Grin and Bare It

I've gotten pretty good at letting things go. Snide comments, snappy come-backs, those irritating one-liners that leave you wondering exactly what was meant; I just let em roll off.

What's worse though, is when I say something that leaves the recipient wondering what the heck I meant by that. It's too bad I don't have an automatic hand that could slap right over my gaping pie hole before I said something snarky.

Not that I'd want one of those all the time...

I'm just sayin'

So, yesterday, while my brother-in-laws were here working on the front feeder, my sis-in-law and I were visiting - all.day.long.

Don't get me wrong, I love her! We've grown beyond the petty competitiveness of our youth and settled into a pretty nice friendship. I'm just saying that spending all day, on my day off before a VERY busy weekend, with anyone would have left me weary.

But, I digress.

We were all sitting around in the living room, talking about this and that, when her husband, Mr. Sensitive Guy, announces that he quit smoking and has started putting on a few pounds. I laughed and said that Beloved wouldn't know anything about that (my Beloved quit smoking twelve years ago and has gained a pound or two). Everyone laughed.

Then his wife said, "I told him if he doesn't knock it off I'll have to get rid of him."

I was really surprised that she said that. I mean, she's not exactly a size 4 - or 8 - or 14, if you get my meaning. She hasn't been a tiny size in years and we've had some pretty frank discussions about our weight.

But that's neither here nor there. It's what leaped out of my mouth next that made me wish for a roll of duct tape.

"Oh come one! He's lived with your fat butt for years..."

ahem

Everyone laughed, including my sis-in-law, but I cringed inside. That was a mean thing to say. I quickly tried to cover it with a comment about how diet and exercise become more important to the hubby when HE starts to gain weight. At least it did in our house (sort of...Beloved still brings home things we've agreed we shouldn't eat!).

While I've had to grin and bare some dirty comments from family members, I wish I could learn to keep my big mouth shut. So no one had to bare mine.