Life lessons from Mr. B

This weekend, I tried to organize the little things in our house, including the stack of magazines in our front room. In the process, I got sidetracked and started going through the January 2011 Real Simple. In the issue, it had a funny and insightful article about 5 things we can learn from our pets. From this I realized that there was a lot I can learn from Mr. B about being a better life partner, such as
1. Enjoy just being together, lying out in the warm sunlight.
A and I try to maximize our weekends, by running as many errands as we can, driving all around the city and even into the suburbs. Oftentimes our weekends are busier and more stressful than the week. Just like Mr. B and Ms. M, we should spend more weekends just boarding ourselves in

and laying around in the warm sunlight.

2. Give her space. We live in such a small space with two large dogs, but the pooches don't seem to mind the tight quarters. In their 'nest', Mr. B is happy to curl himself into a little ball, while Ms. M takes up more than half the bed and all the pillows. I thought about getting a larger 'nest' for the pooches and bed for us. But, like the pooches, we are quite happy with our perfect sized bed, even though it means that oftentimes my side of the bed is now just an extension of her side of the bed.

3. Speaking of beds... Since I lived alone in the city for quite a while before we got married, I'm still getting used to the idea of cooking for two, cleaning a lot more, paying the bills and just worrying about another person. Then looking at Mr. B, I can see that none of that matters and all I have to do is just be with A, whenever she needs a head to rest her head on 

or a body to rest her buttocks on,

though sometimes she can be my pillow.

4. Groom every day. Being a bachelor for quite some time, I got used to my own stink. I was able to go days, even weeks without a shower. Now that I have two pooches that start to smell like Fritos after a couple weeks, I can truly see the importance of personal hygiene.

5. Find some ME time. Though in the movies, being inseparable appears to be the ideal relationship, much like Mr. B and Ms. M, we love hanging out, even if it means doing our own thing in the same room,

and they also remind us that we should value our own time and space.