Hi Dr. Laura,

Let me lay some ground work first. My husband and I are newly married. My husband is kind of a neat freak. He notices when things are out of place.

I am a notorious grumpy morning person. My parents and roommates will tell you so.

But this morning, I snuck out of bed at 5:30 because my husband gets out of bed a little before that to do his morning routine in the bathroom (shower, shave, etc.). I decided to make him some hash browns and scrambled eggs. When he was done with his bathroom routine, he marched out and exclaimed, "Something smells good!"

We both sat down and while eating breakfast, I noticed I had left out an ingredient so I said, "Oops, I left out the pepper."

What came after was something completely unexpected. My husband started laughing and said, "I noticed you left it out, but I thought to myself, 'Oh hell, she made breakfast' so I curbed myself from saying anything."

That sure brightened my morning!  And I guess I brightened his too.

Your faithful listener,

Cindy