August 26, 2010

What a rainy, crazy, and crappy week it has been.

It has been raining off and on all week long, and when it rains, I am a totally useless lump of flesh on the couch.
I haven't been able to do much of anything at all, I've been in far too much pain to do anything, and I have been sick on top of it, so yeah, just miserable.
___________________

On Tuesday morning, I received a text message from Moe, the guy who owns the corner store, a really great guy, who was letting me know that Rachel, the girl who worked there and was a friend to me, had killed herself sometime around 2am Tuesday morning.
She left her purse, cell phone, all of her things at the store around midnight, said that she was going home, but something snapped I guess, and she ended up hanging herself in the little wooded area right behind the corner store.
I've walked up to the corner store and back a few times now, and there is now a cross, flowers, and 4 large candles placed there for her.
This afternoon when I was on my way to the pharmacy and grocery store, I stopped and lit all 4 of the candles for her. The rain had put them all out.
I said a few words for her as I lit them, I said that I hoped that she finally was at peace now, that whatever it was that drove her to that, hopefully, she was at peace now. I also said that if I had known she was thinking of doing that, that I would have gladly talked to her, that I would have been a friend to listen, and a shoulder to cry on, that I would have tried to help her.

I know all too well that feeling of hopelessness, of feeling like there's no way out of the current and horrible situation that drives you to think of suicide, and that if she had only talked to someone, maybe it didn't have to end that way.
I know that's what happened for me.
In 2001 when I had to stop working, when I got the wicked bad news about my back, I felt so lost and hopeless, like a total failure as a mother, I couldn't work anymore, how was I going to provide for my boys, what was I going to do, how the hell was I going to get out of this super mess?!?
My landlord, of all people, just happened to knock on my door on one of the days that I was crying uncontrollably and thinking of ending it all, he asked what was wrong, and it all just came spilling out of me like a flood.
He came in to my home and talked to me for hours, he gave me so many reasons to not kill myself, he saved my life that day, and I have never thought of suicide again, and the very few times that it has slipped back into my head, the words he said to me that morning come back.
If only someone had been there for Rachel, if only someone had asked her what was wrong, maybe it wouldn't have ended this way.
If I had known she was thinking of suicide, if I had only known that she was feeling so lost and hopeless, I know that I would have talked to her, I would have repeated the same words my landlord said to me, maybe it would have made a difference, maybe it would have helped, or maybe it wouldn't have, there's really no way to know now.
All I can do now is hope that she's finally at peace, that whatever it was that brought her to hang herself, was finally over for her.
_______________________

In other news, Sebastian started school again on Monday, they didn't have him registered for any classes yet, none, so he had to sit and wait for almost 3 hours while they figured out why he didn't get signed up for any of the classes he had registered for, then register him for them again, and print his schedule.
Ugh.
Then on Wednesday, the teens had to go and give their depositions in the "iced tea mugging", so he missed a day of school for that and the vice principal is demanding he bring in proof that he was doing depositions, she wants the actual subpoena, not a copy, and uh, sorry, he needs those for the courts, so she's getting a photocopy of it, like it, lump it, or suck it.
________________________

This morning started out really good.
The sun finally poked back out, and I got an email from Lori at A Cowboy's Wife, letting me know that I had won the giveaway she had on her blog for an awesome pair of Langston's cowboy boots!
I have been given the promo code to go to the site and pick out my pair and order them, yay!
These are the ones that I really like, so I'm pretty sure that they are the ones that I'm going to get.
________________________

The sun came out, I won a great giveaway, and I got paid a day early so I was able to go and pick up my meds, pay a bill to keep the lights on, and get some groceries for the house.
Hopefully things just keep getting better from here on out!

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July 15, 2010

Huff and puff and blow your house in.

I was laying on the couch this morning trying to rest which was an impossible feat.
I have barely slept at all in the last 3-4 days, so I was trying to get some sleep, but my phone get beeping with text messages from friends stressing out over stuff, and then the door happened.

I was laying here, almost asleep, I was totally dozing off, almost to la la land, when there came a pounding on the door so loud I thought someone was trying to actually come in the house.
Mark got up and answered the door, it was a process server here to subpoena the teens to court over the iced-tea mugging incident.
In August, either the 12th, 13th, 19th, or 20th, at 9:30am, the teens have to be in court to testify against the two teens who mugged them a month ago.
Four days, we don't know which day yet, so basically, they have to be in court on all four of those days just in case the court case gets heard on one of those days.
That's ridiculous!!

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June 26, 2010

I just want him to be happy.

I have to be really careful how I word this post, I know that other people read my blog and I don't want to be misunderstood in any way.

First, he will not be coming home early, he will be staying until July 18th as originally planned.
I know that staying there is what he needs to do, he needs to have this experience, it's a huge part of growing up for him, I've accepted this trip and what is happening in my head and heart.
He's learning who his father is, he's met all of his half-siblings, he's learning who they are, and in turn, he's learning a good deal about who he is too.
Now onto other things which I am upset about, but I love him and only want him to be happy.
Whatever my sons want in their lives that will make them happy, is what I want for them.
It's all that I have ever wanted for them, all I will ever want for them.

Sebastian called me this afternoon, his voice sounded heavy so I asked if he was still upset about what happened on Tuesday night, he said yes, that he was very, very sorry, but he had a lot on his mind too, a lot to think about.
I asked about what, I reminded him that he can always talk to me, that no matter what, I am always open to hear whatever he has to say.
He said that his family on his dad's side have all been really great, they love having him there, they are so happy that he's there visiting.
They have also been talking to him about living there, they want him to come live there for his last year of school.
I knew it was going to happen, I even talked about it with friends, I just knew.
Great-Gram who is very old, she always says to the boys when we go up, that we get up there so very rarely, that she's afraid that she'll be dead by the time we get up there next, so of course, she wants him to come live there for a year.
His Aunt Heather also thinks it's a good idea, his half-brothers also do.
Surprisingly, it wasn't his father who had this idea or started this whole conversation, it was Great-Gram.

Sebastian said he has to think about it, weigh the pros and cons, think about the consequences of his decision.
No matter what he decides, he knows that someone will be upset.
If he decides to live there for a year, he knows that I will be sad and upset, his Aunt Jo, his brother Mark, and if he decides to come back home, everyone up there will be sad and upset, but he knows that he has to choose, that he has to make a decision, and he really needs to decide by the time he's due to come back here so that if he's going to live there for a year, his school records can be transferred, and all of the legal paperwork can be done so that someone up there will have legal custody of him.

He asked me how I would feel, and being his mom, being that I love him with every fiber of my being, and being that all I want for my sons is that they be happy, I told him that I would be very sad, that I would miss him very, very much, but if it's what he wanted, if it would really make him happy, then I would let him go.
I will support whatever decision he makes, to live there for a year, or come back home, whichever he decides, I just want him to be happy, and so if living with his half-brothers and father, getting to see Great-Gram, Aunty Heather, and Ninny and Pop-pop, (my parents) all of the time is what would really make him happy, then I would be behind his decision 100% and let him go.

He got very quiet, and asked me if I really would behave like that, if I really would let him go, no arguing, no legal fighting, and I repeated what I had just told him.
I will support whatever decision he makes 100%, to live there or here, I will let him go but miss him very much, I will be very sad, because I love him, no matter where he goes and what he does, he will always be my son, and I will always love him.
We talked for just a few more minutes, he was still very quiet, his voice very heavy with contemplation, people laying guilt at his feet isn't really fair in my opinion, telling a kid that you want him to live there because you may be dead by the next time he gets a chance to come up and visit, it just isn't fair in my opinion.
I don't think I'm wrong about that, it's just not fair or right to guilt kids into doing things, especially life changing things like living somewhere else for your last year of high school, having to go to court and tell a judge that you want to live with your father from now on, having to come back here and pack up all of his belongings, say good-bye to his brother and mother, his cat too, to the home he has lived in for the last 12 years, it's just not right to place that on a kid's shoulders.

It kills me that he may decide to live there, but I meant what I said, I will support him no matter what he chooses, I will let him go because I love him, because all I want is for him to be happy.
I will definitely miss him wanting to be tucked in every single night, rubbing his temples when he has a migraine until he falls asleep, listening to him play with his toys or sing in the shower or bathroom. I will miss him begging to buy Halloween costumes and go trick or treating even though he's far too old for it, and listening to him plead his case that people buy candy to give it away, that there's hardly any kids left in the hood anymore, so somebody should get dressed up and knock on their nicely decorated doors, that it makes the people smile to see cool costumes, it would be an injustice to not give the people what they are expecting. ha ha aha!
I will miss so many things about him, his little annoying quirks, the constant fighting between him and Mark, how he still loves to watch kid's movies all curled up on the couch with his blanket, and I will miss all of our talks as we take walks to the store and back.

I will miss so many things he does, all of the wonderful things about him, his hair, his bright blue eyes, the way that he smiles and laughs, the small brown freckle on the end of his nose, I will miss him so so much, but if it makes him happy, I will let him go.
I love him that much, I love him enough to let him go so that he will be happy.

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May 8, 2010

Playing a mean game of catch-up!

As I've said, my life has been in a state of 'what the hell' for about a week and a half now, give or take a few days, probably give rather than take.
I have so much to do, so much to take care of, and I need to be very careful as I have some health issues that could be affected by too much stress, and I need to watch what I eat, and I know that I definitely won't need to take any fat burners because I've barely been eating anything at all during this whole mess of stuff going on in my life, but I do need to eat, and eat a little better.
I'm trying here and that's all that I can do at the moment.

I had a a missing friend/suicide scare, and I'm dealing with Mark's ever progressing genetic spine deformities which may be getting resolved, because Mark's friend Jeff's Grandparents are very close personal friends with Congressman Vern Buchanan, and they've personally spoken with him regarding the situation with Mark, Medicaid, the doctors, all of the problems, and he asked for my phone number, they gave it to him, and he's going to call me directly and speak with me about it and what I need to have happen to help my son.
Not getting my hopes up, but taking a deep breath. *inhale/exhale deeply*

And then all of the school crap with Sebastian, which will be resolved on Monday, hopefully.
As I said, I called and spoke to the vice principal, she threatened Sebastian with expulsion, me with court for failure to provide him an education, and she said that she was going to call me back, but she did not call me back.
That was on Thursday morning when we spoke, 11:34am to be exact, so when I didn't get a call back, I emailed her later on that night at 5:26pm.
I figured that she'd get my email on Friday morning, and either email me back or call me back.
She did neither, so I decided to step it up a bit and I emailed her again, and this time, I CC'd the principal and the superintendent.
I included the principal, because I'm pretty damn sure that the vice principal cannot decide completely on her own to expel a student and take a parent to court.
I'm pretty sure that the principal has to be involved in the decision, and even though I know that the principal already hates me because of all of the problems that we had with Mark being able to graduate with his class last year, I'm feeling pretty positive that she has absolutely no idea what's going on in regards to Sebastian and this threat of expulsion.
And I included the superintendent because of the way that the truancy worker spoke to me, she's his boss, they both work out of the school board building up at The Landings, she really needed to be made aware of how the truancy worker speaks with parents, and also, she needed to be made aware of what was happening with the vice principal and the threats made against Sebastian and myself.

I sent off that very detailed email last night, Friday, May 7, 2010 at 11:43 PM, and I explained every single thing that I know about Sebastian's absences, about the teacher who kept marking him as absent/skipping a class he was no longer even registered in since December, about the dates that we were in Maine where the principal herself had verbally told me in a call that I made to her a week before we left, that she would personally excuse those dates as long as I sent in a detailed letter explaining when we were leaving, returning, and the reason for our trip, which I wrote that same night that I had called and spoke with her and Sebastian took it in the very next day and personally handed it to her, and I wrote out in great detail, the situation with the zero tolerance policy and Sebastian's migraine medications, and everything that I had done to try and get the school to allow him to take his medications at school and was denied every single time.
I wrote out in great detail what happens when Sebastian suffers from 1 of his severe migraine attacks, what happens when he takes his medications on schedule, and what happens to him if he doesn't.
I ended my email by repeating the vice principal's words to me, "If Sebastian misses even 1 more day this year, he will be expelled immediately and you will be taken to court for failure to make sure that your child gets an education", and again, I asked for someone, now 1 of the 3 of them, to tell me exactly what I am supposed to do if Sebastian gets a severe migraine attack on 1 of the last days of school because of the threat of expulsion.

The vice principal couldn't be bothered to call me back on Thursday, and she couldn't be bothered to answer my first email that I sent on Thursday at 5:26pm, but she is obviously very upset about the email that I sent on Friday night to her, the principal, and the superintendent, because at 7:02am today, she finally replied to me, to the email to the 3 of them, with this very upset and almost threatening sounding statement,
"This information regarding my involvement is not entirely accurate! I will make contact on Monday.
Please be aware that all mail sent to and from Sarasota County Schools is subject to the public records law of Florida."
She sent that reply to all of us, and I sent back the following reply to all,
"I am fully aware that all emails sent to and from Sarasota County Schools are subject to the public records law of Florida.
When I did not receive a call back, as promised by you, I felt that I needed to get in contact with you again, and include others, as this is a very important issue that needs to be addressed immediately as school ends on June 4, 2010, and if he suffers another severe migraine attack, I need to know what I am supposed to do."

I'm not afraid of the public records law of Florida, but obviously she is.
I'm going to make sure that on Monday, I have a way to record or document the entire conversation when she calls, and I'm going to let her know that I'm recording or documenting it.
I can put the phone on speaker, and I'm a hella fast typer, I'll just type out everything she says to me word for word so that she can't say that she never said something.
I mean, she's trying to say that her involvement in this is "not entirely accurate!", but what she doesn't know is that as soon as she threatened Sebastian with expulsion the 1st time, I began typing out everything that she said after that, I knew that I needed to document what she saying, so I did.
I had my email open and I just began composing a new email, and when the call was over, I emailed it to myself.
What I posted, is exactly what she said because I had copied it from the email that I composed while on the phone with her.

I don't type in shorthand, but I can type 80 to 95 words per minute, and maybe some of you have guessed that at the sometimes long entries that I type. (like this one, sorry)
I just get going sometimes and just keep going, plus, I've worked in a customer service position for Georgia Power and Gas, (yup, GP&G customer service is located in Sarasota, Florida) where we had to be able to type 35 wpm minimum in order to even get hired for the job.
I filled out the application and was taken over to a computer to take the typing test where several others were also taking it.
Each person was given just 2 tries to meet the 35 wpm minimum.
I heard a few people start cussing, someone slam their chair and and then storm out, and then I sat down to take my test.
We had a piece of paper with about 3 paragraphs of something typed on it, (can't recall after all these years) and we had to type out the entire thing as fast as we could with a minimum of 4 typos and spelling mistakes.
I got myself into a good seating position, got my hands and arms comfy, (knuckles cracked) and I clicked the start button.
I typed out the 3 paragraphs in just under 1.5 minutes, only 2 spelling mistakes, and my speed was clocked at 84 wpm.
I was hired on the spot, so yeah, typing what someone is saying word for word, is something I can easily do and will always do if I feel that I may need to have proof of something said at a later date.

"Not entirely accurate!"
Yeah, that ain't gonna fly with me.
You said it, you meant it, now deal with the consequences of what you so courageously yelled at me.

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February 17, 2010

Nothing better happen to their identities.

Remember the class action against the school and the Princeton Review?
The letters about the settlement must have come while I was down sick and the teens didn't want to bother me with them then, but Sebastian just handed me the letters that they both got concerning the class action suit.

It's been settled and so the teens will each get some credit protection.
Students under the age of 18 at the time of the settlement, will get 2 years of enrollment in Child Scan from Debix.
Students over the age of 18 will get 2 years of OnCall credit monitoring from Debix.
All members of the class will also get $25,000 of Identity Theft Insurance Coverage, as well as a $1million dollar Service Guarantee for the 2 year service period.
If either or both of the teens do become victims of identity theft during the 2 year service period, they will be given an additional year of service at no cost.
_________________

If they become victims of identity theft during the 2 year service period, obviously the service is not reliable and sucks.
If it does happen, if either of their identities get stolen and their credit gets ruined, the monitoring of their credit during the 2 years will be like trying to use lip balm to cure herpes simplex instead of using an actual treatment.

I have to sign the teens up for this, I have to opt-in for the monitoring, and believe me, I am going to, and I am also going to see what kind of credit clean-up Debix is going to provide if their identities and credit DO get messed up.

This whole thing still infuriates me to no end.
I have gone out-of-my-way-crazy to protect their identities and social security numbers.
Whenever the teens have any kind of appointment and I get asked for their SS numbers, I always ask why they are needed.
If the reason is simply "for their records", I don't provide it.
I will be furious if anything actually does happen to their credit and identities.

Knowing what it's like to try and fix after having my own information stolen and used by my ex-mother-in-law, I know exactly how hard it is to try and sort out, to just try to clean up.
I had to prove to several utility companies out in Utah, that I had never lived there, ever.
I had to send them proof of my residence during the years that she, my ex-mother-in-law, had rented apartments and set up utilities in my name.
I had to send them 5 years of my own utility bills from living here in Florida, I had to call both FPL and the Sarasota County water, and have them send me 5 years of billing and payment history, to prove that I could not have possibly lived and had utilities in 2 different states at the same time.
I also had to send them proof of residence in other ways, other mail that I received during those 5 years, "official" mail, not just letters or cards from friends, but bills or official government mail.
I managed to get all of the utility bills cleared up, I am not responsible for the ones in Utah, but I am still fighting with 3 other states where she moved around to (probably after getting caught) and the utility companies she set up with, to prove that it wasn't me.
I have only lived in 2 states my entire life, Maine and Florida, so just having to try to prove that I have never lived in Utah, New Hampshire, California, and Texas, is aggravating.
She even got credit cards in a few of those places she lived, in my name, and then ran up those credit cards and never paid them off.
My credit is so ruined and I've been trying to clean it up for years, ever since I learned what she had done to me.
She had done it to her own daughter too, to Aunt Heather.
When Heather was just 6 years old, she put a phone in Heather's name so when Heather grew up and tried to get her own phone in Maine, she had to prove that she was just 6 years old at the time her mother ran up a $5,000 phone bill, that she was far too young to ever even consent to getting phone service.
Heather and Great-Gram had to go to the phone company in person, bring her birth certificate and school records from kindergarten, to prove she was just a little 6 year old girl and unable to get a phone.
And what she's done to us is just the tip of the iceberg.
There are many other family members on their side who have strange occurrences on their credit reports, too, that they have also been trying to clear up for years.
Sheila made a huge mess for a lot of us that we've been trying to fix ever since we learned about what she had done.

I will be so freaking angry if anything like what has happened to me happens to the teens identities.
I have worked so hard to protect it.

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October 16, 2009

North Port, here I come.

In about an hour, I am heading all the way down to the city of North Port because one single pharmacy in this state has my medication in stock.
The generic version of the pain medication that is no longer being made because of the Purdue lawsuit I blogged about yesterday.
So at some point later today, my pain will be somewhat under control, I won't have to stay curled up in a ball like sitting in an egg chair anymore.
It really is amazing what removing just one medication from my usual medication regiment does to me.
The other 2 medicines just are not controlling the pain the way that all 3 of them combined do, it's really astounding me.
And it looks like rain, so that may be an indicator of why I am in so much pain without it, the rain bothers me anyway, but without that 3rd med, it's unreal how swollen my ankles and knees are, they look like I have balloons buried under the skin.
Two of my friends are giving me a ride to North Port.
I can't believe that they are the only pharmacy that has them, it's crazy.
I have called over 60 pharmacies since Tuesday, and finally found one this morning that has them.

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September 4, 2009

Class action suit against the school.

In today's mail, both the teens got letters from a lawyer group about a class action lawsuit.
I hadn't heard or read anything about it, usually you see ads for class actions on tv, in commercials, I'm constantly seeing class actions for mesothelioma and all kinds of other stuff like Heparin and stuff, but this is a class action suit against the Sarasota County school district and the Princeton Review.

Last year ALL of the students of ALL of the county's high schools had to go onto the Princeton Review website and enter in all of their personal information in order to take practice SATs and other tests.
What kind of personal information?
ALL of it.
Name, address, date of birth, phone number and social security number.
If a student didn't have their SS# on hand, the school filled it in for them.

Well a girl who graduated this year with Mark, went to the Princeton Review website and found all of her information posted publicly.
And then she found every single other student's information posted as well.
Thousands of teenagers SS#'s were posted to the website along with all of the information needed to commit identity theft if someone was going to do that.
The girl and her family hired a lawyer who has now started a class action suit.
If your kids got a letter in the mail, it means that their information was publicly posted to the website, they are automatically part of the class.
Both my sons got letters.
ALL of their information was posted, anyone could have taken it and tried to commit identity theft with it, along with thousands of other students in this county.

This is so unbelievable to me.
I have protected the teens SS#s like a rabid guard dog because my ex-mother in law stole my information and destroyed my credit, I didn't want it to happen to the teens, but thanks to the county school board and the Princeton Review, it may have happened anyway.

I'm still reading through the 5 page letter, all about the class suit, what will happen if it goes forward, if they win, if they lose, settle, whatever.
I'm just so flabbergasted about it.
No one knows exactly how long all of that information was posted publicly, but it was all there for anyone to look at and take any information that they wanted to take and thousands of teenagers credit could be completely ruined.

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May 24, 2009

No child support payments on the holidays.

My ex paid the child support this week, he paid it on Thursday, but it must have been after 5pm or something, because they did not deposit it to my card on Friday, and because it's a weekend, a holiday weekend too, they will not be depositing it until Tuesday or Wednesday.
I really could have used that money this weekend, there's stuff we gotta do, like mail out George and Amy's tickets to Mark's graduation because Mark and George won't be seeing each other before the 30th, and I'm out of stamps and Sebastian used up all of the change in the family change pig, and a couple other things that we needed to do like price some dress shoes for Mark, see if we can't find some halfway decent and reasonably priced thank you cards, and the teens wanted to do something else that I can't recall right now.
Oh well, at least he paid right?

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September 1, 2008

Hopefully this keeps up.

I don't think I ever updated you all on the outcome of the child support hearing, so I'll do that now.

The hearing was very brief, I appeared by phone with the state attorney, his attorney showed, and the judge.
He did not appear.
All of my financial documents and interrogatories had been sent in and seen by all the parties, I don't know if all of his ever made it in, but the judge decided in my favor.
There would be no lowering of the support payments from $21.00 per week, in fact, it was raised to $77.00 per week, for a total of $308.00 per month.

For the first two weeks after the hearing, (it was on July 31st, a Thursday) the state agency that handles the child support payments, did not enter in the new court order, so we only got what he felt like sending in.
They were supposed to start taking the new amount that Friday, August 1st, but they didn't enter it in, so on 8/4/08, he sent in $37.20, and on 8/8/08, he sent in $36.84.
Then once it was entered in, he started sending in the right amount, and has actually made higher payments.
These are the last 5 support payments that he's made;

It would be really awesome, so super awesome, if these amounts would continue.
I would then be able to add them to my budgeting software, and work them in to my monthly budget so I could start planning bill payments and the teens needs much better.
Start working on Sebastian's orthodontic needs, get him going on his braces, he really needs them, help Mark start saving for his car and insurance, and be able to make sure that every time they have a financial need for school be it poster boards for projects or money for field trips, that they have it.

I am greatful that he's been sending these amounts in, it helps tremendously.
All I've ever wanted was a fair and rightful amount for teenage boys who grow out of shoes every 3 months, need all new clothes every 4-6 months, (Mark is getting so tall!) and all of their other needs which just happen.
I won't start adding these amounts to the regular monthly budget for a few months, I need to make sure they keep up, so they'll be added to my budget that fluctuates.
I actually have two budgets.
One that is my monthly income that stays the exact same amount every month, and one that changes based on the amount of work I do, and takes care of all the unexpected things that pop up.

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August 8, 2008

I don't need this crap right now.

I am dealing with so much right now, people who are not following links like this one have no idea what I'm dealing with.
But it would be really nice if people would try to take other people's feelings and lives into consideration before they bring someone into something they want no part of, nor do they have time to be dealing with.

But in case people are too lazy to follow links, here's the breakdown.
In 30 days, on September 8th, a Monday morning, I'm having a major surgery.
I have 30 days to get my life in order, to make sure all of my bills are caught up, to try and earn as much as I can so that when I come home, if I come home, I have money to keep paying those bills while I recover.
I have to make plans for my sons to be taken care of, I have to also get them ready to go back to school.
I have to find out if I can have a home health aide to help me so my oldest son won't be leaving school to take care of me because he's worried about me, and failing school again.
I have a mountain of pre-surgical testing to do.
People don't understand that I am way too busy, and mentally, I have so much on my plate I'm going crazy.
Every time I have a surgery, because I'm a single parent, I have to sign a DNR and verify my will in front of an attorney, so that if I die during surgery, my kids will be given to the right people, my affairs will be taken care of.
I have 30 days to accept that my life may possibly end.
30 days to tell my sons I love them.
30 days to make sure that my 38 years on this planet have meant something, that it wasn't a complete waste.
30 days to make sure all my family and friends know how much I love them and how much them being a part of my life has meant to me.
30 days to accept my own mortality.

There are people who need to get a new hobby, take up knitting or scrap-booking, spend more time with their own families, buy some golf equipment and learn how to play, take up bowling or something, just do something else other than drag people into something they want no part of.
I've asked nicely, I've said please, but they don't think it's that big of a deal.
It is a big deal to me because it's over, it's been over with for a very long time, and it's not fair, it's not right, that once again, I'm dealing with that crap.
I have a life I'm trying to live in 30 days.
They should try it sometime.

---

July 29, 2008

Trusting my gut pays off.

I woke with a start this morning, this feeling of something wrong had come over me.
I laid there trying to think of what it was that was wrong, and then it hit me.
I mailed out the child support interrogatories weeks ago, to his lawyer's address, but I had this gut feeling they never made it there.

I took a chance on my gut feeling, and called his attorney's office to ask if the documents had made it there.
When he told me he never got them, a slight panic attack over came me.
The hearing is this Thursday, the 31st, I don't have time to mail them again, and also don't have enough money to get them overnighted to his office.
So I asked him if I could email him the documents, I don't want to postpone the hearing, it's already been pushed back 3 or 4 times, so would he accept an email from me with an attached zip file.
Thankfully, he said yes, and I emailed him the zipped folder with all of my documents in it.
All he'll need to do is open the zipped folder and print them out.

It would have totally sucked if come Thursday, I was held in contempt for not sending the documents, but I know I did.
It cost me $13.00 to have all of those pages printed out at the Pak Mail down by my grocery store, and then another $2.75 to mail them to him because of how heavy the envelope was.
There were 27 pages of printed out documents, it was a heavy envelope.
I should have gotten delivery confirmation, but I didn't.
But he has them now, and hopefully he has everything he asked for.
I told him in the email, that if he needs anything else to contact me, I have no problem making sure he has all the documents that he needs.

I really hope this thing goes well, and we can just get this over with.
The ex has been making slightly larger child support payments for July, and I am thankful for that.
Instead of $21.00, he made 2 payments for $36.84, and 2 payments for $37.10.
It's a good start anyway, it's been $147.00 this month, compared to the $84.00 a month that we have been getting.
What I'd really like is $50.00 per week, $200 per month, the teens just keep growing and they need shoes and clothes, plus all the back to school supplies.
I have to get Sebastian to an orthodontist to see about braces, that's not covered under their Amerigroup insurance, so I need to find an orthodontist who will allow me to make monthly payments, like really low monthly payments.
If I was able to get and count on timely monthly CS payments of $50, I would be able to make the payment plan for $200 per month until the braces are paid off, which would be years, but at least his teeth would be straightened out.
The lowest orthodontist place in the area has payment plans at $199 per month, so yeah, it would be doable at $50 per week CS payments.

Anyway, I'm rambling now, so many things going on in my head, still not feeling very well, so that's my post for the day I guess.

---

July 28, 2008

Check N' Go class action lawsuit settled.

Back on December 6th 2007, I posted about the Check N' Go class action lawsuit, and because I used them for a payday loan advance, that made me part of the suit.
Check n' go was sued because the interest on the loan exceeded the maximum amount allowed under Florida law.
The amount I paid in interest was $530.00

Because I had not been feeling well all weekend and most of today, I just now checked the mailbox, and in it was an envelope about the class lawsuit.
Each claimant will be receiving almost 40% of their excess interest fees, so my check is for $211.05.
And in the envelope with all of the important legal stuff, was my check.
Yay!

I went to the class action lawsuit website to check on any other important news or whatever, and saw that they are no longer accepting any more claimants, and also saw that they mailed the checks out on July 25th.
The total of the settlement was $10,275,000, so based on that number and my pro rata settlement check, it appears Check n' Go screwed over a ton of people in the state of Florida with their loan sharking interest rates.

---

July 8, 2008

It's a blog, not a business.

I'm attempting to finish up the child support interrogations, I mean, interrogatories, for the child support hearing which has been bumped until July 31st.
I have to provide all of my personal finance records from 2005-2008, and I'm doing ok.
I have my debit card records which I copied from the Amscot site, they don't do paper bank statements because it's not a savings or checking account.
It's just a card. I deposit money into it so I don't have to carry cash, it's a pre-paid debit card.
So anyway, I copied all of those, I have my tax paperwork from the taxes I filed for 2007, the only year out of the 3 that I've been able to file taxes for so far.
SSDI isn't taxable income, so you don't file taxes on it, and last year was the only year that I earned an income and got 1099's for paid blogging.

Then I got to document question 7, and I'm like what? a business? It's not a business it's a blog, a diary, an online journal and I get paid to insert random contextual links for a couple of bucks each.
They want a copy of how many hits/visits I've had in the last year.
For what possible reason?
To see how many people read my blog?
What does that tell them?
I don't get paid per visit, or per hit, I don't get paid per click.
I get paid a couple of bucks to insert a link into a post.
That's it, but hey, they want it, I took a screen shot for them and will print it out and mail it to them so they can try and say I'm getting paid per hit.
I swear, his attorney is grasping at straws here.
I've been 100% honest about every single penny I've made.
I report it to all the proper authorities every month, it's well documented, so why he wants to see how many people visit my site is just ridiculous.

All I did was ask for my child support to be increased.
It's been at the set minimum wage since 1994, at $21.00 per week.
In the last 14 and a half years, I have not asked for it to be modified.
I have not ever asked him to help buy the school supplies every year, or the shoes they grow out of every 3 months, or the clothes they constantly need.
I have not ever asked him to help pay for all the school field trips over the years, the before and after school child care that they needed when they were younger.
I've never asked him to help pay for the cost of summer child care every summer when they were younger.
I've never asked him for a single thing until now, and his lawyer is treating me like I'm asking for the skin off of his back.

Whenever I've discussed the amount of child support the teens get with other custodial parents, they nearly faint.
The majority of them receive no less than $400 per month in child support.
When they figure out that the teens get $84.00 per month, they simply can't believe it.
I want a reasonable amount.
I want an amount that is fair to take care of the teens since he's never had to pay for anything they've needed over the last 14 and a half years, even though it was court ordered that both of us pay 50% of all of their needs.
I've never asked him, and he's certainly never offered or just sent money and said hey, here's some money to help buy their school supplies and clothes, shoes, or whatever they need.
I don't think I'm asking too much to have it increased after all of these years, and it's absolutely disgusting that they are asking me for all of these documents.
He is the non-custodial parent, it's his income that needs to be looked at and determined if an increase is possible.

It's even more disgusting that they are asking what I might inherit when my parents die.
I can tell you it won't be anything of any substantial value.
My parents are retired, my father is disabled, my mom's health isn't the greatest either, and they struggle to make ends meet every month just like I do.
I know why that's being asked.
During our marriage, my parents always welcomed him into their home, my mother always keeps the home nice and clean, she always made him feel like part of the family, and it looks as though they have money, but that's only because my mother takes impeccable care of what they do have.
Everything is in good shape, things are treasured and taken pride in, but they've had the same furniture for like 20 years now, same with everything else in their home.
What does he think?
That when my parents die I'll inherit the house and what little they do have?
Does he think my parents can take care of my children and I?
They can't, they have trouble paying their own bills, they sit in their house during the winter wearing layers of clothes and covered in blankets because the cost of heating oil is more than they can afford, so they keep the thermostat set around 60, just to conserve what they can afford to put in the barrel.
These questions are sick, and I'm absolutely disgusted that his scumbag attorney would even go there.

---

July 8, 2008

Permanent damage.

I've been watching this whole Christie Brinkley child custody and divorce case, and feeling absolutely terrible for Brinkley, but mostly for the children involved.
Both Brinkley and Peter Cook, her ex-husband and the father of their youngest child, need some serious therapy.
Not only that, they both need to shut the hell up.

Why Brinkley really wanted this all to be public was so that people would be on her side once they heard and read all about their horrible marriage, how he slept with young women who were barely adults, his internet porn addiction, etc etc.
We all do feel bad for her, it sounds like she was married to a pretty terrible guy, but what about the kids?

The majority of divorced couples badmouth their ex-spouse, I have done it right here on this blog, my ex-husband has done it, still does it, he forgets I have friends who live up there and are mutual friends with some of his friends.
Most parents do this kind of stuff, and yeah, I feel badly about the things I have said on this blog, but they were my honest feelings about how he treats our sons, and the facts.
He really has fathered six kids with the last one being named Sixx like some kind of sperm donor award for being able to knock out that many kids by the time he turned 37.
We have both said things that we shouldn't have that have harmed our children.

But when you are a celebrity as famous as Brinkley, you really need to learn when to shut up and keep things behind closed courtroom doors.
Every single detail about their marriage, the affairs, the porn addiction, is now permanent public record.
Her children will be able to access the details for eternity.
Every nasty comment they made about each other, the pictures of the women he slept with, every single dirty detail is out there forever, and it will have a permanent effect on those kids.
All the days of their lives, someone they meet in school or college, or at a future job, will figure out who they are and be able to look up that information on line, and it will be discussed.
They will never be able to escape the details of the divorce and custody battle.
The things both of them have said will have an effect on those kids forever.

Her husband did have a porn problem and affairs that were part of the reason their marriage collapsed, but those details were marital problems, not parenting problems.
Brinkley has said many times that Cook was a good father to his younger children.
He didn't really get along well with Brinkley's oldest child, daughter Alexa Ray Joel, but that he was a good parent to the younger ones.
But all of this mudslinging about the porn and affairs, has tainted his children's view of him as their father.
If everyone around these kids is saying that porn is disgusting, is a dirty gross thing, that is how they will view him, as a disgusting old pervert who has sex with girls just a few years older than them.
They will think of those statements when they do get visitation with their father.
It would be in the best interest of the children, in my opinion, if both Brinkley and Cook would agree to close the details of the court cases to the public.
Ask the judge through their lawyers, to seal the courtroom from any more news and gossip reporters, no more of the dirty details needs to come out.
It's bad enough that so much of the information is out there already.

---

July 4, 2008

Child support hearing items to complete by Monday 7/7/08

* Finish answering the interrogatory questions.
* Sort paypal payments by employer, copy/paste to text file.
* Email the above documents and 2007 1099 forms, to be printed.
* Scan Sebastian's settlement trust papers, and email the jpegs to the Maine DA by 9am Monday, 7/7/08.

---

June 17, 2008

Something to smile about.

I'm still doing good with my attempts to lose weight, I've eaten pretty healthy today.
Grapes, some juice, baked chicken for dinner with some salad, not bad.

I got most of my paperwork done today, it's a total fricking pain, and I should have it all completed within the next few days before I can get it printed out.

I absolutely loved this story today.
The two old ladies who had been in a loving and committed relationship for 55 years, were finally able to get married today.
They finally had the legal right to be together.
That's awesome in my opinion.
How many hetero marriages last that long huh?
Yeah, something to think about.

---

June 17, 2008

I'm rich! Didn't you all know?!

I have a busy day ahead of me today.
I have to get my interrogatories done for the child support hearing that has once again, been moved due to his attorney not being available on the date scheduled.
What are interrogatories?
They are questions about what kinds of things I own, how much money I have in the bank, (Ha!) and other stuff like that.
To give you an example;
Please identify in name location and value, all stocks, bonds, mutual funds, investment accounts, or other securities which are in my name or I am the beneficiary of.
Real estate owned by me, safety deposit boxes, or other valuables being held in my name, any kind of properties that I may inherit, any automobiles, snowmobiles, boats, motor cycles or other motor vehicles.
List all my websites and how much I earn per month from each of them.

Well let's see, I have no stocks, bonds or mutual funds, none of that stuff.
Never have, never will.
I can't even win at Monopoly and I'm supposed to be playing the stock market?
I don't own a house, I rent, no safety deposit boxes or any other valuables, there is nothing in my name from anybody, I am not inheriting anything either, my parents are old and on social security themselves, I don't own any vehicles or boats or motor vehicles of any kind.
If you've been reading along, I walk to the grocery store and cab it back if I buy more than we can carry, and my friends give me rides to my doctors appointments.
This is the only website where I make any type of income, and I am bound by the rules of disability to an earning limit.
I do not ever go above that, heck, I don't even come close to that amount even if I wanted to.
I have to attach copies of my disability statements, get letters from doctors, and all kinds of other crap.
This is completely ridiculous, and I do hope the attorney enjoys seeing it all.
He thinks I'm sitting on some kind of fortune here, I'm not, and those of you who have been reading for a few years now, know me in person, know this.
I don't own shit, I am broke all the freaking time, but yes, let's print it all out so the attorney can try to say I earn a ton of money and own all kinds of valuables and property so my ex-husband can pay less than $21.00 in child support per week.
He honestly believes I'm sitting on a goldmine and lying about my health and income.
I hope he chokes when he gets all this stuff.
Idiot.

---

May 6, 2008

60 more days.

The whole hearing only lasted 14 minutes, ex wasn't even on the line, he was on stand-by.
Um, it's a court hearing, how does he get to not be there, but only be on stand by if the judge wants to speak to him?!
Whatever.

His lawyer has not even sent the DA the asset disclosure documents, that was a requirement for todays hearing, and as usual, the law is like oh, no big deal, just get the papers to each party as soon as you can, and we'll schedule another hearing for 60 days from now.

His attorney is just now requesting for me to disclose my assets.
Um, how long have we been doing this, and he just now wants to see my assets?
It's been months and months, the hearing had been scheduled since February, and he just now wants my assets?
Nothing like delay tactics eh?
Well here's my assets, I don't own anything.
No vehicles, no homes, no nothing of any substantial value.
Sure I make some money, but I'm on a limited income set, not allowed to earn more than $xxx dollars per month, and even if I try to go over that, it doesn't happen.
Heck, I don't even come close to earning the limit.

So anyway, I asked his attorney to send me the asset disclosure papers immediately, I want this done, and he said; "OK, I'll try to get those out to you in the next day or two."
Don't try, do.
The judge wants to see if we can come to an agreement on the amount of child support ourselves within the next 60 days, if not, the new scheduled hearing will take place.
I doubt we'll settle, he wants to pay less than the current court ordered amount of $21 per week, and I'm not settling for any less than his other kids currently get, which is $80 per week.
After 14 years of $21 per week, and a 5 year period where he paid none at all, does he and his attorney actually think I'll be ok with less?
They're both out of their minds if they do.

So send the papers, send your requests for agreement, let's get this ball rolling once and for all.
I've been playing this game for 14 years, it's time to finish this.
There are 2 teens with birthdays happening this summer, the party invitations lists are being made, they are both growing up so fast and they deserve better, they deserve to be able to take their child support money and buy themselves new shoes that aren't $15 cheapies from a discount store.
Right now, the child support barely covers a single pair of shoes for 1 kid at a cheap store.
School may be getting out at the end of this month, but they start right back up again in August, and more school supplies are going to be needed.
Sebastian needs braces too.
That's an expense I simply can't cover, and $21 a week isn't an acceptable payment plan.

---

May 6, 2008

5 more grey hairs popped up over night.

I'm starting to age rapidly now, *stress*, I'm definitely going to need the very top wrinkle cream on the market the way I'm going.
Lack of sleep, stress, not eating right, too many things are making me go arggggh!

Let's see, Sebastian is home sick today, I found the papers I needed to be paying attention to, those need to be done to-day!
Oh, Sebastian is fine really, he has a wicked headache, his joints hurt again.
He's growing so he gets massive growing pains to the point he can hardly walk sometimes.
He's shot up like another 3 inches, now able to look completely over the top of my head.
Then, this afternoon I have the child support hearing by phone, and I'm antsy about it.
I can't really talk about it all right now, I will when it's over.
But I know fraud is being committed, lies have been told, and if need be, I'll ask for a certain someone to have to have to come forward and explain why things are their name.
I mean, just how many "gifts" can a guy get?

Anyway, I need to get busy doing all kinds of stuff to prep for it.
I have all my things ready to go, but I need to get busy on those other papers so my brain isn't distracted while I'm on the phone.
Later days!

---

March 26, 2008

Postponed.

I got a call about an hour ago from the Maine AG.
The hearing is postponed, date unknown right now.
Not surprised.
His attorney asked for a new date.
She asked me for my 2007 taxes and some other stuff, so I got her email address and sent her everything she asked for, and probably a few things she didn't know about.
We talked about my income, I told her, adjusted gross on my taxes is especially pathetic, so she'll be able to see that when she opens the email.
It is what it is, can't really do much about it.

And that really bums me out.
I miss being able to work.
I miss it like you wouldn't believe.
If I was still able to work like I was before they told me to stop before I injured myself beyond medical repair, I wouldn't give two shits about the child support.
I lived and survived without it for many years because I could work.
I worked 12-16 hour days, I had money, I made good money, and then my back up and quit on me for good.

There are times, like now, when I get really depressed about it.
I'm not like crying all day and night depressed, but yeah, I am bummed out that I cannot support me and my kids the same way I used to.
It's not right, it's not fair, it fucking sucks, but there isn't anything I can do about it, and that makes it even worse.
It is completely out of my control.
100% complete disability, unable to perform gainful employment.
Those words that I fought for 5 years to hear, sting like molten steel sometimes.

I didn't want this, I just wanted my back to get fixed so I could keep working, but they kept saying no to the surgery, no to the surgeon who could do it.
It took fighting and phone calls, and attorneys, and letters, to get medical help, and then it was too late.
The damage was done, 100% complete disability, unable to perform gainful employment.

I busted my ass for years supporting my family on my own, busting my back to a state of disability, and for him to ask after all these years, to lower the child support, well, no, fuck you.
I don't care how many kids there are, that's not my problem.
My problem is the two I have here, the two I have taken care of day in and day out for the last 14 years on my own.
I'm tired of the excuses that there was no job, and all the other bullshit that has prevented my sons from getting a fair and decent amount of child support, I'm fucking over it.
I don't care that the business just started, needs time to grow, not my fucking problem.
I'm over the piddly amount that was court ordered 14 years ago. No one should have to deal with that amount all these years, and no, it's not me who ruined his relationship with his sons, it was him.
A slap to Sebastian's 2 year old face that left a bruise in the shape of a hand, and the very painful words said to a 9 year old Mark, "My band is more important than being a father right now".
You think those words and slap are forgotten?!
They aren't.
I fight for them.
I fight for them to have what they need and some of what they want.
I do everything in what little power I have left, to get for them.
To even ask to have to send less money to them, is just another slap in the face, it's just another string of painful words.

Keep postponing it, it doesn't matter.
Whenever it gets scheduled, I'll be available, and I'll keep fighting for them just like I have done for the last 14 years.
I may not be able to hold a job outside the home anymore, and the work I do now doesn't bring me much income, but I will keep doing everything I can so that they can have everything they need, so that they are happy, healthy, and grow up to know values, and morals, and ethics, and to keep fighting for what they want and what is right, and what they deserve.
I'll keep doing what I have to, even if more and more excuses get made and thrown.
They deserve better than that.
They deserve better than him.

---

March 19, 2008

I finally completed them.

My taxes that is.
I should have done it earlier, but I just kept putting it off, then in today's mail, I got the kick I needed to just do them.
But now that they are done, I'm happy to say that I'll be getting a return and I qualify for the rebates that come out in May.
Maybe then I can afford some more imprinted promotional products to hand out when I meet people.

Maybe I'll explain the kick I got later on.
It's not a big deal, but boy, they are so barking up the wrong tree here.
It's kind of comical actually.

---

March 13, 2008

Call me on the telephone, I'll be there.

I wanted to give you all an update on the child support hearing and stuff.
It looks like I won't be needed to fly back.
The attorney general made arrangements for me to appear by telephone on April 8th, at 8:30am.
*phew*
But it would have been ok with me to have to go. Yes I would have had to come up with the airplane ticket price, but I would have enjoyed being there in person with all my documentation tucked away in my Johnston and Murphy like briefcase, and present my evidence of his business ownership, and request that the support be modified above an imputed minimum wage.
So April 8th people, that will be the day we get to find out whether or not he's got the business in someone else name, has been avoiding paying taxes, both personal and business, and oh please oh please oh please, let the judge who divorced us, still be alive and sitting at the bench.
He was an ornery man, and didn't want to hear no bull, no excuses, and bam! Custody of the minor children to the mother.

I never made it to do all my errands today, I'm lucky I got to go to the grocery store.
The kids were supposed to be let out of school and early, and that didn't happen, so all my errand running got pushed back by several hours.
I'll attempt the rest of them again tomorrow.

And man, I don't know what happened, but I was sitting here about an hour ago, and all of a sudden, I had the biggest migraine attack out of nowhere.
It just hit and nearly knocked me out of my chair.
The light hurt, the noises hurt, I had to wobble to my bedroom and lay down in the dark after taking one of my migraine meds.
I just laid there curled in a ball, petting the kitties until it went away.
It's mostly gone now, just a dull ache is left, but so glad the meanest part is over.

I have so many emails and stuff to catch up on, but LOST is coming on. gah!
I will try to answer emails during commercials ok?
Cool.
Later days.

---

March 3, 2008

Taking a sick day part whatever.

I'm having a really rough day with this medicine.
I have been unable to keep my eyes open, which yeah, I know, it's a sedative, but I've managed to do sorta ok most of the week and stay awake.
Not today though.
Maybe I did too much this weekend or something, I don't know, but I'm so out of it, and I fucking hate that more than anything else.
It's one of the things I yelled at him about last week, and tomorrow, it will be the first thing I discuss.
It's unacceptable.
I'm not some 90 year old nursing home resident who is easier to deal with when I'm asleep.
I'm a 38 year old MOTHER who cannot be sleeping like this.
Can-not!

I don't even recall exactly what was said in a very important phone call.
I know it was the AG, it was about the hearing and requesting something, but god damn these fucking stupid pills for fucking with my head!!!!!

---

March 1, 2008

It was a very nice dinner out.

I got back a little while ago, from dinner out at the Oriental Buffet, with my sister, my boys, and my nieces.
I love that place.
I could survive on eating nothing but Chinese food for the rest of my life.
Ribs, General Tso, those fried buttered green beans, and their little Tiramisu squares.
So yummy!

Here's the girls posing in front of the antique bird cage at the restaurant.
Susan is on the left, Skye is on the right.

Susan who is 4, wished me a happy 8th birthday.
I said 8?!
She said "Yes aunty Kat, happy 8th birthday!"
Hey, I'll gladly knock off 30 years. ha ha
Man, wouldn't it be fun to be a kid again?

They gave me a big balloon, a really pretty card, and a Penelope Pussycat, t-shirt.
I absolutely loved the Pepe Le Pew cartoons, and how love struck he was for her until she would return his affections.
Then he would freak out and attempt to run away from her, and just when he thought he was safely hidden, she would pop up and say "mew".

Penelope Pussycat is Pepe Le Pew's object of affection, and also caused him to show his true fear of commitment.
She didn't have a name for many of the episodes she was in, until 1954 when her master called her Penelope. She was mis-named as both Fifi and Fabrette, but her mother's name was Fifi.
It wasn't until the 1995 "Carrotblanca", where advertisements for the short credited her as "starring Penelope Pussycat in her first speaking role".

And now I'm home alone, with my sister taking the teens to her house for the night.
The house will be quiet, no beeping video games, no bickering over whose turn it is, and just time alone to actually watch a movie all the way through with no interruptions, and sit around in my undies if I want to.
I am going to watch The Lookout.

Synopsis:
Chris "Slapshot" Pratt (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), whose once bright future has been dimmed by a severe head injury, is a night janitor at a bank. Lonely and frustrated, Chris falls prey to a con man's seductive promise of romance and a better life, and agrees to help rob the bank where he works.

The preview looked good, and it's gotten some really great reviews on Amazon and from Netflix users, with an average rating of 4.5 stars. (out of 5)

I'm going to answer some more of the emails that have piled up, I do want to respond to everyone who has sent me supportive comments and emails over the last few days.
I really appreciate everyone who has offered to help out should I need to fly back for the child support hearing.
I don't think it will come to that, I hope not, but if it does, it means so much to me that so many people would help me get there, and fight for the fair amount of child support that is long over due.
I thought about taking that entry and placing it in draft mode so that if he or his friends, or his latest bimbo girlfriend of the month, Googled across it, they wouldn't know what's going on, but then I said no.
The motion to modify has been filed, he has already been served, he knows that a hearing is inevitable, he just doesn't know that they know he lied.
But he shouldn't have lied in the first place, and I have done nothing wrong, I have no reason to hide what's going on.
It's not me who would be prosecuting him for failure to pay his taxes for a few years, it would be the state of Maine Attorney General, and possibly the IRS.
I simply wanted a fair and reasonable amount of child support, based on the actual wages of a business owner, not imputed minimum wage, because he doesn't make minimum wage.
And that's all I have to say about that for now, because today has been a good day, and I don't wanna spoil it with any of that headache.

I'll let you know how the movie is.
Hopefully.
I am so bad about writing movie reviews.
I watch so many, and I really do plan to review them all, and then I get caught up in other stuff and forget.
If I don't get a review of this one up by tomorrow afternoon Kim, send me an email and tell me to get my ass in gear.
Later days.

---

February 28, 2008

Impute minimum wage? I don't think so.

I need a Valium or a really stiff drink.
Or several.

14 years ago on February 4th 1994, we were divorced, custody of the minor children awarded to me, as well as the pitiful child support sum of $21 per week.
Over the last 14 years, he barely paid that amount.
There was a period of 5 years straight, where he paid absolutely nothing at all.
His back due support is in the hundred thousand dollar range.
I tried for years to get the support order modified, but they always said he was unemployed, not paying any taxes, collecting welfare off and on, and had fathered 3 more children.
Then of course we learned about Cameron, who is a year older than my oldest son, Mark, for a total offspring count of 6 children.
Six children he wasn't paying any support for because he was "unemployed".
The state of Maine never looked into his band gigs as income, or the fact that he worked as a tattoo artist for other shops.

Fast forward, he is now the owner of his own tattoo and piercing studio.
This is my ex-husbands business, Coopa Creations.
That is his name on the sign, that is his picture at the top, he is Coopa.
See how it says under his picture, owner and artist?
He owns that shop.
So I filed for modification again.
They served him the legal modification papers at his shop.

On February 16th, I told you that they modified the child support to $67 per week.

Today I received another packet of papers from the state of Maine attorney general's office.
The support has not been modified legally yet, there is going to be a hearing.
He (ex-husband) has until March 7th, 2008, to file a motion against the modification.
I read through the papers, and I wasn't clear on whether or not I would be needed to appear at the hearing in person or by phone.
So I called the AG's office.

I spoke to the AG in charge of my case, she said they had just been discussing this case this morning, and she would be happy to answer any questions I had as best she could.
I asked about whether or not I'd be needed to appear in a Maine courtroom, and if so, I needed plenty of notice to attend because I live here in Florida, I would need to come up with the funds for a plane ticket etc, or if I would be needed to "appear" by phone.
She said she didn't know yet because he has until March 7th to file a counter claim against the modification.
Then I asked why the modified support was so low, $67.
She said it was based on imputed minimum wage.

I said excuse me? Minimum wage? He's a business owner, he is making far more than minimum wage.
She asked me what I was talking about.
I said, the address he was served at, the 114 Main street address, is his business.
Coopa Creations is his business.
He owns that tattoo shop.
He cannot possibly be making minimum wage.
She then said, well he hasn't filed any taxes for several years, was I sure he was the business owner.
I said yes! He's the owner! It's called Coopa Creations, he calls himself Coopa, the myspace page lists him as the owner, he was served at his own business!

She said nothing for a few seconds, then said if this information is true, that he owns that shop, then that changes everything.
It means he falsified his child support affidavit where he claims he only earns $11,000 per year.
He lied on official court documents.
I knew he lied on those papers when I read them.
He claims his present employer is Coopa Creations, yet he's the owner, not an employee, and he failed to fill out the rest of the paper work where he was supposed to list any and all assets, vehicles he owns, (he does own a nice car, his sister loaned lost him the money to buy it. he has never paid her back) supposed to list all the minor children he pays child support for, child care costs, medical expenses, bank accounts etc.
As a business owner with employees, he has to have at least one bank account for the business, to pay business related costs, and to pay his employees from.

She then asked me if I could prove he's the owner.
I said yes, he has a website where it lists him as owner, his own sister says he owns it, my friends have taken pictures of the store front where his name is listed as owner painted on the freaking glass.
She then said, "This changes everything. Thank you for this information, we will have to get a subpoena for financial records, but if he really is the owner, hasn't filed taxes for himself personally or the business, this case is now bigger than just modifying the child support."

I said well yeah, go after him all you want, but to raise my child support from $21 to $67 after 14 years, is a total slap in the face, and sorry, but his sons deserve more than that.
As a business owner, he can definitely afford to pay more than $67 per week, and I don't really give a crap about the other 4 kids. The two sons I had with him through marriage, have never received the full amount of support ordered in the last 14 years, and have only gotten birthday cards twice in all these years. He can pay up, it's long past due.

She said not to worry, they will definitely be looking into this new information, and she will be in touch with me about the hearing and any other information they need from me, or need to give me.
We ended the call, and I almost blew a gasket.
I cannot believe they didn't put 2 and 2 together, Cooper, Coopa Creations, they freaking served him at his business, and didn't realize he was the owner.
This whole thing is just so infuriating.
All these years of not getting the court ordered pitiful $21, and he was trying to pull a fast one again and claim he was just an employee making minimum wage.
Arggghhh!
But now they know, and hopefully they will fix this correctly.
$67 is not acceptable, imputing minimum wage on a business owner is not acceptable.
If I have to fly up there for the hearing, I'll sell everything that isn't nailed down to get there and face him in that courtroom.

---

December 12, 2007

Drew Peterson wants your money.

Seriously.
Drew Peterson, the man suspected of killing his fourth wife Stacey, has a website where you can donate money and help him defend himself against these charges.
Check out the Official Drew Peterson Defense Fund.
This is crazy.

Drew and his children risk losing their life savings, house, automobiles and may end up impoverished, all by simply defending himself against allegations.

*UPDATE*
The website has been taken down.

---

December 6, 2007

Check N' Go of Florida lawsuit.

Did you ever use Check N' Go of Florida, to get a payday advance loan before September 30, 2001?
If you did, you should have gotten a notice by mail, notifying you of the class action lawsuit.
The plaintiffs are suing because the interest on the loan exceeded the maximum amount allowed under Florida law.
The Net Settlement Fund will be calculated for distribution on a pro rata basis to all Class Members who submit a Valid Claim Form. The maximum amount an individual Class Member can receive under the Settlement is the total fees paid plus 10%. If there is insufficient money in the Net Settlement Fund to pay every Class Member who submitted a Valid Claim Form 110% , the pro rata share will be between 19% and 110% of the total amount of fees paid.

Back in late 1999 and 2000, I was working and had taken out a payday loan. It is a vicious cycle, I would never tell anyone to do a payday loan without thoroughly researching the company you get it through.
Some of them have fees which are so high, it keeps you in the cycle of constantly paying back the loan, and taking it back out again, and again, and again.

So I had taken out payday loans from 3/10/2000 to 11/6/2000. The fees started out at $16.00, and by November 6th 2000, the fees had increased to $32.50.
From March to November, I paid $530.00 in fees that exceeded the maximum allowed by Florida law, making me part of the class.
So I may get all my fees back plus 10%, or somewhere between 19% and 110% of my actual fees, when it settles.
Cool.
I knew they were screwing me, but I was trapped in the never ending cycle.

---

November 24, 2007

A little more info on the vaccine issue.

It's terrifying what the state of Maryland has done.
There is no law that says any child must be vaccinated, but the school health people insist that getting every child vaccinated will cut down on diseases.
The hep B vaccine, contains 12.5 grams of mercury.
That's 100 times more than the EPA says you can administer to infants, and it's done in a single shot.

In the first 15 months of life, babies are given 21 different vaccines, all containing thimerosal.
1 out of every 166 kids born in this country, now have autism and that number is rising.
Babies that were born perfectly healthy, are now being diagnosed with autism by age 3.
Thimerosal was banned by every other country in the world 20 years ago, we are the only country that still uses it.
The amazing part of this whole mercury issue is that doctors tell pregnant women not to consume large amounts of fish during their pregnancies because of mercury. Then as soon as the baby is born, we start injecting them with it.

All childhood vaccines now come with a mercury free version.
Ask for it.
It is your right.
The hep B shot is given at birth, so ask for it when your child is born.
Do not just let them whisk your newborn away to have it's first shots, because they will use the mercury version unless you tell them not to.

---

November 24, 2007

Don't vaccinate, go to jail in Maryland.

Children were herded like cattle this past week into a courthouse with armed police and attack dogs, to receive vaccinations and threw parents who refused into jail.
"The children were forcibly vaccinated, many against their will, under orders from the State Attorney General, various State Judges and the local School Board Director, all of whom illegally conspired to threaten parents with imprisonment if they did not submit their children to vaccinations."
Health authorities stated that parents who refused would be taken from their kids and placed in jail for up to 30 days for failing to comply.

There is NO law in Maryland that says children must be vaccinated.

The number one reason parents don't vaccinate has nothing to do with religion, it has to do with protecting their kids from the dangerous chemicals found in vaccines (including thimerosal, a chemical additive containing a neurotoxic form of mercury).

There are doctors who oppose what is happening in Maryland.
Parents were "told to appear in Court on Saturday November 17th 2007, and to subject their children to on-the-spot state-mandated vaccines of up 17 vaccine doses, or face imprisonment. Parents who ignore the court's demands could face a $50 fine for every day their child is out of compliance or up to 10
days in jail."
That's a dangerous amount to give a child all at once, and what if a child is allergic to one of them?
The medical and religious exemption forms were missing from the packets handed out to parents to fill out, and were denied if asked for.

There are 8 questions to ask before vaccinating your child, they are:

1. Is my child sick right now?

2. Has my child had a bad reaction to a vaccination before?

3. Does my child have a personal or family history of: vaccine
reactions, convulsions or neurological disorders, severe allergies or
immune system disorders

4. Do I know if my child is at high risk of reacting?

5. Do I know how to identify a vaccine reaction?

6. Do I know how to report a vaccine reaction?

7. Do I know the vaccine manufacturer's name and lot number?

8. Do I know I have a choice?

Just what is thimerosal?
You might want to check it out before vaccinating your child.

---

November 23, 2007

I'm not that kids mother.

My sister had on the most beautiful costume jewelry necklace today. I just remembered I wanted to ask her about it, duh Kat.
It was like a 3 strand necklace with all kinds of little charms and gemstones on it, very, very pretty.
Skye kept wanting it and as you do with little kids sometimes, you tell them it's stuck and won't come off, because little hands tend to break stuff.
I need to ask her where she got it though, or maybe she'll let me borrow it for a day so I can copy the pattern to make one.
It was something I know I could make if I could just see it close up to get a good look at how thy laid it out and what kind of clasp they have on it.

When we got back, I had a huge stack of mail to go through.
I got the new issues of Cosmo, stuff my medicare part D drug coverage from Humana, and some child support stuff, and a letter from an elementary school in North Port.
Let's talk about the child support first.
Way back in April, I applied for modification to my child support.
Today, they finally mailed the form for me to just SIGN stating that yes, I want to have a hearing.
The last letter they sent said it would have the date and time of the hearing, not a form to sign.
Grrr.
It's gonna be what? Another 8 months before I get the letter with teh actual hearing date in it?
Ugh!

The letter from North Port Elementary is confusing.
It has my name and address hand written on it in ink, but inside it says that I am the mother of some other kid who lives in North Port.
Apparently I'm the divorced wife of some guy with the name of W. Ziegler, and mother to W. Ziegler Jr.
The kid was born in 1997.
Um, I think I would have remembered getting married and divorced again, and I certainly would remember having another child.
The letter is about this kids ESE plan, he's in special classes for speech therapy I guess, and my presence is requested at a meeting to discuss how he's doing on November 30th at 10am.
I'm not this kids mother, nor am I this guys ex-wife.
I'm very confused as to why my name and address is hand written on this letter.
Did the dad pull a name out of his butt or something, and give it to the school?
Something is not right about this.
We've never lived in North Port, I've never had another child aside from my own 2.

---

November 21, 2007

Malpractice?

Anyone ever file a malpractice suit?
Dr. F. sent me a certified letter today explaining his reasons for dropping me as his patient.
He stated that I refused to be seen by the doctors he recommended, and I was refusing to follow his orders, and refusing to be seen by a psychiatrist for evaluation.
He also stated that I was "in need of further and urgent medical care for the elevated white cell count."
That the pain I was complaining about, was in my head.

I have the results of my tests, got a call from the radiology department so that I wouldn't be freaking out.
Dr. F. (the pain management doctor) was convinced that my white cell count was so high due to cancer.
See, when I had to call and make that appointment for the second hematology consult, they told me what he was looking for.
He believed I had leukemia and "am in need of urgent medical treatment by specialists in the field of cancer", and that is why they wanted to run the second full, thoroughly invasive, consult having to draw bone marrow from the bottom of my foot..

Six months ago, I heard something snap in my hip, that day, I called Dr. F.'s office and told them something happened. The nurse on the phone said it was probably just a joint cracking, like popping your knuckles.
Every single visit to Dr. F., he asked where my pain was and I told him that my left hip was on fire, it hurt, ached, throbbed. That my lower back was always locking up and hurting.

Do you think he ever ordered an x-ray?
A CT scan perhaps?
No, he didn't.
Instead he sent me to a hormone doctor who didn't take insurance, and forced me to see him, forced me to take a weekly injection of testosterone because mine was too low and that's why I was in pain.

I had a primary care physician and a gynecologist.
He didn't like who I was seeing, and ordered me to go to a new primary care physician who also did not take medicare.
He ordered me to see a new gynecologist who also did not take medicare.
He ordered a psych evaluation because people in chronic pain and on narcotics, are severely depressed.
How many times did I post right here, I was not depressed, but frustrated with the amount of tests and doctors I was being forced to see?
All the while I kept telling him something was really wrong with my left hip, and he blew it off as general hardware pain.

Doc M., my surgeon, ordered two tests, a Ct scan and an Imdium scan.
Well guess what?
I have the results of both the CT scan and the Imdium scan.
The CT scan confirms I have a broken iliac screw in where?
My left hip.
It also shows that the discs at the L-1 through L-2 levels are severely dessicated and degenerated.
The Imidum scan test results show no problem with my white cells.
The opinion of the radiology doctor who performed that test is "negative white blood cell study".
What does that mean?
It means I'm not sick, it means I don't have cancer or anything else, just an elevated white cell count.
The CT scan results prove that I have a broken iliac screw and disc degeneration, so um, is that pain in my head?
I don't freaking think so.

Doc F. put me through hell, demanding that I see doctors who didn't take insurance, demanding I see certain doctors that he wanted me to see instead of just letting me make appointments with the doctors I am currently being treated by.
It is my belief that he failed to do his job and order the proper tests that would have found the real cause of my pain, the broken iliac screw and degenerated discs, that the pain was not in my head, that there was no reason for me to take a testosterone injection, there was no reason to have a bone marrow test, or switch to doctors he thought were better.
It is my belief that he wanted me to switch to these doctors for kickbacks.
If he had just ordered a single x-ray of the area where I indicated I had pain, he would have found the broken iliac screw, and would have saved the both of us, months and months of unnecessary medical tests and drugs that were not ever needed.

So there we go, I am not sick, I am not in need of urgent medical care by cancer specialists, and I do have a very real cause for the pain in my hip and lower back.
Two tests, instead of all the tests and doctors he insisted I see, were never ever needed.
I am angry he put me through all of that, he had me scared to death for months that I was very sick, and I never was.
Two simple tests would have told him that I was in very real pain and not sick.
I have filed a formal complaint, but I am now considering taking this further than that.

---

October 28, 2007

The landlord swung by.

He came by to talk to my neighbors, and then just as I thought, he wanted to know about the tire tracks across the lawn.
He was quite pissed just as I expected he would be.
So tonight all my outside lighting will be on all night, both front porch and back yard flood lights.

He also told me to put up a sign on a stick or pole, that says stay off the lawn, which I did, but then it rained so now I need to make a new sign.
He also said that whoever is doing it, can be arrested because intentionally driving over a septic tank drain field, is intentional damage.
But I have to actually catch them in the act of doing it, get a license plate number and all of that.
So yeah, I'll be having to keep my blinds open all night every night, to try and catch these guys.

---

October 28, 2007

Don't drive or park on my lawn!

I certainly hope my neighbors to my right, yes, the drug dealers, are able to find themselves some good truck accident lawyers or already have one, for what they did.
This is my front lawn.

These are the tire tracks going through my front yard, all the way through my side yard.
(I know, the lawn needs to be mowed. Mark is actually doing it right now)

This is the tree they hit.

And this is the back of their house where the tire tracks end.

Why is this such a big deal and they may need a lawyer?
We have a septic tank in my front lawn, the drainage field runs the entire width and length of my front yard.
There is also a septic tank in the side yard belonging to their own duplex.
If they have broken my drain field, my landlord is going to sue them.
This is the second time they have done this, and now I have to go out there and place huge signs or get a barrier fence, to prevent them from driving on my lawn again.
I don't know why they did this in the first place, but it will not be happening again,

---

October 28, 2007

Legal right to be pain free.

Man, I gotta stop playing around on the local forums first thing in the morning.
Today's arguments are about headache treatments, legal pot use for pain, stuff like that.
One of the local pot heads, says he should just have the right to smoke it, just like the legal medical users.
He's crazy. He's just a burnout looking to feel better about his own use.

But I have other things to do, I need to take a shower, do laundry, dishes, all kinds of stuff.
Better get moving!
Later days!

---

September 27, 2007

Still no CS hearing date scheduled.

Months ago, I filed for a child support modification hearing, in April to be exact.
I haven't heard squat from CS about the hearing, but at least I'm getting an increase in payments, and approximately every two weeks now, which is a major improvement over the $22.10 he was sending whenever he felt like sending it.

So over the last 10 weeks, I've gotten $202.70 in CS payments.
The first amount, the $55.99, is what I'm getting tomorrow. It was applied today, so it will be direct deposited tomorrow afternoon by 4pm.

It's just so frustrating.
I filed for a hearing to get this modified, they sent me a letter saying I would either have to appear before a judge in Maine, or do closed circuit from a courtroom here in Sarasota, and I would be receiving a letter in the mail with that information, and the date of the hearing within a few weeks.
I never got the letter.
I called CS, and they said the hearing had not been scheduled yet, that was in June when I called.
I called again at the beginning of August, same answer, it hasn't been scheduled yet.
Why did they tell me a few weeks, if it was really going to be months?
This system moves so damn slow, but at least the payments are getting better and more frequent.

---

September 14, 2007

Military dad can't save his children from abuse.

This is a story with local ties, the children are here in Florida, and the military dad is stationed in Alaska.

*WARNING* This video contains a graphic description of what the 5 year old daughter said during a medical examination.
Please use headphones if you have young children in the room.

Please, watch the video, digg the article, this is a call to action!

The story;
Your kids live nearly 5,000 miles away and experts are telling you they're being sexually and physically abused. This Father and all the officials in Alaska know what is going on. Judge J. Kevin Carey in Florida needs to take action to protect the helpless victims and punish the aggressor.

After hearing the child welfare agents state what the 5 year old daughter said during her medical exam, I have no doubt in my mind that this child has been either sexually abused, or been exposed to pornographic movies, or possibly even made to watch her mother have sex with the boyfriend.
No matter how she knows the language she spoke, I consider it abuse.
Not to mention the bruises and other statements the children have made.

This is the contact information for the judge.
I've already made a call to his office to ask that he thoroughly investigate this case.

The Honorable J. Kevin Carey
800 E. Twiggs St., Room 422
Tampa, Florida 33602
(813) 272-6999
Courtroom #402
Judicial Assistant: Carmen Jones
Unified Family Court:
Domestic Relations/Family Law, Division F

---

August 20, 2007

Some people seriously need help.

I swear, there's a whole group of twisted little people out there, taking some heavy duty stuff, and in dire need of drug rehabilitation.
My life is mine, and what I do is my business.
I do not appreciate people going around posting as me, stating things in my name, to stir up trouble and net drama for I am guessing, fun.

Do not post as me.
Do not use my name in any of your games.
You have no rights to discuss anything I may or may not be doing.
Leave my name out of it.

---

August 6, 2007

Jury awards $11.3M over defamatory Internet posts.

USA Today

A Florida woman has been awarded $11.3 million in a defamation lawsuit against a Louisiana woman who posted messages on the Internet accusing her of being a "crook," a "con artist" and a "fraud."

In a related story;

The case reflected how blogs - short for web logs, the burgeoning, freewheeling Internet forums that give people the power to instantly disseminate messages worldwide - increasingly are being targeted by those who feel harmed by blog attacks. In the past two years, more than 50 lawsuits stemming from postings on blogs and website message boards have been filed across the nation. The suits have spawned a debate over how the "blogosphere" and its revolutionary impact on speech and publishing might change libel law.

Let this all be your lesson for today kids.
Don't post hate speech, slanderous or libelous information about someone you dislike, on line anywhere.
$11.3 million ain't pocket change.

---

August 11, 2006

It's done.

What began on January 13th 2003, is finally, really over.
I just signed the papers that will give Sebastian two lump sums of money. One on his 18th birthday and the other on his 25th birthday.
I don't understand why this stuff takes so long but I am happy to say it's finally over.
Sebastian will be able to pay for college, maybe a car on his 18th and then have a helluva a down payment on a house when he turns 25.
The money is in trust until then and no one can touch any of it. No lawyers, no doctors, no absentee parents, not even me.
As it should be.
That was one of the things I made sure of when the lawyers asked how we wanted this done, to make sure that no one but him could touch that money.
I was asked repeatedly during depositions and settlement phase, if their father knew of the trial and the settlement. No he did not.
Will he find out? It's possible so make sure he can't touch it. Put it in very clear language that only Sebastian can touch this money.
I'm relieved that this is finally over now.
I's are dotted, T's are crossed and all parties have signed.
Fin.

---

November 8, 2005

Jospeh Smiths trial began yesterday.

He is the man accused of grabbing Carlie Bruscia outside a car wash February first of last year and kidnapping, raping and then strangling her.
The evidence is clearly against him from the video tape from the car wash surveillance camera, semen stains, a phone call he made to a family member after being arrested for a traffic or probation violation where he confessed what he had done and where to find her body.
His lawyer says none of the other leads or suspects were ever checked out.
Well um, when you get a call from a family member telling you where the body is and you go and it's there, and you take stain samples and they match the suspects DNA, why the flying fuck would you look at anybody else? Plus, add to just that little bit, there were many many phone calls from people who recognized Smith in the videotape as being an employee of an auto mechanic station or a neighbor. It wasn't just one person saying it was him, it was many.
I know it's the defense attorneys job but good lord, the evidence is all there.

Information taken from WWSB.com

Day one in the Joseph Smith trial

On day one of the Joseph Smith murder trial, prosecutors and defense attorneys began to lie out their cases for and against the man accused of killing 11-year-old Carlie Brucia.

Prosecutors say they have an overwhelming case against Smith. In an opening statement in Sarasota Monday, a prosecutor said Joseph Smith raped and strangled Carlie. Prosecutor Debra Riva says Smith told relatives where to find the girl's body. Officials say the body had Smith's DNA on it. Riva says, "Carlie's body will tell you the rest of the story." Riva said the girl's decomposed body was clad in a red shirt pushed up over her chest and that she was naked from the waist down. The prosecutor said marks on her wrists suggested they had been restrained and that Smith had strangled her from behind.

Riva also told jurors how investigators discovered the 10-second videotape as they retraced the route Carlie would have taken home from a friend's house and how it was used to link Smith to her abduction. Carlie's body was found four nights later on the grounds of a nearby church.

Smith's attorney, Adam Tebrugge is raising questions about DNA evidence prosecutors say prove Smith raped and strangled Carlie. Tebrugge told jurors that investigators got the names of numerous suspects after the videotape was shown. He said one man lived at the friend's house where Carlie had spent the previous night. But even though the man had told investigators he had discussed sexual topics with Carlie, Tebrugge says Smith became their primary suspect almost immediately.

After opening statements, the prosecution began calling their witnesses. Among the 5 witnesses called Monday were Carlie’s stepfather Steve Kansler and the co-owner of Evie’s Car Wash, Mike Evanoff. Evie’s Car Wash is where authorities obtained the surveillance video of Carlie’s abduction.

Carlie’s abduction was caught by a security camera on February first of last year.

Smith is charged with first-degree murder, kidnapping and capital sexual battery. He has pleaded innocent. He could be sentenced to death if he's convicted.

Also, if there are any local SRQ people interested in attending the trial, there are admission tickets to both morning and afternoon sessions available if anyone would like to go out and show their support to the Bruscia family and it also being broadcast live on court tv.

---

September 13, 2005

It's over.

What began on January 13th 2003* with a broken arm, is officially over.
We reached a settlement after just about an hour and a half.
Not a huge settlement but it was enough to where the teens mom finally had to take some responsibility for what her son did to Sebastian that day.
I'm happy with it and mostly happy that it's over.
I have too much else going on in my life to have to keep doing this thing for another year or more ya know?
We could have taken it to civil trial but I said push just a hair more and see if they budge and my lawyer pushed and they did.
They aren't happy with the settlement but it's done.

* Yes I did mess up the date. I had 2001 in my mind for another reason. Thanks for putting me straight.

---

January 19, 2005

Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god?

I do.
Do you go to church?
No.
And Sebastian started off with a bang.
Let me just say for the record, the insurance attorneys suck major ass.
I have never met a bigger fucking asshole in all my life and from my attorneys kicking of my chair, I think he knew that I was thisclose to crawling across the table and choking that dink.

Ass Attorney: What is the nature of your disability?
Me: *quizzical look* Severe scoliosis.
Ass Attorney: When were you diagnosed?
Me: When I was 12.
Ass Attorney: How many doctors have said you're disabled?
Me: 17 in the last 4 years.
*Silence*
Ass Attorney: Did the teen tell them not to touch his car and did they touch his car?
Me: Yes he told them not to touch his car and no they did not touch his car.
Ass Attorney: Again, did the teen tell them not to touch his car and did they touch his car? It's a yes or no question.
Me: It's a two part question. Yes he told them not to touch his car and No they did not touch his car. It's yes AND no.
*silence*

Sebastians questions went on for about 30 minutes. I got grilled for an hour and half. mainly about things having absolutely nothing to do with the case at hand like where is my ex-husband, does he pay support, how much money does my room mate make (none of his fucking business) and more and more about my back.
He basically tried to paint me as a disabled welfare mother trying to make a fast buck.
He was a dink with a capital D.

Those are over and we may or may not have to endure a trial which our attorney doesn't think is going to happen at all because our testimonies were so good and this guy couldn't trip us up at all.
I'm glad that part is over. It sucked.

But I met our attorney face to face for the first time today. He is in St. Pete and we have done everything by phone and mail and oh my god, bad Kat. The first thing I thought was wow, he looks like this guy.
I was stunned for a minute. Tee hee.

Ok, I really need to eat dinner now. We didn't get back until almost 5 and then we went to the store at 6 and gah. Time just flew so fast today.
Later days.

---

December 22, 2004

You're not gonna believe this.

Yeah you will if you've been following the court saga for any amount of time now.
I told you she was nuts.
She called her lawyer and canceled citing a personal emergency.
This is the third time she has cited this same exact fucking thing.
So the lawyer is going to go before a judge today and get an order compelling her to show for depositions and if she doesn't, to hold her in contempt.
The lawyer is pissed off.

Well, I'm at least glad he called me before I left at 9:30 to catch the buses downtown.

If she thinks it's going to go away, she is surely mistaken and has now just screwed herself a little harder.
She doesn't show up to the next one, she goes to jail.

---

December 22, 2004

Not looking forward to today.

Today Sebastian and I have to go give depositions in the case against the teen who broke his arm January 2003.
We have already been through the criminal trial and now it's the civil part.
Neither of us are looking forward to seeing the psycho mom or the teen again.
She's crazy.
They better not ask me to like sit in a waiting room alone with her for long because I don't trust her. She's unstable and frankly, she scares me.
All the time she drove around taking pictures of me and my kids, chasing me and the juvy justice guy out into the hallway during the criminal trial and demanding that she be allowed to hear what he was telling me. Yelling at us after the teen was convicted so loudly that we had to have police escorts out of the building.
She still sits in her car and watches me when I walk anywhere.

This isn't about the money contrary to what some may think.
This is about her failure to acknowledge that the teen had some serious problems before I let my kids go in and over to her house.
I equate it to a pit bull and her not telling me.
He had problems with drugs, violence and other issues and she never told me and I let my kids go there to play all the while she knew he had a short temper and was violent towards his little brother and other kids in the neighborhood.
No one said anything until after he broke Sebastians arm and then it was stories like he chased me down with a chain and fathers saying he tried to hit them with a chain for defending their kid.
He had done drugs in that home and my kids were in there.

It's like if she had a dangerous dog and kept it in the house only and never told anyone and let kids go to play and the dog hurt one of them.
Her teen had a violent history, she didn't inform other parents and as a result, he became violent with my kid and broke his arm in a horrific manner.

If I had known, I would have never allowed them near that house.

I understand her anger at me. Her son went to jail for a year because I agreed with the state prosecution and went forward with charges.
I feel bad that their family was turned upside down for a year but my son missed a month of school and then when he went back, he wasn't even allowed recess for 3 months. He wasn't allowed to ride his bike for 6 months or play outside. He was basically a bored little video gamer stuck in the house.
He will have to have surgery to correct the rotation issues when he gets older.
He is at less than 80% rotation in that arm and it bends funny now.
I was told to talk him out of a life of sports if that was his dream. Talk him into a desk job like lawyer or teacher. Something that won't put his arm in conflict.

This is about informing other parents if you have a dangerous child in your home.
I understand her need to protect her son and be angry at me for taking him away but he did it to himself and she did it to him by not telling other parents so that we could keep our kids safe.
If she had told me, I would have never let them go over there and he would have never picked up Sebastian over his head and thrown him to a concrete driveway on January 12,2003.

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