Freakin' cats...

So, not only does my swingin' bachelor pad have an annoying cat-pee smell since MHEOTME cat (in keeping with the intials motif going here) decided to mark some new empty space down here, but I went to change the litter box (message received loud and clear, MHEOTME!) and after dumping it in the trash (it's garbage night) discovered - no more kitty litter.

A late night trip to Walmart ensued.

That taken care of, time for bloggin'.

Not much going on. I stayed at work 'till 7pm to give her time to clear out, and that she did. Everything's gone, thankfully. A few bits of junk here and there but I can start cleaning up now and rehanging my curtains. I noticed she stripped the curtains off the back window of the living room too, but they appear to be in the bag with the others, so that was probably done last night and I just didn't notice at the time. Insanity.

I emailed her from work today, asking if she'd please leave the garage door opener for her half of the garage now that she's out. Her reply? "I'll give you that when I'm signed off the house."

Hey-Zeus Crisco! What's WRONG with this woman? I wrote back, rather nicely I thought, that if she feared I would change the locks, she could call her lawyer who would tell her that if I did that, I"d be breaking the law and leaving myself wide open for some retalitory measures like getting me thrown out of my own house, since she was still part owner. I also pointed out that if I just unplugged the garage door opener, she could press the button all she wanted and enjoy the little red LED flashing at her until the batteries wore out, if that was my intention. But of course my REAL motive is nothing more sinister that it's a lot easier to park in "her" side as it's the righthand garage bay therefore I don't have to open my car door into the wall as I do when I'm parking in the lefthand bay. (Yanks understand, you Euros and Aussies, remember, we sit on the lefthand side in our cars... :) )

She wrote back, "OK, whatever."

So, aside from that no shenanigans to report here. She didn't take anything she shouldn't have this time around, though she ignored my wishes to take three large pieces of junk she brought into this house out with her - a dilapitated dresser, an exercise bike circa 1970 with a broken pedal, and a smelly refrigerator she insisted on buying from her dad that has sat unused in the garage ever since we moved in. That annoys me, as all this crap came into my home against my wishes. My dresser was also old and crappy, but it was still nicer than this piece of junk that she claimed she wanted to replace it with.

Again, I look forward to buying a new bedroom set, something where everything is real wood, not pasteboard, and all the pieces match. :)

Though, God help me, while at Wal-Mart I discovered something called the "bedroom in a box" which was $200 of pasteboard stuff - dresser, nightstand, mirror, and headboard - that actually might do as my "get through the next 12 months" crap. That got me thinking, perhaps I could buy a set like that - really cheap junk, and use it to furnish the spare bedroom (what else is a spare bedroom for??) and then sleep there 'till I buy a real bedroom set for the master bedroom.

Either that, or the dresser and nightstand will make good workbenches in the garage. :) My old entertainment center is in there and makes a very nice toolbox stand and old Muscle Mustangs and Fast Fords magazine rack.

Did I just contemplate furnishing my bedroom with something that comes in one large flat cardboard box and assembles with an allen wrench and some wood-grain tape?

-sigh-

Yes, I did. Hey, I'm a divorced single male with child, what do you want from me? It's either that or sleep on an air mattress on the floor for the next 12 months which has been my plan...


Returning to work today was fine. In fact, it turns out my project has been changed a little bit, instead of a complete redesign from nothing to a finished curriculum, we're going to rewrite the existing curriculum to meet our new standards of training at my company. May not be quite as effective, but is a much easier project for me to grasp right now - rewriting/reformatting/updating existing materials is a lot easier than designing from scratch, outlines, storyboards, and needs assessments.

My boss was very friendly and supportive - heck, there was a Christmas present to me and one for The Boy on my desk when I got there - and that made the transition back easier.

Of course, I had 2000 Emails (no, really, and those just the ones addressed to me, not distribution lists I'm on!) in my Inbox to sort through, so that was the not-fun part. Took most of the day in fact!

Oh, and the the 'ol ego did get a nice boost as EVERYONE I saw - remember, I've been off work for nearly 3 months - commented I'd lost weight. Most of them in a rather obvious state of shock. I am willing to bet the rumor will go around for those that do NOT know the real reason, that I was out for 2 months getting the stomach-staple surgery. Three other people there have gotten that and I've lost as much as they did - though, I have levelled off a bit now and still would like to drop about 35 more before I'm done. But it was a really nice feeling, I cannot deny it. I mean, I really DO look a hell of a lot different.

When this blog "decloaks" after my divorce is final, I will post some before-and-after pics. :)

Speaking of that...I'm trying to decide when to begin a new blog and let this one stand as an archive to Phase One of my divorce. I definitely feel a threshold has been crossed now that she has moved out.

Should I begin a new one now, to coincide with the new year, or, should I wait until the divorce is final.

Thoughts?