2 can play at this game...

Well...after my x2b making it obvious that she can go without communicating, here's how things played out over the last couple days.

As I mentioned before, she sent the txt message "will call u later..." on Friday afternoon.  I drove to Vegas with my son Saturday morning and arrived in time for some Halloween trick-or-treating at a neighborhood shopping center.  I dressed him up in his Red Power Ranger costume and he was ecstatic!  I took a camera-phone picture of him doing his best superhero pose (impressive for a 2 ½ year old!) and sent it to Mommy's cell and e-mail address.  This was about 3:00 p.m.  We heard nothing in response, of course.  I blogged Sunday morning here and once my friends woke and got moving, we headed off to the elite Wynn Resort to meet a very well-to-do relative of my friend.  She had a private cabana and was on the VIP list for all the perks.  We sat around eating expensive meats andcheeses, sipped on some champagne, did some swimming (weather was beautiful), and just had a great time.  I could not resist the opportunity to take another phone-pic of my son lounging at the cabana like a little prince, and sending it to Mommy with a txt message:  "Enjoying a private cabana at the Wynn.  Not the same without you here."  She replied with "glad you boys are having fun.  Love the pic of him in his costume."  Since she had let her defense down and was actually being nice for a change, I responded back with a simple, "hope you leg is better (she got bitten by a toxic spider that week), haven't heard from you".  Her response was short and simple:  "busy now, call u later...".  I think she realized, "Oh my gosh!  I'm conversing with my husband via txt message!  How dare he trick me into polite banter?!!"

I hung out for a few hours longer, then headed back home.  The drive takes about 4 hours.  I arrived home near 9:30 p.m., got my son inside and ready for bed.  Unpacked, had a little snack, and about 10:30, sent another txt:  "we're home safe.  pls don't say ‘call u later' if you're not going to.  its no big deal.  nite".  She called within minutes and asked how our trip was and asked to speak to our son.  He's not very big on phone talk yet, so I have to guide him with, "Say ‘Hi Mommy'.  Say ‘I love you'. Say ‘Miss you'."  That's about it.  I got back on the phone and she say, "Ok, talk with you later.  I ask, "Do you have a moment to chat?"  She gets very defensive at this point and scowls at me, "We have nothing to discuss!"  I try to argue that I simply wanted to talk about nothing in particular, but she continues to be cold and evasive.  I finally just apologize and tell her I'll talk later.

After we hang up, I send her a nice e-mail apologizing for any misunderstanding.  I mention that I'm just trying to understand all this still and just want to be civil and friendly (this is the part that I think is angering her most...that I won't fight).  As far as I know, she deleted the e-mail and never read it.  So it appeared at least.

Today, I sent an e-mail with some pictures of our son from the weekend...no comments attached.  She responded to it with some nice little comment, like "too cute, he looks like he had a nice time".  I did not reply.  She later sent an e-mail with some flight information, eluding to her not being able to be home for Halloween (which she had promised last week).  I did not reply. 

I signed up for e-harmony.com's marriage compatibility questionnaire (which is actually very cool that they do that).  I put her e-mail address in and sent her an invitation to complete the questionnaire on her end and compare our compatibility.  It's from the site, not from you personally.  She opened and read that e-mail and has yet to delete it.  I went to a neighbor's house to help them with their wireless networking issues they're having, and while I was gone, she called twice and left 2 voicemails.  Her 2^nd one sounded a little concerned that I had not answered.  Until tonight, I have basically been waiting by the phone for her and answering immediately at every call she's made.  I did not call her back, nor do I plan to.  I may not answer at all tomorrow and we'll see how she responds.

Will she begin to worry that I'm not enclosed in the mental prison that she thinks she's trapped me in?  Will she begin to doubt her belief that my life is nothing without her?  Will she wonder if I can get on with life and find happiness without her?  I can only hope.  I'm feeling somewhat liberated today.  I'm in a good place. 

We'll see what tomorrow brings...