I come from a family background that (could probably get me a guest spot on Oprah, and) is a little bit complicated. My Dad has been married four (!) times and had children with the first three of his wives. I have eight (!) siblings, only one of whom shares the same mother with me. That sister is two years younger than I am.

The first (older) set of my Dad’s kids grew up across the country but we’ve had our chances to connect over the years. The youngest set of siblings I am especially close to as I moved in with my Dad when the first of their babies was but a toddler and my Step Mom was pregnant with the second one.

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If you follow my personal site, you know that my kids have gone to Grandma’s house this week. My Step mom called a few weeks ago and said that she wanted the kids to come and visit. I told her that we had planned to come to see her as a family, but she quickly clarified her request. She wanted the kids to come to her house for a visit. Without my husband and I.

We have never had this happen before. We went to Mexico a year ago February and left the kids with family, but apart from that our kid-free time consists of Date Nights out on the town.

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I have two different blog friends (Whom I Have also met in real life)(Which does not negate the blog friends whom I have not met in real life)(Why do I feel the need to clarify this in 2009?)

ANYWAY.

I have two different friends, who based on their life circumstances have sold their houses and are moving to new locations. Both are also building new houses, which means that they do not have a house which they can call their very own (Yet). As such, they are moving in with their parents (along with spouses, kids and pets) until their new houses are ready.

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I am sure that you have heard about the untimely death of Natasha Richardson while she was skiing at a resort in Quebec.  Due to an unforeseen accident her life is no more. This young, vivacious woman left behind a husband and children.

Nothing can get the tears rolling faster that the thought of something happening to my husband. While I encouraged him to go away with his friends on a snowmobiling trip, the fact that nineteen (NINETEEN) people have died this winter in the area that I live in (due to avalanches) made me a little fearful.

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When I returned from my trip to California I was refreshed, renewed, rejuvenated. Between work-related trips and fun-filled get-aways (such as the California one) I get the heck out of dodge a whole lot more than many Moms seem to do. And also, a whole lot more than my husband ever does.

My hubby, in all of his wonderfulness, takes care of our three kids on the many weekends that I go away with nary a complaint. OK, fine. He teases me a bit. My response upon returning from California was that he needed to book a trip. Correction. He was ORDERED to take a trip.

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As I mentioned in my post last Friday, these tough economic times have made my husband’s industry come to a nearly complete standstill. He has a part-time job at our church and has done some home renovations on the side, but his main career in the lumber industry is JUST NOT HAPPENING.

Thankfully for us, I tortured myself for seven years and came out the other side with some initials that deemed me qualified in the field of Accounting. I have spent the last four years on the Education side of my field but the span of time that we so lovingly call “Tax Season” is a little lacking in the courses available for me to teach.

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One of the running jokes among my circle of friends who have young children as I do is the fact that we can never have a complete conversation. When we have a play date with kids running around we are dealing with fights, meltdowns, and diaper changes. The phrase most often repeated is, “What was I saying again?”

This is often the situation when at home with my husband. While we have a sweet set-up in that we both work (mostly) from home, this does not mean that we have oodles of time in which to have uninterrupted conversation.

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I have mentioned numerous times that my husband and I are quite compatible. We share the same faith, the same love languages, the same sense of humor. We (Gasp!) enjoy each other’s company and don’t bicker or fight about anything of substance. This may sound boring to some, but as someone as high-strung as I am, less drama is a good thing.

As much as we are compatible, we are also different and unique human beings (No kidding).  One of our major differences is that we have very different interests when it comes to hobbies and activities.

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Last February my husband and I brought our three kids to their grandparents’ house and spent a week in Mexico. Together. With no children. It was the first time we had both been away from them for longer than one night and amazing does not even begin to describe it. Towards the end of the week we talked about returning in a year or two with the kids and taking a family vacation in order to give us all a break from the long, cold winter.

Try as we might to find a good deal for the five of us to travel, we could not seem to do so.  Even with a decent price, once you multiply it by five it gets to be in the “ridiculous” range. It seemed a little extravagant to spend that sum of money in light of the economy. My husband and I were open to taking another jaunt that consisted of just the two of us but there is that issue of three small children who needed to be, you know, taken care of in our absence.

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I read an article over at the New York Times called, “Your Nest Is Empty? Enjoy Each Other“.

My nest is far from empty; my kids are six, four, and two. The article talks about how the relationship between spouses is strained, especially in the early years of having kids. NO KIDDING.

The statistics state that after kids arrive on the scene, couples have only one-third of the alone time that they had pre-children. I think that is a generous estimate. Our alone time seems to be far less than that, if you are talking about the time at home where we are actually alone. Without kids. And not sleeping.

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