Now that's an interesting development.

I got a call from my STBX around lunchtime today. He sounded kind of upset, and he told me that he had two questions for me: Would I be willing to work on our relationship provided he got a job and moved back home and cut off all contact with Smalltown, Texas? and do I still love him in a romantic way?

Am I a horrible person that my first thought was - what kind of game is he playing?

Honestly, this was kind of the moment I've been hoping for for months. I didn't want things to end in divorce, but I was not going to be the little wife sitting at home while he's out carousing. So, now I've got all kinds of things going through my head. Am I willing to try and work it out? And if so, am I doing it for the right reasons? I mean, to really make it work, I would have to do it for me and for what I want - not because of the girls, not for the security that it would provide, not because I don't want to be alone.

I do still love him. Will it work though? I don't know. Does he love me that much? I guess that's what remains to be seen. I would have more faith in him if I saw him actually work toward a reconciliation. I'm not going to do the work on my own. He'll have to search for a job. I won't help. It's a small thing to ask if he truly wants to be with me.

Our relationship would not be the same. I know I've changed (for the better in my opinion), and even he's noticed that. Could he deal with that? I have no desire to go back to being the woman I was when I was with him previously. I'm a little more outspoken about what I want. I have no desire to swallow my anger and just do things myself. Instead, he's going to have to help pull his weight around the house. He got lazy about that, I got resentful, things went downhill. I would want to avoid the things that drove us apart in the past.

God help me, I've gotten my hopes up that he's serious and no just playing me for the fool (again). My head is telling me not to be an idiot. My heart is telling me to give it one more shot - all I lose is a little time before I file the divorce if things don't work out.

I wish their was a clear cut answer. I wish there was a magic way of knowing that I was making the right decision in giving him another chance. I guess a good start would be if he got a job locally and moved back home. I guess that's the jumping off point.