Time Passes, Little Changes

I realize it has been a while since I have had a chance to update everyone on everything that has been going on.  Some days it seems that life has settled down to a boring normal and then other days are so chaotic that I wonder how I make it through.

Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years have come and gone and there are a few things I can share.  Thanksgiving was spent split apart with my husband spending time with his family with my youngest while I stayed home with my daughter so she could get back and forth to work.  Time did not permit my oldest to come home for the holiday.  It was an unusual holiday, but given the past we had been through worse.  We did have the opportunity to spend the following weekend with my brother out of town and celebrated our family time then, so we just had our family time a few days later than everyone else.

Christmas was going to be difficult for us as we did not know where to go.  I did not want to haul my kids around trying to figure out where we could celebrate Christmas as a family.  I am not sure what happened, if the planets aligned correctly or the sun was shining just right, but on the day my husband asked his probation officer if he could visit us on Christmas she said yes!  Mind you I was still worried that she would violate him based on the fact that we had nothing in writing and no proof that she said he could be there, but we risked it and in the end, it all went well.

During this time, we are still trying to get the attorney to argue on our behalf that he should at least be allowed to visit the house on the weekends.  Another family that was dealing with a similar issue, had a court hearing and was allowed to stay in their home so we are hoping that ultimately things play out for us a positive way but the wheels sure do turn slowly.  We area again waiting for another return call from the attorney to see if anything has changed.

New Years Eve was spent with the in-laws as a completely unplanned evening but in the end it was nice anyway.  Now we are into the routine of everyday life.  We really only see my husband on the weekends with his work schedule, but he is still working...yeah!!!  We try to find time to spend together on the weekends but that is usually time in someone else's home or out in a public venue.  It is nice having him be able to take the kids to all the doctors appointments during the day when I would normally have to miss work so that is the one area where I do feel some relief in my schedule.

Looking forward to 3 or 4 months down the road when we are in a better position to start house hunting and getting everyone all under one roof.  Then the real hard work will continue with all of us trying to fit together again as an intact family.  The wounds are still raw for some and it will take a while to work through it all and get things back to a healthy place.