Mark,

I'm glad things seem to be going better for you. You asked if any of us saw any possible pitfalls.

First, your own attitude is SO all over the map, from euphoric to depressed, that I would caution you to try to maintain a more "even keel" approaching when working with a recently-wayward partner. I KNOW it is hard to not "hear what we want to hear," but, emotionally, you can really set yourself up for a fall when you operate that way. The reality of any situation is rarely as good -- or as bad -- as we think it is.

Secondly, I would caution you to not rescue your girlfriend. From your past posts, she strikes me as a bit of a "princess," and you've seemingly encouraged that trait in her. I think she may be looking for you to rescue her from the mess she has created.

I speak from experience here -- my wife did the EXACT same thing! She's been carrying on her affair for three months, despite my firm boundaries, and I actually had to finally file for divorce. She lied to me, our adult daughters -- even her own parents about it. I tried to tell her what a creep the other guy was (only two or three times, in serious, make-no-mistake talks, as it's generally NOT a good idea to "run down" the OM/OW, as the wayward spouse will then only defend them). Then she comes to me in tears one night, saying he's sending her "nasty" text messages and voicemails, and what should she do?

She clearly wanted me to rescue her, even going so far as to sob "Hold me!" I resisted, and said "This is your mess -- you clean it up." and "Call the cops if he keeps harrassing you."

Don't get me wrong, later I was more sympathetic and we had our cries and our hugs and our prayers of apology to each other, but in this early stage of ending an affair, it's important for you to NOT rescue the one who's been wayward.

"This is your mess; you clean it up."

Those would be my warnings to you, based on my reading of your sitch and on my own experience of what worked (and what I failed miserably at!).

Good luck,

Puppy