Here they are. Lucy’s puppies.

Two boys and one girl.

They’re beautiful and healthy and happy and one of these little guys is now residing in Vancouver, a 10th birthday gift for a little girl from her adoring father.

I won’t dwell on these puppies. I have other issues to discuss, more relevant to my mandate here.

I must, however, stress this. When I was 17, I was given my first dog, a two-year-old Yorkshire Terrier named Derriere ~ Derry for short. This was following my eight-month stay in a Toronto mental hospital called The Clarke Institute of Psychiatry.

Unspeakably fragile, I needed a focus…

I had been psychotic and for four months during that hospitalization, catatonic. I came out of it, but my doctors had little hope for me and told my mother on my discharge that I’d be a problem for her all my life, a “revolving door case.” My mother soldiered on, one day-at-a-time, choosing not to believe them. She had little support or guidance, but instinctively she felt I needed a focus. I was unspeakably fragile. A little dog to care for, she hoped, might ease my recovery. She believed in me.

I must admit, I’ve had a rough time.

We’ve had a lot of unexpected financial trials and tribulations including replacing our car, a leak in our ceiling necessitating repair, and my broken tooth – which must be crowned next month. Plus, in two weeks, I’m replacing my hearing aids.

Did you know I wear hearing aids?

Well, I do. I had my hearing tested this week and guess what? There’s been a significant deterioration.

So what else is new? I should have expected that. No wonder I’ve been screaming so much at Marty lately. That test proved why.

Anyway, I am anxious to replace my five-and-a-half year old completely obsolete Widex hearing aids with their latest model, called MIND440. Don’t you love it? I’ve been anxiously awaiting these for more than six months. I may be crazy, but I’ll be sporting my MIND440s behind my ears. What fun!

And this time, I’m going to be outfitted with an FM system, too.

We bought a new… well “pre-owned” car this morning.

It’s not blue, like the one you see here. Ours is silver.

It’s a 2008 Subaru Impreza 2.5i with All Wheel Drive ~ in mint condition.

We had invaluable help…

We couldn’t have accomplished this without the expertise and enthusiasm of one of our dearest, closest friends who loves nothing more than “looking for, looking at and test driving cars,” as he said.

“The fact that I can indulge this guilty pleasure and help dear friends at the same time is a bonus.”

We’re the richest, luckiest people in the world with such friends. And we’re very excited as this car is exactly what we wanted and needed.

Now, we’re closing this chapter in our lives…

This is how we manage, Marty and I. We have short memories and we don’t dwell on the negatives ~ instead, we stay in the present, focus forward on the future and on the positives of our relationship.

As I promised in my last post, the following was written by my husband, Marty. I felt, to be fair, he deserved to voice his side of the story.

So here it is…

Living with my wife, Sandy, is a constant adventure into the unknown. Much like the Lewis and Clark expedition in the early 1800′s, one is constantly overwhelmed by the sheer grandeur of the landscape and the frightening twists and turns of uncharted territory. Where does one find a modern Sacagawea to show the way?

It has occurred to me that my darling husband of more than 10-years ~ and he truly is a darling ~ has taken a bit if drubbing by me over the last few days because of our silly old car.

He had a little car accident. No one was hurt. No charges were laid. It was simply weather-related.

Well, I lost it and really gave him a hard time ~ here and elsewhere…

I wasn’t thinking. It wasn’t really very nice of me. It wasn’t fair. I tend not to think a lot of the time. I talk first, then think later and I often regret my words.

Bet you didn’t know that?

Marty has no voice on this blog ~ he’s the only one…

He never comments, though if you want to know the truth, he vets everything I write…99% of the time. He’s an excellent editor.

Also, he takes everything I say, especially about him, silently and soberly and with remarkable good sportiness. He’s one of the kindness gentlemen I have ever known. Everyone loves Marty. All my single friends want me to either clone him or introduce them to his brother. Sadly, he is brotherless.