Wow - 16 miles! You are an animal! My pain threshold tops off at about 6-7 miles. And tennis the next day even!
Try to keep your focus away from the papers, UD. As Bruce notes, they are merely a formality. The R is where it's at.
UD, in my sitch there was an ethnicity difference. X was a 'mutt' (her words) with various types of 'white culture, while I am Mexican with a dash of recent Spanish. I imagine that early on, my Hispanic way of being (I'm not full of machismo, but I'll bet there is more in me that in many non-Hispanics) was exotic and attractive. Then in the last several years, those same differences that were 'nice' became intolerable or irreconcialible. I think this also fed the ILs dislike for me over time. I'm not claiming discrimination here but merely pointing out another uncontrollable factor in my sitch.
Do you have a similar mismatch in your sitch? If so, do you think that its affecting your W's take on the R? My goal is to stay connected w/ my roots, in fact find ways to deepen them (trips to Mexico and Spain in the next few yrs), and assume that if it was attractive at one time, it can be attractive in the future.
I hope you enjoy your trip to DC if I don't hear from you.
My pain threshold tops off at about 6-7 miles. And tennis the next day even!
but merely pointing out another uncontrollable factor in my sitch. 