I certainly don't count as a lurker, that would imply I come here on occasion. But I see a lot of you on Facebook, thankfully!
My update is going to sound bad, but I assure you it's truly the opposite. I'm in the process of a divorce. But that is not cause for sadness. It's cause for riotous celebration! I'll spare you all the details but will simply say that I've been in an emotionally abusive marriage for seven years now and I was stuck for a very very long time due to the standard fear and isolation, but also the very real financial roadblocks to getting out. But I made friends. They raised me up. They helped me find a way. And sometime in the next few months (please send all the -ma you can spare, as the Belgian courts are giving me a pretty big hassle), my beautiful daughter and I will be FREE. We're moving back to America, presuming the judge here approves the mutual agreement we've signed. I'm getting nothing, in fact I'm being totally screwed by the divorce, but I'm getting Luna and I'm getting my freedom and those are the only two things I care about. I'll happily start over from zero with a child in tow if I am able to do it on my own terms finally.
In other news, Luna is six now, fully bilingual, and never stops talking. She's smart and funny and beautiful and I am often amazed she came from me. I cannot wait to see how much she thrives when surrounded by family that loves her all the time.
I'm biding my time. It passes slowly. I cook and read and hang out with friends. I started painting a couple years ago and just recently switched from acrylics to watercolors. I now spend a significant chunk of my free time painting. I'm remembering who I was and figuring out who I'll be once I get to live again. I'm anxious but hopeful!
Oh, Callaluna. I'm so sad for what you've been through and so so happy for your new life of freedom! Lots of Court~ma to you, may it go quickly and easily and entirely in your favor.
Sherlock, I mean Raq, lovely to see you again!
Callaluna, I wish you all the best in your new start in life.
Oh, Callaluna, I'm sorry for such a long struggle but I'm glad you are finding your way out.
Sherlock-Raq, that's pretty cool!
Callaluna, I'm sorry for what you've been through, and I'm glad you have found a way out of it. Luna is absolutely beautiful.
Happy for you, Callaluna. And seconding that your daughter is a beauty.
Hello friends! Life has been ... interesting.
I've been going back to school, working on an economics/business degree to extend the research I did on my masters' thesis several years ago, which was kind of a surprise all around. I got a scholarship, but wasn't expecting to engage as deeply with the subject matter as I did. And I thought I'd finished with my masters' work, only to discover that I've been secretly keeping the flame alive in the back part of my head, waiting for an opportunity to dig into it again. That's been pretty great.
The last two years have been a Period of Diagnoses. To wit:
- Major learning disorder!
- Attention decifit disorder!
- Major sleep disorder!
- Fibromyalgia!
- Sensory processing disorder!
Among dealing with the other health challenges, adding in the time and effort in addressing the above big things has occupied a lot of my word. Especially the first two have led to significant adjustments in my learning environment, and adapting to alternate tools. Oh how I wish this had been available for all my previous academic life.
To top this with cherries, in June I was hospitalized for a ruptured cyst in my abdomen. I was on bedrest for 6-7 weeks, and it took another two months to fully recover. On the bright side my books-read list is in the three hundreds. For evident reasons.
Because I wasn't employed during my year at college, I burned through all my savings in the three months of recovery, and wasn't able to work during that period. I've been teetering much closer to the edge than I would like. Which sucks!
I've got several applications out there now, and three interviews scheduled this week, so I'm positive about the direction things have turned. But as so many of you know, it's a long road back to stability after an event like this.
I'm still in Portland, with my wonderful dog, and even though my world has kind of shrunk, it's okay. I'm grateful that I can keep up with so many of you on FB, and I always love coming back here to the board. ♥
