Thursday, December 6, 2012

I'm so very blessed

I'm so very blessed

Even though I've gone through some very dark days these past months and especially the last four weeks, I feel like I'm very blessed in so many ways.

I've been in Palm Springs the last five days on a Thanksgiving mini vacation. I'm staying with a very dear friend. She lives in the heart of Palm Springs in a beautiful home, complete with a pool and jacuzzi, and she makes the best margaritas I've ever tasted. In addition, she's a great listener. The past several days have been healing for me. This is something I really needed because the last year has been the most difficult and painful year of my life.

Last week, the day before Thanksgiving I was in court with my attorney for the extension of the temporary restraining order against my husband. My husband showed up in court and told the judge I was a liar and I didn't need protection from him. I am not a liar. Due to the seriousness of the charges in the domestic violence case and the evidence, the judge extended the temporary restraining order to one year.

At the same time, in front of the judge and a room full of people, my attorney served my husband with divorce papers.

That afternoon I received my Concealed Pistol License in the mail and then picked up my Sig Sauer P229 9mm pistol from the gun store. I shot 100 rounds in my new gun on the shooting range that day. This has to be one of the best guns I've ever handle. I tested over 20 rental pistols at the gun store on shooting range (free gun rental on ladies night and 1/2 off on the shooting bay). I don't know how many hundreds of rounds I shot with the rental pistols, but it was several. I'm a pretty good shot now and plan on continuing my training. I'm doing it for protection, but it's sort of fun too.

A girlfriend I work with wants to learn to shoot so we've signed up for a six-hour training class on December 30. I've already gone through personal one-on-one training with the instructor, for a 2-hour session, so I understand gun safety basics.

Diet and exercise haven't been at the top of my list this week, however, my girlfriend is tiny (size 4). She's my age so it's not because she's young and has a high metabolism. It's because she really watches what she eats. She eats very small amounts of food. I've been following her lead all week, and I've been a little hungry all the time. My downfall has been her fabulous margaritas.

Our Thanksgiving dinner was different and perfect. Even though she had invitations from friends to bring me along for their Thanksgiving feast, she decided that I might not quite be ready for a whirlwind of social activity. She was right. I cringed when she mentioned it. I had just flown in that morning and the thought of making pleasant small talk with strangers wasn't at the top of my list of things I wanted to do. Instead, we headed to downtown Palm Springs to her favorite new restaurant, Lulu's, and had lettuce chicken wraps (so good) and margaritas. Best Thanksgiving I've had in years!

The only exercise this week was a three-mile hike in Palm Canyon on Sunday. I thought I was going to die. It was "only" 85 degrees, but in the hot sun in the desert, I'm pretty sure it was more like 100 degrees. The trail was labeled "moderate", but they either made a mistake or we took the wrong trail, because it sure felt like "difficult" to us. The palm tree part of the hike was really pretty, but the desert part was killer, uphill with big boulders. It was the longest three miles of my life!

I'll post some pictures later this week, once I get home. I'm leaving on a flight this afternoon and it's back to work tomorrow.

Even though my marriage is over and I'm going through a divorce, and a domestic violence trial sometime during this next year, and probably selling our home soon, I'm very blessed to have wonderful friends in my life. Blessed to be able to feel the sun on my face. Blessed to be able to continue with my life. My near death experience three weeks ago has changed me forever. 

Postscript:  After publishing this post, I went back and read through your comments on my last post, the Divorce Diet. Wow. I thought most of them would be those annoying annonymous-I-want-to-sell-you-something comments. Instead, I read heartfelt advice and support. I'm touched. Thank you so very much. ~Diana

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