They moved from the bustle of the city to rural Minnesota in 1980 seeking fresh air and the country life. Imagining Lake Wobegon and the joys of going back to nature, they bought a house with ten acres of woods, a septic tank and a mosquito-breeding swamp. They acquired a chainsaw, a pickup truck, a dog and a cat. The chainsaw broke (almost weekly). The pickup was useless in the snow and was traded for a mini-van that broke (almost weekly). The dog was a three pound poodle whose one claim to fame was that he once chased a chicken. (The chicken didn't notice.) The cat would bat the dog across the yard and deposit half-eaten chipmunks on the carpet. "Trouble in Paradise" is a collection of short humor chronicling their lives and times in the eighties. This is a book for those who lived through the eighties and remember Reaganomics, VCRs and break dancing. This is also a book for those who lived through the eighties but can't remember back that far. And this is a book for anyone who needs a little laughter.