That which does not kills us

makes us stronger, right?

Or, as Rob said the other day "I know God won't throw more at me than I can endure. Sometimes I just think He has the wrong address!"

This is seriously what I feel like: (I wish they had a version of this that did NOT have to do with a breakup, and just surviving life.)


Here's the update I just sent my family. And no, I don't tell my family anything. So, yeah, I have more going on.


1) Hearing on the 6th (Wed) regarding the restraining order against Pete. He will have to file, in writing, why he's not a flight risk, etc. I am almost done w/ the paperwork to change the visitation - however, I haven't had time to have an attorney look at it. I need to have it done by Wednesday, so here's hoping it's ok.

2) We retained an attorney in Utah for Rob's case. We hold no illusions that anything will change regarding visitation, or that we'll have much contact w/ the kids since they live with a mother who very obviously doesn't want Rob to have any contact with them. However, he cannot just 'let them go.' No matter what, he's the bad guy - if he just lets the adoption go through, then he "proves" he's never cared about them anyway. If he fights it, it's "proof" he doesn't care about what they want. However, the hope that someday they would come to him of their own accord is what has kept him going all these years. He never wanted the kids to get put in the middle of a nasty legal battle, and we're hoping that this one won't get too bad. At the very least, we're hoping for counseling and evaluations for the kids - they deserve to know both sides of the story - and the man, and father, Rob is.

3) Rob's going in for surgery on his foot on the 14th. He had some club foot problems as a kid and had to wear braces. Now his muscles are so tight there's a good likelyhood that they could snap. He's been dealing with the pain very well for awhile, but the doc says that he can't even wait the month until spring break to get it done. They will be cutting in two spots, seperating the muscle (including achilles tendon) and stitching it back up. He'll be in a splint for a week, then a walking cast for a month. This will be over an extended president's weekend, and he's hoping to head back to work on crutches on the 19th. He'll have the other foot done over spring break.

4) Kids are both doing very well. We've started counseling for Michael, and we're waiting to get scheduled. Their goal is to help him with adaptability, frustration and recognizing and expressing his emotional needs - we're really hoping to eliminate melt-downs and tantrums. Danielle was jsut tested for the challenge gifted program here in the district. If she's accepted, she'll go into a more science/math based program. She was the girl tested in her group. She definitely needs ways to be challenged!!

5) I have applied for a few more college-teaching positions. The sales job wasn't going as well as I had hoped, and I want something more stable with benefits. I'm doing the sales until something else comes along, but lots of my time lately has been spent on legal issues and paperwork, research etc.