Ah my dear sweet cousin Deb...............I appreciate your comments. They are not really necessary as we are related and your flattery is not needed for me to appreciate you. I do indeed intend to take care of myself, probably my wife, the dog maybe. The brat is not responding to training as far as housebreaking. This week will slow that down because rain is predicted all week. And while he doesn't mind the rain I don't want a wet dog trying to get on my lap. If he was human he would be diagnosed with ACHD. He can be so loving one minute and tearing things up the next. Oh well he will get better with time.
Why don't you tell Carl that you would like a break once a week just to be with him and enjoy a nice time out. Tell him that a night out would be relaxing and relieve some stress by not having to worry about things for a few hours and enjoy what you have. If nothing else trying something new or different would be great.
That said.....going out once a week was my wife's idea and a good one. However I have been married to this person for over forty years. I know her well and I predict that after a while she will tire of going out and tell me at some point she doesn't feel like going out to dinner. I hope not but it is inevitable. If she were a dog she would be hard to train because she can be loving one minute and highly irritable the next.

I remain optimistic though.
Just kidding.
Larryj