Fxor Confessions

In the beginning of my blogging journey, I can recall being given tidbits of advice here and there; such as not creating posts that were too long (lest you lose the readers interest) and write about something interesting (ie, no one gives a dang about my grocery list).

Yet, is there nothing out there that says you can’t have 50+ blogs that are all dedicated to nothing but spam products? You know what I’m talking about…Viagra, cellphones, ringtones, software (this most likely full of trojans, etc), credit cards, etc.

In browsing updated blogs today, I came across one such as this. Some blog spammer had come in and updated his 50+ blogs (I stopped counting after 50) and all of them were nothing but one page advertisements for crap!

Do we not all receive enough of this in our inboxes? Isn’t subjecting us to this outside the perimeters of a spam filter just downright cruel?

And my next question: who clicks on them? Does anyone? I’m guessing not. Better yet, I’m betting that the author is simply looking to be picked up in the search engines…but you’ve got to wonder what the bounce rate is for his/her posts.

Well, all I have to say on the subject is this: Mr. Blog Spammer, I don’t click on your links and, quite frankly, if I need credit, a cellphone, any ringtones, or my husband suffers Erectile Dysfunction and/or decides to enlarge his, umm, member, I will seek out more reputable sources from which to buy my product. You, Mr. Spammer, are wasting not just my time, but yours!

In 1969, America was presented with the first television version of what has become known as the “blended family”; better known as The Brady Bunch. Almost forty years later in 2007, the American public is wondering why one out of two marriages fail.

It’s simple. Since 1969, television sitcom producers have been selling us on the idea of the blended family. Whether it be by widowhood or divorce, producers have convinced us that blended a family comes with relative ease and, in the end, everyone is part of one big happy family.

Look at, for example, CBS’ popular sitcom The New Adventures of Old Christine. While this show is hilarious in context, quite frankly there are very few exes who sit around and discuss new relationships with one another or even reminisce about the past with their new significant others present. In real life, it would be a 30 minute episode of nothing more than a cat fight with the guy standing back wondering how the heck he was going to get out of this mess; or, in many other cases, the guy jumps in defending his new girl while verbally blasting his ex-wife about child support, alimony and whatever else comes to mind. (These roles are also often reversed with the guys fighting and the gal playing the role of thinker, defender and insult blaster.)

One of the better portrayals is the WB’s now cancelled sitcom Reba, wherein viewers were subjected to the repeated battles of blending an ex-wife and the new wife. However, in the end, they managed to make it work.

Being divorced and remarried myself to man also divorced, I can say with certainty that life just doesn’t happen as portrayed on television. With divorce, child support, alimony, and visitation issues swirling around you, life with the exes is seldom (read never) a 30 minute barrel of laughs.

Just take a look at the message boards at such sites as DivorceSource.com and DivorceNet. It’s clear that the situations in the aforementioned television shows are the exception versus the rule.

When I decided to remarry, I never expected it to be simple; and I was correct in my assumptions. Yet it never ceases to amaze me the number of people I hear say, “Why can’t it be like Reba?” Too often I find myself replying, “You’re kidding me, right?” Only to see from their expression that they were not.

If you are divorced and thinking of remarrying, realize that not everyone is going to be friends and problems will not be resolved in thirty minutes; not even, in most cases, thirty days. The term “blended family” provides the false assumption that, eventually, everything will fit together with no indication of what was the foundation and what was added.

No, the term “blended family” is a farce. Families created from divorce are more like “taped families” or “glued families”; you’re stuck together but you can still see the cracks.

You may be wondering “What exactly does ‘FXor‘ mean? The definition is actually very simple: Effexor® Confessions. And since Effexor® is a registered brand name, copyrighted, trademarked and the like, I had to get creative with my title; thus, the FXor.

Ok, that’s settled. Now you may be wondering, what is an FXor Confession? Well…that’s the fun part but it does take a little explaining.

Long, long ago, in a lifetime that is now but a distant memory thanks in part to the mind’s ability to supress those things that are too painful to remember and today’s pharmaceutical geniuses, I was a completely different person from who I am today.

Who was I exactly? Well, for starters, I hated everyone and everything. At times, that even included my family. I didn’t want to leave my home; not even to visit my yard to enjoy a warm spring day. I didn’t want to talk with anyone on the telephone. I refused to dine out in restaurants with my family or friends.

And speaking of friends….they were all a part of the living world, so they began dropping like flies when I made excuses not to join them for a Girls Night Out, baby/wedding showers, or just a quick lunch.

I found myself almost completely isolated from the outside world. All I had was my husband and my children. And, of course, our ex spouses. Which, no doubt, contributed to my declining mental state.

Then one day, a doctor gave me the magic diagnosis that would change my life forever: depression. “What?” was my response, “Not me.”

That day I departed with a ticket to a new, improved life: Effexor XR. Niceness in a pill.

Needless to say, my three children and husband were ecstatic when the synthetic personality began to make rear it’s smiling little face.

Life is so much better. And I see life with such clarity. I realize that not everyone is difficult, and that I can keep my mouth shut if I don’t have anything nice to say.

As for my husband’s and mine ex spouses….well, I don’t think that there ever be enough medication in the world to keep me from wanting to delete them from my life forever. But isn’t that every divorced person’s wish?

In reading FXor Confessions, you’ll be subjected to the observations made by medicated mind; yet a mind who still remembers what my children refer to as “unmedicated mommy.” Quite frankly, I find the differences between the two sides of me to be hilarious.

And I hope you do too!