I love a good deal.  The only thing better, is a great deal!  The best part of a great  deal is calling someone up and sharing the news of your amazing deal.

Unless you call the wrong person.

I love Eric very much, but he rarely gives me the desired response of shock and awe.   He responds with all the excitement of someone who has just opened a bank statement.  “Oh good there’s money in there,” even though I’m speaking in my “this is super exciting” tone.

Sometimes after he has not given me the “woo-hooing” I need, I have to call in my reinforcements – the girls!   I will readily admit that I call them and say “All I need you to do is act surprised and impressed.”  Then I lay out the details of my impressive savings and they give me the correct womanly responses, including a few “oh my goodness,” a couple “wows” and maybe one or two “I can’t believe it.”

That is all I need.

Have you ever noticed that if you use the “this is super exciting!”  tone with a kid under the age of five, that it almost doesn’t matter what you’re saying, but it’s the tone that gets them? I could say we’re off to get hair cuts and buy underwear, and if I use my “this is super exciting!” tone, the kids will get excited.   After the age of five this seems to stop working, and no matter how exciting I try to make something sound it is met with blank stares.

Often in life, we have hurt other people not by what we say, but how we say something.  Our tone of voice is as important,  if not more so, than our actual words.   

I’ll be the first to admit that I love text messaging, but  sometimes our “voices” can quickly get lost in translation.  Are we so busy that we can’t share our “voice” with some one?

How much sweeter is it to hear “I love you and miss you” than to read it across a phone screen?

When someone we love is hurting, is it not better to let them hear our comforting words, than to read a quick text?

I know that I need to be better at this.  I want those I love to remember my “voice,” not my phone.