So sorry for your loss…you had LuLu…I had Aunt LaLa! My Grandmother’s sister. I remember her visits when she would pull out her “face case”. A small suitcase filled to the brim with every possible beauty/make up item. She would prop a mirror up on the kitchen table and I would watch as she “built” her face. It was astonishing to a ten year old girl. She stressed the importance of face creams and never sleeping in your make up…she had jet black hair until the day she died at age 89!! If someone asked if that was her hair color, she would say “Yep, I paid for it, so it’s mine!” (I use this line today about my red hair) She believed in cocktail hour, big hats, sports cars, and being independent. She never married, but saw the world and shared her adventures with me. My Grandmother would often shake her head and roll her eyes when Aunt LaLa came to visit, but I think down deep, she was a little envious! I try now, to be the “Crazy Aunt” for my own Great Nieces and Nephews!

Oh, when I heard Dr. Laura’s comments, I was infuriated! I was raised with the old “If you keep your husband happy, he will never stray” thing…let me tell you, in my first marriage, I NEVER said No…I never had a headache, I believed it was a serious part of my “duty” as a wife, and, I bought into the belief that if I did my “duty” he would be faithful. I couldn’t have been more wrong. He was a serial cheater. I remember when I discovered his numerous affairs, going over and over things in my head, trying to find what I had done to “make” him cheat! In one of his few moments of honesty, he said “You can be a lot of things to me, but you can’t be someone else.” He needed “variety”. I think it would have been easier for me to accept him going to prostitutes instead of the women who worked in his office. I looked them in the face over and over for ten years and never knew my husband was sleeping with them. I definitely believe prostitution should be legalized.

Ah, so good to find out you’re not the only one! My friends and family joke…saying if The Food Network went away…my life would be empty. They might be right…! Oh, and the laptop…even though its supposed to be mobile…it never moves beyond my big comfy “over-pillowed” bed…where I prop myself up and surf away while listening to the Goddess Paula Deen tell me how many more ways to use butter!

God, I loved this! I have what I call “floppy clothes” that I wear around the house…soft fleecy sweats that I put on the minute I get in the door. I am blessed with a husband who could NOT care less if I am “made up” or not…I am approaching my 49th Birthday, and it is liberating, to be so comfortable in my own skin. The best thing I’ve done for myself? Keeping my hair ultra short, tossing my foundation in favor of a good tinted moisturizer (sp?) and treating myself to the comfort and ease of the Chico’s Traveler’s line of clothing. Simplicity. Looking forward like crazy now, to my 50th Birthday next year!! I’ve finally found ME!

After ten years of marriage, I “discovered” that my husband had been cheating for years. It took me five more years to leave him. As a Stay At Home Mom, I had no resources of my own. I became a Real Estate Agent, bought a house in my name alone, then threw him out. Not until the papers were served and he asked me “Why??” did I tell him I knew about his affairs. I will never forget his response…”How can you do this? I have been faithful to you for FOUR YEARS!” I replied “How nice…may I remind you…WE HAVE BEEN MARRIED FOR FIFTEEN YEARS!” He was oblivious, arrogant…all of it. If Spitzer’s wife leaves him, no one will be more surprised than he! Oh, and I don’t believe for one moment that this was something that “came on out of the blue”…I believe he’s been doing it for the duration of their marriage. We haven’t looked under all of the rocks yet! No telling what will come crawling out once we do!