Five Months, a Promotion, 1000kms and a Tooth Later......

I just love this picture so it's the one that's going there whether it fits the post or not!
So here I sit in the middle of the night in Olds Alberta. It's been 5 months since my last post and a comment on Facebook from one of Lee-Anne's old friends from back in Ontario got me motivated to write my next entry. Thanks Liz!
Since I last wrote Lee-Anne and I have moved to Alberta because the ex decided she was going to move to Alberta and take my children with her (insert profanity here). The company I worked for was great and helped me get a position, which turned out to be a promotion to management, in Calgary. Only one problem, one really HUGE problem. It took every last dime we had to get out here and we had to ask family to help us and also loan us money, and give us a place to stay! The problem is the whole living arrangements part. Don't get me wrong I'm extremely grateful and thankful, but.... Lee-Anne and our beautiful little Olivia live with her parents in Calgary in a tiny little room and I live 90kms away in the bustling metropolis of Olds with my dad and step mom (she hates that) in a room with no door. That's right, no door! I will remember this for the rest of my life. I WILL NEVER be in this position again. Oh, not so much fun, but the tough time is almost over. I have managed to save enough money, with LA's budgeting skills, to get us a great place in Calgary close to work where we can live together! Imagine that, a family living together. This whole crazy journey LA and I have been on together has been absolutely the most trying experience I have ever had! But I have to tell you, Lee-Anne, Olivia, Isabel and Grace are so, so, so worth it. This is the next big step for us.
I've been working towards this with LA for a while now. It has been hard on both of us, especially on Lee-Anne though, which I must say breaks my heart. All I want to do is make her happy and provide for her and my precious daughters, but the road chosen was quite rough and has tested us to our limits. I look forward to LA having her own home to do with a SHE pleases and being able to have Grace and Izzy over for sleep overs so they can spend time with us and their sister.
I feel horribly for how Lee-Anne must feel. After all when we met she had a job she enjoyed and her own place. Since we got together, we have moved in together, and then move another 3 times with the 4th coming up on Sunday. I think at times she resents me and I can understand that completely. I knew what was coming when we got together and started to get serious and I told her it was going to be hard, but I don't think she realized it was going to be this hard, not nearly. Going from an independent, single thirty year old to a thirty-one year old mother living with her parents. What a big change. And with a man who went from a construction sub-contractor to a warehouseman to a supervisor in a another province in that same time frame. I can often see the look on her face that says, "Stop the world I want to get off!". Seeing her when she's really feeling it hurts. My one solice though is that I have a good job with a steady income and good benefits starting in May, and a home for her. A place she can make her own. I can't wait to see that smile and look of contentment on her face when we have settled in and she has begun to work her magic on the place.
For me that will be the payoff. Knowing that I have provided for her a home that no one can take away. Knowing that there will always be food on the table and that no matter what happens health-wise we have the medical and dental coverage to take care of it. I think we both desperately need that big 'S' word. S-T-A-B-I-L-I-T-Y, yes stability.
I'm very glad that I can see the light at the end of the tunnel, unfortunately, due to our history and LA's past she has a tough time seeing the end of the tunnel until she's standing outside of it. I really wish she could see it too and have faith that we will get there and see that we are almost there now. One day she will I'm sure, but not until things have worked out for us and stayed that way consistently. I think I can live with that.
We've been through a lot and have both grown tremendously and you know what? She is worth every second of it. It is absolutely amazing what you will go through for someone you truly love.
I've almost got all my little ladies a place to stay under one roof, and most importantly, a place for my main lady to call home.
Okay enough rambling. That is the update. I promise to post again soon.