When I found myself a single mom at 40 with two young daughters, (ages 6 and 9) after 12 years of marriage, to what turned out to be a gay guy, I have to confess that I found myself in a state of total dating anxiety. I hadn’t dated in 15 years and quite frankly I wasn’t sure I remembered how. I was insecure for sure and worried that men would no longer consider me attractive.  I had been a wall flower in high school and then went on to a college where the ratio of men to women was one to eight. And then there was the marriage to the gay guy, so you can see that not only were my dating skills rusty, they had sucked to begin with. Read the rest of this post on Momversation.

The Package Deal, by Izzy Rose is a wonderfully hilarious book I just discovered about a single gal with a great career living in San Francisco, who falls in love with a Southern gentleman (with two kids) and moves to Austin, Texas.  It is witting, insightful, humorous and above all– relatable. If you have ever asked yourself, “What have I gotten myself in to?” This book is for you.

People ask me all the time, “How soon do you introduce your kids to your dates?”  I can say from experience, “Not for a long time.” Kids do not need to see boyfriends and girlfriends coming and going. And no matter how much you think you are always going to stay close to the person you are dating, you won’t. Trust me.  Read the rest of this entry »

People, mostly women who write to me, ask me, “How did you know that Paul was the one for you? ” And more precisely, “How did you know that you could do it? That you could get married and blend your families?”  Good question. When I met Paul I was 43.  No spring chicken, (although I’d like to think that I still looked fabulous), and I had been around the block more than a few times. Let’s just say I had taken quite a few  laps. I knew what I wanted and figured when I found it I would know. And I did. There were a lot of little events that led up to the big one that told me, no, shouted to me, “Marry this man!”.  So let me recount the details. Read the rest of this entry »