Gud, we will listen and support you regardless. That said, you are in a toxic, abusive relationship. Your wife is not kind to you or supportive of you. As someone who worked as a domestic violence crisis counselor, I can say with authority that she is the abuser in an emotional cycle of violence. There are many reasons why people stay in these relationships, and I understand having children makes this even more difficult. But I also know from my training that it is important to affirm the truth over and over again until it is possible for you to escape the cycle. So I'm affirming: not normal. Not kind. Not healthy, for you or your kids. Not your fault, despite how much you've been conditioned to believe it is.

Gud, infections that require hospitalization are no joke. Take it easy, and remind everyone else that it's their turn to take care of you.

I was about to say something similar. After getting out of the hospital, your #1 priority is resting. That includes mentally and emotionally.

You know those cliches where someone is on the phone with an aged parent or something, and all that's really required of you is to vaguely listen and occasionally go "Uh huh" and "Yep" and "Mmmm"?

This is the conversation I'm having with my coworker. I think she wants sympathy about how much she's having to work, but I am not allowed to say that I think she over-complicates everything and it therefore takes her three times as long as it should.

The goatpocalypse has begun: [link]

The goatpocalypse has begun:

...as the prophecy foretold.

I for one welcome our new goat overlords.

One hour and seven minutes until my vacation starts.

First, what Pix said.

Second, I waved to the NYCistas as I crawled through the rain. Now my butt is comfy at SIL's in NJ.

Gud, reinforcing what Pix and others have said. I hope in the short term you can get some rest and in the long term find a workable solution.

My brother's first wife (and the mother of my niece and nephew, who are grown now) was abusive to my brother and their kids. My brother never considered the idea of leaving her, partially because he thought it was his responsibility to "fix" her, and partially because he couldn't imagine either leaving his kids with their mom, or trying to separate them from her. He moved his family from New York to Miami to be closer to her family.

He tried to resume practicing dentistry after he moved to Miami, but his chronic back pain forced him to pursue another career, so he decided to go to law school. While he was a full-time student, he started going to therapy at campus student health, and through that therapy, realized for the first time that he was in an abusive relationship, and that he could and should leave. So he went through the (admittedly, very difficult) process of moving out of his house, getting a divorce, suing for sole custody of his kids (which he was successful in getting), all while changing careers. My brother and I have never been close (there's a 17-year age gap between us, and he was never there for me the way I wished he would have been after our parents died) but I can't deny that he's a very good father, and did the right thing in this instance.

Everyone's situation is different, and I would never presume to tell you what to do, but I will say that it never even occurred to my brother that leaving his abusive wife was a possibility until he got into therapy.

ION, I'm trying my best to fly to NYC for the weekend, but we are having massive thunderstorms here, and flights are getting canceled left and right. Mine's already been delayed four hours. I may not make it! ::sadface::

Timelies all!

Well, it's the weekend. We're going to a Jimmy Buffett concert tomorrow night. And by "we", I mean all three of us. This should be interesting...