Either "wife" of "husband", you can think the same way. You don't have to add 「私の」as long as you're talking about your husband (or wife). Also, you don't need to use 「さん」, instead I think you can use「彼」once you've mentioned your 「夫」.

Yes, 「私と私の夫」sounds clumsy. Only 「夫と（一緒に）」will do.

おはようございます。

I'm not quite sure whether I may correct your writing, so please tell me if I bother you.

The adjective "empty" is 「空（から）の」or 「空っぽの」, so ｢空っぽのお皿を見ました」would be better. And I think it is difficult to write the words borrowed from English in katakana. Even a Japanese who long lives in a foreign country sometimes has difficulty in writing them correctly.

waitress -> ウェイトレス
video arcade -> ゲームセンター　or younger people call it just ゲーセン.

Connecting phrases are difficult in English too. Two days ago I was asked a question about English composition by my son.
The Japanese sentence is　「ケンはテニスが好きで、ルーシーはバスケットボールが好きです。」.
Which is correct, "Ken likes tennis and Lucy likes basketball." or "Ken likes tennis but Lucy likes basketball."? I told my son that either one is OK, but I'm not sure. If the question master wanted learners to use "but," the Japanese sentence should be like ｢ケンはテニスが好きですが、ルーシーはバスケットボールが好きです」.
Oh, the hardest thing is to get on to question masters' curves.

Eri. Oh yes, please! It would be great to hear your suggestions and corrections! My Japanese class is at the level of N は Obj を V-ます。Anything more complex than that I've cobbled together from dictionary sample sentences--so I'm sure it will sound very strange sometimes.

As for your son's English sentence, both are grammatically correct. They have a slightly different meaning. The "but" conveys contrast, like "whereas" or "in contrast to", but it sounds more natural than either of those words. When you use "but", there is also the hint that Lucy doesn't like tennis, that she likes basketball instead of (rather than) tennis.

"The question master"...that sounds frightening.

Hi, M,

As to "waitress"(Oh, I was about to spell it like 'waitless'), I wrote like regular "u" small"e" regular "i" "to" "re" "su".

I looked up into a dictionary on PC, a person who gives questions is a "question master" and even though it seemed strange to me, I used that word...Do you have any other option?
(Question master reminds me of a "Pokemon master." ;)

Eeek! So you did. カタカナがきらいです。(Also, I'm going to have to make the font size larger. Even with my new glasses, I have trouble distinguishing between one character and another.)

Actually, I wasn't sure about using the word "waitress". Our きょうかしょ said that the katakana word was used only for wait staff in foreign restaurants. Since we were at a Japanese restaurant, maybe I should have written きゅうじ.

I don't have a better term for "question master". I'm not really sure what it is. It sounds like an evil sorcerer in a video game. Perhaps "examiner"--but that's not something I'd say in everyday speech (it sounds more like a job title: たとえば　tax examiner, claims examiner). Although I believe an examiner is someone who asks questions at an oral exam (examination).

So, the question master is someone different than your son's teacher?

Ｍさん、おはようございます。今は土曜日の朝です。

I think the use of 「は」and 「が」must be confusing for Japanese learners. 「スプーンがどこですか」should be 「スプーンはどこですか」. If you want to use 「スプーンが」, you can say like 「スプーンがありません」. But since this is a conversation between you and your husband, 「スプーンはどこ？」and 「スプーンがないよ」sound more natural. (I would say 「あれ、スプーンがないぞ」) And you answered 「いいえ。スプーンがない。」. This time, 「いいえ。スプーンはありません」sounds natural. (Women will say 「スプーンはないの（よ）」.)

お～い、えりさん、ひよこさん、なんかいい説明の仕方はないっすか？

Kiyo, you are so right. 「は」and 「が」are very confusing--sort of like "a, an, and the" for you, perhaps.

You've brought up another interesting problem I'm having. How to translate the story, not just the words but the feeling. My husband's reaction at not receiving a spoon was one of surprise. If he had been Japanese, now that you mention it, I'm sure he would have said "あれ!?!" If he were American, he might have said, "So where's the spoon!?!" But in his subtle British way he actually said, " Hmm. This soup is too hot. Well, that's okay. I'll just let it cool down while I'm waiting for them to bring a spoon."

Well that's too much of a mouthful for me to try to write in Japanese. And the literal translation wouldn't convey the same meaning. So I think I'll go with your suggestion. Thanks!

Hi, M-san and Kiyo-san,
It is really difficult to distinguish the usages of 「は」and 「が」.

I sometimes come across this kind of situation when I teach English; I mean there are some English sentences which cannot be explained grammatically. In those cases, I a----lways say, "Oh, this is one of the inimitable expressions of English. Keep remembering these kinds of phrases, and you'll be a good English speaker!" (good excuse, eh?)

M-san, again,

The tests are not always made by his own teachers; that's why I didn't use the words "his teacher." んー、英語の使い方もむずかしいです。