Whoa! Before you get the tar and feathers, let me straighten a few things out:
1) My post was not meant to be taken in complete seriousness. I merely meant to get people thinking that we often have urges, but that doesn't mean we should follow them. Most people think of doing stupid things from time to time, but what helps to make us civilized is that we do not ACT on our urges. I was only wondering if anyone had THOUGHT about doing something stupid. Which leads into…
2) I would not have actually spent any amount of time at the gun show. I merely wanted to drive over, spend five minutes to see what times it was open during the weekend, and get on my merry way. If I was able to go there on Sunday, great. If not, no big loss.
3) The reason I was a half-hour late to begin with was because one of my students needed a little help after school, so I spent some time giving him a boost in the right direction. My fiancee is also an educator, so I knew she would understand. I wanted to get to her party early and help her get ready, but I was unable.
4) Christine, my fiancee, is the love of my life. She, my God, my family, my freedom, my honor, and my students are at the top of my priority list. My hobbies, shooting included, don't even make the top 20 of things that are truly important in life. I truly believe, as Dave R said it, people are more important than things. If I had to choose between giving up shooting and giving up her, it is no real choice at all, I would choose my Christine. To borrow a line from a movie, she "makes me want to be a better man." She is my best friend, and when I have to choose between my best interests and her best interests, her best interests almost always win. She comes first. Everything else is a distant second. I absolutely can't stand parties, but because it was important to her, it was suddenly very important to me.
5) As far as hobbies and changing goes, she knows about my shooting hobbies and is very accepting. I acknowledge that I cannot change her, and she acknowledges that she cannot change me. But I am often willing to change myself because it is the right thing to do. If I have $30 to spend, chances are that I'll spend my money on roses for her rather than something on myself. I've changed in that way.
pax - Thank you for standing up for the woman's point of view. It is appreciated. I'll share this with you, for what's it worth. Neither Christine nor I believe in "four legs in a bed" before marriage. We respect ourselves and each other too much. I sincerely do try to put her first. I wouldn't intentionally hurt her because I couldn't intentionally hurt her. Hurting her would kill me, pax. Everyone looks for that certain meaning in life: mine is keeping one certain special woman as happy as I can. I regret that my original post made me sound like a complete jerk. I do hope this clears things up. Next time, I'll think twice and post once. Regards.
Just don't blame me or sue TFL if she throws you out of the house for a couple nights.