Have an awesomely different life by this time next year

to live and work in DC. This happened sooner than I thought it might.

The very sad thing about it is that I won’t see my boys. I don’t see them now, living 8 miles from their home, so I guess it doesn’t matter much to them. I am so proud of the way they have turned out. Eric asked me tonight “when do you move to Washington permanently?” I said, Thanksgiving weekend.

The job I got is one to which I was recruited. I will retire from Big Blue (the best known, large computer company) after 32 year and change. It was a great run, and it positioned me to take this next job.

I’m happy, and sad.

i’ve had the highest of highs & most devastating lows…bought our home (YAY!)in Dec, let Gracie Mae go to Rainbow Bridge Jan 9, adopted Luna Feb 9 & brought her home March 8/9 (she had kittens that needed her), then the last weekend of March weekend Fela was diagnosed with intestinal lymphoma my dad landed in ICU & almost died…dad diagnosed with COPD & emphysema (& has gotten admitted to the hospital once since for precautionary measures)... spring & summer didn’t really exist – it was a rain-filled blur of work, kitty chemo, work, work, work, worrying about dad… July 16 we released Fela Kiti from his illness & helped him go to Rainbow Bridge (i’m never going to get over him)...July 23, hubby went to Oz for 3 weeks, July 28 i adopted Finn McCool, then hubby got home for a week or 2, then Sept 23 off to CO for another week…of course that same day I brought my Siouxsie to the vet for what i thought was something stupid & simple… turns out at some point she swallowed a common pin & it now lies 7mm from her little heart…we have to keep a close eye on her…so i had to deal with that while he was in CO testing freaking cyanide (used in gold ore extraction somehow idk or care)... painted the bathroom AND kitchen…

i think that about sums up 2009… i’m ready to get off the roller coaster now

I guess you could say I completed this. My goal was to “get off the dime” and “have an awesomely different life” by this time next year. Oct 2008 to Oct 2009 saw many changes, some out of my control, but some because I decided I’d had enough and it was time.

My job transferred to Chicago IL in June 2009. That is not awesome, but in a down economy to have a job at all is good. I’ve been with the same firm for 32 years or so, and my performance in the last assignment (in DC area) was less than what I had thought I’d be capable of doing. My new assignment in Chicago has me covering 5 commercial accounts in varying degrees of disaster. However, I’m actively engaged in most of them and I’m stretching my skillz and making progress toward getting better accounts with more fun things to do. I am still able to spend ten days a month in DC.

I had the Porsche painted. That was a major step. It looks shiny and new on the outside. Perhaps this seems trivial, but it is a symbol of the journey I’ve been on.

I told my sons that I’m unhappy being married to their mother, and that big changes were coming. I started telling them in April, and over the summer vacation, when they came to spend ten days with me in DC/VA/MD/DE I filled in more of the details of the future. By August I bought them a car. By September I moved to an apartment. By October I filed for divorce.

I’m trying to be civil and fair with their mother, the soon-to-be-ex-mrsbill (S2BXMB). I have even convinced my sister that I have stayed long enough to see the boys on their way, and that I’m not leaving S2BXMB penniless. I hope XMB will accept the settlement agreement to let her stay in the house for two years and then fund the kids’ college education with the sale of the house and division of assets, including retirement savings.

In any case, I won’t have that same knot in my stomach on thanksgiving day because I’m in a loveless relationship where I can do no right.

So, done. I do have an awesomely different life.

Are falling into place. Hard work ahead. And I’m a slacker, so that’s kind of bad news. On the bright side, I’d like to be proud of myself for something other than my fabulous kids. And that’s much more probable.

I asked a friend how she spent Thanksgiving.

I got a jumble of answers.

“volunteering for a soup kitchen” which, as it turns out, was closed.

Honestly, I don’t remember all the other answers, but I know this: I have a lot to be thankful for, and she should not sacrifice time with family for time with people she barely knows and who may not be around.

Perhaps a turkey sandwich after a family dinner is all I can hope for.

But, I’m a hopeful guy.

We’ll see.

I have applied to rent an apartment, and so by late September 2009, I will be living apart from mrsbill, and with some luck, having a family meal at my own place with my sons once or twice or five times a week.

This is a big step.

Now its time to reap the seeds of faith and goodness I’ve sown.

So, in putting down a beginning sum up: finishing my degree this semester, stuck in the same city….......(also not including a lot, because then when the year is up, the writing will seem more exciting with what I’m doing) :P

every year i try to accomplish this goal, but i never find success in doing so.. i’ve officially lived here for 6 years and 8 days now.. not much has changed, but i guess what’s different about my life now is that i’m a college student & i have a wonderful boyfriend whom i’m patiently waiting to see in 19 days :)

“your forms will be in your e-mail tomorrow.”

Glad I called. It has been three weeks.

I get to review and revise them, and then I’ll be ready to file at a time and place of my choosing.