We're Live ... With Thanks ... And First Stories ...

We're Live with our new site! What do you think? We invite your stories of rituals, your observations of couples, marriages, friendships, and families. Your reflections. Your Thoughts. Your ideas. We'll share the same ... as well as the latest (and what we think are the greatest) readings, insights, research news, tips, and findings/notes/advice from other marriage/family/relationship experts. 

For instance, here's a great ritual story overheard at a gathering of friends the other night. (And, as is almost always the case, the couple who shared the story didn't think of it as a ritual ... but it surely is the beginning of a very fun one!) The details:  A friend and her husband are doing a pretty major construction project. It's messy. They're getting crabby. Things are taking longer (don't they always?) than expected. Then there was the big mold discovery. Yikes. To lighten the mood, Mandy (we'll call her) initiated "The Construction Bounce."  Here's how it works: When tensions are rising, she simply says, "Hey, Larry (we'll call him), does this cheer you up?" ... while promptly lifting up her shirt and doing a little bouncing up and down.  

No question: Mood immediately lightened. And the birth of a great new ritual! Why not start a little construction project at YOUR house sometime soon?

One last thing: Now that we're finally up and running with our new and improved website, we'd like to extend a huge thank you to Tony Bruess (Carol's 11 year old son) for all of his tech support, ideas, patience, and help. What a brilliant and creative young guy! He is the genius behind most of this new site (that and BluDomain.com ... a VERY cool company). Additionally, many thanks to Anna's great friend, Cory Hollenhorst, for his support, advice, and expertise.