Best Man

It's been almost 20 years since our wedding. We had a western theme, with cowboy boots and country music. It was the second marriage for both of us, and we invited a small group of friends and family. It was not perfect, as weddings never are, but we had a great time making our commitment to each other. 

The easiest part for me was choosing my sister to be my Maid of Honor. I had made a big mistake in choosing a friend in my first wedding, a friend who was a no-show on the morning of my wedding, forcing me to ask a guest to stand in. The most awkward moment of my life.

Mark chose to have as his Best Man a friend that he was close to at the time. Men have a different idea of friendship anyway. But since our wedding we haven't seen Carlos. What makes a best man? It was a choice that was only up to Mark, and whether or not we see Carlos, he was there on our big day, doing the Best Man job, and that's all that matters, regardless if we kept in touch.

Dating a Married Man

It's been, oh, let's see, MONTHS since I had a date with my husband. And boy, do I need a night out! So I'm a little say, preturbed, when he calls to tell me his daughter wants to take him to dinner- tonight. I've been sending more than just strong hints to him about going out, meeting for drinks, anything. And he has been agreeing with me - yeah, we need a date night. So, what's it gonna take????? If I had called him to say I was going out with a girlfriend, he would have "had a cow, man".

The biggest challenge for me of having a kid has been the loss of freedom - to just go and do something. Especially the grown-up things. Going to dinner is no longer the same, since we usually end up at the place with the best kid menu. When the above mentioned daughter lived with us, we occasionally could either broker a deal or guilt her into babysitting for a few hours. That ended over a year ago when she moved out. I can count on one hand the times we have dropped our kid off at someone's house so we could take a few hours for a date.

Yes, I know there are things you give up when you have kids - and I'm the first one to present the list. That's why I'm a SAHM (stay-at-home mom). But who said I had to give up dating????