HTTE, I'm no expert by any means on what now. Your situation has a lot of things making it difficult. There is your W still living in the house and that your one daughter is your step-daughter. Things are easier for me in a lot of ways, my W walked away and swoops in to spend a little time with the kids every so often and she sleeps somewhere else every night. I imagine that she even sleeps in the place she is paying rent for on occasion.
What now will be influenced somewhat by what is decided in mediation. Will you have to move? How will that effect school for your step-daughter?
I have tentative plans to move to the city where the kids are in school and depending on the maintenance and custody agreement if at all possible, I'd like to buy a house there and make a life of stability for the kids. That's the practical and responsible side of things.
As far as my heart goes, I'm slowly moving my feelings for my W into caretaker status. I still love her and I always will love her for what she gave me including my three wonderful kids. But, I'm moving her out of the active love interest area of my heart. I'm finding that there is a lot of pent up anger inside toward her and I'm looking at ways to deal with that.
For me personally, I couldn't have done as well as I have if I didn't know that I had other options. I've been faithful to my wife and I will continue to be faithful until I file for divorce. But, that doesn't mean that I haven't been out in the social marketplace gauging my stock price if you will. Some night when your W has the girls, get some friends and go to the bar and flirt shamelessly with the women you meet. This has been a life saver for me. If I didn't know that I had options, I don't think I could have handled these last 6 months.
No matter what, you know you can come here and find support and a friendly ear.
