Andrea Nguyen
Author & Teacher
Send a messagePrint + Digital Publications
Just featured in & reviewed by Martha Stewart Living, Amazon.com, Publishers Weekly and SF magazine!
Asian Tofu
Release date: Feb 28, 2012
Pre-order at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks
Into the Vietnamese Kitchen
Available at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks
Asian Dumplings
Info on e-book w/ videos!
Available at: Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks
Asian Market Shopper
mobile app is here!
Available at iTunes store
new TWTR.Widget({ version: 2, type: 'profile', rpp: 3, interval: 30000, width: 'auto', height: 300, theme: { shell: { background: '#8f1414', color: '#ffffff' }, tweets: { background: '#ffffff', color: '#756875', links: '#8f1414' } }, features: { scrollbar: false, loop: false, live: false, behavior: 'all' }}).render().setUser('aqnguyen').start();Recent PostsLeftover Bonanza: Beef with Miso, Mustard, and Wine SauceThings My Husband and I Squabble OverCrisp Pot Sticker Duck Taco RecipeTofu Misozuke: Q & A with Dang Vu of Rau Om FoodsCurry Popcorn RecipeAsian Tofu Gets an “A” from SF MagBringing New Year Dumplings to Busy FamiliesAsian Souper Bowls (my Wall Street Journal article)Meatless Monday Tet MenuAsian Tofu in Martha Stewart Living!« Crisp Pot Sticker Duck Taco Recipe |Main| Leftover Bonanza: Beef with Miso, Mustard, and Wine Sauce »
February 13, 2012Things My Husband and I Squabble OverDespite the fact we’re in the lovey-dovey Valentine’s Day zone, I woke up this morning thinking about the few things that my husband and I disagree about. We’ve been together since 1989 (!) so we’ve learned to compromise and meet each other midway on many issues. Actually, we don’t fight about much. Just little things like these:
Quibble or Squabble?
Rory and I are into words – I mean vocabulary terms. I mentioned the idea of this post to him soon after he opened his eyes today, and the first thing we discussed was: Do we quibble or squabble? I thought we quibbled and he said we squabbled. Whenever we spat over words, we let the dictionary decide the winner. In the process of hashing out things, we improve our vocabulary.
Turns out that quibbling is when you raise trivial objections or petty arguments for the sake of evading the truth or importance of an issue. Squabbling describes when you’re engaged in an argument about something trivial. Not wanting to be evasive or dishonest, I agreed that that we squabble, not quibble. “I love squabs,” he jokingly replied.
Loading the Dishwasher
Long before we had a dishwasher, several older couples told us, “We still fight over how to load the dishwasher.” We didn’t have a dishwasher until about nine years ago and didn’t know what they meant.
When we did graduate to using one, we sometimes found ourselves rearranging how each other loaded the dishes. What position ensures that the dishes get cleaned? Where should certain dishes be placed to avoid chipping? Is there an optimal place for chopsticks and rice bowls? We’d duke things out till we realized that if something didn’t get cleaned, we’d just hand wash it. Duh.
Folding the Laundry
When we were dating, Rory would sometimes come over to my apartment and help me do laundry. He was appalled at my folding skills. I sorted just fine but when it came to the final follow-through with neatly folding up each article of clothing, I was awful.
Rory, on the other hand, made the clothes look like they ought to be on display at Banana Republic! He never worked apparel retail but he certainly can switch careers, if ever needed. He even keeps his t-shirts neat in the dresser drawer.
We decided long ago that I’d have my own dresser drawer. That way, I can freely mess up my once-nicely-folded up stack of clothes. Rory took charge of doing the laundry after we started living together. (Hey, I cook!) Whenever he asks me to help with the folding, I only get to take care of my clothes.
Setting the Thermostat
It’s winter so every morning, Rory hops out of bed and runs into the hallway to increase the thermostat and warm the house up. By the time I start working out, the house is cozy. However, there’s a heater vent right above where I exercise, which means that I get hit with the occasional blast of hot air whenever the furnace comes on. The result is that I get overheated and cranky.
For a while I was sneaking by the thermostat to turn it down and then he’d get mad because it felt too cold to him. We had several spats over the temperature until we figured out this strategy: He initially cranks it up, and before I work out, I crank it down notch or two so the furnace doesn’t come on while I’m sweating. When I’m done, Rory turns it up to a comfy temperature. We are both happy.
Writing about these squabbles makes me realize how ridiculously petty they are. However, at the same time, I realize that we fundamentally agree that the dishes should be clean, our clothes should make us look neat, and we should feel warm. We may dicker on how to arrive at those points but we do figure out a way to get there together. I suppose that that’s what makes a relationship work.
Do you and your partner spar on little things? If you care to share, please do.
Posted in Miscellaneous | Permalink | | TrackBackTrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.typepad.com/services/trackback/6a00d8341ef22f53ef0167624a786d970b
Listed below are links to weblogs that reference Things My Husband and I Squabble Over:
Comments Things My Husband and I Squabble OverDespite the fact we’re in the lovey-dovey Valentine’s Day zone, I woke up this morning thinking about the few things that my husband and I disagree about. We’ve been together since 1989 (!) so we’ve learned to compromise and meet each other midway on many issues. Actually, we don’t fight about much. Just little things like these:
Quibble or Squabble?
Rory and I are into words – I mean vocabulary terms. I mentioned the idea of this post to him soon after he opened his eyes today, and the first thing we discussed was: Do we quibble or squabble? I thought we quibbled and he said we squabbled. Whenever we spat over words, we let the dictionary decide the winner. In the process of hashing out things, we improve our vocabulary.
Turns out that quibbling is when you raise trivial objections or petty arguments for the sake of evading the truth or importance of an issue. Squabbling describes when you’re engaged in an argument about something trivial. Not wanting to be evasive or dishonest, I agreed that that we squabble, not quibble. “I love squabs,” he jokingly replied.
Be Connected
Get news via RSS or email 
Get updates in Facebook
Follow me on Twitter
Events
Splendid Table Interview
Sat, 3/3/2012
Check your local NPR station for times. We're talking tofu.
Asian Tofu Book Talk
Tues, 3/6/2012, 7:30pm
A little tofu tasting too!
Bookshop Santa Cruz, CA
Asian Tofu Workshop
Tues, 3/13/2012, 6:30-9pm
Demo class w/ participation
Draeger’s San Mateo, CA
Asian Tofu Book Talk
Sat, 3/24/2012, 3-4pm
Celebrate spring: Think, talk & taste tofu!
Omnivore Books, SF, CA
Int'l Assoc. of Cul. Prof.
Thurs, Mar 29 - Tues, Apr 2
Annual Conference, NYC
Asian Tofu Workshop
Sun, 4/1/2012, 6pm-10pm
Hands-on class
Inst. of Culinary Ed, NY
document.write(unescape("%3Cscript src='" + (document.location.protocol == "https:" ? "https://sb" : "http://b") + ".scorecardresearch.com/beacon.js'%3E%3C/script%3E"));COMSCORE.beacon({ c1: 2, c2: "6035669", c3: "", c4: "http://www.vietworldkitchen.com/blog/2012/02/things-my-husband-and-i-squabble-over.html", c5: "", c6: "", c15: ""});
No comments:
Post a Comment