Quote for the day

"Love can take you places you have never been, without ever leaving your home."

- Zob

Keep Busy to avoid missing your lover.

Being in love has some different feelings then just your normal feelings. One of those feelings is feeling lonely when your partner is away. You can combat this feeling by keeping busy during these times. Plan out lots of activities to do so that you are not just sitting around thinking about how much you miss your love. I am not saying forget about them but don't just sit around waiting for them to call or looking at pictures of them. Take this time to have some personal time where you do exactly what you want. Go play golf, go shopping for yourself or just hang out with some old friends. You could even take this time to plan a wonderful welcome home session for your lover. The secret to being apart for an extended period of time with out going crazy is to stay busy and look to how much fun it will be to see them after their absence. Love hold so much amazing feelings and you need to experience them all.

Making it easier to be apart.

There are times in our relationships when we have to be apart for extended periods of time. These are not easy on our relationships. It is important to express you love before you leave for this time apart. Think of it as making up in advance for lost time. You have to look at it as trying to fit part of your relationship that you are going to miss into the time frame before you leave. For example if you normally have a date night every Friday night then you need to try to slip in two date nights the week before you leave. Same goes for sex you need to put a little extra effort into your intimacy before you leave. This makes the leaving easier on the partner staying home because it shows that you are going to miss the time together, also. Then the same thing goes for when you get back, which always seems a little easier. Your relationship shouldn't have to suffer because you have to be gone. Doing it right can build your relationship stronger. Being apart allows you to have some alone time and it also can build desire as you anticipate the return home. Use the time apart as a building exercise instead of a absence.

There are no more roles in a relationship.

If you haven't figured it out yet they year is 2010. We are not stuck in the 1950's, so if you think a certain gender should have a specific role in your relationship you need to wake up. Relationships are partnerships now a days long gone are the bread winner days where the man goes out and brings home the money and the woman stays home to raise the kids. There is nothing wrong with a stay at home mom but nowadays it could be a stay at home dad. Most relationships see both partners have to enter the work force so you can forget about one partner being responsible for all the household duties. Relationships today have to be a partnership, all aspects have to be split to make it work. With both partners out of the house working 40 or more hours you cannot expect one partner alone to take care of all the chores. You have to see what works best for the two of you in this manner. Maybe you set specific chores like one person cooks while the other does the dishes or you can rotate chores so you both have a feel for them. Use your communication skills and work together to keep your house in top shape as well as your relationship.

Can driving home from vacation be romantic?

We have covered a couple of times how romantic drives can be, however this one is a little different. The drive home from vacation is usually filled with sleeping and worn out company. You desire is to get home and not to be living out of your car anymore for a while. How can we make this romantic? Well by talking about the adventures you just had. Start recounting all the things you did and the ones that you remember the most. Ask each family member what was their favorite part of vacation and what was their worst. Getting the conversation flowing will help pass the time on your boring drive home. Not to mention have you partner laughing and poking fun at the things you did while on vacation. Get your digital camera out and have the passengers check out the photos of your trip and talk about what they are seeing. Just make sure the driver keeps his/her eyes on the road.

Her wearing his clothes is okay, but it is a little different when he wears her clothes.

One of the most beautiful things to see when I come home is my female partner in one of my t-shirts with only her panties on underneath. It can even be a dress shirt or a sweat shirt. However when you turn the tables it just seems a little creepy if the guy wears the woman's clothes when she comes home. First of all we have to take in account the size matters. Men are generally bigger then their female counter part so putting on their clothes might be a challenge physically. Women's clothes are also cut for the curves of a woman and the guys don't have thinner waistlines then the women. When a woman wears a man's clothes her curves can be noticed even under a larger item of clothing so that make is a little better for her. Plus it is not as much of a gender difference in clothes as women's fashions near mens. Call me old fashion but I don't have the desire to dress in my female partners clothes, I am not knocking anyone that dressing in drag as that is their lifestyle choice. Again going back to me being old fashion I still would like to come home and see my female partner in just her panties and a t-shirt of mine. That is sexy to me.

Total romantic thing to drink - Sangria

Sangria is a wine punch that originated in Spain. It combines fruit that has been soaking in a wine to where the acidity taste of the fruit is transferred into the wine. While the alcohol taste is their it is almost covered up by the fruit taste. This is a great wine for sipping on late nights or at cordial events on hot summer days. Some sangria has added carbonation to give it a more zesty flavor. The possibilities of combinations are unlimited as you can add you own choices to the concoction to give it just the right flavors. Peaches, apples, kiwi, melon, oranges, are just a few of the many fruits I have seen in this flavorful wine. Sangria is a great choice if you don't like the dry taste of most wines as it give you a more youthful feeling while consuming it. Pick up a bottle on the way home tonight and then sit back and pour both of you a glass and enjoy the rest of your night.

Movie Night

We all know how expensive going to the movies are, yet we have engrained in our memory that going to the movies is an excellent date. What do you do when you don't have thirty or forty buck to plop down for two tickets and popcorn and drinks? Well you turn you living room into a movie theater. Go out and rent a movie for about five bucks and then turn the seats in your living room towards the television. Purchase some snacks and drinks at your local discount store and then invite you date to an evening at the movies. You can make a ticket to give them if you really want the great effect. Not only can you do this for less than half the cost but you can also get a little privacy. This way if you want to make out during the movie you don't have to worry about people watching the two of you make out. By turning out the lights and facing the television you will have the exact feel you do in the movies and if you have surround sound well then it might even be a little better. You can also pause the movie for when you have to go to the bathroom or get some more snacks. So make tonight a night of going in to the movies.

Hanging out at home!

During this time of economic turmoil, more and more people are having to rethink what they do for dates and recreation. Remember when you were teenagers and you would just hang out at someones house! You would pick someone who's parents weren't home and just lay around watching television and acting stupid. Well why not bring back the feeling. You can save a lot of money by doing this. You could rent some movies, purchase some snacks and bring home some booze. All of the things you might do on a night out. Invite some friends over and have a little movie party or play a board game together. Just spend the evening hanging out having a few drinks and getting into some great conversations.

Maybe you want the evening to just be the two of you. Again just like when you were teenagers you can spend the night making out or watching a movie, or both. I love just sitting and debating things with my partner. I feel it brings us closer even if we disagree on things. Now think of all the money you will be saving and you still get all the things you would on a date. Good conversation, fun, entertainment, and maybe even sex, for a fraction of the cost of the traditional date.

How do you dress at home?

We all love to dress comfortable when we are at home. But is comfortable okay with your partner? Are old sweats with holes in them okay to spend the time with your partner in? This is a great debate question and I think the answer lies somewhere in the middle ground. We spend all week dressing up to go to work and yet the person we most want to impress we usually dress down for? Now I am not suggesting that you wear a three piece suit or a evening gown when you are running around the house. We need to find some happy medium. Go shopping and check out some of the nice looking work out gear or both men and women. You can find some really nice athletic gear that doesn't make you look like a slob. Brands such as Under Armor and Nike have some excellent choices that will keep you comfortable and looking like someone that would be great to snuggle down with. Some of the new materials are even great to feel so maybe if you find some of these items your partner might have a hard time keeping their hands off you. Don't throw away all your bumming clothes, keep them for days you don't feel well so that your partner knows you don't want to be bothered on these days.

How to act in public

We all understand the begining of a relationship is a wonderful time. You cannot seem to get enough of each other and every time you are together you want to touch and kiss. Well that is fine and dandy when you are in the comfort of your own home. When you venture out in public you need to have some control. People do not like to see adults groping each other at the mall. Parents especially don't want their young children watching to adults, for lack of a better term, getting it on. Use some control, hold hands, or put your arms around each other is fine. These hands should always remain in a respectable place, never down the back of her pants. Have a little control and when you get home you can lose this control.

I think it is very sweet to see an older couple holding hands in public, but the thought of them french kissing in public might make me puke. So think about how other people are viewing you during this important phase in your relationship. Don't use it all up right from the start, think of it as saving it for later. Ration this affection out. I would much rather have a stable passionate relationship for the rest of my life, then one that loses it's appeal because we have done all we can do.

The Welcome Home Kiss

I know this may seem silly but do you give your partner a welcome home kiss every time they come home. Overkill, maybe but in talking with some people that lost a partner in a car accident or work related accident, I hear some resounding statements. "If I could have only kissed them one more time" or "I wish I would have told them I loved them one more time" are two I hear a lot. You never know what is going to happen, you just always assume that everything will be okay and normal. To me however I would better be safe then sorry. Sure no one wants to think morbid thoughts or plan for the worse. A kiss, hug, or special I love you, to me doesn't seem like that big of stretch? I mean if you can't do those things with your partner on an everyday basis then maybe their is more problems in your relationship then you think.

Starting today I want you to get in a routine of kissing your partner goodbye and hello. No they don't have to be a movie kiss, just a smooch on the lips (Not on the cheek, that's how you kiss your parents), followed by a quick I love you. Nothing more nothing less, then go about your business. Not only is this good for your relationship but it is great for your children to see and participate in. Most people have no problem doing this with their children why would it be difficult with your partner?

Make a Movie Theater at Home!

Today life is so fast-paced that we seldom have time to take our sweetie to the movies. Either the times don't work out right or we don't have the hundreds of dollars it will take to purchase a ticket and snacks - Last time I went it was under a hundred, but let’s just use that as a general feeling. Nowadays, you can rent a movie not long after it has been in the theaters, and we have recently been downloading them from iTunes. I believe Netflicks has the downloading available also. It doesn't take much for us to get a movie and watch it on our time. We can pause it or stop it when we have things that arise like bathroom breaks or putting kids to sleep. But, just because we can’t find the time to attend the show at the theater doesn't mean we have to lose the ambiance.

Next time you get a movie to watch at home take some time and set up your own little theater in the family room. Move the couch around to sit right in front of the television. Make a trip to the local discount store and pick up all the snacks you would get at your local movie theater. They are much cheaper this way, and you usually get more for your money. Microwave some popcorn. You can even get some of those super humongous cups to get the real movie theater feel. Turn off all the lights in the house, and presto you have your own movie theater. You can even watch the previews at the start of the disc if you want to get a more authentic feeling. iTunes even carries trailers of movies that are not out in theaters yet.

Most movies have ratings like PG-13 or R. You need to decide what your theater rating will be! If you’re doing this with your children, you can use a G rating. Use pretend money and make tickets. The kids can use it to “purchase” their snacks and tickets. This is a good way to make sure they don't over do it on the snacks. Only give them enough play money to purchase a set amount of candy. If you want your theater to have a PG-13 rating you could invite all your teenage children’s friends over for a showing. Just get some extra folding chairs and presto you can create a teenager’s dream - all of their friends at the movies together. The R rated theater is probably just for the two of you (just depends on what you allow you kids to watch). Since the kids are probably in bed and no one else is in the theater let the make out session begin. Heck, if you know you won't have any interruptions, you can even slip into the X rating.

That's not my chore...

One of the things that makes a women feel special is taking some of her work load off her back. So next time you know your partner is having a particularly bad day do some of her chores at home. At our house my wife and I have specific duties that we perform to keep up the house. For instance I do the dishes and she does the laundry. With our busy work schedules sometimes she might get behind a little during the week on the laundry. She usually tries then to catch it up on the weekend. Well my theory behind this is if I can save her a couple of hours of doing laundry "WE" will have more time to spend together. I also hope it shows her how special she is to me.

No one like to do chores, but they have to get done sometime. If you can eliminate some of the time spend doing these chores your relationship time increases and that my friend is never a bad thing.