The cooking thing is huge at my house. Even with both of our boys out of the house (but not our checkbook!) what's-her-face appreciates it when I take over kitchen duty. And I can BBQ year round in SoCal. I also found one other food related item. The last damned thing I want to do when I get home is go out for dinner. And it's the first thing she wants to do because she generally doesn't go out when I'm gone. I don't think. Anyway, I make sure that I take her out for a nice dinner fairly often. Although, I'd rather do a prime rib or road kill at home.

By the way, I print copies of my schedule and stick 'em on the refrigerator for her. And I do it in local time. That way she doesn't have to worry about the Z conversion. The only time she ever called me was when my Mom was in the hospital and took a turn for the worse. We communicate through email a lot and Skype a few times a trip. She's made it plain to me that she doesn't want/need to talk to me every day, twice a day. She's busy counting her shoes.

31 years and I haven't figured out a way to make her go away.