Lion in Winter

Hey! At last, someone who has been here longer than I have.

How are things?

Rockgurl

Fine thank you! Getting old! Just turned 50 and feeling every day of it. It really has been a long time hasn't it? I was young and spry when I came over here. What happened?

ddsrph

Was wondering what happened to Kodokan? Always had very informative and non confrontational posts. Her family was living in Ohio.

petitefrancaise

She's been really busy getting on with her life! I'll let her know you're asking.

kodokan

Hello! How kind of you to think of and ask after me.

Yes, as PF says I’ve been having a busy 2017. My husband and I are in the process of separating, as of May 2017. Nothing sensational, just a gradual drifting apart into a friends/ roommates/ coparents situation over about 5 years. We’re amicable enough that we’ve even continued to share the house - separate bedrooms - for the last 8 months, although we now have plans for a separate small apartment that will enable us to do 50/50 shared parenting with the kids largely staying put in the existing house, while giving us some adult space.

We’re both in new relationships with Americans, which for me has triggered an interesting mental shift from... expat to immigrant? It feels more permanent here now. At the same time, the future has gone from largely planned out to entirely uncertain. I’m learning to be comfortable with this; it’s not easy for me to not be able to build a lifetime spreadsheet!

As well as being jointly responsible for kids of 18 and 14, we have a lot of financial life to unwind, across three countries. I’m very relieved we’re working together on this, rather than being at odds.

Other than this, I’ve been busy with the usual - my older one is heading off to college and the process has been mentally consuming; my younger one has hit full-on teen angst and needs careful handling most days!

Add in the ‘but what will I doooooo with my life’ given a planned return to work at some point for the first time this century, and the distraction of a wonderful new love interest, and you can see why it’s been cutting into my forum time

I shall make time to drop by more now things are becoming more settled, and hopefully I can continue to be helpful.

ddsrph

That is certainly a lot to deal with. Sounds like it's going to work out well for both of you. Did your son decide to go to Ohio State?

Octang Frye

Does anyone remember JerseyGirl or PenguinSix or Meauxna?
I had my run-ins with them from time-to-time, but they were pretty good sports for the most part, especially as they were "mods" and "admins".
I wonder what happened to them? I'm still in contact with Penguin on The FaceBook (TM). I think JerseyGirl got deported to Canada for drugs or crimes of moral turpentine. She had some babies and now lives up there.

There was also some girl called Rockstar or something who went back to England. She was like a Yorkshire lass or one of those places. Scouser or Liverpudlian/Mancheter person.

And Steerpike. Some super liberal pinko with a giant stick up his
but you could usually have a good laugh with him also.

Then there was a guy masquerading as a retired immigration attorney - S. "Stuart" Folinsky. He would preface every story/piece of advice with a story of his national service, and then refer you to J Craig Fong.

I've seen a lot of people come and go over the years. Some of you, I've even come to regard as people I met anonymously over the internet.

kodokan

He’s so far been accepted to the two colleges he’s applied to, Ohio State and Ohio University, into their engineering programs (he wants to do Industrial/ Systems Engineering). He has excellent test scores and grades, so now we’re just waiting on the finance offers. OU has so far said they’ll knock about 2/3 off tuition for him, but he’d prefer OSU as the more prestigious school with wider opportunities. So we shall see...

Steerpike

You really are a piece of work!

Steerpike

Fascinating post! I've been in a relationship with the same lady for the last 22 years, and we've been more 'roommates/friends' than anything else for more than half that time (including separate rooms). We had a lovely house that neither of us wanted to give up, and busy careers, so never got around to doing anything about it ... but finally after 22 years we sold the house last year and are now deciding what to do next.

We may end up buying another house together, but I'm tempted to find something new; she's more inclined to enjoy what little we have. Interesting how life develops ...

plasticbag_uk

Jerseygirl replied to my posting my return to this forum after many years away, that was just a few weeks ago, so she is still around.

mikelincs

She's always been around, posts nearly everyday and is one of our supermods.

Rete

I took his post to be an attempt at 'funny'. Anyone who writes that JG had babies isn't serious.

ddsrph

I can't remember how to spell her name amidysis?? She lived in Palma Majorca. She was a frequent poster until recently.

RICH

Pulaski! It appears he took a month off :rolleyes