This is very difficult right now. I do have D w/ me so I'm happy about that, but working w/ W on anything is just so painful. I have to try and be "the man" for myself, my daughter and for hopefully my W some day in the future. Right now, however, she wants zero to do w/ me.
D and I slept in a bit and then I took her to her old daycare for a few hours so she could play w/ friends and allow me to go to my L's office to discuss finances. While at my L's office, I got some bad news -- I HAVE MORE COPYING TO DO! However, that really isn't a huge deal, just a pain in the a** to do. So, I have more files to find and copy, more forms to fill out and get them all done, ordered and organized by Thursday. This in addition to finding time to file our 2007 tax return. I'm so glad I have all this free time to concentrate on this financial stuff. Yuck!
The meeting w/ L was almost all positive as we discussed what we had and what was out there. I offered to do some collecting of items for W and he said, "don't worry about it now. Let them do some work." On the subject of W's allegations that I've wasted money, he simply said "let them prove it." So, that is what I'm doing -- giving them everything and letting them figure it out.
My L also said that W may end up owing me a bit of money as her car is worth quite a bit more than mine and the courts tend to look at our payments for mortgage/rent (hers being her rent and mine being the mortgage plus the equity line), adding them up and dividing them in half. So, since W is completely against helping me w/ the house and equity line, she may end up owing me a few hundred dollars for each month she refused to help pay. I pay roughly $1600 for the mortgage and equity line and if W's rent is say $800, then she'll end up owing me $400 for every month she didn't help me out financially. That will really, really tick her off to no end. However, in Arizona, we are both responsible for any and all debt acquired during our marriage. W is in for some reality shock, I think.
Finally, I've put calls into a painter, roofer, and another real estate agent to ask for opinions on selling the house and getting it market ready for sale. I need to have as many opinions as possible so I can present them to W and see what she says. I still need to get more estimates from additional roofers and painters, but I know there is an agent who lives down the street I can ask for my 3rd real estate estimate. That will be one of the biggest to get out of the way and hopefully help W make some sort of a decision on what to do.
My next step will be to contact a couple of leasing agencies to see what my house could fetch as a rental in case W wants a buy out and I decide to rent it for a while and wait for the market to recover. That is information I'll desperately need if I'm going to think of keeping the property. I just know w/ joint custody, I can't stay here as I'll most likely be "recommended" by the courts to live in the middle of my work and W's work. I've begun that process already and I don't think it will be hard to find something I can afford in a good neighborhood as long as I can have my mortgage and equity lines covered for this place.
W sent three e-mails today and I've responded to NONE of them. The first asked for feedback on her chart of dividing up the furniture. The second was her itenary for her and D's trip to Indiana to attend her neice's high school graduation. The third and final was information on possible flights and times for D and I to trave to Lake Tahoe over Memorial Day weekend to see my family in our summer reunion. It was awfully nice of her to do and it seems she was having one of her Dr. Jeckyll moments when she decided to look for a deal for me and let me know there were $99 fares to consider.
I'm sure once I reply it will be dealing w/ Mr. Hyde again, but for now, I'm staying dark and I may return her e-mail either tonight or tomorrow after D leaves. I haven't decided yet. I'm staying away from contact w/ W because it just makes me said and she usually blames everything short of global warming on me whenever she looks to communicate w/ me.
Well, that is it for now. I'll keep you posted as usual. Thanks for all your feedback, thoughts and concerns. They truly do mean a lot to me.
