I'll be the first to admit I'm the "Donna-come-lately" in this game of simultaneously managing a business and a romantic relationship. When I was married the first time around at age 26, I worked in higher education administration and was completely and totally devoted to my job -- not necessarily to the exclusion of my marriage -- but for many years my marriage and my relationship took a back seat to my job. Big mistake. That issue and a host of other reasons led to the dissolution of my marriage and the finalization of my divorce after almost 10 years of marriage in 1999.

I went for two full years without dating, as I needed to grieve the relationship and heal myself and come to terms with all of my issues surrounding my marriage and divorce before deciding to put my toe again into the dating pool and foist all of these hangups on some unsuspecting guy. This aspect of my healing went pretty well, although I'll have to admit it took probably 3 years or so after my initial separation to fully work through all the anger I had about the relationship and the divorce.

I began dating again and vowed that things would be different this time. I discovered, however, that dating had changed dramatically in the 13 years or so that I'd been absent from the dating scene, and that I still had alot to learn about being a good partner in a romantic relationship, as well as in figuring out what I wanted in a romantic partner. I saw the good, bad, and ugly sides of men, kissed alot of frogs, and learned a great deal about myself and what I really wanted during my journey.

Synchronicity occurs when you're ready and open to receive what you truly want. For me, that occurred last fall when I met the man I had been looking for all of my life, Eric. For me, it was love almost at first sight, but I knew by our second date that I had never had this degree of compatibility with anyone I had ever dated before -- not even my ex-husband, and I had married him!

Our relationship is still in its infancy, although we both feel like we've been together and known each other forever. Perhaps we have in another life, if you believe in reincarnation.....

Here are some things I've learned through the school of hard knocks that's helping me maintain this relationship, as well as run a business, without losing either:

1. Put your partner and the relationship first. Running a business can be a 24/7 job, but the old adage about "no one ever says on their deathbed that they wished they'd spent more time at the office" is true. Eric and I make time for each other during the day, despite working different schedules (he works many night and weekend shifts, and I run my business during the weekday business hours). If he's at work, we manage to talk at least twice for short periods during his 12-hour shift, and if he's home during the day when I'm working at home, we try and eat one meal together. At a minimum we drop into each other's home offices for several quick smooches or hugs or quick "how are you doing" conversations.

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