Spouse or Ax Murderer?

It is almost impossible for me to get time to myself, either at work or at home. Last night, after tucking the kids into bed, Spoose and I collapsed on the bed for a few minutes. I realized that the only way I'd have time alone was to go make dinner. So I began the process of finding surfaces and the stove and the sink by cleaning up the day's dishes.

I puttered around, started dinner and some side dishes for Spoose to reheat for the kids the next day, and was organizing stuff in the pantry, when Spoose suddenly appeared. (Note: Pattern for Spoose is to stay napping on the bed until fetched when dinner is ready. Alternate use case is for Spoose to lumber in loudly and can be heard approaching from quite a distance.)

So, I was completely surprised to look past the pantry door and see someone there speaking to me. Surprised doesn't even cover it. I yelled like an Ax Murderer had suddenly appeared with a dripping ax, clutching my chest and SCREAMING for what felt like a few minutes.

A good friend would wonder why I'm so on edge these days and perhaps apologize for startling me. Spoose? Got mad at me for being unapproachable and jumpy. At least I got a thank-you for making dinner. That was new.