TGIF! Happy New Years! And say goodbye to midweek off days. Full workweeks resume Monday, so enjoy you the next few days.

Survival – Personal Edition

My resolution for this year? Stop forgetting birthdays. This is rather easy as I just need to sit down and add them all to a calendar with a 1 month reminder. Invariably, though, a birthday slips through the cracks. And if it just happens to be your partner, you’ll need to do some work. Let’s get to it.

• Steps 1 through 3 are to apologize. The first is a verbal apology. From there, tailor the apologies to your partner. Love letters (hand written), flowers, special home-cooked dinner, or something more specific to your partner’s interests.
• Take responsibility for your mistake. Do not make a single excuse, because there isn’t one. Just acknowledge you fucked up and you can’t undo that.
• Acknowledge their feelings. Whether they’re hurt, upset, both, it doesn’t matter, their feelings are genuine. Do not challenge or question any of their reactions. Just admit you can’t imagine how they feel.
• Plan a special event as a makeup birthday celebration. Something like a weekend vacation, spa day, night at a fancy hotel, thoughtful gift, or anything your partner has wanted to do as a special event. Of course, do not expect forgiveness for any of this. You will need to talk through this like grown adults before the two of you can put it behind you.

Phew! Problem solved until next year. Oh, and it will come up next year, and every year after that. Try something fun like throwing a surprise party the day before their birthday as a joke.

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Survival – Species Edition

Time to put the sexy in Friday!

Enjoy the weekend, folks! Alright, now let’s get to the comments!