Credit Where Credit Is Due

I never gave a follow-up to the whole balcony-umbrella fiasco. Here's how it played out: I returned the umbrella within short notice. Afterwords I kind of put it out of mind - I mean, yeah it kind of annoyed me.... but it wasn't so much that I loved the umbrella (well, I did think it was kind of cool... especially the way it added a splash of color if you were looking out the sliding glass doors to the balcony) it was more what it represented about the pecking order of our marriage. I was resigned to just forget about it.

Unbeknownst to me, she went ahead and ordered a smaller umbrella from a different store (her objection to the first one was the size) which we got in the mail just a few days later. While not matching the pattern of the chairs of the table set, as the first umbrella did, the smaller one was a brilliant red that did indeed add color to the otherwise bland balcony... albeit at the cost of not providing much sun protection unless you were having lunch at high noon. It was also made entirely from wood and fabric, and had a less 'industrial' feel to it.

So anyway, I have to give her some kudos for compromising and trying to keep me happy (although I do feel a little like a child who threw a silent tantrum for not getting his way). In the end it worked out and we have a balcony set that we both like.... Just last week we actually ate dinner on it - peppercorn rosemary chicken, doused in a creamy garlic sauce, with sweet Hawaiian rolls, fresh salad and a bottle of wine... all to a pretty good sunset with some classical guitar playing in the background.

Yeah, it was good.

So it turned out to be a happy 'ending' after all - not to say that the whole 'pecking order' issue won;t rear it's ugly head again.... or maybe it's just me harboring an ugly insecurity.... whatever.