Just popping in to say it's Christmas day here now. I hope that everyone here finds peace and serenity (at some point at least) today.
I have today off work. Yesterday was really busy, but I had a couple of hours after we finished work to sit and share a few drinks with some of my work colleagues. The wonderful man I'm seeing came along as well. We had a wonderful few hours.
This morning he's driving to his XW's house (a couple of hours drive away) to see his two grown up kids open their presents and spend a couple of hours with them, before driving back here to spend the rest of Christmas day here. We're going to cook together, chat, unwrap our presents and share some very lovely food. He's told me that he hasn't been this excited about Christmas since his kids were small.
I'm feeling unbelievably calm and happy (even though I'm utterly exhausted from a very, very busy month).
He's very different from me in personality and life experiences, and I'm learning a lot about life and living and seeing the world differently. I really like that.
I also really like that he is so self sufficient...he knows how to deal with the outside world as an adult (run his life and his house). I always felt in my M, that I was the one doing the boring adult stuff and my STBXH wasn't doing any of that (right down to *all* of the housework, and organising paying the bills). I did ask him to help me, time and time again, but I guess I should have insisted more in some way...although I don't quite know how.
Do I see myself sharing more of my life with this wonderful man? Yes, definitely. I'd like to see how we negotiate things together as well. I guess that's what we're doing every day though: small things, some slightly bigger things, holidays, work, the time we each spend doing our own things...
The only times we've had in almost a year where it's felt a little difficult were over a couple of things. We chatted about it during and afterwards, and I can see how much worry and stress I've carried over from the issues in my M (alcohol and cheating). I can also see how much I need to be open to move forwards in my life.
The bottom line is that I really need to trust myself, and believe that I can handle any situation I'm in practically and beyond that, also learn from it.
