A Great Big Canadian Hug to Bonnie & Ray

Sometimes the universe is just...weird.

It puts people in your path at a specific moment and often for a specific period of time.

I met Bonnie and her husband Ray in the candy aisle at Walmart last night. And we just started chatting. Turns out they are from Rhode Island, they travel 10 months of the year in their motor home and live in Arizona the rest of the time.

They have been married 44 years, together for 46. This is mind-boggling to me and when I asked them what their secret is, the knowing smile that passed between them said it all but they did give me a list:

#1. Love each other even through the hard times (and there ARE hard times).

#2. Learn to listen with respect - hard to learn, but once you do....everything else gets easier.

#3. Remember that you are a COUPLE and you MUST take time every week to be alone together (without the kids).

#4. Sex. And lots of it.

Bless you, Bonnie and Ray. You were my little rays of sunshine yesterday, and oh, how I needed you.

When Life Is A Bowl of Lemons....

....I like to think I'm someone who can make lemonade.

Instead you'll find me smashing the lemons into a mealy pulp and shattering the bowl.

I'm Not Trapped Under A Desk

Contrary to opinion, I did not fall off the planet but life has, and continues to be, very challenging.

I realize that, quite likely, no one has stuck around to read my ramblings and I'm totally fine with that. I have been stressed out for so long - let's see - since my last post which was 8 months ago around Christmas, right?

Here's a recap:

• Did I mention our basement flooding in the fall? I can't remember...that was AWESOME.
• Jeff's mother was so ill at the end of December 2010 she was, quite literally, at death's door.
• I worked on a contract that ended in January 2011 and then waited 2.5 months for unemployment to kick in. Meanwhile, mortgage payments and bills keep arriving - what gives?
• Unemployment kicks in and sticks around for only 13 weeks - EI Canada - you SUCK...I've been working 20 years and never needed EI because I couldn't find a job but they only count in the hours you worked in the previous 12 months. EI Canada - not only do you suck, but you also BLOW.
• Somewhere mid-winter, as in the coldest, freezing-ist part of winter, our furnace decided to take a vacation. And while I can pretend I'm not that cold, when your kids' fingers feel like icicles inside your house, it's a sign that we might as well set fire to the whole money-pit because at least then we'd be warm.
• Except that setting a fire would be wrong because we're already paying almost 3x as much insurance as we used to (3 claims in a 5-year period gets you screwed.)
• Did I mention that my (one of) mother was living with us until the middle of March?
• So, not only are the bills coming in one on top of the other, but there's also an extra mouth to feed, to shower, to launder...
• Oh, and here come all those bills again...

There's more, and I'm whining because really all of that above is not that bad in the grand scheme of things, but when it feels like we're constantly moving 1 step forward and 3 steps back it gets tedious.

Things are...tense...but on the upside, our sex life has never been better. So, you know, there's a silver lining in every situation!

Although I'm definitely wondering when we're going to get off the seesaw. It's making both of us nauseous.