Fall of 2011

  The Ex's mom called us just after 6am on a Sunday morning and asked Husband where the kids were.  Husband told her that Son was at a friend's house and Daughter was sleeping.  She asked him to wake the kids up (No, honest)  Husband asked her why; she said they had a new baby brother. (Let me get this straight:  our son is born at 5pm at night, we call to tell the kids their brother is born, you won't even let the kids call us back and tell them yourselves that our child was born.  Yet your kid is born at 5 something in the morning, you call us immediately and want us to wake the kids up so you can tell them?  Yeah...sounds balanced)

  Son finished football, even made a touchdown at his last game!  The kids mentioned that their neighbors had moved out, the same neighbor that allegedly "watched" the kids while The Ex and Boyfriend went to work.

  One day in October, The Ex called and left Husband a message saying she wanted to talk to the kids because there was a family emergency.  The kids called her back and The Ex said she was headed out of state; her parents had left not even a week before, her dad was having medical issues but didn't tell anyone and ended up in the hospital out-of-state.  The Ex and all of her siblings were going to go to see them. (The Ex was on maternity leave, none of her siblings had a job.  How were they paying for this trip?)

  A few days later, The Ex called and asked Husband if he would agree to reduce her child support by 40% for the time she was "unable to work" (She was receiving short-term disability checks but still wasn't paying child support so it was adding up)  Husband told her no.  The Ex began complaining that she "always worked with Husband when he wanted to switch weekends."  Husband told her that visitation and child support are two entirely different issues; he also reminded her that not even two years ago, he had wanted to settle all of this outside of court and she refused to do it.  The Ex then began complaining again that she and Boyfriend had no money.  Husband told her that if money was that tight, she should sell one of her vehicles.  The Ex said, "No one's gonna buy a brand-new car." (They will, they're just not going to pay what you owe on it because it's probably more than the car is worth.)  Husband pointed out that she had bought them brand-new so someone else probably would too.  The Ex said, "But I like them." (Are you 5?  Seriously, you can't afford the car but are keeping it because you "like" it?) The Ex began complaining that when she and her siblings had gone to visit her parents, nobody had helped her pay for gas to drive down there and back.  Husband told her that while he understood it was a family emergency, it was her choice to take her van and everyone with her, knowing they didn't have any money.  The Ex then said that she would start paying her half of the kids' medical bills (We had an upcoming court hearing requesting she be found in contempt because she owed hundreds and wasn't paying it.)  Husband told her no, we had waited years already and were done being told she'd pay and then she never did.

  Court came and went, we found out Attorney 3 is just as crazy at The Ex is.  We had her served by a process server, didn't realize you were supposed to file the affidavit of service before the hearing.  We got to the hearing, the commissioner notes there's no affidavit in the file and asks if The Ex was served.  Attorney 3 asks her; The Ex looks at him and says, "[Husband] handed it to me." (In our state, this is not legal service.  A party to the action cannot provide service on the other party.  We knew this and had her legally served; she was lying through her teeth in court.)  Attorney 3 tells the commissioner that The Ex is "indicating" that Husband "handed her the paperwork."  The commissioner asks if this is true; Husband says no, he had her served by a process server.  Commissioner asks if Husband has an affidavit; he says yes and produces it.  (They caught The Ex in a bold-faced lie in the courtroom - and did absolutely nothing about it.  If you were unable to tell, this still pisses me off.  There was no confusion, there was no misunderstanding the question.  The Ex blatantly lied to the commissioner thinking she could get out of having the hearing, was caught in a lie and they did nothing about it.  I'm sure if Husband tried this, they would've nailed him to the wall)

  Things stayed relatively quiet until Christmas...