Beware the carefully modulated wrath

Of the mother of the woman scorned! I have in my possession a copy of the separation papers, faxed by Middlest’s STBX. I texted him on Wednesday and told him that if he did not fax them by 5:00pm yesterday, I would call his CO today. The papers which have been oh-so-difficult for him to deliver to Middlest, either by email or snailmail, were waiting on my desk when I got to work.

For the most part, they seem to be in order. There is [understandably] no mention of his adultery and future offspring. He also omitted to mention the amount he had promised to give Middlest to move her possessions back home or his promise to cover her cell phone bill until the contract expires.

I texted him, “What’s up with that?”

He referred to the private contract they both previously signed re: the cell phone bill, and he said that they need to set up another one for the agreed amount for moving expenses. I asked him to please draw it up and told him we would probably want to see that incorporated into the separation agreement. [That is my impression; I have not yet run it by any of the attorneys in my office.]

Where the military bases are larger, Middlest could file through Navy Legal and possibly divorce him at little to no cost. Here they have one attorney, who does not handle divorces. She referred me to the Tarrant County Bar Association’s lawyer referral service, which gave me two names.

My attorneys are all on retreat, with minimal internet access; I’ve asked them if they know either or both of these attorneys. The attorney who drew up my will ~ who is honest and conservative and the farthest thing from a money-grubber I can think of ~ thought he can do an uncontested divorce for roughly the equivalent of one month’s take-home [after taxes, insurance, 401K, and debt retirement, what I actually live on is a paltry amount]; the filing alone is $250, which I can come up with.

What I am hoping is that one of my attorneys will do the legal gruntwork for me, for free, so that all we are out is the $250 to file, plus $20 for a half-hour consultation with one of the military-savvy referred lawyers.

On to happier topics. In the “I’ve been saying it wrong” department. Nutella. I’ve been pronouncing it Nut + Ella. As in Cinderella. But the website says it should be pronounced New + TELL + Uh. [Italian is fairly high up on my list of languages I want to learn.] And they have a contest where you can win a case of it! Be still, my heart!

I finished Secondborn’s scarf last night. Almost this morning. [Photos to be shared on her birthday, after I’ve blocked the scarf.] I managed to stay awake long enough to pick up 104 stitches on a provisional cast-on for the cuff of the first Eleanora.

I will take the pattern as written to work with me today and knit the hemmed cuff and a few inches of leg. I think I may end up attempting to knit this from the toe up, because my cankles are 33% larger than the pattern specifies.

How is this “happier”? The yarn is fifteen bajillion shades of red, vermilion, and pale pumpkiny yellows. Not one bit of teal, turquoise or blue anywhere to be found. This is the infamous “Burning Bunnies” yarn from last year’s sock yarn gift exchange with my knitting group. The real name of the color is “Burning Embers”, but somebody’s middle-aged eyes read it wrong, to much hilarity.

Last night I had leftover cream of corn soup with those funky croutons, and quesadillas nuked in the microwave. This morning I am ravenous, and since I am driving in I think I will pull over at RaceTrac and treat myself to a small to medium hot chocolate. It’s that kind of weather, finally, here in North Texas. Woohoo!