So after almost two full years of dating my wonderful guy we are going to move in with each other!!!!!!!!!!! OMG what the heck was I thinking? lol

SOME BACKGOUND ON BOTH OF US:

ME:

I am 44, been married three (YES THREE) times, but I was single for 9 years prior to meeting AO (this is how I will refer him in the blog for identiy purposes) I am completelyn and utterly in love with him, and learning to live with his OCD has been a real adventure so far, When my friends and family ask me how I deal with it all I simply say "His OCD is not something makes him a cruel or mean person, I will never be able to change it, so I need to learn to accept it". I will admit though that there are days I could easily just throw my hands in the air and walk away, then there are the days that I am so glad we are working hard to make this all work.

I have three children: TJ is 20, living with his amazing girlfriend LC and they have a wonderful baby boy, MW who is adorable. My son AS is 14 and my daighter JS is 12, I have shared custody of them and AS lives with dad while JS lives with me. Their father and I have a very easy going relationship that allows the children the freedom to go between houses without any type of formal custody arrangement.

I am older than AO by aboutn4 years. I am currently off work with an injured wrist and neck after a fall, but when I work I am a manager at a local fastfood restaraunt. I absolutely love my job and miss working,

HIM:

AO is 42 and he is the most caring, wonderful man I have ever known. He is constantly smiling and he genuinely loves me.

His OCD comes in the form of obsessive hand washing, fear of touching unclean surfaces, rituals for doing laundry and cleaning, overuse of handsoap, shampoo, laundry soap, tooth paste and toilet paper. He also suffers from obsessive thoughts and needs alot of reassuances, This is just to name a few of the wonderful things that I am learning to live with. I am choosing to live it all with humor.

AO has three boys, CO is 6 and he is the spitfire, over active one. TO is 9 and he is the quiet reserved one. Then we have CA he is the sporty one. AO has a shared custody arrangement with his ex wife and at times the two of them can be volitile. She currently live with her fiance and her and I have choosen to be friendly with each other. I think she has come to realise Iam here to stay and we tend to communicate about the boys almost daily.

As a father AO is doing pretty good. He tends to be the "softy" kind of parent where as I am a bit more stirct. His children are slowly beginning to see that as well, but they also see that I am working to make a very happy household….which at times can be quite the task.

SO WHY AM I BLOGGING?

Honestly to keep my sanity and also to share "our story". We also live in fairly small city without any type of support groups for people living with others that have OCD.

I am hoping that as times go by maybe I can learn some coping stratagies and pass them along to the kids, who at times are so frustrated when AO's OCD rituals cause us to be late, or causes alot of tension.

So hey it is great meeting you all!!!! Have a great day and CHEERS!!!