Hey there,

Well, the fall garage sale is over. My last attempt this year to get rid of stuff, reduce clutter and make a real dollar or two. Next up, the donation truck is coming in two weeks to pick up the leftovers. I have also arranged to donate some of the winter clothing items to our school for kids who don't have any.

Leading up to the sale though, H prepped the garage by moving the classic car out of it, moving everything not included in the sale to the 3rd stall, and hanging tarps to block that stall off from the rest. He knows I am trying to de-clutter - so this is his contribution.

Needless to say, in the nights leading up to the sale, I was up late doing prep. I also had a early morning meeting and left before everyone was up. So H and I hadn't connected at all - . So yesterday, we made it up with some early morning and mid-afternoon antics!

Adding to the chaos, hockey is in full swing - both S6 and D9 started last week. And to our surprise, S4 wants to try too. I let him skate briefly on Saturday - and he may play Mites in a few weeks.

This stuff is important to the DBing process because my H and I have to work as a team and communicate well to survive all of this. Tonight we have three things on the calendar - a mandatory preschool orientation for S4 and us alone (no siblings), hockey practice for D9 and curriculum night for D9. And H has to work late.

He offered to try to come home early, but I got MIL to cover hockey and take S6 with her. I will take S4 to his and I talked to D9's teacher and said I won't be there.

The test is HOW TO REMAIN A COUPLE AFTER BECOMING PARENTS . This is the part that they need to teach in the pre-marriage classes. This is the part that tests any couple, but especially one back from the brink.

That is why I continue to come here. The need for support is on-going. When we hit bumps in the road, we need to be able to step back, evaluate and make the right decision about how to 1. work around the bump 2. Go slowly over the bump to avoid to much jarring or 3. hit it hard and fast and get it over with.

Those are my thoughts for the day. It has been since the end of May that H returned and our 13th anniversary is in November. Last year at this time I believed we would be together because I wouldn't let myself believe anything else. And now we will be! Woohoo!

PS - No date yet, but we're working on it!

totite "Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative..."