Dear Lindsey:

Kooper barked a few moments ago (I can hear him, he has a loud bark). Like I said, it’s the responsibility involved with having a dog that bothers me, but I am thinking about it..  having my own beagle puppy (it makes me smile!)

“He is giving mixed signals and not clear.  I felt rejection when he responded with ‘not really, just telling you about a free movie’… he just shrugged his shoulders saying ‘I don’t know’“- he is using the Teflon Strategy (TS): whatever he doesn’t want to deal with, he lets it slide off him, like oil off Teflon. Another way to say it: he is using the Toe-in-the-water Strategy (TWS):  he dips his toe in the water (bringing up the movie night) and… quickly moves his foot away from the water (“not really.. I don’t know“).

“Maybe I should just let it go. Not beat a dead horse so to speak“- (I am in a humorous mood this morning): this is the Dead Horse Strategy (DHS): he makes a sound that indicates the horse is alive (bringing up the movie night) and… goes dead (“not really… I don’t know“)

“I don’t understand how to move forward with people saying things about us being together for a while and not knowing how to talk about it with him because he seems to freeze up“- as far as people volunteering their critical opinions in regard to your personal relationship with Jason, I am sure that if you wanted to, you can criticize their personal relationships plenty, so…

In regard to Jason freezing up… I wonder if talking with him while the two of you relax in a sauna or in a hot tub can thaw him (I mean it, I am not joking)?

anita