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KeepGoing, I'm also at 18 mos but don't have young children or alimony to think about. You've gotten some good advice above so I won't get into that.

My question would be: What are your goals now? Is drawing the process out helping you, or hurting you? What do you need from H at this point?


Me 57/H 58
M36 S 2.5yrs R 12/13

Let me give up the need to know why things happen as they do.
I will never know and constant wondering is constant suffering.
Caroline Myss
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Busting,

I think KG is saying that if OW were not pushing her h to be kind to KG, than the r between KG and H would be worse.

Sounds like that is true and h has certainly told KG that a number of times. So in a way it IS b/c of OW that he's trying to be amicable to KG and of course I think since she says he's being the dad he used to be, he does care for the kids.

DO I think a man who leaves a woman w/3 kids including a newborn is great? NO I think it stinks no matter what else.

But I read her whole thread and he was pretty mistreated for some time. NOT Defending him but am saying he's sort of a unique person, as is KG. Their sitch is different than many in that she's taking her role in the problems seriously, he gets that, but he feels as if he's done.

yes she blames herself for what were the original problems and if you read ALL of her thread, she has some brave insights.

What's missing is that SHE REALLY HAS CHANGED yet the h is saying in effect, "too little too late but thanks"... but fortunately the changes are ones KG wanted/needed to make...

KG you sound as if you are stronger/smarter and healthier than you were before. That's growth.


Bustin, I hear your concerns but I think what KG's h is saying about OW is true but OUR DB concern and gripe is that, perhaps without OW he would try again to be married....maybe. Maybe he would...

OR He'd be even angrier at her, b/c OW seems to calm him down a lot, so what if no OW existed and he made crazy demands, I mean we just can't know.

KG, LEGALLY I again applaud your self monitoring for motives. So healthy and admirable.

But your comments as I read them again suggest that the collaborative approach cannot yield you the formula amount?

Is that accurate? Why do you believe that?

IF that is true, then bag it and retain counsel. Actually I can't see a reason

NOT to hire a L now. Why haven't you hired one yet?

you can get one skilled/specialized enough to tell you

what happens if you go the collaborative way versus the confronting way.

BUT KNOW THIS, if you go for the formula, I don't see this going to court. All you are asking for it what's normal.

Yes HE can and will argue that you worked before... and your argument is "not with 3 kids so young, and NOT for awhile now" (so your marketability has been diministed, arguably...so the situation has changed.

There won't be a "trial" about it. THere will just be more legal bills in the short run if you can't do the collaborative approach.

I think you can try to do both the cost saving way AND go for the formula but a lot depends on how much your h wants to fight this. Put that responsibility on HIM, not you.
,It's true that SOME of his arguments may well work, and a court may impute some income to you but the kids are very young for that...it's iffy.

You may have to trim your time line of when you'll go back to work

or compromise with some part time work, but I think you can save SOME legal bills...

and your claim that working so much, with 3 young kids at home, WAS the stressor that created so much chaos in your marriage, is valid. IT's not shifting the blame from your poor choices but it explains a lot. And you've learned from it.

Also, truly, do you feel he can afford to pay the formula? B/C if he can, then this is a no brainer for me. THey are his kids.

You did your part, and more. Sure, you had problems and we'll agree you didn't handle them well.

But you worked MORE THAN MOST WIVES

and earned a lot AND had his 3 kids in a short time...

so while your problems contributed to the marriage's demise

your work/birthing created the family itself, AND contributed to the finances...

it goes both ways.


M: 57 H: 60
M: 35 yrs
S30,D28,D19
H off to Alaska 2006
Recon 7/07- 8/08
*2016*
X = "ALASKA 2.0"
GROUND HOG DAY
I File D 10/16
OW
DIV 2/26/2018
X marries OW 5/2016

= CLOSURE 4 ME
Embrace the Change
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Posts: 847
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25 -
THANKS SO MUCH for checking in on me again! wow...I really did miss being here around people like you who are giving their time and energy to ME, without knowing me and expecting nothing in return. You get me so well and have helped me so much since I first came to these boards. I AM MORE GRATEFUL THAN I CAN EXPRESS HERE and I am trying to pay it forward by just showing support to others here. THANK YOU AGAIN.

Rick -
Thanks for the welcome back! I will go check your thread shortly. I want to know how you have been doing all this time and show my support to you too!

Busting -
I so appreciate your comments. As I told you, I do feel like we have a lot in common. Many of the fears I have and the feelings I go thru are things you have expressed and voiced in your own thread and when I have read it, I just constantly go - yes! yes! yes! It's uncanny to me how much we share and seeing your own strength, kindness and positivity helps me a lot. So thank you for stopping by.

Adinva -
I sooo hope that you can turn your sitch around too! I can see how you are also getting into this really uncomfortable legal part of this crazy journey. I feel like we are walking into a dark cave at the same time and I wished we didn't have to, but I know you will be ok, because you are such a strong person. We will both be ok, no matter what.

Labug -
Thanks for checking in! Since I started reading your threads some time ago, I am just in awe of your amazing growth. You grasped DBing and implemented it so well from the get-go and I always look up to you and try to take pointers. I know we share some of the same challenges, but you seem to have faced and destroyed your demons so well... You inspire me, so thank you.


I will update and answer some of the questions you guys have asked shortly.


Me & H: 44
D7, D6, S3
Together: 20y, M: 17y
EA: 11/13/10, Sep: 12/23/10
EA becomes PA: Spring 2011
H filed for D: 09/06/12
D Negotiating began 2/15
OW seemingly gone on 3/15
Still negotiating D






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So here is the status with my legal sitch...

H originally wanted mediation so I asked him to bring me a proposal - this was when our S was born. His financial proposal was ridiculous. He wanted to split kids expenses 50/50 and no alimony for me. He even wanted me to split certain expenses like gas and food to separate what was the kids portion and what was mine. It was laughable.

I told him I wanted to follow the formula and be fair (I had already consulted a lawyer). I said I didn't want more, but would not accept less because that was the only way I could stay at home and be a full time mom for my kids now that they are so young.
(My H has a good income and I could make it work. It would be tight but I don't care - I just want to be with my kids. They are really struggling with all of this).

I re-assured H I would go back to work once our S started school, but that I had learned from my mistakes in our M and I would not neglect my family anymore because of work. He keeps saying "you worked before, even with the kids, why can't you work now?" He says I am being unfair, that I unilaterally decided to stop working and that it is affecting our financial sitch and the financial goals we had for our kids' future.

I gave him the number he would have had to pay at that time based on the L's calculations. Since I was not working and H was really not spending more than 15% of his time with the kids at that time, the number was really high. H freaked out. He even said in an email "After all you have hurt me, I wished you could at least leave me with some dignity."

He then returned demanding 50/50 custody. I obviously thought it was all financially motivated, since he had not expressed any interest for more time with the kids before then (he was partying and traveling with OW a lot last year).

We also started having a lot of disagreements about exposure to OW.

I consulted L again earlier this year and she suggested we tried to work out custody issues with a counselor, which we did. We worked out a "temporary" custody arrangement we currently follow.

He now has kids about 35% of the time and I have them about 65%.
Counselor (and two other therapists I consulted on my own) have said that because my S is an infant (just turned 1) and we have two young girls as well, that they didn't recommend 50/50 custody for now. The kids need stability and if we go 50/50 and I go back to work, that would not be good for them. They said they recommend going to a 50/50 split in a few years when S starts school.

My H doesn't agree. Because he is now serious with OW, he feels capable of handling the time demands (with her help) and that kids need him as much as me. This is tough because they DEFINITELY need him, but since he works, it's likely that any added time he gets, the kids would most likely spend it with OW and if that is the case, then I think they are better off spending it with me.

So we don't agree on custody - he wants 50/50 now and I want to follow the experts' advice and gradual approach.
We don't agree on the money - I want to follow formula, he wants to split kids' expenses and no alimony. I want to stay home with the kids for now, he wants me to go back to work now.
We don't agree on degree of exposure to OW - I want to wait until after D for overnights and attending kids' activities, he wants her full participation now.


To me these are big, HUGE differences. I have pointed them out to H and asked how he can possibly think we can use mediator or even collaboration. His reply - "I don't think we are that far apart."

Yes, collaborative would be cheaper IF IT WORKS...but if we don't come up with an agreement, we then have to start all over again, hire new lawyers and spend even more money (which we don't have anyways. As it is, we will need to borrow $ for this D - whichever route we go.

So my gut feeling has been - forget collaborative, just go traditional route and make sure to keep it fair.

The bottom line to me is - I don't want to fight with H and I told him so. I added that it is up to both of us to not do so, regardless of which process we choose.

But can I really guarantee I won't fight if I feel he is going against the well-being of my children? Chances are I will...
And if I know him as I do, he will do as well if he thinks I am going against what he thinks is the well-being of the kids.

yuk... I hate Divorce!


Me & H: 44
D7, D6, S3
Together: 20y, M: 17y
EA: 11/13/10, Sep: 12/23/10
EA becomes PA: Spring 2011
H filed for D: 09/06/12
D Negotiating began 2/15
OW seemingly gone on 3/15
Still negotiating D






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KG,

a sidenote...you say you come from a different culture? Your English and ability to articulate is better than most native English speakers I know. Just wanted to comment on that or ask what your culture is...maybe you're an Aussie and English IS your first language but my gut says, "no."

Let's try to be objective and look at HIS assertions. I'll try to refrain from mind reading but will likely fail a bit. I mean off the top of my head, nearly all, or all of his demands are self serving. But let's begin...


Originally Posted By: keep_going
So here is the status with my legal sitch...

H originally wanted mediation so I asked him to bring me a proposal - this was when our S was born. His financial proposal was ridiculous. He wanted to split kids expenses 50/50 and no alimony for me. He even wanted me to split certain expenses like gas and food to separate what was the kids portion and what was mine. It was laughable.


Yes^^^And a little bit crazy...so enough said on that
.

I told him I wanted to follow the formula and be fair (I had already consulted a lawyer). I said I didn't want more, but would not accept less because that was the only way I could stay at home and be a full time mom for my kids now that they are so young.

given that you worked before, (so we know you are not lazy), ^^^ this really appears fair to me AND in the interests of the kids. Yes, sure, I'm biased in your favor. But I'm not irrational about it. You certainly have a point.


(My H has a good income and I could make it work. It would be tight but I don't care - I just want to be with my kids. They are really struggling with all of this).

Can you communicate that to him without appearing to be trying to guilt him? OMG-We both know the guilting backfires big time.

But seriously, does he "get it" about the kids?


I re-assured H I would go back to work once our S started school, but that I had learned from my mistakes in our M and I would not neglect my family anymore because of work.

well said.


He keeps saying "you worked before, even with the kids, why can't you work now?"

Um, See above!! Plus you are single now too! (Oh yeah, that....) in his good moments doesn't he see ANY imbalance in the childcare AND work demands he's making?

He really thinks you can do all that stuff you did before AND with another child AND alone?? I have to say, that's awfully convenient for him to believe.


It'd sure be nice AND HELPFUL if he did half the soul searching you did in looking at your role in the marital problems. (SIGH)


He says I am being unfair, that I unilaterally decided to stop working


OKAY WHOAH....1) HE Unilaterally LEFT; and 2) you had a THIRD child; and

3) he met OW and refused to work on things since, let's face it, it's easier to start fresh, or so he believes atm; and

4) So, the situation changed...


YOU did not "unilaterally" quit your job and out of the blue chuck your career and blow it off.

That's not what happened. Stop the revisions before he starts saying you tried to kill him...

and that it is affecting our financial sitch and the financial goals we had for our kids' future.

Really? It's affecting your financial situation? YOUR choices are? Well So does divorce, having OW and her kids, and the other choices HE MADE -UNILATERALLY- that you are not even allowed to challenge now b/c that makes you a shrill shrew...but he gets to lob over his bombs and pretend he's being "oh so fair" and blah blah blah. Enough of that.

I know he usually THINKS he's being fair and he's not insane. But you need to get him somehow, probably only with a lawyer, to wake up.

He's not being fair to you NOW.

What happened in the past, PASSED, years ago.

We create what's in our lives
. HE has created this financial stress. He's lucky you earned so much for so long. Has he ever thanked you for that? Aren't you a big reason you two had so much in savings?


I gave him the number he would have had to pay at that time based on the L's calculations. Since I was not working and H was really not spending more than 15% of his time with the kids at that time, the number was really high. H freaked out. He even said in an email "After all you have hurt me, I wished you could at least leave me with some dignity."

Two things-- 1) what exactly does he believe he's leaving you with?

2) Dignity comes from within anyhow,

but if he thinks you are trying to leave him in the lurch, he's forgetting he left a woman with a newborn and 2 kids under the age of 3 at the time...THAT is leaving someone without much.

To me, that was close to being unforgivable, no matter what YOU had done to him (short of violence).

Don't let him off the hook on THAT when he brings up your "abuse" -

you have to ask him 1) when he'll let go of the past and 2) what he thinks of abandoning you w/a newborn (and toddlers).

I mean you both deeply wounded each other and he did NOT make clear to you that he was about to leave. He avoided conflict and didn't own up to wanting out til he had nothing left, which he may give himself credit for-- but it didn't help his family.

It was simply easier than facing you earlier. That's on him, isn't it? In sum,

You both have a lot of forgiveness work to do. Thing is, YOU did it.



He then returned demanding 50/50 custody. I obviously thought it was all financially motivated, since he had not expressed any interest for more time with the kids before then (he was partying and traveling with OW a lot last year).

regardless of what he was doing, if he didn't spend more time with them then, and you have some proof (or he's not lying about it) there's empirical data to suggest that it's at least partly financially motivated.

YOU LOSE money by not working. Has he acknowledged that your choice hurts you as well as helps the kids? I mean you could earn more and therefore live better materially speaking so

at least in your requests, we know it costs YOU something to stay at home.

All of his requests happen to, (coincidentally I'm sure), benefit him financially.

I have to wonder, if you were still together, and you'd had this awakening anyhow, would he still want you to work full time like before? Truly?

He might say yes, but I don't think even he believes that.

He's one of those guys who believes in super women, and expects A LOT from them. Unless those expectations have changed for OW or she gets a lot of CS from her ex h, I have to wonder how she will meet all those demands.

Maybe he's evolved...but it doesn't sound like he has when it's about YOU working full time...OMG I'm amazed that he expects this. Really KG, don't let him fool you on this. You DID work too much w/such young kids and pregnant and HE wanted that and you allowed it and maybe you wanted it too.

but you don't NOW and you are wiser to have learned that lesson.

IF he knows he'd be okay with you staying at home for some years OR working less (if you were together & things had improved),

then he's going to have to face the fact that his requests are purely financial and are increased due to his "other" choices...and that's not your responsibility and your children should not pay the costs by losing him AND you.

BTW, my mc told me this when I began speaking of going back to work full time as h was gone, and it seemed divorce was imminent. At some point I would have to go back to work for financial reasons, period. But I knew there were legal advantages to NOT working yet, but wanted to check my motives completely.

The mc asked, "What's it going to be like for your d's to see so much less of their dad and then have YOU begin a new demanding full time job? Won't that be like losing both parents at once? If you can, make sure you home MORE now than before, not less..."

Made sense to me.

We also started having a lot of disagreements about exposure to OW.


which you now accept you cannot control. So be it. Don't beat a dead horse, pick your battles wisely.



I consulted L again earlier this year and she suggested we tried to work out custody issues with a counselor, which we did. We worked out a "temporary" custody arrangement we currently follow.

He now has kids about 35% of the time and I have them about 65%.
Counselor (and two other therapists I consulted on my own) have said that because my S is an infant (just turned 1) and we have two young girls as well, that they didn't recommend 50/50 custody for now. The kids need stability and if we go 50/50 and I go back to work, that would not be good for them. They said they recommend going to a 50/50 split in a few years when S starts school.

See my above comments. I totally agree. Did you document what these other t's said? Might help you and it won't hurt. Your h may find someone who can say "it won't hurt the kids" but he won't find a c to say "it'll HELP the kids to move them around so much".

My H doesn't agree. Because he is now serious with OW, he feels capable of handling the time demands (with her help) and that kids need him as much as me. This is tough because they DEFINITELY need him, but since he works, it's likely that any added time he gets, the kids would most likely spend it with OW and if that is the case, then I think they are better off spending it with me.

Agreed. BTW, Does OW work or not? WARNING---If you say "No, she's a sahm & will continue to be with h," I'm going to screw my head in the ceiling...


So we don't agree on custody - he wants 50/50 now and I want to follow the experts' advice and gradual approach.
We don't agree on the money - I want to follow formula, he wants to split kids' expenses and no alimony. I want to stay home with the kids for now, he wants me to go back to work now.


Retain counsel KG. This is a no brainer. The biggest issues that exist, you are NOT in agreement on and he hasn't moved much in your direction, has he?

His "reasonable sounding" pleas benefit HIM, not you and NOT the kids. He may not care if they benefit you, (but he feels you'll be alright in the long run and he "has the right to be happy" and blah blah blah,) and he's rationalized that he's a great dad b/c he loves his kids and wants them with him...so you need to hire a Lawyer now. YOUR WORDS are not being heard.

I do not see any advantage to waiting on that b/c right now you are the obstacle to his happiness. When that obstacle is removed, he'll only have HIS life and himself and OW to focus on if all is not perfect.

The sooner you hire a L, the sooner you have the L deal with all these disagreements and the sooner you appear to be a separate entity from the legal quagmire.

May seem ironic, but I believe it HELPS (including for recon purposes) to hire attorneys sometimes b/c keeps your r about the kids and pleasant and your changes show a lot more...

As for the conflicts? Oh those ugly matters are for the lawyers and it's the one thing that justifies our fees.

Let the Lawyers handle the gross stuff so all of your interactions are about positives.



We don't agree on degree of exposure to OW - I want to wait until after D for overnights and attending kids' activities, he wants her full participation now.

To me these are big, HUGE differences.

They are huge differences. What's a bigger difference than those, to him? Religion? Is the earth flat?

I have pointed them out to H and asked how he can possibly think we can use mediator or even collaboration. His reply - "I don't think we are that far apart."

It's a nice comment to make that SOUNDS amicable.

You can say what you just told us, or maybe something like

"H, I've made huge discoveries and changes I needed to make and thank you for being the catalyst for that. But I'm not going back to the way it was before, let alone as a single mom.

You say we are not far apart. But you want to pay much less than the state's formula in CS, whereas I want the formula. You say I'm being unfair but I didn't ask for more than the formula. I don't want the children or I to get less than the formula. You say I should get less b/c I worked so hard for us before. I don't see it as fair that I get less than a woman who never worked, but that's in effect what you are saying.

You want to change the custody arrangement, I don't.

You want me to work full time NOW, and I want to wait a few years until our ONE year old is in kindergarten. I am willing to lose the income I'd benefit from to do this.

H, while I feel that we are now both able to communicate much better than before-for which I'm grateful- we have fundamental disagreements about issues of great concern to me."

KG, soon you must Just retain counsel so these ^^^ discussions become moot.

Yes, collaborative would be cheaper IF IT WORKS...but if we don't come up with an agreement, we then have to start all over again, hire new lawyers and spend even more money (which we don't have anyways. As it is, we will need to borrow $ for this D - whichever route we go.

So my gut feeling has been - forget collaborative, just go traditional route and make sure to keep it fair.


Agreed...and note that part^^ I wrote about how getting lawyers sooner rather than later CAN sometimes make things a little less rocky, believe it or not.


The bottom line to me is - I don't want to fight with H and I told him so. I added that it is up to both of us to not do so, regardless of which process we choose.

I like that^^^.


But can I really guarantee I won't fight if I feel he is going against the well-being of my children? Chances are I will...

that's why you have a lawyer who will fight him, NOT you.

YOU will only discuss the fun things the kids did, or the concerns you have about a child, or politics if you two are similar, or family matters you still feel comfortable discussing, etc. NOTHING LEGAL b/c hey, that's what the Ls are for...

you are fun and upbeat and positive and the mother of his children,

Lawyers are the ones fighting...keep it separate as much as possible.

And if I know him as I do, he will do as well if he thinks I am going against what he thinks is the well-being of the kids.

yuk... I hate Divorce!


Divorce sure does not solve much. But if you are going to do it, or have it done to you

then try hard to do it without regret, as much as possible.

At least know you did right by your kids, as best you could, once you had your tools.

And, I know you will regret going back to work too soon.


M: 57 H: 60
M: 35 yrs
S30,D28,D19
H off to Alaska 2006
Recon 7/07- 8/08
*2016*
X = "ALASKA 2.0"
GROUND HOG DAY
I File D 10/16
OW
DIV 2/26/2018
X marries OW 5/2016

= CLOSURE 4 ME
Embrace the Change
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Posts: 13,511
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This did not come out right in my post above...

You wrote that he said to you--(after you wanted more CS)


"After all you have hurt me, I wished you could at least leave me with some dignity."


Two things-- 1) what exactly does he believe he's leaving you with? AND

2) Dignity comes from within anyhow.

But if he thinks you are trying to leave him in the lurch, he's forgetting he left a woman with a newborn and 2 kids under the age of 3 at the time...

If anyone says someone left another person without their dignity, it'd be him leaving you in that situation.

To me, that was close to being unforgivable, no matter what YOU had done to him (short of violence--but if you were so "abusive", why'd he leave his kids with you? My point isn't to defend your previous temper but to say that the word "abuse" is over used and frankly makes him sound weak, which he wasn't.)

Don't let him off the hook on THAT when he brings up your "abuse" - of the past.

You have to ask him 1) to let go of the past (or his version of it anyhow)

and

2) what he thinks of abandoning you w/a newborn (and toddlers).

I mean you both deeply wounded each other.
He was not perfect to you, and you were unfairly burdened with too much for any woman. I doubt he realizes that, even now.

He did NOT make clear to you that he was about to leave. He avoided conflict and didn't own up to wanting out til he had nothing left, which he may give himself credit for-- but it didn't help his family after all, did it?

It was simply easier than facing you earlier. That's on him, isn't it? In sum,

You both have a lot of forgiveness work to do. Thing is, YOU'VE done a lot of it.



M: 57 H: 60
M: 35 yrs
S30,D28,D19
H off to Alaska 2006
Recon 7/07- 8/08
*2016*
X = "ALASKA 2.0"
GROUND HOG DAY
I File D 10/16
OW
DIV 2/26/2018
X marries OW 5/2016

= CLOSURE 4 ME
Embrace the Change
Joined: May 2012
Posts: 2,595
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Hi KG- how are you today?

Where are your previous threads? Could you post a link, I am really interested in reading more :-)

The connection i feel with you is uncanny...

25- I get what you are saying about OW and her influence on the r between KG and H. I think I was really upset by the fact he left her with two young ones and a newborn, that I was looking at it from the POV of if it had not been for her growth, development, honest introspection and change, the r with her H might have been a lot more bitter regardless of OW influence on H. I thought she hadnt given herself enough credit for the incredible show of strength and love and commitment to her children and herself and her M. I guess I was upset when I responded. Thanks for making it more clear.

I hope everyone has a good day ((( )))


TPS
Me: 44 H: 42
M14 T17
S10 D7
10/10 H moves out after death of his father-same month
21/04/12 H is 'DONE'
04/05/12 OW/PA confirmed (rumors from 2010)
July '14 H ends affair
May '15 H moves back home
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Hey KG, it's good to read you here. And good to see you posting to and supporting other members. You've got your head on straight and it really shows.

I wanted to echo 25's words above:

Originally Posted By: 25yearsmlc
Most LBSers change their "commitment to work on themselves" approach the minute they hear of OPs.

Suddenly the LBSer only recalls that the "marriage was pretty good UNTIL EVIL OW", and it's sometimes just a lie.

But many tell themselves that, and the "affair" becomes their sole focus. YOU did not do that, and you still don't and

I applaud that candor and constant self monitoring. You kept the focus on your own personal work. Amazing.


It IS easy to loose sight of the A being a symptom of an underlying problem and therefore focusing on the OP rather than our own betterment in order to be a better option... or more specifically... to be a person that only a fool would leave...

Keep up the great work, KG! cool

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KG,
Thanks for posting on my thread. It's very good to see you back and you have been missed.

You've been getting a ton of good advice from 25 and many others.

My only .02 is take the time you need.

After 18 months, your H finally got up the nerve to file.

Just because he has decided to jump, doesn't mean you have to.

Now I'm not saying you get to avoid the situation, but I DO believe in the gift of time.

There are times when you go with your gut and decide something. You trust in who you are as a person.. that you made the right decision.

Divorces are not that. The decisions are clouded by your emotions and you just have to work through them to get to make a decision.

So if you aren't ready.. you're not ready.. easy as that.

If you're not sure which way to go... just rest in the unknown. Work through your BS and I promise the answers will come.

And if that is not in 24 hrs.. okay.. 48.. no problem.

Hell.. if it's a month.. so be it!

You have grown too much to NOT move forward.

YOU get the set the pace now. It's YOUR future and the future of YOUR children that matter now.

YOU hold all the cards now.

((( )))


M(f): 40
D'ed: 8/12

Show empathy when there's pain. Show grace when warranted. Kindness in the midst of anger. Faith in the face of fear.

Love at all costs because you are loved well.
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 847
K
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K
Joined: Jun 2011
Posts: 847
wow...

I am so fortunate to come back to my thread after a couple of days and find so much support.
THANK YOU ALL! It means the world to me.

25 - Thanks for all the great legal advice. Yes, it is time to go back and see my L once again.
And to answer your question - I was born and raised in Mexico City. I was very, very fortunate to attend a bilingual school there. I am so, so grateful to my parents for always making education such a priority in my life and all the amazing opportunities I have had because of it.

Now a bit of an update...
I had a great weekend. Kids were with H, so I slept in, relaxed, cleaned the house, went grocery-shopping, read and watched TV. On Sunday I had brunch and a traditional Thai massage with two girlfriends, had coffee and a walk on the beach with another friend, went to mass with my parents and sister and then invited them over for dinner. Monday the kids came back and we went down to SIL's house to spend the day. MIL was also there and we had a great, great day.

I was so tired that I fell asleep on the sofa after I put the kids to bed. Unfortunately when I woke up at 3am I saw a text that H sent me around 11pm telling me that his boss got fired that afternoon and that he might be next.

So that kept me up the rest of the night, of course...

I tried to call him this morning. I missed his call back - he sounded nervous in his message. We finally connected on Tuesday evening. He talked for 25 minutes straight. He might get laid off tomorrow - it's 50/50 at this point. New investors in his company and they are bringing a new CEO, so the new guy might bring his own team and then H would be out.

I listened and validated. I tried to re-assure him that no matter what, he is very intelligent and well-prepared and will find another job if he needs to. The whole conversation felt so familiar since it was a similar one to several others from past situations where one of us was going thru a transitional period in our professional life. Almost like if we were still a team trying to find a solution together...
He was thankful and promised to keep me posted when he knows more.

So now I really, really need to see my L. We were finally starting to breathe easier financially after selling our two homes, but if he gets laid off we will be in deeper trouble.

I could and will go back to work if he loses his job, but I first want to speak to my L to see how and when I should do that. The last thing I want is to go back to work and then have H not make an effort to find a new job to get out of his financial obligations in a D. Ordinarily I would say he would never run from his responsibilities, but given where we currently are, nothing would surprise me now.

And precisely today my sister and I left for my summer vacation with the kids - brought them out to the desert for a few days before they go back to school. I thought about canceling the trip, but decided to wait and see what happens with H's job.

I cannot control his situation and I don't expect him to all of a sudden want to figure this out and work on this together. So I have analyzed my options and will do whatever is needed to protect and care for my kids and myself. I am fortunate to be healthy and have never been afraid of hard work, so I know we will be OK. May be tougher for a while, but not impossible.

So I am not panicking - yet.
LOL...


Me & H: 44
D7, D6, S3
Together: 20y, M: 17y
EA: 11/13/10, Sep: 12/23/10
EA becomes PA: Spring 2011
H filed for D: 09/06/12
D Negotiating began 2/15
OW seemingly gone on 3/15
Still negotiating D






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