My wife and I were out for dinner last night. It was nice. Great meal, nice wine and terrific conversation. One of those dinners that serves as a reminder of why I married her.

Driving home

"I think you were flirting with our waitress"

"Was I?"

"Yes, you were certainly flirting with our waitress"

remained quiet, smirking to myself and actually trying to remember whether I was or wasn't

"I want you to admit you were flirting with her"

"ok"

"Ok you'll admit it or ok you were flirting with her"

"Which would you prefer?", smirking

"You're not taking this very seriously"

Put my hand on her knee, kiss her on the cheek

"no, I'm not"

a bit of silence. And then she breaks the silence:

"I read on reddit today the National Park may get transferred to State ownership making them a target for sale in the private sector, isn't that awful?"

And a nice conversation about Parks ownership commenced.

The bonus: We're getting out of the car and the Uber driver, after she has gotten out, looks at me and just said, "nicely done brother, nicely done"

So, here's something: 2 years ago, I would have denied flirting. The ride would have been sour and the memory of the evening somewhat spoiled.

The only thing WORSE than 2 years ago was the 18 or so months after discovering MRP and trying to manage these situations. Seeking out clever (what I thought were clever) retorts to these tests. Lots of words, both of us somewhat confused as to what the fuck I was doing. Those were shit times. My guess is a lot of you (and sometimes me still) are in that.

Last night served as a reminder that doing the right things, coming here and reading (sometimes posting) is a great exercise. Serves to reinforce what works as we've learned from guys that keep it tight.