Plank removed from eye, too late for WAW 3

[Heimlich]

I found an apartment today, take possession on the 28th. Will move in over the following week or two given my current work schedule.

Thought about a townhouse for the reasons you gave, OT, but with joint custody didn't want to be moving the girls more than once. Routine is important for them at this age and I don't want to disrupt them more than necessary. That, and I've got a fair amount of stuff.

Sorry, OT, it's 5 minutes away (why 15 minutes? I'm from the south, driving 15 minutes is still nothing to me -- just more expensive now). If I didn't have two young girls, I would have moved further out. Because we are going to be alternating custody, I wanted to remain close for a variety of reasons, predominately because I don't want a long turnaround in the middle of my work day to get them to/from school (and the ability to work at home and have them after school is a tremendous savings). Plus, my W and I are going to have to juggle our work schedules to allow each other to pick up the girls on the "others'" week in case one of us needs to stay in the office late. A further distance would have been tougher on them than need be and very inconvenient for me -- and the W.

The reason I moved on this so quickly is that it is, for the area, a rock bottom price and a good-sized apartment -- 2bed/2bath with room for my work desk and a small table in the dining area (Won't be attractive, but functional). Plus, 4th floor, so I get a good stair workout daily and less noise.

I get your houseguest analogy, but this was about a good deal, not getting me out of the house. We actually had a conversation about this around noon -- instigated by her, not me. She had copies of my three most recent pay stubs in her van, so she brought them to our house (needed them for the apt. application). She said that I don't want you to feel that I'm pushing you out. I said nope, glad you dropped in at this place on a whim and found it, it's a great deal and what I was looking for (I spent 2 hours today looking at available apts in the neighborhood, liked this one the best). I take possession on the 28th. W said I can move in over 2 or 3 weeks, that's fine with her. I said I'll try to get out as quickly as I can because I feel like I've been all over you and want to give you the space you've been asking for for months. She replied that it's fine, really, no rush. Now that it's happening, I can feel the pressure leaving me, so take your time. I thanked her for that and just said I'll get out as quickly as I can. I did ask her to help me with the girl's room. We're going to get bunk beds for them this weekend. Once we get those in, we'll figure out how to best use the space. She wants to be involved in that and I don't have a problem with it. Again, her request, not mine. The rest is my space and I'll do what I please. Ah, man space. What to do, what to do. WAW, with the lower than expected rent and the current financing plans as football season gets underway at Best Buy and elsewhere, I'm thinking a little retail therapy will be in order.

So, all in all, a good day. She said again that she feels this will be good for us. I didn't launch into a R thing. She said she knows the door is still open, but has been living day to day fo a few months and hasn't thought about the future, but she hopes that we'll remain friends regardless of whether we end up together or not.

OK. For anyone reading this, backing off and giving space works. Just do it. I'm not even out of the house yet and she's visibly more relaxed around me.

Delia, thanks for that post. I'm going to see my W frequently just because of the girls. I don't envision us hanging out quite as much as JustMe's example and don't really expect to have that level of interaction with her, though we'll probably eat together once in a while -- something she's already mentioned.

So, we'll see. No expectations at this point so any good things happening, R wise, with her and I are bonuses.

Hey, look, it is getting better!

BD