This morning, Alex and I went to the lawyer to talk about the contract between us for the house. Since I'm on the title and the mortgage, I thought it was important that we protect him from the possibility of sneaky-me selling the house out from under him and running away to some exotic country.

Sounds like me, afterall.

I had called a couple different lawyers. They were all priced similarly, although some were a little more expensive. And then I talked to Max Cohen, a lawyer that my real estate agent's office uses all the time.

I immediately felt a connection. I chose him based on our conversation that day.

And I wasn't wrong.

This morning, after getting all the particulars out of the way for our "in-trust" agreement, he offered us some counselling. He said, "Buying a house is a very stressful thing. A reno is even more stressful. But it's just a house. Don't let your relationship suffer for it - it is, afterall, just a place you live. There will be others."

It was exactly what we needed this morning.