You are right about the mental prep. In fact, you remind me that I need to keep a journal today of the items I need to work on in interacting with W and make notes on how I'm doing. I have to practice observing and reflecting on these things now and making improvements.
Another note that I'm putting on the positive ledger, W started 2 Scrabble games on FB with me. We used to have 2 games going all the time. This stopped when we had problems. I accused her of being addicted to it and wasting a lot of time. I now know it is something that makes her happy. And it makes me happy that'd she'd be willing to play me again.
me: 45 W:45 M 20 years T 22 years S14, S13, S11, D9 BD 2/28/14 D papers served 3/3/14 I moved out 3/15/14 MC start 4/2/14 I moved in 6/2/14 D suit withdrawn 6/30/14