30 minutes is probably overkill in the reheating department, but what do I know, I'm eating toast every morning. Actually, I'm NOT eating toast, because there's a BURRITO in the TOASTER OVEN for what feels like AN ETERNITY.

Sorry, off topic AGAIN. (I have PMS, so while it doesn't explain away the tangents, it does possibly help explain the TONE of these tangents, which I assume is coming across as FRUSTRATED.)

So the other evening, I believe as a direct result of all of these delicious burritos and the time and effort I put into making them and keeping my husband happy, Dave – ALL ON HIS OWN – stopped at the grocery store on his way home and picked up a loaf of French bread to go with dinner (points for him knowing what we were having for dinner and also knowing there was no French bread in the house to be served with it and extra EXTRA points for leaving work early to complete this task because that meant he didn't leave me home with the kids for an extra 25ish minutes while he shopped secretly) AND he picked up a bouquet of flowers for me.

Dave does occasionally buy me flowers, but by “occasionally” I mean for our anniversary and maybe, if I am lucky, one other time a year. He will probably disagree with me on that, but I am a woman, and I LIKE getting flowers (not even DELIVERED flowers, just good old cellophane-wrapped grocery store ones), and therefore, I tend to remember when I DO get them. You know what I'm talking about, right? Like, I want him to buy me flowers just because, but it defeats the whole purpose of getting flowers if I have to ASK him to buy me flowers. Am I right? I mean, I don't NEED flowers to feel appreciated and loved, but if someone did BUY them for me for no reason at all except that they were thinking of me and wanted to make me feel good, it would certainly reinforce that appreciation and loving feeling. I do not necessarily feel UNLOVED if I do NOT get flowers. But if I am going to get a nice token of kindness from my husband, I prefer flowers to almost anything else.

Anyway, he got stuck standing in the chatty checkout guy's line at the store. This particular chatty checkout guy has been there for YEARS and he always gives my children lollipops when we leave the store and he always ALWAYS, whether my children are with me or not, hands me an assortment of bite-sized chocolates with a wink. But I guess when MEN go through his line, he takes a different tactic, so when Dave showed up at the register with a loaf of bread and a bouquet of flowers, this guy takes one look at Dave and sighs heavily and goes, “OH NO, what'd you do wrong?”

And the IRONY, oh the SWEET SWEET IRONY, Dave came home all mad and insulted by it. He was all frustrated that immediately people saw him as the bad guy; that holding a bunch of flowers gives you an automatic reputation as the loser who did something crappy to his girlfriend and now has to suck up and apologize. (If you're a guy and you're reading this and you did something crappy to your girlfriend and need to suck it up and apologize, don't go with the carnations from Safeway. FREE ADVICE.)

Anyway, then he said, “I mean, REALLY. Why does everyone think the only reason you can buy flowers is if you get in trouble? Why can't a guy just buy flowers for his wife because he loves her?”

Which is when I thought, HOLD UP THERE, DUDE. You totally stole MY LINE. Indeed, why CAN'T a guy just buy flowers for his wife because he loves her? And by that I mean MORE OFTEN? I have been saying this all along!

(I didn't say it OUT LOUD though – I have SOME tact, and also a desire to get more flowers.) (First I think I will probably have to make more burritos.) (AND IT WILL BE WORTH IT.)

P.S. OMG how great did you guys make me feel about my blanket-eating baby? I LOVE YOU.

Comments

[HereWeGoAJen]

I have been meaning to make some breakfast burritos for Matt and freeze them, but I so haven't done it yet.

I really like flowers too. I haven't had any from Matt in a long, long time. I bought myself some at Thanksgiving. :) Perhaps I should mention to him again that I like flowers.

[Jenn]

My husband used to get me flowers all the time, and then the economy and my job went down the toilet and I had to beg him to stop. Because buying something that I'm just going to throw away (without being able to EAT IT) a few days later was something that we just couldn't do. And I don't actually miss it all that much because even with a bit more money, I still can't bring myself to spend money on something that I'm going to throw away.

But I don't blame Dave for being offended. Way to jump to conclusions, grocery store guy!

[Kate]

The burritos thing sounded really good until you said it takes a half an hour in the toaster oven. My husband left the house without any breakfast one day last week because, and I quote, "toast takes too long."

[beyond]

my husband knows that the only day i DO NOT want flowers is valentine's day. and he totally respects that. sadly he forgets that v-day is just one day in a whole year. he makes up for it in many ways, but i should really remind him that i like receiving flowers every once in a while...
making breakfast burritos in batches is genius.

[Karly]

I would totally make some burritos for my husband if it meant I got grocery store flowers.

[Sara]

You just gave me a hankerin' for breakfast burritos. But I'm on PMS, too, and the dangerous part is that I just may eat them all myself. tonight.

[A.]

Wrap the burritos in waxed paper instead of foil (you might need to get freezer tape, too) and heat them in the microwave instead of the toaster oven. (They could also go on a plate, but since you're trying to avoid dishes issues, waxed paper might be the way to go.)

[Michelle]

One time when we were in a rush we split up the errands and Dan got the trip to the pharmacy (we were about to leave the US on vacation). On his list were batteries, advil, and (get this!) an ovulation kit (yes, I did that to him). When he took it to the counter the clerk who was a shaggy looking burn out kinda guy looked down, scanned the item, the looked up at Dan and goes "good luck, duuuude" while giving him a thumbs up. Nice.

PS I want grocery store flowers without asking too!

[Maggie [The Freckled Citizen]]

How did you know I made a slew of breakfast burritos over the weekend? Foiled packages of love is what they are. My husband's office begs for him to bring in extras.

[Annie]

As much as he loves (LOVES) flowers, Tim is not a frequent flower buyer either. But! For Christmas last year he gave me a 3-month membership to a bouquet of the month club and let me tell you - those were three very good months. Gorgeous, huge bouquets in my house for three straight months. There were so many flowers in there that I even had to put the remnants of the prior month's bouquet into the new one. Awesome.

So today I was walking through Costco with my mom and we walked past the flower section. SIGH. I reminded her (quite wistfully) of the fabulous gift that he gave me last year and then proceeded to inform her of how much I miss having beautiful flowers in my house (hoping to play on the mommy heart in her and convince her to get me some) ((because flowers are one thing I just won't buy for myself. I just can't justify it.)) Of course, her frugal nature beat out the mommy heart nature today and alas - no flowers for me.

BUT ANYWAY. I think I shall try the burrito idea. For me - not for Tim. He doesn't eat breakfast, but *I* am getting a little tired of my yogurt with FiberOne.

[joaaanna]

I JUST made a dozen breakfast burritos yesterday! GET OUT OF MY HEAD! :)

I used whole wheat tortillas, scrambled eggs, provolone cheese, black beans and sweet potato fries. But I wrap mine in waxed paper and warm them up in the microwave in one minute. I do need some freezer tape though as regular Scotch tape was difficult to use.

[Swistle]

This entire post just totally resonated with me, like you hit a tuning fork and it was exactly my note. Which is kind of funny since it was about breakfast burritos and supermarket check-out guys. I mean, doesn't it seem like I should be saying the tuning fork thing on one of those Beautiful and Intensely Meaningful Posts? But you made so many GOOD POINTS in there!

[H]

I get super irritated when someone, anyone, lets food remnants dry in the sink so I can scrape them off. Believe me, the offender gets a stern warning that soon, VERY SOON, sink-cleaning and sink-scraping duty will no longer be mine. ARGH. How hard is it to run a little water and rinse?!?!

[Farrell]

Props to Dave; he's a keeper!
And to make you feel even BETTER about your blanket-eating baby, read this post, about my daughter SOBBING over a confetti-sized trinket:
http://nogainnoloss.blogspot.com/2011/01/hot-mess-turns-into-best-time-ever.html

[DevilsHeaven]

You are TOTALLY Right!! I tell my hubs I like flowers just because and he tells me, "Why would I buy you something that's just going DIE?"
La sigh.
However, he has bought be jewelery just because so I guess I should just shut my trap.

[Life of a Doctor's Wife]

I love every word of this post.

Sometimes I tell myself that the occasional (anniversary and maybe one other time a year) aspect of the flower buying makes them that much more special. If my husband bought me flowers every week, maybe I wouldn't appreciate them anymore.

And then I think, no, you are just fooling yourself.

(Also, my father bought my mother flowers every Monday for YEARS and had them sent to her office so she could enjoy them all week. How awesome is THAT?)

(JEALOUS.)

[Kristen]

I'm totally with you on the flowers. I actually tell my husband NOT to get them for me for random holidays, like Valentine's Day, because I'd rather he just pick them up exactly the way Dave did. I think that's the sweetest thing ever. Though, yes, for something like our anniversary, I won't turn them down, either.

[Shauna]

So when me and my husband started dating, he was a flower delivery guy. You'd think after delivering flowers to lucky girlfriends and wives all day (okay fine, mostly weddings and funerals.) he would see their happiness and appreciation and deliver some to his own girlfriend right? Wrong. I got flowers ONE time the entire year he had the job and it was because they were free! They were left over from some event and everyone who worked their got some. I know I sound whiny, and I don't mean to because he absolutely makes up for it in other ways but it just goes to show how oblivious guys can be :)

[Krisaela]

Lol. This. Made. My. Day.

[Cheap Supra Skytop II For Sale]

Honestly, Dave does remember to put his cereal bowl in the dishwasher about 85 percent of the time. It's weird, because I worked for years and years and years to get him to put his cereal bowl into the dishwasher and it turns out that I prefer to do it myself. Because when HE does it, he pours the remnants of the cereal and milk into the sink AND DOESN'T RINSE THEM DOWN THE DRAIN. So a couple of hours later, when I come into the kitchen to start lunch or dinner, the flakes of cereal have dried and CEMENTED THEMSELVES to the sink. I would much rather put a bowl into the dishwasher than spend the better part of 15 minutes chipping a cheery amount of Life cereal out of my sink with a paint scraper.

[Cheap Supra Skytop II For Sale]

Honestly, Dave does remember to put his cereal bowl in the dishwasher about 85 percent of the time. It's weird, because I worked for years and years and years to get him to put his cereal bowl into the dishwasher and it turns out that I prefer to do it myself. Because when HE does it, he pours the remnants of the cereal and milk into the sink AND DOESN'T RINSE THEM DOWN THE DRAIN. So a couple of hours later, when I come into the kitchen to start lunch or dinner, the flakes of cereal have dried and CEMENTED THEMSELVES to the sink. I would much rather put a bowl into the dishwasher than spend the better part of 15 minutes chipping a cheery amount of Life cereal out of my sink with a paint scraper.

[true religion outlet]

As the Trident website warns, “Do not open around family, friends and the neighbors down the street. They’ll all want a piece…” and with so many crave-able , long lasting flavors, who can blame them?

[ClubPenguinCheats]

Thank you! I get super irritated when someone, anyone, lets food remnants dry in the sink so I can scrape them off.

[barefoot shoes]

That's Harvey, all right*************
Always hoist on his own Pekard******************