Expect the unexpected

La Nouvelle Observatrice is briefly interrupted from her fantasy vacation in Paris with news from the homefront.  Dear Daughter, G, has learned to swim!  No...that's not it, though that's great news.  This one involves Dear ex-Husband, and if you need to catch-up on what *was* the latest, please see "Postcard from Wisteria Lane" and "Scenes from an (ex) Marriage" posts of the last month or so.

So, it seems DxH and his new (old) bride were set to leave for Germany Tuesday evening to begin their new life together on an Army base with likely eventual deployment to Afghanistan (shocking already that this is my reality, but it is, and I have learned to (had to) adapt accordingly).  But he got a call on Tuesday morning that her papers were not processed, and she could not leave.  Discussions of options and alternatives ensued - leave her, extend his leave - neither was possible.  What does that leave?  Change his orders, and re-assign him.  A few posts were open on bases in Texas and North Carolina (again, I sometimes don't believe I am writing these words about the man I was once married to, though not one I recognize as the man I married).  But wait, here's the list...How about Walter Reed in DC?

Walter Reed Army Hospital in DC?  And so it is.  It seems in the last 24 hours, DxH's plans have done a complete u-turn, and he will be living in DC.  This is HUGE, and will have huge, mostly good implications for me and for G.  First, G will have her dad back - this is simply fantastic.  But also, I will have a co-parent again - both in support and in relief, and that will be wonderful.  On the downside, I will have a co-parent again (and his co-parent) - both in negotiation and complications, and that will be hard.  There is more - I'm sure - but I am still in shock.

After all this time, after all the events, twists, turns, surprises, highs, and lows.... Knowing me, knowing DxH, knowing the last few years of our situation - nothing should surprise me anymore.  The news of the last 24-hours have presented a complete reversal from all that I was planning for and expecting of the coming months.  This is good news, and it is what I had hoped for when I dared to hope (at least with the cards I was holding).  And I suppose, I know by now, that it will also be mixed with some other welcome and unwelcome surprises.  This could be a game-changer. It's not bad, it's probably even good, it's certainly different... I'm utterly terrified.

We now return to the witty commentary and glossy pics of La Nouvelle Observatrice on location in Paris.