The River

Have you ever sat and watched a river? I mean, just sat and watched the river, the intricacies of it, the ebb and flow of the river. I love watching the water flow past me as I sit on the river bank. I become mesmerized with the water. I often find that it is interesting to look beyond the water surface; to look at the rocks beneath the surface, the trees dipping their branches into the water, logs upstream from the spot you are perched at. Each item causes the river to have a swirl here, bubbles to form their, a ripple over there, or a rapid near by. No matter the object that is placed in the water there is a cause and an effect to it. No matter the effect though, the water must continue to flow. If it were to stop flowing it would no longer be a river.

My life is a river. It continues to flow regardless of the objects that are placed in it. If my life were to quit flowing, well, that wouldn't be good, now would it? Life is a river, it must continue flowing. Sometimes it can be turbulent like the white water rapids of the Arkansas River in Colorado or times and can be easy flowing like the might Mississippi River or any where in between. Regardless of the phase your life river is in, go with it and learn from it and take it with you into the future.

Predawn

I have had a wonderful weekend with my 3 children this weekend. Saturday I spent most of the time over at their mom's house because she is packing and sorting through things and she need some assistance going through things and moving boxes. It was kind of weird because she had her 2 closer friends and her sister there. At one point I mentioned to Heather, "Why am I here helping my ex-wife? I either must be crazy or still in love with her." She replied, "Or, a little of both." I think it was pretty accurate.

Back to the kids. I always try to do a little something with each one individually. Yesterday I focused on Elise. We went on a bike ride through town. It probably ended up being about 3 miles when it was said and done. We weaved our way down to the Riverfront, over to Portage Trail, and then back to the High Glens Park on the river. While riding beside her, I couldn't be more proud of her. She is growing up so fast and has become a great little girl.

Today I took the kids to an Akron Aero's game. We were in the 2nd row one section from the dugout and behind the screen. Jude has been wanting to go for a while so we finally made it. I found out today they the Aero's has a kid's club and kids under 12 get free tickets to every Sunday game. I wish I would have known that at the beginning of the season. Not that it overly expensive to go to a game, but saving money is saving money. The Aero's won and it was a beautiful day for an afternoon game. We even experienced a few sprinkles.

The kids will be at my house every night this week while Delilah finishes packing up the house. She mentioned something about it is just easier with out the kids making more of a mess. I'm not sure meant by that. lol The kids are really excited about moving. I am sad about them moving. I wish it didn't have to be this way.

For the short-term I will be living in the Akron area, I am hoping that I can continue working my job from home in WV. I haven't received the official ok for it yet, but I am told that once the work from home pilot is deemed a success it will be one of the first things to be discussed.

Changes

It is hard to believe that summer is winding down, and school starts for the the kids this week. Jude is entering the 3rd grade, he is growing up so fast. Elise is entering the 1st grade and Avery is still in pre-school. Next year they will be in the same school. I'm sure that will be interesting.

I didn't really want to talk about my kids in this post. Don't get me wrong, now. I love my kids and I love talking about my kids. I just didn't want to start a post with a BAM!!!

Delilah has accepted a position in Tennessee doing what she loves, social work. It is a great opportunity for her. It will give her the opportunity to move up in her field and also she will be able to start her Master's in Social Work, and according to the information I have it will be paid for by her employer. It really is a great opportunity for her.......

I have been forced to make a gut wrenching decision, one that I didn't want to have to make. At first, as recently as 2 weeks ago, I was adamantly apposed to having my children move 8 hours away from me. Early last week I opened myself to the idea of it and on Friday Delilah and I had our expectations written out. But, something changed over the weekend for me. I started to have 2nd thoughts about it. After all they are my children and I love them. Yesterday and today was a very tough day for both of us. I spoke with my attorney today and gained some insight on the process and I talked to my mom a lot about my choices. I prayed, thought, prayed and finally made a decision.

I was looking at two options I could make. The first option, would have gone through the court in determining what was in the best interest of the kids. This would have forced Delilah to move to TN without the kids and the kids would have lived with me until a court decision was made. This would have been a great option for me personally. The second option was to take myself out of the equation and focus only on the kids and their future in relation to Delilah. I choose the second option. The kids will be moving with her over Labor Day weekend to Tennessee.

So, BAM!!! There you have it. Like I said earlier this is not a choice I wanted to make. In all I do I try to put the kids first. Just thinking about being 8 hours away from my kids brings tears to my eyes.