Love 'Em and Leave 'Em

When the twins were wee babes---heck, before they were even evicted from their uterine duplex---the onslaught of marital maintenance admonitions were pouring in.

"You and your husband MUST arrange for datenights away from the kids."

"You need to find time just for the two of you."

...and my personal favorite,"SO many parents of twins divorce, you'll have to work hard to beat the statistics."

The well-meaning Dr. Phil and friends aside, in the eight-and-a-half years since our twins' births, we can likely count the times we've hired a babysitter on my two hands. Being a family-foursome hasn't diminished our romantic relationship: it's been bolstering. To our view, once the twins've bedded down, the nightly conversations on the couch equal the couple-connection capability of the alternative expensive excursion outward. Wherever we go---or don't go---in whatever grouping or solo---our family dynamic was ours to discover, works well for us. Thankfully.

Double Daddy is off to his clinical trial vaccine treatment at arguably the most impressive research facility in the world: the National Cancer Institute/NIH in Bethesda. The kids are enjoying a few days with Grandma Ross, then Uncle Craig, Aunt Cathy and the cousins. Larry is enjoying some time at home with our wonderful neighbors and housesitters. Me? Since the inception of this blog in May 2007, I've gotten to e-know and e-love so many incredible women (and even a few men) bloggers. This weekend, I plan to meet many of them in person at BlogHer '10 in NYC.

To paraphrase the Old Spice man (who I'm told will be at BlogHer in his towel): I'm on a train.