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What’s the Spookiest Thing That’s Happened to You on Halloween?

Happy Halloween! I don’t know if it’s the kid in me or what, but Halloween remains one of my favorite holidays. I love decorating and dressing up even though I don’t have any kids and some may think I’m too old for such nonsense. But I don’t care. I still think it’s a hoot. However, this Halloween, even though the decorations are up, I find myself facing something very scary indeed. A trip to the doctor. Dreading the Doctor After having to schlep my mom to and from doctors’ offices this past year, I’ve semi-sort of conquered one fear in … Continue reading →

Black Clouds

Have you ever seen a cartoon or a comic strip featuring some poor soul who has a black cloud overhead following him (or her) wherever he (or she) goes? They can’t get a break. Everywhere they turn, everything they do, doom awaits. I’ve had days where I’ve felt like that. Days where no matter what I try, I can’t shake the black cloud. I know Wayne has too. Usually we don’t experience it at the same time, though, so whoever’s got the sun on their side tries to stand as close as possible to the other. That way we can … Continue reading →

Three Fun Ways to Prepare Your Marriage to Survive an Economic Depression

Last night while I was watching Mad Money, Jim Cramer said something which helped to slightly ease my worries about another Great Depression. He said we’re likely not heading into one. However, the key word was “likely.” Even he’s not 100 percent sure where we’re headed yet. That’s why my mind was only slightly eased. But as Cramer offered money and investing advice, I got to thinking about a couple of things. One was the movie Life is Beautiful. I loved how the main character found a way to make a game out of living in a concentration camp. The … Continue reading →

Rain or Shine, My Pets Are There

This hasn’t been a very easy year for me. In fact, of all my years on this Earth to date, this past one has been the most trying by far. And the most blues-filled. One After the Other It started last summer when we tried to move back to Jacksonville. Thankfully plans changed, but instead of life sailing along unencumbered as I’d hoped, I got sick in November –the same week Wayne moved home and we left to go to Denver for Thanksgiving. Then Wayne got sick, and I had a relapse and fell ill again. Come January and February … Continue reading →

Dogs Who Fake Limps for Sympathy

At Mr. Meow’s Thursday vet appointment to check his lump (which was nothing, just a reaction to his rabies shot. Phew!), I also touched based with the vet about Murphy’s hurt paw. (He’s still limping.) Healing Takes Time We know it’s not broken, because x-rays confirmed that. It could be something’s wrong with the tendons. But before the vet refers us to a specialist, she wants us to finish up the anti-inflammatory medication she prescribed Murph. She’s hoping we don’t have to go the specialist route. She’s encouraged by the fact the swelling has gone down, and hopes it stays … Continue reading →

The Cruise, My Marriage, and a Taste of the Amazing Race

One of the unexpected things Wayne and I got to do on our Alaskan cruise was play a game that gave us a taste of how we’d do on the Amazing Race. We fared about as I expected, but we also did a little bit better than I expected. Boat Activities Our first full day on the ship was a day at sea. (For those of you who haven’t taken a cruise before, that means it’s just you and the boat out on the open water. You don’t stop at any ports.) The first cruise we took (a short one … Continue reading →

Love Lessons Learned on an Alaskan Vacation

I started this year with a goal: looking for examples of what makes love work. I keep finding them. Sometimes in unexpected places. Like on our Alaskan vacation. Who knew love lessons would abound there? “That’s what marriage is…” Comedian Merl Hobbs entertained the ship the first night. A lot of his jokes were marriage centered. One of his tag lines (that he eventually incorporated into more than a few punch lines) was: “That’s what marriage is: doing stuff you don’t want to do.” As comics often do, through humor he highlighted trials of marriage most of us know, mostly … Continue reading →

Coming Back to Hurt Pets After Vacation

When Wayne and I went on our vacation to Alaska, we boarded Murphy in a “pet resort.” A neighbor watched the cats for us. (She graciously offered to watch Murph, too, but we didn’t want to overwhelm her. She has four kids, school had only started the week before so they were still getting back in that groove, plus she has two dogs –one of which is a new puppy with potty training problems– and a cat of her own. We didn’t want to add having to walk Murph four times a day to her To Do list.) Separation Anxiety … Continue reading →

Recession Benefitting Your Marriage: Quality Together Time

The other day I got to thinking about an article I wrote earlier this year where I wondered if recession might actually benefit our marriages. I had visions of turning the concept into a mini-series. Alas, so far I only offered suggestions on ways to recession-proof your marriage with dinner. But recently I was reminded about this forsaken series of articles I’d planned to write. Thanks to our trip to Alaska, we’ve been trying to conserve resources. Therefore, more and more I’ve been considering ways Wayne and I could spend quality time together, be active and have fun, yet not … Continue reading →

Multi-Pet Households: Separate Vet Trips or All Together?

What to do when both pets are due for their vaccinations? The Vaccination Report Murph’s rabies wasn’t technically due until the beginning of September, but his DHP and Parvo were expired. Since we’re kenneling him when we go to Alaska, I had to get those last two in particular updated. He also needed a heartworm test since I can’t remember the last time I gave him a heartworm preventative chewie. Mr. Meow has been overdue for his rabies, but I also wanted to get him checked out because (a) he’s getting up there in years, (b) he’s been limping here … Continue reading →