Some days I wish I was one of those people who kept personal information private instead of giving in to some insane urge to share anything and everything with anyone who will come close enough to listen.
Today is one of those days.
If I was one of those people with a good sense of proprietary and [...]

You know why blogs are better than babies?
Because you can ignore them for days and days and weeks and weeks and they are still here.
Don’t try that shit with babies.  Seriously.
I plan to tell you all about our New Year’s Eve party – including the part where Jared showed up without a shirt on and [...]

“What’s wrong?” I ask.
“Nothing,” he says.
And we both know that he’s full of shit, although only one of us has any clue to what extent.  And it’s not me.
He folds his arms across his chest, a visual cue that he’s closing himself off from me.  He smiles a little to reassure me, but he doesn’t [...]

We never believe our own mothers.
She tells us the world is round, and we roll our eyes at the very idea that she would know anything about the size or shape of the world.  But when Mrs. Smith shows you a globe, you believe, and you run home to tell your mother what you learned [...]

I’m not perfect.
None of you are surprised to hear that, I know.  But my point is that not only am I not perfect, but I have no desire to appear perfect.  Not to you or anyone.
There’s too much pressure in perfection.  Besides, most people know it’s a lie, don’t they?  I know I have, at [...]

We wiped away our tears, signaling the end of our counseling session.
“I just want to say,” her voice was the exact same tone and volume that it always is, “that you guys make perfect sense.”
My eyes flew from my twiddling thumbs to his face.  His lips twitched as he tried to suppress a smile.  We [...]

My husband and I did this exercise during last week’s marriage counseling session.
I thought it was interesting, and announced mid session that I’d be featuring Marriage Mad Lib on my blog.  My marriage counselor laughed and Jared shook his head the way that he always does when I announce that something is going to show [...]

We pulled into the parking lot for our counseling appointment last week and I noted that our counselor’s car wasn’t there yet.
“Ohhh, shit,” Jared and I realized in unison that we had scheduled the appointment for a half an hour earlier than usual, and that we were late rather than a few minutes early.
We stood [...]

Two weeks ago, I dragged two three children to the grocery store for our weekly shopping trip.
After they had endured more time than anyone should ever have to endure in a Wal-Mart, I took them to the nearby party supply store that had been converted into a costume shop for the Halloween season.
Emma had known [...]

We’d spent our first session introducing ourselves and covering our individual backgrounds and medical histories while sitting next to each other on a small couch.  When we walked into our second marriage counseling session, we found two chairs set up a few feet apart facing one another.
This was, apparently, the proper setting for The Dialogue.
That’s [...]

“Are you nervous or excited?” I asked.
Jared looked up from his half of the admissions packet we were filling out for our new marriage counselor.  He shrugged one shoulder and contorted his lips the way he always does when he doesn’t want to talk about something.  If he could have disappeared into the brown paisley [...]

I’m sitting on a fourth floor balcony overlooking the Atlantic Ocean.  I’m looking at the beach, listening to the waves, but I haven’t stepped foot on it yet.
I haven’t stepped foot much of anywhere this weekend.  It’s after 3:00 on Saturday afternoon and I’ve left my hotel room exactly once to steal coffee from the [...]

There is no good way to ease into this.
My husband, Jared, and I have decided to separate for 3 months.
No, we’re not getting divorced.  Yes, I understand that separation is, in many instances, the “first step towards a divorce”.  And it is, if I’m being honest, a possible outcome here.  But it is not, by [...]

I’ve written a lot of really personal stuff here.
I’ve talked about my marriage – the good and the bad.  I’ve documented my depression as it was happening.  I’ve used this blog to communicate with my husband via “open letters“, often revealing on the blog things I couldn’t say face to face.
And yet, yesterday, I wrote [...]

We’re supposed to be discovering new surfaces on which to have sex.
That’s what people do when their kids leave town.  At least, that’s what everyone keeps telling us.
We’ve spent the first week staring at one another.  And fighting a lot.  And trying to remember just what in the hell we have in common.  And how [...]