There were more e-mails exchanged between my soon-to-be ex-wife and me concerning the practical matters of who will get what.  She will take the house and assume the mortgage. I’m preparing to move out of Lakeland to a much smaller apartment in nearby Plant City—a bit more central to Brandon and Lakeland where I will be serving Celebrate Recovery groups, and a bit closer to potential jobs in Tampa while still having the feel of being “out in the sticks.” The apartments share an association with the Walden Lake community, which is a very nice neighborhood and will allow me to use their lakes and trails and such.  The rent is such that even if I had to rely on unemployment compensation it would still be more than enough to pay the rent and keep food on the table.  I’ll be looking forward to being able to smell the orange blossoms even more strongly in a couple of months.

I’ll be leaving behind my large printer and the large scanner so she has something she can use with the laptop I bought for her and her studies and work, since I just bought the portable Canon printer and will be getting a more portable scanner that’s powered by USB.  I pretty much plan to take my clothes and my equipment, and leave the rest behind. It’s a good time to simplify things and jettison those things that are nice to have but that I don’t really need to be “happy.”

I should finally have the papers in my hand tomorrow so I can respond. If there’s nothing really in dispute I could simply file a paper agreeing to the petition and waiving the final hearing, and it’ll be over.