What makes a good spouse? and other thoughts from France

Daniel with our tour guide Neil. Daniel sat shotgun most days and talked Neil's ear off.

Examples: "Do you golf?" "Have you ever seen 'Man vs. Wild'?" "Do you know any words in Turkish?" On and on.

A scene along the route of the Tour de France in Varzy.

If you are wondering if this picture goes along with the headline - you have good reason. What does a chicken have to do with being a good spouse? A sense of humor in this case.

My niece had a book while we were on vacation entitled something like "Should I Get Married To Him." This of course prompted my nosy nature and questions like "Does he pass the checklist." He did and does and marriage sounds imminent.

More travel is in our future to weddings of cousins and nieces across the globe.

And of course I put in my two-cents about marriage. Though as I explained I don't hold myself up as any kind of model, my thoughts are as follows:

• Having the same values is pretty key.
• Sharing a sense of humor and being able to laugh with your spouse is important.
• Do you want children? (Assuming you are still of childbearing age)
• There has to be a little spark. When you see him/her across the room at a crowded party - do you feel it?
• I also told her you'll know and you already know.

Wisdom for the ages - I know. Now I don't know about you, but I didn't read a book or complete a checklist to get married. I just did. But now I realize that my spouse and I, we do share all of the qualities above, as well as common interest. Though I do have limited interest in rocks - his hobby. And yes you can fall more in love with someone as time passes.

Unrelated thoughts on our trip to Paris

• I was relating a story about cousin Seth's friend walking around the grounds of the Louvre (very nice) because he had no money whilst in Paris for admission fees. Daniel asked, "Why couldn't he just go to the bank?" You see abundance is limitless for him still. As the Church Lady used to say "Isn't that special?"
• Our flight to Paris was delayed for three hours because they didn't have a pilot - good reason. As you know, air travel these days SUCKS and it was never that great to begin with.

More Lessons

• Don't eat frozen veggies when fresh are in season
• Eat fresh food - no more meat in styrofoam. Eat more fish/salad.
• Eat good cheese - not Monteray Jack for example. Although Matt told me today he didn't eat any of the cheese on the trip.
• Enjoy life more. Slow Down. To the French, "Time is more important than money." They got that right - as well as art, wine, food and fashion.
• Set the table
• Get chickens.
• Don't each too much - though we ate alot, we didn't gain weight. The portions are smaller.
• Less stuff/less clutter - though I've known this for a long time.