Hello …. Hello …. Hello ---
Good Morning world !!! Good Morning SG (-_-) I greet you with a hug !! (>*_*)> Hope life finds you all well.

Life for me is going swimmingly I suppose. It’s not that I doubt it’s going well (because it is …) I’m just tired and fatigued and lacking much new to report so I’m a big

It's not particularly a bad feeling. Just a listless one that makes me want to float on top of the water of life and just go where the winds blow me. The kids are doing well .... DJ got almost all straight A's (he got a B+ in math) and he's showing his ass (in a good way) on the courts for basketball. I'm soooo proud of how much progress he's made. This kid used to make me sit up and cry at night with hopeless desperation and now he's just ... Amazing. He's not perfect by far .... he has my sharp tongue and pissy attitude but it's a 1000 miles from where he started.

My baby Jr is doing okay as well. He's excelling and above standard in all his school stuff. He's going through a phase of limited communication with others when he doesn't want to be bothered but that's no big deal. I dropped him into therapy because his teacher (and his dad) thought that he might be going through some anxiety with the divorce....missing his dad.....who the fuck knows. He's happy as hell with me but it's every where else he just kinda gets ....blah. But...he'll be okay. I have him seeing the same therapist DJ saw. They're going to start him in art therapy to try to get him to express himself more. He did once say he missed his dad ... but he'd rather not talk to him (and thus not miss him) then talk to him and miss him.

The other half and I are doing well. He's such ... an interesting character. Nothing that I'm used to but everything I need it seems. He's here this week visiting .... I'll be down there with him in February. *Sighs* He's been assigned lead on this big contract job for Nordstroms so I think our bi-weekly visits might slow down a bit for at least a little while but I know it's for a worthy cause. This job will put him in a place where we can move forward on some things we've been discussing so.... I'm happy to support and encourage his ambition. My co worker said we're so damn cute together ... I guess I can't disagree lol. I'm just very happy. Even in his stubbornness, my rigidity, his fire, my cold.....we just seem to balance each other out.

Work is the usual dose of bullshit and epic all at the same time. Last year we pushed past the million dollar mark by more then 25% but right now my brother pays out over 85% in salary and benefits. The accountants keep getting him to tone down our pay...well, not MINE but everyone elses...because we're well over what the going rate for this field is.

Starting Pay for Para w. BA Degree - (theirs) 13-15/hr - (ours) - 20-25/hr
Therapist (5-10 clients w. 25hrs a week) - (theirs) 35-39k/year - (ours) - 42.5k - 49k/year + benefits

we only pay 20% of the cost for our insurance
I have paid days off .... almost 20 paid holiday days a year
And hourly staff gets compensated for meetings (industry standard does not compensate)

This past Christmas we were given almost 2 full weeks off with pay (it was like a week and two-thirds)

So yea ... he's probably going to cut back this year for most people because they're not producing up to the standard (120units = 30hrs of active work) .... and it's just not acceptable to be overly-compensated when you're under producing. We shall see how this goes. As far as MY job .... yea, I'm not worried.

He gave me a bit of a raise to compensate for not being able to help me find a cheaper home. I know he was supposed to help me but he finally came clean and said he had to wait till he unloaded one of his other homes. One of the staff was staying there and paying rent but she up and left and now they're coughing up about 5k a month in housing cost for all their properties. So yea, I understand. I just wish he'd actually communicate this shit to me instead of going in round about ways and then finally telling me later. I'm slightly miffed at her (we used to be friends) once i found out the full extent of how she left the situation. He was letting her stay in his 6bd - 5bath...almost 3k sq ft home for only $1200 a month (the mortgage sits around $1800) because she didn't have a place for her and her 5 kids. Her husband wasn't working (despite her bragging about his big time Hollywood connections) and she basically was paying everything herself on the salary my brother gave her a raise on. SOOOO....it is what it is. It irks the FUCK out of me when I hear about people using my family members. Especially my brother. For the asshole that he is .... when I'm broke, in jail, without a car, and all the numerous other situations I get into ...he is the one who comes and helps me out. He might bitch, whine, moan and complain but he helps me. So anyway .... he's giving me a pretty sweet raise to help off set the cost of staying in my house now....so I'm pretty appreciative about that. Between that, careful budgeting, and my higher-then-expected tax refund.... I'm not too worried about 2013 like I thought I would be.

Speaking of 2013 .... remember when I said my ex was getting married? And how nervous I was about the kids not meeting his new chick and his pissy attitude when I asked?? Yea....well.... I guess his lawyer told him that me bringing the kids myself instead of his mom didn't violate any of our court orders ....because now he's playing nice. Which is what I wanted all along. Not in a manipulative " I run your life" way but in a .... the divorce is 3yrs old now and we have 2 kids together so stop being a douche bag every time we talk....get over hating me ....kind of way. So yea, the last few email exchanges have been nice....no swearing, he asks about the kids and seemed genuinely concerned w. Jr's situation. So... I'm pretty happy about that. I might even hold off on refiling for the child support adjustment this year .... I'm not sure. Moving back to CT, he will take a pay cut....so I run the risk of ending up right where I'm at anyway.....but I'll see. I meet w. the attorney in March and we'll see from there. Long story short.... I'm getting zero for activities, daycare, and anything extra the kids do. My old attorney felt it wasn't neccesary to ask for any of that....so, I'm stuck paying 5k a year of child care cost out of my pocket. I can't do that anymore. So...we'll see how it goes. Who knows, maybe he'll continue his good vibes and we can agree to something reasonable on our own. *Sighs* I can wish right??
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Well....I think that's about it. It's almost lunch and I need to run home and see my love. *Sighs* Yea, I'm that corny. Stay happy SG.....and classy.