Looking forward to the weekend!

I am so excited! Mike is taking the girls to Emporia and I get the entire weekend for myself. Well, I have to work 8 hours on Sunday, but I get Friday night and all of Saturday! I haven't been keeping this up the way I envisioned myself doing, but I just can't believe how crazy life has been. On the whole, and despite the stress, Mike and I are getting along better than ever. I know he definately cherishes his time with the girls more.

He should be here in an hour or so, he has an interview tomorrow morning. Fingers crossed he gets an offer on this one or the one he had last week. My job is just too good to leave.

Speakin of my job, it has been a sad week. Two members of my training class were let go. And they were the two closest to me. The responsible professional side of me understands the reasons they were fired, but the friend side of me is very sad. I know I will miss them. Although I know it is a GREAT company to work for and their firing was their own doing, it does make me extra alert to not screw up!

I have the greatest supervisor ever and he has talked with me several times about how impressed he is at how well I am doing. He is so wonderful to work for. Actually, he won't let us say we work for him. He subscribes to the old Ewing Kauffman philosophy of "With, For, To: You work with me, not for me, you just happen to report to me." I love that. He makes the work environment so comfortable. He is has three kids, the youngest being only three months old, and is so understanding about me being a mom and having mom things to do. He's very sympathetic to my quasi-single mom status. I can't say enough how I am really enjoying my job.

Emma refused a pull up today, put her own panties on, and was accident free! My dad is doing a great job taking care of the girls. I just wish Paige would mind him a little more.

That's all for now. I hope in my weekend of leisure I can come post again.

Slowly Seeing Some Progress

Our credit card balances are getting smaller! This makes me very happy!

Headaches

This is the first day in my four weeks at my new job that I haven't wanted to be here. Ugh, my head is killing me.

So, this was our second weekend going back to Emporia for the weekend and again it was a great time. Though, as I looked back today, it saddened me to realize that it took moving 90 miles apart for us to spend quality family time together. And though hindsight is 20/20, I do wish we could go back and not take all of our time together for granted. It took this move for Mike to realize what he needed to do to make me happy and keep me sane. The hardest part of being together is getting the girls to sleep in their beds; they are so happy that we are together as a family, they don't want to leave our sides.

Have I ever mentioned how funny Paige can be? Driving back to my parents' last night, Paige was sad to be leaving Mike. I pointed out how cool it is that we have two houses, kind of like really rich people. She asked what does rich mean? I told her it is people that have lots of money, to which she replied we aren't rich are we? I said we aren't rich, but we have enough money. I made it a point to let her know that we aren't poor, either. She says, "Mom, I know we aren't poor. We are what I call cheap."


That girl cracks me up!!!

What a week and it's ended sadly

We survived our first week of being apart. Paige took things the hardest when Mike left for home on Sunday; it was perhaps the most heartbreaking thing I've ever experienced in my life. I also think that Mike was more saddened than he thought he would be. I only felt saddness that my dumb luck is what caused so much pain for everyone.

That being said, the week went very well. Paige and Emma are doing fine with my dad and although it wears him out, I think he's enjoying it. We did start a blog with the content this was intended to have, www.goodnightfromolathe.blogspot.com, where I post pictures of the girls' day and let Mike know a bit about what went on. Mike looks at it before we call him and he has a good point of reference to make conversation with the girls.

Paige had her first day of school on Friday, and Mike was able to take the day off to be there for it. It was an incredibly bittersweet moment to leave my baby at school. I can't believe that five years has gone by. She had a great day and I am confident she will really enjoy school.

As for my job, I completely love it. I can't speak as to the actual content of my specific position, but the atmosphere of the company is wonderful and the potential there is limitless. I have my big adjuster's test on Monday morning. Of course I feel some trepidation, but with it being multiple choice, I am not too worried.

The biggest problem in all of this, for me, is that I really feel like I'm losing myself. I don't really have anytime for myself and I don't feel at home either at my parents' or now, this weekend, in my own home. I hope that once this weekly routine is established, we will all get used to it.

In fact, it is a sad day for me. I've had to say good bye to something that over the past 6 months or so has been so very dear to me. My message board has been so important to me, as have so many of the women on it, but after today, I just don't know if it will ever be the same for me. It is hard to pinpoint what pushed me over the edge to make the decision, but I'm sad, even though I know that I can't participate like I've been able to in the past. Funny how much of a difference a week can make. Funny how much of a difference one comment can make.

I'm back!

Wow, it's been 11 days since I've posted and a lot has been going on at the Nobles' household. We went on our mini-vacation to KC last Sunday through Wednesday. Mike and I celebrated our anniversary on Sunday night, we took the girls to Oceans of Fun on Monday and Worlds of Fun on Tuesday. Pawpaw came with us on Tuesday and the girls had a great time.

Before heading out to the amusement park on Tuesday, I went in to a walk in clinic because my coughing was getting worse by the day and I generally felt miserable. Turns out I have bronchitis. I got 4 perscriptions, but here I am almost a week later and am not feeling much better. Paige is also now coughing, so I think a trip to the doctor is in order for us today.

Many of the stresses in our marriage that I have been feeling lately have been addressed, and so far I have really noticed a difference in Mike's interactions with me and the girls. Frankly, I told him that if he continued with the attitude he's had lately, I couldn't commit to a future with him. It is so sad that things had to go that far, but I think he definately needed to know how he has been making us feel.

Tonight, the girls and I are heading back to KC for the night so I can enroll Paige for school first thing in the morning; she doesn't want to miss gymnastics again this week. I just hope I don't have pneumonia and end up in the hospital instead!

So much to do

Gosh, the time is going by way too quickly. I have got to start getting things together for the move. I am so glad that I don't have to pack up the whole house, though. I think the best thing to do is to take enough clothes up for the week, plus a few extras, and over the weekend do laundry and pack new outfits. I can't imagine taking all of my and the girls' clothes up to stuff into the tiny closets at my parents'.

I need to get Paige's documents together for enrollment. That is probably my number one thing that has to be done and it is the easiest. I just need to remember where her birth certificate and first immunization record is. I think I'll go do that as soon as I get done writing here.

I wish I could write one sentence without being interrupted.

I need to get all of my personal stuff sorted through. I need to get the mail forwarded to my parents. I don't know how I'm going to sell this one to Mike, though. The cable needs to be downgraded when we leave, but that requires taking the boxes in and so it has to wait.

Okay, so I took a few minutes too look and though I found her birth certificate with no problem,, I can't find her initial immunization record from New Mexico. Uggh, I totally cannot believe I have no idea where this is. It is so important and I will be screwed if I can't find any record anywhere.

30 minutes later: I found the immunization record. It's amazing what you can find when you clean out clutter. I have so much paper clutter it's disgusting. I think that is what my day off will consist of for the most part. It is not something I want to spend a day doing, but it has to be done. I'll set a goal of going through 3 boxes. That should yield enough trash to fill three garbage bags. Yes, three boxes tomorrow and one box every day after.

Good plan, I'll be well on my way to organization and being able to leave with some peace of mind.

A day lost and lots of guilt

Yesterday was spent sick in bed with a headache and nausea. The bulk of childcare was left in the hands of my 5 year old. I'm a great mom, huh? But, there was nothing I could do about it. No one to come and help. I soldiered on, taking Paige to her beloved gymnastics, so that is one thing I didn't fail at. They were fed and I kept my ears open for trouble.

Paige, bless her heart, was such a big girl yesterday. She could see that I was truly in pain and she kept Emma entertained for over two hours yesterday morning. She got herself dressed and even chose Emma's clothes and tried to get her dressed. She made sure lunch didn't end up all over the living room and she played quietly during Emma's nap. I couldn't be more proud of her or more grateful to her oh so grown up behavior. What an awesome kid!

Mike, on the other hand, was his typical asshole self when I'm sick. He came home and it was all about him. He had some paperwork to do, he was hungry, he was tired. No childcare help from him, no housework help from him. He went to bed at 8:30 and I stayed up past 10 getting the girls to bed. I'd be mad, but this is what I've come to expect. I'd only be surprised if he treated me with some sort of empathy. He went to bed without telling anyone goodnight until I said something about how rude it was.

With each passing day, I am more and more ready for the physical separation. My children will get more attention from my parents than from their father and that is so sad. I find that I am less and less filled with the sadness I initially felt about leaving him and more so filled with relief that I will finally have some other adults I can depend on.

So many thoughts, so little time.

Where do you start when you've got far too much on your mind?

I suppose my immediate thoughts are my intense desire for my girls to go to bed; we're in the middle of our nightly routine of Spongebob, and it can't end soon enough. But, after swimming this afternoon, they both conked out for about an hour and I'll be paying for that tonight.

I'm coming down with a cold and that really sucks. I hate summer colds, but do love my prescription cough medicine it is far more effective than any OTC product I've found. Nevermind that it helps me sleep, which is a welcome prospect as of late.

I'm irritated with myself and my insecurities regarding friendship. I have just been having some inane thoughts about how my main group of peers views me and it bothers me that I care. First of all, I'm sure there are no issues and secondly, take me or leave me, I am not one to change who I am or hold back in my expression. These aren't feelings that end friendships, just making me feel uncomfortable in a dynamic that I usually feel completely at ease in.

All of the negative things I am feeling, and in fact I believe getting sick also, can be attributed to the impending doom that is our move. You know, I am going back and forth in my emotions about the whole situation. To be honest, this whole day has been on the "Screw Mike's Feelings About It, His Priorities Are Wrong" side of the fence. I am so very disappointed in him lately. Very, very disappointed.

I am having such a hard time understanding why he is so intent on spending time doing yardwork and landscaping in the evenings and on weekends while we're still here. Am I nuts for thinking the logical thing to do is spend as much quality time with the girls as possible and spend his time alone getting the other stuff done? I just can't wrap my head around it and I'm furious and saddened. I have always known that he is, frankly, an incredibly selfish person in many ways, but this one really has me perplexed. Do I just feel superior because I am really trying to make huge efforts to be having the time of our lives this summer? It's my last one free so I want it to be memorable for them and me.

I wish I could say how great our marriage is and that it is definately strong enough to survive this no problem, but that would be a lie. After 3 years of him working nights and his relative absence in the raising of our girls, I know that I don't need him to survive and the girls certainly aren't benefitting from any kind of quality time or influence of import from him. Life is all about what makes it easy and enjoyable for him; the needs of his wife and daughters are pretty far down on his list. This isn't to say I am fault-free, we have a couple of pretty huge issues that are completely on me, but I stand by the assertion that I put my children first, followed by him; I eventually make an apperance, but I rarely break the top 5. He has an uncanny knack for laying the guilt on pretty thick when I take care of my needs.

The exact turning point of our marriage will forever be etched into my memory. One singular event that changed everything, and though I can go through the motions of "forgive and forget", it opened my eyes to the kind of man his is and brought other actions and behaviors into crystal clear clarity. It was the night of his company Christmas celebration and I was home with a fussy 8 month old and he didn't bring his drunk self home until well into the next day. He got sick all over the bathroom, didn't clean it up and proceeded to pass out. When I could rouse him into consciousness to berate him about being so irresponsible, he looked at me, in a moment of odd sobriety and stated that we didn't love me and would never care about me nearly as much as our child. Considering his lack of parenting in the first place, I knew the breadth of this statement. I will never forget it.

And it was all true, as evidenced by his nonchalant attitude from my recovery from the first childbirth, to my incredibly difficult second pregnancy, horrible experience with the c-section and, most recently, my emergency appendectomy. Those are the big things, but this is seen in the everyday things a caring, loving husband would normally do in a healthy, productive marriage.

I have recommended counseling on many occasions, but we've never made it that far. We just go on with the farce from day to day. All this isn't to say that I don't love him or that he is a terrible father, but obviously we've got things that will need to be examined before I can foresee a positive future for us. I hope that in this separation, we can both make some decisions about what we want.

Like I said earlier, this is an off day in my feelings, tomorrow I may go back to feeling deep sorrow for him having to be torn from his kids, but it seems I'm having far more days like this than the other.

The separation

My daughters and I are moving 90 miles away from my husband. No separation of the marriage, it's just logistics. It is still too painful to recount the events that led to this in detail, so I'll be brief.

In March, I resigned from my teaching position. A move that was both necessary and welcome, despite the school district's intentions. (A word of advice, don't teach in a small town if you are not a life-long resident of said town). Following the resignation, I applied for many jobs in many towns, but my heart really wasn't in it. I was offered some jobs, rejected from others. Being a music teacher is a pretty narrow niche in the teaching world and there were no openings in the town where we live.

The town where we live is 50 miles away from any large cities and the town itself is undergoing some major problems in the job market. I am overqualified for any job offerings here and the pay is not acceptable, should I have found something that fit.

My husband, around the time of my resignation, was offered a position in management at his company. He took it and is flourishing; I expect big things from him and the job. He got a nice raise, but not enough for me to stay home with the girls.

Fast forward to June, I applied at a large company in my hometown, a suburb of Kansas City. I was contacted for an interview less than 24 hours after submitting my application. Had an interview the following Monday; another two days later. I was told they would be contacting me in one to two weeks. Apparently, they made a decision less than 30 minutes after I left (my mother works there and they shared the news with her, but she was forbidden to clue me in and I can't believe she kept her mouth shut!). So, at 8 am the next day, I was offered a job.

It was the only viable option left for us. It's a great job with TONS of advancement potential, the management there already concedes this in regards to me. So here we are, both with great jobs, but in cities 90 miles apart.

I'll be taking the girls to live with my parents during the week. Mike will be remaining in our home and we'll be together on the weekends. I've got some issues about this, a lot of fears for our family, but I pray we can work through them and emerge in a better place, when we make some real decisions about our future.

Forget it

Can you change the focus of your blog midstream? Technically, it still in its infancy, but you get the idea. I told my husband of my intention to keep this for him while we're gone during the week (I'll get to that soon), and his reaction was, "That's nice and all, but can't you think of a better way to spend your time?" While I saw his concern, the girls will need me more than the computer, duh, I would update after the girls are asleep. I couldn't imagine writing much more than 5 or 10 minutes. Besides, I always need to unwind before my mind shuts off for sleep.

So, this blog is now for me, a way to express my feelings and concerns and a record for me. I am growing less and less concerned about his feelings regarding the move, he has proven time and again that his priorities are far different from what I would imagine they should be in these last weeks together.

Paige: age 5 Emma: age 2

These are my favorite pictures of them at this age.

Meet the girls

Before I get into the story, perhaps a record of the girls right now would be in order.



Paige is 5, though more grown up in many ways, and younger than 5 in others. To say she is daddy's girl is the understatement of the century. Her current fascinations include: the country, swimming, me having another baby (she'd prefer 6 at once thanks to John and Kate Plus 8), and preparing to start kindergarten.

Emma is my little angel. She is empathetic in nature where Paige is highly intelligent. Not to say Emma isn't as smart, I've definitely got two Rhodes Scholars in the making, but Emma isn't quite as gregarious. As she grows into toddler hood, she loves Spongebob, playing with her Little People toys and trying to keep up with Paige.


The girls are my life, but I must admit, they can be difficult at times. They go, go, go where I'm a little more laid back. Mike works long hours and I try to keep them engaged as much as possible while maintaining our home. There just don't seem to be enough hours in the day! But as tired as I can be, I love being able to watch them grow and flourish under my watchful eyes. Which leads me to the heartbreak that is coming.

The blog has been created

This is a record of the time my family will be living apart. I want to keep a record of why I had to take my children away from their father during the work week. My heart breaks to think of this separation, but I try to remain hopeful that this is the best move for the future of our family.