Thursday Check In

What kind of blogger am I that doesn't blog everyday?  phft. Not a very good one.  So I am probably  going to take a break from blogging and recharge.  I do have a couple of posts banging around in my head and maybe I will be able to get them out of there over the weekend. 

But first a quick update!

Took Jakes to the Ear Specialist today.  He had an ear infection over Christmas and then there was swelling and yucky stuff around the tube.  Only in his right ear, which has always been the difficult ear.  So after 2.5 weeks of ear drops, there is still inflammation and the Dr wants to take the tube out.  He thinks the tube is causing the inflammation and irritation.  But on the plus side, Jakes is old enough that his ears should be grown into position so that everything drains as it should and we won't have infections or a need for tubes.  HOPE.

My Job.  Still haven't been paid and we are coming up on the close of another pay period.  And there is no word as to when we might get paid.  They are offering lay-off to anyone who wants to take one but you might not get hired back into the same position if at all.  So while I am pissed off at the treatment of the staff and would love to find a way to leave the company, I am afraid.  I checked my numbers for the amount of unemployment I can get and I can pay my bills on that.  I would then know that I will have an income coming every two weeks.  I also still have a savings account to pull from and then replace when I actually get paid from the company.   I don't know what to do.  So for now, I'm not doing anything.  I will give them until Monday and if there is still no word on the paychecks past or future, I will ask for the lay off.

The other thing is that I don't know if they will allow me to be laid off.  I am the only one doing my job and the only one trained to do my job.  I am the grant writer.  If I don't work, they don't get money coming in.  So, while I may ask for a lay off, it may be denied.  We'll see.

Jakes father is still being an ass.  I sent him an email with instructions for Jakes meds over the weekend and he is freaking out over giving it to him.  sigh.  I will explain to him the need once again, quoting the courts and the therapist and hope that he gives it to Jakes.

My dad had surgery last week (I completely glossed over it cause I was in court and I WON!).  He had a bump on his arm that the Dr thinks is cancerous.  If so, that will make 3 different kinds of cancer he has had.  He made it through surgery just fine.  I was more worried about the effects of the anesthesia on his heart than about the actual surgery.    But he was fine and is healing fine as well.  We'll find out the results of the biopsy next week when he gets the stitches out.

Well, that's my check in.  How're things on your end?

Gratitude

Today I will be grateful. I will start the process of turning today’s pain into tomorrow’s joy.

I have a lot to be grateful for in my life. I have wonderful family and friends who are there when ever I need them, sometimes even when I don’t need them. I have a son, who I love more than I can describe. I have the ability to fight for the things my son needs and WIN.

I should be grateful for my job as it usually provides me with the means to support myself and Son. But right now I am pretty disgruntled, as I am sure everyone in the company is. See, we are supposed to get paid every 2 weeks which was last Tuesday. But they didn’t have the money to pay us. And they have no idea when the money will be coming in to pay us with.

On Thursday, they paid the full timers half their pay and the part timers got all what was owed to them. But they still have no idea when the money will be coming in to pay us. And on this coming Friday, they will owe me for THREE weeks!

What they are doing is illegal and I along with the rest of the employees could file with the department of labor for this. But that won’t necessarily get us our back pay, it just might cost the company more money in fines and get me fired for reporting them. Plus the entire process takes at LEAST 10 days with the Department of Labor.

I am between a rock and a hard place. I need my job as long as there is a job. Now if they say leave, then I can file for unemployment and be able to live on that. I won’t be going to Hawaii in November but I will be able to put food on the table. I know that there will be money in the bank on a set date and I will be able to look for a new job.

While I am stressed over how to pay my bills and everything that goes with living, I am grateful for this little bit of stress. Nuts, you say? Of course I am! But this little bit of stress reminded me that I have lots to be grateful for.

For now, I have a savings account to dip into to cover expenses.   Gratitude!

Another reason is that my parents offered to loan me some money to help out while I am waiting for the paycheck to come in.   Gratitude!

Plus my neighbor Kathy, who also happens to be my landlord told me to pay her last, she can wait for my rent if necessary.  Gratitude!

AND a blogger/twitter buddy told me I should send my resume to her so she can share it with her hubs.  My biggest reservation with that is that I would have to move.  And not to somewhere warm!  lol  Gratitude!

Am I the luckiest person on the planet? I am so grateful to have these people in my life!

Thank you all SO much!

Now if I can just get my employer to cough up some money.

weekend wrap up

Its been a quiet weekend round here.  With the occasional giggle when I remember the court win.  Want some details?  Ok here they are.

1. Mothers request to reduce the child support GRANTED (the medical insurance premium actually went DOWN!)

2. Mothers request to medicate the child for ADHD GRANTED AS MODIFIED. I don't need the fathers consent to medicate Son for ADHD.  The judge said in his notes "It is clear from the Mother's certification that she has been concerned about Childs behavior for a significant length of time.  The Father only has Child two weekends a month and therefore the Mother is able to observe Child's behaviors on a more regular basis.

3. Mothers request to reimburse medical expenses is GRANTED.  He has 15 days to pay me what he owes for his portion of the co-pays.    Although he is court ordered to, I am not holding my breath.  He never pays unless I take him to court.  A$$hole.

4.  Mothers motion to have Father be responsible for court costs is DENIED.  oh well.  It was worth a shot.  This was the only thing I lost.  Tee he!

5. Father's motion  for an additional evaluation of Child is DENIED.  Tee he!  Of course, this would have made the 4th evaluation for ADHD that was done on Jakes.

6.  Fathers motion to have Child interviewed by the court is DENIED.  Duh.  They are lawyers, not doctors.

7.  Fathers motion to change transportation is DENIED.  And all because he wrote in his cross motion 2 sentences.  Had he argued his points in writing, the judge might have entertained changes.  In my response to his cross, I informed the judge that he moved over two years ago and never discussed changes and the judge tossed that in A/H's face!  So if A/H re-files on this, I don't think the judge will be inclined to make changes.  And I have lots of good arguments against changing things.

8.  Fathers motion to claim Child every third year for income tax purposes is DENIED.  Again, partially because A/H only wrote what he wanted with no details and mostly because its against the IRS rules and regulations.  The judge sited the IRS rules and if A/H re-files on this, I will also include that information in my cross.  Tee he!

9.  Fathers motion to change parenting time holidays and increase summer visitation time is DENIED.  I did consent to adding one week of vacation in the summer and for him to keep Jakes until 9:00 on Fridays and Sundays in the summer.

Ok, so only ONE of my requests was denied and I put that in there more or less to annoy A/H.  Had I been awarded the court fees, it would have been sprinkles on the icing on the cake.

ALL of A/H's requests were denied!  Tee he!  I WON, I WON!

Throughout the entire hearing, I think I only spoke 4 sentences.  The judge asked if I disagreed with anything and of course, I said Nope.  Perfect!  Well, I talked about agreeing to change the visitation.  It was funny to see the judge tell A/H that he's an idiot to oppose something that obviously his child needs to be healthy and successful in life.  The judge also told him that he needs to figure out how to follow the rules for filing the motion.  tee he!  I had to bite my tongue so I didn't giggle right there in court.

So Friday, Jakes had dinner with his dad, Neicy and I went furniture shopping (her, not me!) and then I came home and celebrated with Skittles Vodka!

Saturday, I did laundry, a quick clean on the house, yelled at the kid to get homework done and celebrated with Cherry Jolly Rancher Vodka while texting with my friend, HS in AZ.  He's going through a rough time.  I hope things start looking up for him soon!  He's a good guy and deserves a break.

Sunday, we kicked back and I yelled at Son to get more homework done.  There is more yelling and nagging going on again, we have an appointment with the Dr to see about changing up the medication.  While, its nothing like it was before Christmas, its still not productive for us.

I texted with HS again until he had to leave for errands.  He was bragging about the weather out there.  He was in shorts with the door open.  I'm here with layers and blankets and waiting for an ice storm.  sigh.

Monday, I spent with a book in my hand for the most part.   I haven't been this relaxed in a LONG time.

I have cooked dinner four nights in a row!  Two of them for the Compound.  Its great to get together with them for dinner.  Three generations of family at one table, nice.  I try to cook for them on Sundays because there are usually several nights during the week that we go out to dinner with them and as the "kid" I have to fight for the bill!  lol

Well, I'm going to go nag the kid to clean his room and make the rounds of your blogs!  Sorry I have been absent lately but I have been a little stressed.  There were days that I would head over, read your stuff and just couldn't come up with a comment.  I drew a blank.

Thank you to each and everyone who gave me positive words and out good thoughts and prayers out for me!  It paid off!

I WON!

Just a quick post to say:

I WON!!!

Court went well!  I will give more details later.  Thank you to all who sent good thoughts and prayer for me!  You're the best!

Today's The Day.

Court.  Its finally here.  For me, its going to be anticlimactic as I am already doing what I am asking the courts permission to do.  Medicating my child.  So I am going to have fun with his father through this.  Going to have fun making him look like the inept parent that he is.  Making him look like the money grubbing, begrudging his child's welfare person he is.

See, I found out that he did counter file against me but he never served me with his request. STUPID!  When I called the courts on Monday to make sure things were on track, they told me he filed something on December 15th!  They were nice enough to share it with me and offer advice on what I could do, which was to ask for a postponement for another month.  After reading (and trying to decipher his typos and wrong word usage), I decided that I would be able to defend myself against his stupid requests today. 

The courts allowed me to draft a response for the judge and turn it in along with my back-ups.  I mailed it to A/H but who knows if he would get it in time.  Oh well.

What he filed was that he doesn't think he should be responsible for Jakes therapy co-pay because they are billing my insurance for family therapy.  So he doesn't think he should be responsible for it.  Asshole!

He wants Jakes evaluated by the autism doctor, who doesn't participate with Jakes insurance and will cost a minimum of $150 but the office thinks it will be closer to $300 because Jakes hasn't been there in over 3 years and a comprehensive evaluation will have to be done.  He also wants Jakes interviewed by the court.

He doesn't think he should be made to pay my cost of filing the motion because I didn't try to solve this on my own.  DUH!  I have tried to solve this on my own and when I involved HIM, all my efforts were shut down.  He left me with no other choice but to file the motion.

Those are his arguments to what I filed.  Then he has to audacity to ask the courts to make ME transport Jakes for half of the transportation necessary for HIS parenting time.  He moved 2 states away over 2 years ago and didn't ask for help in transporting him.  He is claiming that his employer has cut his hours and he can't afford the tolls associated with transporting him.  I say tough cookies!  My employer hasn't cut my hours but they didn't pay me this week.  Can't get cut anymore than that!

He also wants to be able to claim him for tax purposes every third year.  REALLY?  You have him an average of 4 days per month and contribute 45% of his support and you think you should claim him????  Not to mention that he doesn't PARENT or contribute anything to PARENTING other than frustration.

He wants to make some minor changes to the visitation order, which I have no problems with.

So I drafted my response to the judge and included as much back up as I could and worked to gather the rest of it.  Which I have to share in court today.  Jakes therapist wrote an AWESOME progress report that details his behaviors before medication and since.  I cried when I read it.  But then I cry where Jakes is concerned a lot.

I am trying to summon my anger at A/H so that I have the strength to get through this today without crying in court.  I didn't put on mascara in case I cry!  And I have a tissue in my pocket.  I am ready for this!

As I type this, Jakes is singing the alphabet song.  I am patiently waiting for his medication to kick in so he stops.  He is so much quieter when medicated!

Wish me luck!

randomness

Home life is getting better. I am enjoying my son again! This was definitely the right decision!

Today, Jaxon is ONE YEARS old! I can’t believe where the time has gone! Just yesterday he was a little pup. Now he’s an adult doggie! He really is the best dog for us.

We are expecting another huge snowstorm today into tomorrow. They are calling for 5-10 inches of snow. But they also don’t know what the track will be. We could get more or we could get less. I vote for less!

I am a kinda backwards person. I complain about the cold and the snow but then I make plans to plunge into the ocean in FEBRUARY no less! Just a little crazy, I know.

I haven’t mentioned my dad recently. Mainly cause he is doing pretty good. The last Drs visit, they didn’t even change any of his meds. How awesome is that?!! He still needs to accept that he can’t do everything he wants, like running the snow blower or shoveling snow. But he body jumps in and tells him when its had enough. And it gives him no choice but to listen.

I am SO pissed at my brother. He has been MIA for a while but usually turns up for holidays. Dad has called him three or four times to check in but he hasn’t called back. Then over the Christmas holiday, Brother didn’t even call back or show up AT ALL. Done. Disowned as far as I am concerned. I feel bad for Dad though. It hurt him deeply.

Court is on Friday. I called to make sure everything was on track and found out that A/H had filed a cross motion but didn’t see fit to notify ME! I explained to the law clerk that I had no clue that he had cross motioned. She said if I can send a letter to the judge before Friday, he will have a chance to read my position on A/H’s requests. She recommended I try to be ready to have my arguments ready before or on Friday, otherwise the judge will just reschedule us in 28 days. So I spent most of the morning with hateful thoughts bouncing in my head, then I already had an appointment with my therapist where I discussed a strategy. Last night I typed up my rebuttal to all A/H’s points and now I will submit it to the courts today. I shared it with Neicy and she approved. She said I have a way with words. Unlike A/H who submitted his paperwork with TYPOS. Really?

I just found out today that I am not getting paid.  The company doesn't have the funds.  And they don't know when they will be getting the funds to pay us.  But they will be glad to give any employee and letter to show any creditors that they haven't been paid.  Like that will matter to the bank that holds the loan on my car when they come to take it away.  If you have a line on a job, let me know!  I have a child to feed!

I have been chatting and texting with HS recently.  He lives in AZ and has had a hard time lately.  Fingers crossed that he is on the upswing!

If you liked my randomness, you should check out Keely's!  She hosts this party.

Polar Bear Plunge 2011

Its Coming!  Its Almost time!  We're getting excited!  Yes, Jakes and I are going to swim in the Atlantic Ocean in FEBRUARY! On Superbowl Sunday!

This will be my 4th year and Jakes 2nd of raising funds for Delaware Special Olympics.  As part of this fund raiser, we will be going for a plunge in the arctic Atlantic Ocean.  Here are some picture of last years fun!



Neicy, Jakes and me



Me and Neicy after our swim.  Check out her face!



Jakes and Me
It was his 3rd time into the water but I wanted a picture of us!



After the Plunge.


Ok so all this is for the DE Special Olympics which does wonderful things for special kids in Delaware.  Jakes would like to raise enough money to earn a towel. If you want to donate, please let me know and I will direct you to our fund raising pages.

And now back to your regularly scheduled programming!