And still struggling

[Jim1234]

I am meeting with W for lunch today. Lots for us to talk about. Taxes first, but after that, I'm going to suggest we move the divorce forward.

The Thanksgiving episode where she got herself invited to dinner with my family really helped me start distancing myself, but I heeded AS's suggestion to wait a few months to be sure I was done before taking this step. Over the months, it's just gotten easier to think this way.

I will suggest we try mediation to start. I think a draft settlement agreement she sent me in October will be a good starting point, and hopefully we can knock this out without a huge fight involving the lawyers.

I have a question, though. In the draft settlement agreement, she proposed splitting assets 55/45. My lawyer said her lawyer is just fishing, looking for a bigger portion of the pie, and said since I'm paying alimony and child support per the state formula, that's not something any judge will likely entertain. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

BTW, my son's school suspension was up today. He's said and done all the right things in the last two weeks, so I believe he will try to walk the straight and narrow in the future. I hired a lawyer to go with us to the court hearing, and the lawyer is optimistic he will get into a program for first time offenders, and only have to go to drug awareness classes, get drug tested, and afterward will have his record expunged. I've bought home drug test kits that I can send off to see if he uses again, so I hope we can put this episode behind us. S18 started a new job last night, too.