It's All My Husband's Fault

  Not quite a month ago, we found out that The Ex had insurance available through her employer; child support said they would send a letter stating she was required to cover Son and Daughter.  We haven't heard anything since then, so I called our dentist's office today and asked if they could check to see if The Ex had coverage or not.   I just found out that The Ex has had insurance since July 1st, 2018.   She never told us, never gave us a card, absolutely nothing.  She has herself, her two youngest kids, and Daughter covered.   Son was seventeen (still a minor) when The Ex got this coverage, but she apparently didn't feel it was necessary to cover him.  I have no idea why she wouldn't; it's not like it would cost more.  I think this will change, though.  Looking over the paperwork the office sent to me, it lists the "child coverage age" as 26.  Son is only 18.  If child support sent what they were supposed to, Son migh...

  Daughter had her winter concert this week.  We never know if The Ex is attending these events because sometimes she says she is and doesn't show up; other times she says she can't come and then suddenly appears.  Last year for parents' night at basketball, The Ex's parents came but The Ex did not; then this year for parents' night at volleyball, The Ex showed up and Ned decided he was also Daughter's parent.  But anyway...   The morning of the concert, Daughter told me that she didn't know if The Ex was coming to the concert.  I asked why. ( I already knew; The Ex's work was having a holiday open house on the same night at Daughter's concert. ) Daughter said there was something going on at The Ex's work; she also said that her sister was getting her cast that day.  I pointed out that a doctor wasn't going to be putting a cast on after office hours, but I could understand if there was a work event.   That night, we're sitting in the ...

  Sunday afternoon we took our younger kids to go ice skating.  Daughter had said she wanted to go but open skate only went until 4:30pm and she wasn't supposed to come home until 5:30pm; she said that if her grandpa was bringing her back, he might be willing to bring her earlier and meet us in the local city rather than coming all the way to our house.  Well, he didn't bring her.  The Ex brought her, so of course, she wasn't early.   We left the skating rink around quarter to 5; I texted Daughter and Husband called her.  Daughter said that she and The Ex were at Walmart.  Husband asked if she could get dropped off at Kohl's because that's where we were heading.  Daughter asked The Ex if she could do that and she said yes.  Daughter said they were still going to be about 10 minutes; Husband told her that was fine.   At 5:16pm, Daughter sends me a text: "We said ten minutes so we went to get a wiper blade and they don't really know wh...

  Somehow, amidst all the insanity that The Ex causes in her life and attempts to cause in ours, I haven't blogged about some weird stories involving her and dogs.  I brought up one story in the last blog post and decided this would make for some good fodder.   I've written before about the dog that The Ex decided to get shortly after she moved in with Boyfriend.  That dog had no training whatsoever and would constantly jump on people; the kids were always coming by us on the weekends with scratches on their arms, faces, and legs.  The Ex once told me that the dog jumped on Boyfriend's sister while she was pregnant and hit her in the belly, so The Ex said she "threw the dog across the room."  A few months later, The Ex decided they were getting rid of the dog because she couldn't "risk" the dog jumping on her while she was pregnant.   We got our first dog in 2012; one month later, The Ex decided that she and Boyfriend were also getting a dog,...

  Daughter started talking again last week.  I don't remember how we got on the topic, but she said that The Ex's daughter "wants [Ned] to adopt her." ( This girl is 10 years old.  You know what I was doing at 10 years old?  Wondering when I could next have a sleepover with my friends.  The Ex was asking Son and Daughter if they "could see [Ned] as a father figure" when she'd only been dating him for a few months.   Knowing The Ex and how she is, I don't believe this is a genuine thought that this child had on her own; I think it's an idea that The Ex planted in her head and continues to feed. ) I was kind of surprised and Daughter said, "Well, I mean...I get it.  [The Ex's two youngest kids'] dad isn't around, so..." ( A friend of mine commented, "Yes, their dad is not around.  So for all intents and purposes, Ned is already her 'dad.'  Why would she be thinking about adoption?" )   Then, in what was pr...

  The court order has read since 2005 that both parents will provide health insurance for the kids, contingent on it being available at reasonable or no cost.  The Ex used to have a job that, in addition to paying her quite well, offered decent health insurance; she got fired from that job on purpose ( She told people she wanted to get fired just so that she could get her child support reduced. ), lost her health insurance, and collected unemployment for a full year.  After she had exhausted her unemployment benefits, she then got a part-time job and wasn't eligible for employer-sponsored health insurance.  After the judge ordered her to do so, The Ex finally got a full-time job that also paid well and also offered insurance; when she left Boyfriend and moved to Tiny City, she quit that job and lost that health insurance as well.   The Ex doesn't really care about this because she and her two youngest kids are enrolled in state insurance that she doesn't have...

  Since Son graduated and moved into Girlfriend's parents' house, he's contacted Husband a few times.  The only communication they've had that was decent was on Son's 18th birthday; Husband wished him a happy birthday, Son said thanks.  Every time Son messaged Husband, it was always because he wanted something.   The first time Son reached out was to say that he needed his Social Security card and asked Husband to mail it or bring it to Son's court hearing for his disorderly conduct citation.   The second was because he wasn't able to update anything on his phone, so he accused Husband and/or I of turning on the parental controls to his Google account and demanded that we turn off something we didn't turn on.   The third was the message over Labor Day weekend, which I'm still convinced was authored by The Ex, and was when Son told Husband that Girlfriend's dad more of a dad to him than Husband is, and how happy he was now that he was with ...

  Husband emailed a copy of Daughter's basketball schedule to The Ex and let her know about the scrimmage that was on the 10th; he also reminded her of the medical bill balance, that her last payment had been almost two years ago, and asked when she'd be making another payment.   The Ex logged in, read the message, and said nothing.   Husband emailed her again, reminded her that she agreed to respond to any questions within 48 hours, said it had been five days with no reply from her, and asked again when she would be making a payment.   The second email was sent one week ago.  The Ex hasn't logged into 2houses for 10 straight days.   But the holidays are coming, so I'm sure there will be something coming in the next month or two.

  The Ex has been quiet.  We haven't heard anything since the end of September when The Ex had a hissy fit because we wouldn't let her rearrange the placement schedule on her terms. I blogged about it ( You can read about it  here . ), but the summarized version is that The Ex wanted Daughter the weekend of September 29th, asked to switch for a weekend she wasn't even in town, announced we were switching because she was going to leave Daughter here on her weekend, and adamantly refused to switch for the weekend of November 10th that Husband had offered so that The Ex could still have Daughter when she wanted.   Volleyball is officially over for this season, which means basketball is about to start.  We haven't gotten a schedule yet from Daughter's coach so I called him the other day, asking if he had an idea of what days and times practices would be so that I could let Daughter's work know what her availability would be.   Daughter's coach called b...

  Daughter had asked if we would let her get her nose pierced for her birthday.  Husband wasn't thrilled about it at first, but he finally said yes and I took her in.    Daughter has had the piercing for almost 3 months now.   Daughter told me last night that The Ex just recently realized that Daughter's nose is pierced, and told her that "it's ugly."  After getting over the initial shock, I told her that out of everyone, The Ex is the ONLY person to say that; Husband didn't even want Daughter to have it done and now he thinks it looks cute on her.   She also said she had told some of her friends about this; one of them commented that The Ex really seems to be judging Daughter's appearance lately.  Daughter said that this is how it always is with The Ex.   My heart really hurts for her.  She shouldn't have to put up with this.  Daughter is such a sweet, loving, helpful person; she'd give a stranger the shirt off her back if ...

  Last week was Parents' Night at Daughter's school.  The morning of, Daughter said she had asked The Ex if she was coming; she told Daughter that she "didn't know."   We got to the school a little early, I talked to the athletic director for a few minutes.  A little while later, Daughter said she needed to find the AD and talk to him.  Daughter said that she had only listed The Ex as a "maybe" for Parents' Night, but she just found out that The Ex was coming so she said that she "had to make sure" they announced The Ex's name along with ours. ( The way she said it implied she knew that she was going to get an earful if The Ex's name wasn't announced.  Am I the only one who finds it a somewhat interesting that Daughter has them read The Ex's name only if she attends the event?  All of the other events that The Ex has missed, Daughter told them only to read my and Husband's names. )   So The Ex shows up with Ned in ...

  You guys, I am really sorry.  I thought I had told you about The Ex's hair in the past.  Apparently, I did not do that.   She has nice hair.  In fact, I would be quite envious of her hair if she didn't style it the way that she does.  She's had the same "go to" style (if you can call what she does a "style") since before she and Husband got together.  Husband's family will occasionally ask me if The Ex "still does her hair like that."   Her hair is naturally curly, but then....I'm not sure what she does to it, exactly.  The curliness is good, I think whatever she is doing there is okay.  But oh my word...the worst part...   She has bangs cut, straightens and curls them at angles that defy gravity, and then sprays them down with what is probably close to fourteen cans of hairspray.  Honestly, I want to touch them just to see if they break off in my hand.   Son was once mocking her by holding his hands at his fore...

  Someone must be badmouthing Girlfriend because she posted on Facebook the other day and wrote, "Dose ( *Does ) making (* a ) post about me make you feel better about yourself?"   A few people commented trying to encourage her.  Then, along came The Ex, and her comments are just stellar.  I'm really struggling to make sense of what she wrote, but nothing connects.  All I can figure is that she was pretending to be encouraging Girlfriend but was really trying to post passive-aggressive attacks on someone, possibly Husband or myself, and just came off sounding like a total idiot. "People like that have nothing better to do with their life... They are uncaring selfish people that think they have friends, but really don't...bc the really good people that don't like others, are still good to them. They only pretend to b friends with those people bc of the good in them... Your a great person. Love You"   Okay, there is so much here to comment on....

  Let's rewind a couple of weeks.  The Ex emailed Husband on Monday, September 3rd, saying she wanted to switch the weekends; she said she wasn't going to be around the weekend of the 8th and claimed that Daughter wanted to switch for the weekend of the 29th.  Husband emailed back that same night saying because Daughter had a tournament on the 8th and The Ex would not be around, Daughter would stay home with us; he said if The Ex wanted Daughter on the weekend of the 29th, they could switch for the weekend of November 10th.  The Ex didn't read this email.   Last week, Husband emailed and said that Daughter wanted to stay for homecoming.  The Ex didn't read this email, either.   Yesterday morning, The Ex replied to the homecoming email at 7:07am: "Since she's with u during homecoming, ( Daughter is not "with us."  It's The Ex's weekend.  Husband is telling her that Daughter wants to participate. ) she can stay with you for that weeke...

  The Ex had emailed Husband last Monday, saying she wouldn't be around this past weekend and asking if he wanted to switch for the weekend of the 29th.  Husband replied that same day; she still hasn't read it.  I find it rather paradoxical that she asks if he wants to switch, but refuses to read his answer.  Is she of the impression that just because she left Daughter here, she'll be entitled to a make-up weekend at her leisure?  Honestly, nothing this woman does makes any sense at all.   If you read my past few blog posts, Daughter said that The Ex had made plans to go somewhere with Ned on the weekend of the 8th and claimed that she had thought that it wasn't her placement weekend.  Since the email last week, I've learned that The Ex is going to be gone not just the weekend of the 8th, but the weekend of the 15th as well.  So really, it didn't matter which weekend was hers; she wasn't planning on seeing Daughter at all because she's running o...

  Daughter already gave us a heads-up last week that The Ex wanted to switch weekends; she said that this upcoming weekend, The Ex had already made plans to go somewhere with Ned and her two younger kids.  I asked why she planned something on her placement weekend; Daughter said that The Ex "didn't think" it was her weekend.  Daughter asked if she had looked at the calendar. ( Translation:  You're an idiot, Mom. )  I don't know what excuse The Ex had for it.  Daughter then said that The Ex wanted to switch this weekend for a later weekend because Ned is having his annual party on Husband's weekend, and The Ex wanted Daughter to be there for the party.   Thursday night Daughter was on the phone with her; I heard her tell The Ex no less than three times to email Husband about switching weekends.  The Ex said she was going to hang up with Daughter and email Husband right away.  Unsurprisingly, she did not.  The Ex waited three and a half ...

  Husband woke up to this message from Son: "Hey  [Husband's first name], just wondering how everythings been going. ( Um...fine. ) How is the dog doing? ( Also fine. ) Just figured i would try starting conversation even though we both know you won't. ( About a month ago, Son drove all the way here to pick up his friend, who also happens to be our neighbor.  A few days later, he dropped the kid off.  Son never said hi, never told us he was coming, didn't even drive by our house.  But now, he's going to "try starting conversation even though he knows Husband won't"?  Is this supposed to be a joke??? ) I would have started off with hey Dad, but [Girlfriend's] dad has treated me more like a son more than you ever have. ( Why, because he lets you drive his car and live in his house? Wow, we should all aspire to have such great parenting skills. ) He deserves to be called Dad. ( Son must have thought this would offend Husband.  I call Husband's d...

  I don't think I ever told you guys this...   Long after they had gotten married and had kids, Husband found out that in the past, The Ex had sex with her cousin.   Her first cousin.   More than one time.   This same cousin is currently serving a prison sentence for murder because he shot his girlfriend in the face.   I completely wish I was kidding.

  Son moved out the same night he graduated.  Awhile back, one of his friends asked if he talked to us; Son said not really and his friend said, "That's good."  The friend asked if we had tried talking to Son; Son told him we haven't tried once.  His friend said, "That's really f*cking shitty." ( So, if Son doesn't talk to us, that's good.  But if we don't talk to Son, that's shitty.  How does that work, exactly? )   Son completely depleted the funds in his checking account.  He spent a lot of money on Google Play; I think one week it was over $150, primarily on one game.  He'd also use the ATM and get charged a $2.50 fee.  I kept an eye on the account and sure enough, one day it went negative by a little less than two dollars.  I transferred some money into Son's account to bring the balance back to $0, because Husband's name was also on the account and I didn't want there to be any negative repercussions for him.  Abou...

  Daughter decided she wants to play both volleyball and basketball again this year.  Husband emailed The Ex and told her on Sunday, July 22nd.  Husband said if she had any objections, to let him know; otherwise, he would send the schedules when he had them.  Daughter said something on Monday afternoon about letting The Ex know.  I told her that Husband had sent an email and that The Ex had 2 days to object; if she didn't object, then Daughter got to play and The Ex needed to make sure she was here.  Daughter asked, "...CAN she (object)?"  I said yes, technically she could but she needed to have a good reason for it.   The two days passed, no objection, Daughter is officially signed up for volleyball and will also be playing basketball.  But of course, it's never that easy...   We found out over the weekend that the new coach was planning practices for this week; Daughter was supposed to go back to Tiny City on Monday.  Husband ...

  Daughter has been more or less at war with The Ex over the last few weeks.  Honestly, I can't say that I blame her even a tiny little bit.  Here's a list of just some of what Daughter has told me has happened over the last 1.5-2 months.   A few weeks ago, Daughter was telling me how she made friends with a guy up in Tiny City who she met through her aunt/The Ex's sister.  Daughter said one day, she was at her grandparents' house; her grandpa and her aunt were home, and this guy came over to hang out.  The Ex found out about it and started yelling at Daughter for "hanging out with a guy."  Daughter got upset and told The Ex that she didn't know why she was getting yelled at for being only friends with someone, but Son can sleep with whoever he wants and get people pregnant. ( Son and Girlfriend  have been "trying" to have a baby for the last 6 months.  Girlfriend said that she was "pregnant," and I use quotation marks because none of...

  Last night, Husband got a text from The Ex at 5:37pm.  She just refuses to use 2houses, I'm assuming because she knows I have access to it and wants to pretend that I don't exist.  Anyway... "I forgot to tell you that I cannot take the kids to [city name] that week. ( This is regarding a message that Husband sent to her on 2houses about the kids needing to go in for a follow-up orthodontist exam next week; he emailed her on June 18th .  She read it on June 25th .  She's texting him about it on July 11th . ) I am only off every other Thursday at noon. ( Why the hell would I care about that? ) Unfortunately on my Thursdays he's only taking new patients. Unless you can take them the week of the 22nd that you have them( Son hasn't been to our house since he graduated on June 1st.  Since when is he coming here? ), they will go on Monday, August 6th. ( Fine, whatever.  It's just a retainer check. ) ALSO, ( I don't understand the CAPS lock use here, but...

  After I blogged here  about The Ex's daughter "going to college,"  The Ex hopped on Facebook for a second time and posted more pictures.  The first post had Ned tagged and The Ex wrote: "At [event name, spelled correctly this time because it was on the picture she posted] after picking up [The Ex's daughter] from her week in [City] at school!!!"   There was one picture of Ned and her two youngest outside the event, one picture of her two kids inside the event, a picture of her and Ned standing with her kids inside the event, and finally a picture of the four of them with The Ex's friend/The Ex's daughter's godmother, her son, and her new boyfriend.  The picture of The Ex and her "family" makes me laugh because her daughter is cringe-smiling, Ned looks like he's trying to get physically close to The Ex, and The Ex has both of her hands planted firmly on her son while looking like she's trying to get away from Ned.   The second ...

  Remember last week when I blogged about Ned's post on Facebook about how he had sent his daughter ( The Ex's younger daughter ) to "college" for the week?  The nearly $2,200 camp/college/school/learning experience/whatever you want to call it?   Friday evening, The Ex posted for the first time in over a month: "[Ned first & last name], [The Ex's son] and I in [out-of-state city] picking up my smart baby princess [The Ex's daughter first & middle name]!!!! Also stopped at discount books and found dinosaur books for Little Man and volcano books for [The Ex's daughter's nickname].  Having kids is expensive... ( Yes, it is expensive when you ship them off to a $2,200 camp... ) Days still not over. [Tourist attraction] ( This was misspelled so terribly that I'm led to envision The Ex audibly sounding it out and using the closest phonetic spelling which she probably thinks is entirely correct.  But you guys, her daughter went to "...

  Son was texting Husband a couple of weeks ago about needing his Social Security card.  First he asked Husband to mail it to him ( Uhhh....no.  That's not really something you want lost in the mail.  And, I didn't even think of it, but someone else commented, "Why, so they can say that they never got it and accuse you of tampering with it?" )  Then Son told Husband to "just take it to court."  Apparently, he thought that Husband was coming to his hearing for his disorderly conduct against me.  Husband wasn't planning on it and asked if I was going; I said no, I thought it was just a plea hearing and there was no reason for us to take off of work for it.   The day of his hearing, Son was driven to court by The Ex's dad.  After the hearing, he stopped by the house to pick up his Social Security card.  He didn't say anything about the hearing to Husband, but mentioned that he was getting a job up by Tiny City that was going to be either ...