Week of Peace

Thelma left for the week to visit a "friend" in New Mexico.  The kids and I stayed home and had a wonderful time.  Things that we did:

1.  Divorce Care -- Peanut and I went and had a great time.  He was very excited after I picked him up from his class and told me that he wanted to continue going (this is after he told me that going to church on a Tuesday was a crazy idea).  I think that the men's program is going to be invaluable to me as I continue to heal.  I was given a work book with homework assignments.  I have been doing my homework and it has been very helpful.  Muffin stayed with our friend, The Good Doctor, and had a great time.

2.  ShelfReliance Party -- The kids and I went to visit Merriweather at an Avon party for paranoid weirdos.  I fit right in and had a terrific time.  There were lots of kids there and they all ran up and down the stairs screaming at the tops of their lungs.  It was the loudest party that I've ever been to with the exception of several during my college years.  I don't remember most of those, so I can't tell you how loud or quiet those were.  I'm thinking of signing up for the "Q".  It works just like Netflix, except they send you survival foods and equipment instead of zombie movies. 

3.  Grocery store -- The kids were so well behaved and easy to manage.  Peanut got all of the items off of the shelves for me and gave them to Muffin who put them in the cart.  (Note that she was also in the cart).

4.  Misc -- Mostly we just hung out and played dollhouse and batcave, lots of Mario Cart, watched lots of movies (mainly Peeps) and relaxed.

5.  Neighbor's birthday party -- they had a big trampoline....Awesome!  Enough said.

6.  Mainly, we just enjoyed each other's company... I have the greatest kids in the world. 

Thelma came back from New Mexico yesterday.  It has been uncomfortable with her back in the house.  We are just about done with our divorce decree document, so I would expect that matters will be finalized within the next couple of weeks.  As much as I want all of this to be over, the finality and death of this relationship still saddens me.    I feel sort of like Frodo as he struggled up the mountain alone after he parted ways with Sam and Golem fell of the cliff.  It will be over soon, but I go on because I must.  I have to.



 That being said, I'm looking forward to the future and have made a list of all of the things that I want to do and experience as I heal.  I've got trips planned, projects for the house and garden, fishing trips to take, time to share with my awesome kids and lots of personal time.  In the mean time, I've got a new PS3 to keep me busy.  It's good to have another world to descend into when I need an escape.

As a final thought, God is good and faithful and, even in this horrible situation, Blessed be His Name!

Wet behind the ears...

Muffin caught her very first fish today on a piece of ham.  It was a small bream ("brim" as we always called them).  There were squeals of delight from both Muffin and Peanut.  She was very proud of herself as I snapped this picture.

Note:  This picture was taken approximately 5 minutes before Muffin stepped over the water's edge and went all the way to the bottom.  I pulled her out almost as quickly as she went in, but she was completely soaked.  She was wearing a sweater and a heavy coat and her new shoes.  It was a cool day (in the 50's) with a breeze.  Needless to say, it was a very cold and fast paced walk back home to a warm bath.

Peanut pulled two fish out of the water but they both fell off of the hook before we could grab them.  The first one got off by itself.  The second one fell off due to Peanut's vigorous agitation of the fishing pole.

Happy New Year!

 New Year's Eve was a pretty good day.  The kids and I decided to head down to the neighborhood pond to try out the remote controlled boat that Santa brought daddy...I mean Peanut.  He wanted to ride on his tractor and pull his sister and the boat behind him.

On our way to the pond.

After fielding about a hundred questions about the boat and how I was certain that it would be able to float in the water, we finally arrived at the pond.

Peanut and Muffin with the boat.

Peanut took his first job as ship captain very seriously.

Muffin did pilot the boat for awhile, but quickly tired of it.  She and I retired to the park benches and let Peanut pilot his boat for a long time.

Once the kids went to to bed, the neighbors started shooting off fireworks.  I went down the street to join them and was greeted by good friends, free flowing beer and all the jello shots that I could down.  We shot fireworks and visited until after midnight.  Fireworks worthy of professional displays were going off in neighborhoods all around us.  

I really enjoyed visiting with the neighbors and I even made some new friends.  The most surprising thing to me was how understanding and supporting my neighbors were of me.  They seemed to have already figured out some of the details of my predicament and were very supportive and kind.  I met a person who had children slightly older than Peanut and Muffin and was in the same situation (about a year ago) that I'm currently in.  She gave me a lot of hope and encouragement for the future.

Boom!

Alcohol and children's go-carts.  A match made in heaven.

At the strike of midnight hugs and good wishes were exchanged.  I headed back home after having really enjoyed myself and the company of good neighbors and friends.  I have a good feeling about this new year and welcome it.  2010 was the hardest year of my life and I'm glad to see it go.

Happy New Year to everybody.  My this be the best year of our lives (so far).!