How much longer in Separated?

[jon2911]

The weekend went well, FIL caused trouble on Saturday making W do a lot more work than he'd promised, but I went with the flow and killed time around Houston. Visited the San Jacinto Monument, rode a ferry, and drove through the only underwater tunnel in Texas.

We went to her grandparents Ranch on Saturday night and dropped some furniture off. It's one of our favorite places and it was nice to visit. We then hit the Museum of Natural Science with free tickets on Sunday.

I wanted to stay at the Ranch on Saturday night, because FIL had already packed W's bed and moved it during the day, but she was scared about her family. W is legally a part-owner of the place, she's 27 years old, and she's scared to stay the night. I really got steamed over this, but kept my mouth shut. How much longer will she let them treat her like she's 5? She's always been the baby of the family, and never broken out of that.

The washer, dryer and dishes loaded up just fine. W also gave me her turtle, which is huge. I've been wanting a pet, and Sheldon will be perfect. We cleaned his tank together, and went over his food, etc.

As I was packing up the last few things to leave, W handed me some snacks for the road and I could see she was crying. I made a few more trips, then came in and hugged her for a while. She said "I don't want to move". I told her she did a really good job with the place, that I always enjoyed visiting and she knows how to make a place feel like home. "Now you'll have most of the stuff" she said, and I agreed. I told her Sheldon said she has to come visit soon.

At work yesterday, the owner came back and told us about his vacation. He also said the insurance has raised his rates by 65%, so he's getting quotes from other companies. He had forms for us to fill out, and I kept W off for now. There were a lot of questions about being on Disability and Medicare that could get really sticky. He's been paying 100% of the health benefits, but said he can't do that any more with the price increase. Wow, I'm so ticked.

I related the price increase to W, and she asked softly if I'd consider putting her on my benefits. I told her I would, that as long as we're still married it's something I'd like to do. She said "thank you Jon". Later she e-mailed that her account is overdrawn, and could I pay her for the furniture and appliances. I told her there's $100 in the joint account for now, but I'll need to get some numbers back from the owner and then we'll talk. I think she should have to pay her share of the insurance while she still lives in Houston. Ugh. BAD timing on this price increase. I really hope Obama can completely overhaul this system. 65% increase, no reason, these insurance companies are a bunch of sleazebags. I'm really starting to worry that my company is too small to deal with W's health problems. We'll see.

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W just texted that she worked it out with the bank, if she can deposit $388 they'll waive the NSF charges. I asked her how she overdrew this much, and she said an autodraft came through that she wasn't expecting.

I logged into her account to double-check the info, saying it wasn't because I didn't trust her, but I wanted to double-check what the bank person had told her, because she can't get online. Everything matched. One COBRA check put her under, a couple small charges after that, so 4 NSF's at $38 a pop. Been there, done that. I transferred her the money and complemented her on dealing with the branch on this.

It's good to know she's still paying COBRA. For all I knew she wasn't. A quick glance at her account showed that she's been truthful about other things she's told me. Feels good to know that, and to be able to help. Time to keep on keeping on.