The Modern Woman’s Divorce Guide » Single, Soaking Wet and Proud of Myself

Single, Soaking Wet and Proud of Myself

A few months ago I ended my relationship and became a single woman once again. While my guy was a great guy, he just wasn’t the right guy for me. His life was more complicated than mine and we were incompatible in many ways. It was an agonizing decision and it took quite some time for me to finally make it. But I did and here I am. So now, fast forward to today and the point of my story.

I live in Northern California and we are in the midst of a rain storm. It has been raining heavily for days and my yard has a new waterfall in it thanks to the city’s runoff, which drains squarely onto my property, and the Oak leaves that I didn’t remove from the drain last week when I saw them. Kicking self. In addition to the cascading falls I also ~~have~~ had a 20 x 20 x 4 natural pond in my courtyard, which abuts the foundation of my house. At first glance the pond, like the falls, seemed fun and attractive, but as its depth increased hourly, it lost its allure and became unnerving. You see, 2 winters ago a man was killed in a landslide less than a mile from my home when he was cleaning out a drain behind his house, in a similar rainstorm at 3:00 a.m. Yes, 3:00 a.m., which I now understand, kind of.

I kept my eye on the growing body of water outside my window as I watched the “Bourne Ultimatum” loved it, but for some reason it didn’t occur to me that perhaps I should do something to drain it. Maybe it was Matt Damon’s Sexiest Man of the Year self that clouded my judgment until 10:00 p.m., at which point I finally thought “this doesn’t look good.” With that thought in mind, and being a newly single woman whose ex is in another country and best guy friends are on dates or sleeping, I reached for the Yellow Pages. “Emergency” not sure what I was thinking was the first category I looked for followed by “Water” ding ding, we have a winner!, which led me to speak with a very insightful “Water Extraction” specialist. This expert kindly told me that, because the forecast called for 1 inch of rain per hour all night, it would be pointless to extract any water tonight. Yes, pointless! “WHAT?” Pointless to him maybe! I bet his house isn’t on a very steep hill with 300 or so gallons of water pooling on the uphill side, weighing against the foundation that was laid in 1937! Apparently he isn’t very strapped for cash, or he would have gladly charged me $200/hour tonight and again tomorrow to drain the water off my property.

Muttering to myself after hanging up the phone, I decided to take measures into my own hands. I grabbed my raincoat, put on my hat and water resistant boots they worked pretty well, grabbed every trash can I could find and started baling. I bailed and bailed and bailed for an hour and managed to move approximately 200 gallons of liquid yes, I counted every 15 gallon trash can I heaved over to the unclogged drain. It was cold, I got drenched and my back and arm started to ache, but man was I proud of myself! I came to my own single girl rescue, got a good work out in the process and convinced myself that I too could be a contestant on The Amazing Race!! Yeah! Go ME!!

Brimming with pride, I striped, showered and rushed to my computer because I wanted to share the moral of my story with you. “What is the moral of my story” you ask? It is is that overcoming obstacles and relying on yourself can be a wet but wonderful experience. It can show you just how strong and resourceful and kick-ass you really are! And, if you are thinking about divorce or recently single and having doubts about your abilities, don’t! You can make it on your own, even when there isn’t a man to bail you out!!! yes, pun intended!

This is not legal advice. You should consult an attorney if you have legal questions that relate to your specific divorce. Technorati Tags: divorce single girl woman divorcing divorced women woman law