Divo' court, Colorado Style

So, today was my first court appearance for my divorce. And it was QUITE an experience.

I got NO sleep the night before - I don't think it was because I was nervous, but who knows. My mind just was swirling in crazy non-sensical circles and I was tossing and turning all night - so I was a bit of a zombie the whole way through. Thankfully I had Josh to ease any jitters I might have had by giving me an award winning monologue to perform as I entered the courtroom, which began with, "Hey hey judge, I'm here fo' the divo!!!" And continued with things like, "I had to flee, yo kno', for my SAFETY, and all I'm asking fo' is 7.5 mil... that should be enough to get me through the next two years!" I definitely needed that respite of laughter to help get me through the morning :)

I was 99% sure that my ex would not be attending the appearance, but I didn't want to rule out the possibility. As the other couples filing for divorce entered into the first room we were in, I kind of tried to peek to see if I saw him without fully turning my head, not wanting him to think I was looking for him if he WAS there. Thankfully, just as I thought, he didn't show - which was a huge answer to prayer, because the Lord knew I did NOT want to see him. It struck me that there the room was completely filled with divorcing couples, and that they hold these meetings multiple times a day, every day. It made me sad to think of couples divorcing in droves like that.

Eventually, myself and my lawyer and about 6 other divorcing couples were escorted to a different room in order to appear before a judge. In those moments I was SO THANKFUL that I have a lawyer!!! I don't know what I would do without him! I would have been at a total loss!!! It is such a gift from God. Thank you Lord!!!

It was kind of interesting sitting that room, though. As we all waited for our cases to be called, everyone was looking at each other and listening to the other couples talk before the judge... plenty of questions ran through my head about every couple. "What happened? How long had they been married? Did he cheat on her? Did they get married only because she got pregnant? Was he abusive too? Why in the world did she choose him?!" I probably looked like a crazy person a few times, because as I was sitting in the courtroom surrounded by people divorcing, I smiled to myself as I kept recalling Josh's "Hey Hey judge, I'm here fo' the divo!!!" lol.

As I sat at the table in front of the judge and my lawyer was speaking, I could feel their eyes on me and their ears listening to my case, their thoughts turning to the very same questions. When the judge asked if we had any children and my lawyer answered no, I heard the woman directly behind me say, "Oh that's good."

By the time it was over, I was ready to drop DEAD from being so tired... I was thanking the Lord that I had the blessing of being able to go back to sleep when I got home! I woke up at 1:30 p.m. and started my day all over again the way I would have if it had been 8 a.m.

The judge ordered my ex and I to appear before a mediator... but good luck with that! At the rate that he is cooperating, that won't be happening =p It sounds like this is going to take a little longer than anticipated perhaps, and after my experience today, I am definitely looking forward to it being over. I'm doing ok emotionally... but still can't wait until this is completely behind me.

It's funny though... he probably thinks he is making all of this more difficult by not showing up and is probably reveling in that... little does he know, he's making it a million times easier!! I do enjoy the occasional situation in which his stupidity benefits me :)

Lesson of the day: Never get into a relationship with someone with a known sin issue. Even if you think it's just a tiny little thing, it could come back to bite you =p