What's your Happily Ever After?

The house is quiet. A rarity for a Sunday morning.

My mom offered to take the kids for a sleep over last night so DH and I could go out and celebrate our wedding anniversay. So we jumped at the chance for a night out.

As of Monday, I will have been married for 13 years. Worthy of a night out, right? The kicker...we've been together for 22 years. Considering that I haven't yet hit the big 4-0, I think it makes us, as a couple, pretty unique. We were high school sweethearts, however we waited 9 years before we got married. In those 9 years I went away to university, coming home only on weekends when my studying schedule would allow. My DH started a career with a schedule that made it difficult for him to come visit. And yet through it all, we managed to stay together. Not because it was easier to stay together. Because it was too hard to stay apart.

So there you go--my own little romance novel. Maybe that's why I've been drawn to this genre. What about you? What's your story?

The drama that is my life

This past week has been filled with bad luck.

It all started during an evening speed walk with my friend. Imagine our surprise when a barking German Shepard emerged from the side of a house and proceeded to CHASE us across across a busy street. An energizing walk turned into a speed-run for our lives (or so it seemed). Very scary. Note to dog's owner: Giving your vicious dog a cute name like Ollie doesn't make him less scary. Just sayin'.

And then in the same evening, not five minutes later, we narrowly missed being spattered with egg thrown from a car full of teenagers. Stupid, to say the least. I mean, really, what's the point?

Then the kicker. This morning, I pulled into the day care to drop off the kiddies, and when I returned to the mommy-mobile, it wouldn't start. Nothin'. Dead as a door nail. So after calling a tow truck, waiting for the nice driver to arrive and start it, I drove promptly to the garage and had a new battery installed. The whole ordeal landed me an hour and a half late for work and a whole lot lighter in the pocket book. What a way to start a Monday.

But bad things happen in threes, right? So that should be the end of my crummy luck. I can hope anyway.

Anyone else out there having crummy luck, or is it just me?

I'm weak...

I did it.

I gave in to the travel itch and booked a family trip to Orlando. I know, I know, all those reasons I gave still have merit, but the kids are only small once, right? Soon they won't want to hang around with us. They'll be too busy with friends and *gulp* boys to want to go see Mickey and Minnie with Mom and Dad. So I'm going to eat it up while I can.

I can rationalize anything.

I'm a writer, after all.

The Travel Itch

What is it about the Fall that makes me want to book a vacation?

Maybe it's the impending Winter and mental flashbacks of digging out from under several feet of snow. Or maybe its the thought of the sun setting at 4 pm and the cold, dark drive home from work. Or the memory of the -20 C temperatures that leave us shivering in our warmest Winter gear. Whatever it is, it almost had me convinced to book a trip to Orlando this week. I came really close. Even had DH convinced. Until reasonable thought returned reminding me of the outstanding bills, car maintenance that needed to be done, my shaky work environment--none of which are conducive to spending thousands of dollars visiting Mickey and friends.

Darn.

So I have no trip booked. I'm dreading the thought of Winter coming. But on the plus side, I have a week of vacation time unaccounted for.

I smell a writing week in my future.