The holidays are over; i survived. S18 spends most of his time with his friends or at work, waiting to go back to school. D17 is back to her routine, with the exception I'll talk about a little later..
W's lawyer has filed the separation agreement and QDRO paperwork. Afterward, I had some issues with W's lawyer sending letters to Domestic Relations inaccurately quoting our separation agreement, requesting alimony be raised by invoking a clearly inapplicable clause. Had to pay my lawyer to deal with that. W was travelling when it happened, but thru email, I let her know what was going on. She is pissed that her lawyer cost us both money for this. Initially, I asked to be compensated for my legal costs due to her lawyer's incompetence, but frankly, i am just tired of this, and told her that it's almost over and I would pay my lawyer if she would exercise a bit more control over hers.
So, it's almost over, and I'm resigned to it. I wish things were different, but they aren't, and I'm trying to move on with my life. Tonight I'm having a couple's poker party. Nickle, dime poker. It's really social hour with cards. Looking forward to it. W's not invited, of course. On the other hand, this woman I've been dating is. Things are going pretty well with her. She knows I'm not completely over my W, but I'm giving her what she wants, and she is patient with me. She has her own D issues, so we each listen with a sympathetic ear.
The only issue is that shortly after my last post, D17 had a car accident. She wasn't hurt; just a bit shaken. No one else was involved, thankfully, but there was some pretty good damage to the car. It's my car, so W doesn't have any say, thankfully. The car is being fixed, and D17 gets to enjoy the consequences of talking on her cell while driving, including not being able to meet her friends, and paying fines, 'cause I'm not driving her, or paying them. I'm not obstructing her from meeting her friends, but I am usually busy when she wants me to drive her somewhere. I've tried to be very loving in explaining the consequences of failing to pay the fine (my son said I am scaring her, so maybe I'm not doing as good a job as I think..... but she should be a little scared so maybe I'm doing it perfectly) and helpful in figuring out how to pay the fine, and whether it would be beneficial to plea down to a lesser charge (it isn't), but I've made it clear that it wasn't me driving and talking on my cell, and it's not my fine to pay. Hopefully, having to use all her birthday and Christmas money to pay the fine will also make a huge impression on her.
M:23 T:26 Me:53, Wife: 60 S:18 D:16 filed 7/16 W moved out 4/28/17
