I'm back.

For years I let it slip away, I let someone other than me dictate life.

I gave away control for the greater good or so I thought.

So last night I went out for dinner with a friend who is a guy. He is not married to any of my friends, or anybody else for that matter, we are in similar places in life, both having survived hideous marraiges. Survival of the fittest if you are a darwinist. Bloody strong if you're not. So it's not going anywhere other than friendship, I am leaving the country in a week. But that said. Nice to go out. Very nice to sit across a table from a handsome bloke. Share a meal. Talk and laugh. Extend a friendship that has nothing to do with your previous life. Good for the soul, well that might be a stretch, but surely good for the confidence.

Pleasant to realize that after all the years of being controlled that you can happily make well thought out decisions that are in fact good for you. Nobody gets hurt. There are plenty of situations to laugh about. Not bad.
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The house has turned to bedlam. If I had to stay longer than a week, I'd end up in a padded cell with my daily delivery of medicated bliss. There are piles, piles, piles. Piles of clothes to be given away to various people. Piles of books to take down to the second hand book seller. Piles of summer clothes to be packed in a suitcase to take on the plane. Piles of winter clothes to wear so we don't freeze before we depart, why we need record breaking lows the week before departure is a funny Murphy-like irony. Piles of winter clothes to be shipped because after 14-18 weeks when the boat arrives with our stuff we might want those warm clothes. Piles of ski, snorkle and camp gear to be shipped. Piles of photos, arkwork and kids trophy's to be shipped. Yikes. If I was ruthless we would take nothing other than what we could carry on the plane. BUT - there is often one, I don't want my babies to forget the time we lived here, maybe the icky bits where their father turned into a board weilding control freak, we can forget that bit, but the rest, our lovely friends and great sport and beaches we visited we need to remember, so the piles, while they might make me nuts, will be fine in the end.
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3 sleeps til I get my babies back.

6 sleeps til we leave the country.

how many sleeps before we're settled again? It is going to be a fun, crazy time.