"The Look"

I had been married for less than 48 hours. We were on our honeymoon at the Oregon Coast. We were driving north towards Oceanside when I glanced up from the road and saw a HUGE house on a hillside overlooking the ocean.


"Whoa!" I say to my new bride "look at the huge house!"


A chilly frost blows towards me from the passenger seat as my wife looks over at me. This is the first (but definitely not the last) time I've felt the awesome power of..... "the look". 

I had always heard of "the look", and I had witnessed "the look" from a distance whenever my dad did something that my mom disapproved of, but I had never felt the full force of "the look".

Until now.


But what in the world did I do to deserve "the look"? We were having a pleasant time driving the scenic byways having a lovely conversation. Why, oh why, did I feel like I wanted to run and hide under a log as the full force of "the look" was unleashed on me?


"I knew you weren't listening" my wife tells me. "I just now said, not even ten seconds ago, 'look at that huge house'. I knew you weren't paying attention to what I was saying."


Oh.


I've felt the power of "the look" many, many times during our 15 (I think) years of marriage. Once I experienced it for a several days in a row. Naturally I didn't know why I was receiving "the look" 24/7.


"What day is it?" my wife asks.


"Thursday...no Wednesday. Today is Wednesday." I say.


"No. What is the date?" she asks. Somehow I know the date is a clue to why I'm getting "the look" day after day, but it's eluding me.


I consult my wristwatch. 


"Ummm...November 11th." I say. There is something significant about November...Thanksgiving! It has something to do about Thanksgiving?


"So, what are we going to do for my birthday three days ago?" she asks.


Wha...? How...why...doh!

I believe I'm still suffering from frost bite from that little adventure.


I also found "the look" just as potent when I forgot our anniversary...twice.....in a row.


The thing is...I have equal opportunity amnesia. I forget my own birthdays as well. I am the easiest person in the world to throw a surprise party for because I don't remember what day it is.

Now my wife just goes ahead and marks things down on a calender. She'll point at important dates and say, "Three more days until my birthday" or "What are we going to do for our anniversary next week?"


Unfortunately, I don't appear to have the power of "the look".  I've tried variations of "the look" and nothing. Zilch. Zero. Nada. It actually causes laughter when I try to implement "the look."


I do have one weapon at my disposal. I call it "voicing my displeasure with emphasis."


My wife calls it "whining".