Sorry I haven't been around for a while, but the demands of work and wife have kept me pretty busy.
I'm sorry to hear of the recent bannings, but I remember refereeing a few of Jack's slugfests a few years back before I got tired of it. While I'm sure many will miss his assistance, I must agree with Patrick that the ongoing theatrics became too distracting.
Meanwhile, on the homefront, I have gotten Marina interested in starting her own internet venture. She is currently developing a web commerce site to sell cosmetics from. My job in this affair has been to create the general framework, set up the shopping cart, and troubleshoot problems. Marina has taken upon herself the main drudgework of listing all the cosmetic products, assigning their id codes and testing the shopping cart to make sure that all the products are showing up correctly. Her main goal is to be on the web taking orders, before Christmas. Not bad so far for two HTML novices...
We finally closed escrow on the sale of our home and cleared a profit. After checking with our tax accountant, we immediately started to pay off credit card bills. Getting a lot of that debt off our backs allows us to breathe a lot easier. We have splurged on a few household items like coffee/end tables, a new tablecloth and centerpiece for the kitchen table, and a inexpensive painting to complement the new kitchen. Mostly, however, we either pay off bills or save the money. It's a far cry from when we first got together. My wife is learning fiscal management, and I'm very proud of her.
With the passage of time, Marina grows more and more comfortable with America. Unfortunately, this comes at a cost. She admits that each time she goes to Ukraine, she becomes quieter and more insular. While the allure of her homeland is still strong, my wife is slowly weaning herself away from her past. This last trip "sealed the deal", so to speak, and Marina has settled down into a quiet domestic bliss.
Another good sign is that our tempers have cooled off a lot, from when we first married. While we still can irritate each other, we are quick to cool down enough to talk about it. We are becoming more and more aware of each others' "hot buttons", and we have restructured our lives to be more accomodating of each other.
So far, the last 3 1/2 years have been challenging, but we were both up to the challenge. I think our biggest lesson learned is to stick with it and don't give up on each other. Despite our hardships, we have prevailed. Despite the long vacations apart from each other, we have come together even stronger from it. I think we have finally reached and crossed over the threshold that separates long term marriages from "starter" marriages. We're in it for the long haul and we both know it.
Anyhow, I'd better wrap this up. Time to go home and kiss the wife and pet the cat. :-)
