Riding the Bull

[Arsene]

Just a bit of journaling about our last family day on Sunday.

W kind of invited herself and in the end I figured that it would be great for D8 (I didn't really oppose it myslef) so we agreed to meet in the afternoon. When I asked her what she felt like doing she said it didn't matter, that she'd be just as happy to stay around the house and cook a meal together so I decided to just go for a short outing to a nearby park to fly D8's kite.

It was a good quiet time and we talked a bit but mostly, we played with D8 and sat around simply enjoying the peace and quiet.

Back at home, we barbequed some sea fish together and had a lovely meal, reminiscing of our days together. After W put D8 to bed, we decided to shoot some pool, but we ended up just sitting on the ground, in the back yard, talking. I looked like the pool proposal might have been just an excuse to stick around and talk so I listened.

She told me how hard it was for her right now, financially, and how much she worked, and basically how easy we used to have it in the past. In saying that she still maintained that she was happy and that things would get better however, she said that she regretted choosing this city. That she thought it would be better for us job-wise but now she thinks that she should have chosen the touristic area of the country.

She also said that she had chosen to' come here because we had the house and she was planning on opening a school or run some sort of business from it but that she no longer wanted to do that.

She asked me what I thought about our house. I said I thought it was a great house and that I missed it. She then asked if "we" shouldn't just take it back and if "we" shouldn't just move back in. I disregarded this and just said that there was still a few months before deciding anything and that anything could change in those month. I was taken by surprise by that "we" and really didn't want to ask her to elaborate at this time.

Eventually, she said how tired she was and how she had to go, but she stayed there, next to me, and she talked some more about how the school she chose for D8 ended up not being so good after all and how we shouldn't sign her up there next year. And then more about how tired she was and how much work she had. I listened, and validated and at one point, as she wasn't making a move to leave. I got up and suggested she went and got some sleep, which she did. Nothing special on her departure other than smiles and civil goodbyes.
On Monday, during a text exchange re:D8' school, W added:"Thanks for listening to my whingeing last night", to which I replied:"I'm glad I can be there for you".

I'm not going to read anything in any of that other than W seems to be getting comfortable opening up to me. I'll take that as a positive for now. This morning we are meeting again to go to immigration for my visa. After that, I'll try to back off for the next few days and give her (and myself) some time to think.

BTW, I had a look at a picture that I took of the 3 of us at the park and she looks positively happy. Heck, WE actually look like a happy family.