Wow Michele, your story sounds a lot like mine. Met future DH at age 18 as a freshman, 32 (yikes) years ago. We started "dating" (what a euphemism) the night we formally met in the dorm's library while studying for exams, in mid-March 1984. Didn't get married for 7 years though (my parents referred to him as their "sin-in-law" for a while) due to my feminist tendencies. So, we are celebrating our 25th wedding anniversary on April 7th this year.

Ok, if you need a DH story, here is mine: In college, I'm a junior, living with a sorority sister in an off campus apartment. She needs her washer and dryer moved from her old place and calls her ex-boyfriend to do it. To thank him, we take him out to dinner. Months pass and he calls and asks me to a luau (in the middle of SLC winter) at a bar that should be labeled a meat market. I tell him that my roommate has to go, too, so he buys a second ticket and we're a threesome. We kind of hit it off. She and I decide to take him to dinner again as a thank you, and she has her current BF come for a double date. We see each other from time to time until my roommate and his roommate both decide to move out of town. We end up moving in with his best friend (opposite three's company) and we've been together since. I remember my Mom refusing to visit us because we weren't married. Then we bought a house together and got married a few months after that. This year is 28 years marriage.

Andrea-- very similar in fact!!

I still chuckle that dh's brother thought I was too young for dh and I was after his future money as an engineer. I was 18 and he was 22 when we met. Fast forward many years and said brother is on his second wife who is 12 years younger than him! He is 54 and has a 7 year old and a 1 year old. Um.... who is too young for who?

And Allison-- love your story too!!

Dh and I hid from my parents that we were living together. We were so careful about who answered the phone in the apartment. We didn't tell his parents either. When he graduated (we were engaged by then), we tried to hide the fact that I lived with him from his relatives that came for the graduation. No one said anything but I'm sure they had their suspicions. We've never told our girls that we lived together-- they've never asked either or we would be truthful!

Highlights turned out well I think. I'm never sure about my hair after the salon until I wash and style it myself. I have very curly hair and they always do different things to it. They were trying to match the "gold" in my eyes so hopefully that happened successfully. I'll see if I get any work compliments.

Still waiting to hear about the interview date. I did advance another step with a different company, so that's good. There are a LOT of people switching jobs at the moment, so the process has slowed. Dagmar, the one I'm waiting to hear on is still in automotive, but at a supplier level. It has the potential to wipe out 2/3 of my commute, pay close to the same, and still be a challenge. The other is with a very specialized company that does a series of specialized coatings - they have a much more diverse customer base, are about the same distance away, can't pay quite as well but would intellectually keep me very busy for years. I'd very much like to talk with them and see what they're doing on a daily basis.

I have moments where garbage collection or even Walmart look like viable options.

No garbage collection for me Becky . I will definitely be applying at a bunch of "big box" stores for part-time shifts when we leave Toronto. I can't stomach many more winters of being outside all day and then so exhausted in the evening that I go to bed at 8 p.m. I will still try to cat sit - not much money but indoors cuddling cats is not a bad gig.

Dagmar

Happy to report that I found my eyeballs. 2 days later, the contact case just reappeared in the bathroom, a bit worse from the wear and tear and with suspicious teeth-marks in the plastic. I had, of course, long since given up and gotten out a second pair of eyeballs (doesn't everyone keep spares?), so now I'm seeing double...

Wouldn't it be nice if we could retire from, say, ages 45 to 55, then go back to work? I'd much rather have 10 years starting at age 45 than starting at age 70. (Yes, I know that one *could* do this by, say, being unemployed from age 45 to 55. But, social security and retirement plans aren't set up for this option.)

//kaw

I think I would have preferred retirement during my 30's so I could spend extra time with my kids. But, yeah, mid-life retirement sounds beneficial. Once the kids are out of the house, it seems normal to work. At one time, when the kids were little, we met with our financial advisor who asked us when we wanted to retire. I imagined 55. Then we made a plan of how much money we'd need to retire with the same lifestyle we enjoyed. So, yeah, we could retire at 55, but having such a profitable company, we don't want to. Besides, we'd need to sell the company and we're just not interested in doing that. That said, had we won the lottery, we'd have given the business to our employees, help them run it, and then retire. Such dreams...

I am doing fine a week after surgery. The surgeon said it was fine to walk. I asked "Walk a lot"? and she said yes. So I'm back to my 15K steps a day, and also back to my part time 10 hr per week job. No weights or strenuous exercise yet, though.

My pathology report came back, and it was a great relief. Clean margins on the tumor and nothing found in the lymph node. The tumor was 1.6 cm instead of the 2.2 cm reported by the MRI. So I'm Stage I instead of Stage II. I see a medical oncologist this week and the radiation doc the following week.

Because of the lifelong risk of lymphedema, I need to stay as lean as possible. (So if you are thinking about getting breast cancer, get lean!) I'm nervous about hiking at altitude, since altitude is probably one of the biggest stressors of the lymphatic system. I plan to take everything very slowly and measure constantly. I've already got 4 days of measurements (am and pm) on both arms so that I'll start seeing what is normal variation and be aware of any changes. I've got 12 permanent marker dots on each arm. A new fashion trend?

You might think you'd like to retire mid-life, but I think it would be depressing to go back to work after years of retirement. Heck, I could hardly stand going back after a three or four-day weekend, never mind a week vacation!

I'm on the second DH. First marriage was at age 20 and lasted 8 years, no kids. This one is going strong at 25 years, one kid between us and three previous for him. The secret to a happy marriage is low expectations of one's spouse.

I agree with Howlin'. Once retired, you really don't want to go back to work--not in the same way.

Alice Glad things went so well and hope they continue like that.

Dagmar

Great news, Alice! You're amazing!

I had coffee yesterday with two "yoga" friends I hadn't seen in months as we now practice at different studios. It was great to catch up and commiserate as we are all in the schools here. There's nothing like female friendship and I need to remind myself to find these opportunities. They both said they had news to share so I was super curious about what their news was! One was that she had breast reduction surgery. The other was that she was selling arbonne products and how excited she was to share them with us. I was slightly dubious that she suggested the meeting with ulterior motives but she sent us how with lots of samples to try. Anyone use their products? She left me with their skincare regimen to try and she is going to come by in a few days to pick it up and see how I like it. Clever sales technique but I agreed to try it with the caveat that she can help visit with Ellie, as we are still working on her fear of strangers. My other friend said I could bring Ellie by and said her kids are dog whisperers. I said we would see how visit number one goes first.

I've tried Argonne and do like their stuff but won't give into their MLM mentality. Basically, each seller is trying to get other sellers beneath her to boost her sales. I think a lot of their products are good, but you can get similar, and less expensive, stuff at the store.

Good luck with Ellie. Have you looked into more classes for her? We have a local place here that works with dogs with all sorts of problems. I took Bogey to one to help him be nice around other dogs. It turns out he IS nice around other dogs, but he doesn't have a nice way to TELL them that! When we walk him and he sees another dog, the noises that come out of him are atrocious. People walking said other dog will cross the street thinking he's mean. He just wants to say hi!

Allison-- I haven't seen classes like that here. I did find a "meet up" group for dog get togethers that sounds like it is run by a trainer/ behaviorist. I'm sure she is looking for clients. I haven't gone to any of the outings yet but I may check them out. We are getting a supplement that the vet suggested that has been shown to help some anxious dogs. She will be starting that this week so we will see if it helps.