What do I know? I'm just a guy!!

Sarah and I had a good laugh last night. It was one of those times when two people are both in a giggly mood and everything becomes funny. So when I shared a silly story about something I had done earlier in the day we were both laughing to the point of tears.

What is it about us guys that makes us so inable to communicate emotions anyway?

Context first. You see, I'm about to run in my first 50 mile race. This in itself is a bit silly, since I've never run a race longer than 10 miles (that's another story, and don't worry...I've done training runs much longer than 10 miles).

I'm actually pretty nervous about this race, since it will be new territory and I don't know whether my body will hold up long enough to let me finish or what pain I might experience along the way. Since I'm a little nervous I am excited to have any friends and family come to help support and cheer me on.

It was in that context that I found out my sister-in-law had asked to remove herself from a commitment she had so she could come and cheer for me. You know the thing about how "actions speak", so when she did this it made me feel really good. Well that's nice, but then comes me being a dopey guy.

I wanted to let her know how much it meant to me (and also to let her know I'd be running for most of the day and that she shouldn't stand in the cold for the whole thing). My plan was something like this...

Give her a big hug and tell her what a 'warm fuzzy' it gave me that she wanted to come support me, and tell her she's a great person.. What really happened...I pinched her on the elbow and said something like "Hey stinker, I heard you're coming to the race".

Doh! Seriously, I'm pretty sure the next generation of "Everybody Loves Raymond" will be loosely focused on my inability to tell people how I feel about them. It'll be something like "He said / He said".

Example: When he said "hey stinker", he meant, "you're so special to me" and when he said "I heard you're coming" he meant "wow, I'm so blessed that you care!" It'll be a witty, lighthearted, feel-good view of the male mind, and the women who are forced to translate what comes out of that mind.

On the flip side, after I shared this story with Sarah and we laughed about it, I realized how thankful I am that I can share things so easily with her. Now if she can help me get better at sharing with everyone else!