Wanna Bet?

I love my husband. He is a wonderful man, a doting father and a loving husband. You can't ask for anyone better than him.

But he is also completely nuts.

He recently ordered some books. Everyday he'd come home from work and ask "Did my books come yet?" He looked just like a little boy waiting for Santa to come. Everyday I'd have to tell him that his books did not arrive. His face fell and he looked like I'd run over his pet.

But then his books arrived. He ran to the box, ripped it open, and hugged the books. He stared lovingly at their covers. "Look at these, aren't they wonderful?" Umm, honestly no. Then he opened one of the books and began to read "It says this guy has a WHIP of X and a . . ." I'm sure he continued talking but I blacked out for a moment because he was reading me baseball statistics.

Yes the books he ordered were for his upcoming fantasy baseball leagues. Leagues plural because there are two. Sigh.

Coupled with his strange obsession with fantasy sports is his extreme competitive nature. He pours over the stats looking for an advantage. He must win. He must beat his friends, especially Martin and David.

But apparently that is not enough for him. He also likes to challenge me. We bet on all sorts of things. Whose alma mater is going to beat the other's in football and basketball. (Usually its me but unfortunately this was a bad year for the Badgers). Who can correctly pick the most football games. Tonight we will see who gets the most Oscar winners. And so on.

He likes to make up games to compete at too: "I'm going to give you a hint and you have to guess the answer". My answer is usually I don't know or care, why don't you just tell me. Which, by the way, is not the correct answer.

One day he came home with one of those facebook notes on how well do you know your spouse. He said "Wouldn't it be fun if we wrote down what our answers would be and then the other had to guess what we wrote? We could see who got the most right. It be like the Newlywed Game." Sure, fun for you.

The only upside to this behavior is there is usually a prize involved - dinner or date night of the winner's choice. And the dinner or date is usually attended by the loving husband, not the crazy one. So I put up with it and I even try to win now and then.