Bits and pieces lately.

  We haven't had any communication with The Ex in months.  She still has not logged into 2houses since December.  She hasn't paid toward her half of the medical bills since March.  I'm not concerned about collecting the money because it's a court order and she's legally obligated to pay.  My concern is that all of the receipts have been sent over 2houses for almost 6 years now; I'm not going to keep paying to use 2houses after Daughter turns 18 this year, so we're going to have to go back to court before the subscription expires so that we can prove that we did, in fact, supply her with the receipts within the appropriate timeframe as previously ordered by the court.  I have enough experience with The Ex that I know she'll walk into court, lie through her teeth, and claim that she never received any receipts from Husband.

  It's not the biggest deal in the world, just another hoop she's making us jump through.  The Ex has told Daughter that she won't log into 2houses because she "doesn't use that email address anymore."  Well, I've got her Gmail address now that I know she uses for Netflix and making hotel reservations so sometime in the next few months, Husband will send her a reminder email asking her to please make sure that she has all of the receipts which he's sent over the years so there won't be any arguing about when they were provided.  She's never given us this email, so I can't wait to hear how pissed off she is when she finds out that we have it.

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  Daughter mentioned to me a few weeks ago that The Ex and Ned were probably going to be buying a house.  I asked if they were buying a house in Tiny City; she said it was near there but it was 25 minutes closer to us.  I asked why they would move closer to us; I said yes, it would be nice for her mom to be closer to her but moving 25 minutes closer to us meant they were moving 25 minutes further from the kids' school, their jobs, both The Ex & Ned's extended family, and Ned's son.  Daughter said she didn't know.  I asked why they were buying a house when Ned already owned a house.  Daughter said, "Well, I get Mom's point.  The kids are getting older and they're going to need their own space soon; they can't always share a bedroom." (Daughter has shared not only a room, but a bed with her younger sister since they moved in.  Daughter currently shares her bed with her sister and her brother because The Ex says she can't trust Lucifer to sleep in the same room as her son, so all of The Ex's kids sleep together in the basement and Lucifer sleeps upstairs in his own bed and room.)  I told Daughter that didn't make any sense because Ned's house was too small when The Ex moved in with him 5 years ago; now that Son is out on his own and Daughter has graduated, why is the house suddenly "too small" for them to live in?  Daughter said that was true.  She said that the house they're looking at is nice and starting telling me things about it - there's a pond, there's a shed, there's a walk-out deck on the second floor, etc.

  Based on what Daughter told me, I think I found this house listed online.  The asking price is almost $180,000 which is almost $30,000 more than its actual value.  It's been listed for over 2 years; an out-of-state LLC owns it and it doesn't appear that they're in any rush to sell, considering that they first listed the property at almost $240,000 back in 2018.  The property taxes for the new house are almost double what they are for Ned's current house.  The new house has 2.5 times more square footage than Ned's current house; again, The Ex moved herself and her four kids in no problem back in 2015 but now that they're married and two kids have moved out, Ned's house is "too small."

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  And finally, this past weekend we made plans to go visit Son and Girlfriend.  The Ex had made plans to pick up Daughter on Friday night.  I told Daughter that if The Ex wanted to wait, we could just take her up on Saturday and save her a trip.  Daughter texted The Ex about it saying we could bring her up on Saturday; The Ex had some bitchy response along the lines of, "If your dad's the one driving, then he can bring you." (I mean...yes, that was our suggestion, soooo....?)

  We got to Son and Girlfriend's apartment mid-morning.  Within an hour of us arriving, The Ex texted Daughter asking if she was there yet.  Daughter read it and said, "I'll answer her later.  If I answer now, then she'll want me to come over right away."  While we were making lunch, Son asked Daughter if she was going to stay at their place for a night or two; I kind of laughed and said, "I told her you were going to say that."  Daughter told Girlfriend how The Ex had told her that she could not go over to her grandparents' place until Monday; I commented, "But you guys can go on vacation, because somehow that's safer than visiting your grandparents."  Girlfriend commented later in the day that The Ex's son had gone off on The Ex about her parents/his grandparents; The Ex kept saying that they couldn't go see anyone because she's scared someone is going to contract COVID-19.  Girlfriend said that The Ex's son finally said to The Ex, "You're the one that's always saying they're getting old and we need to spend time with them."

  A little while after we'd eaten, Ned texted Daughter and said they were having dinner at 5 and that The Ex wanted to go to Kohl's.  An hour or two later, Daughter texted The Ex saying that Son wanted her to spend the night at his place; The Ex didn't answer.  We were talking about if The Ex was going to let Daughter spend the night or not.  Girlfriend and Daughter both told Son that he should be the one to call and ask; they said if Daughter asked, The Ex would say no but if Son asked, The Ex would say yes because she lets him get away with everything that he wants.  Son tried calling The Ex a few times but she didn't answer.  Son said that if The Ex called or texted them, they were going to ignore her since she was ignoring them.

  A little while after that, Ned called Son and said that The Ex was sick and "wouldn't get out of bed" and that he was going to make her go to the doctor.  Son got off the phone and told us what Ned had told him.  Without thinking, I jokingly said, "Maybe she's got corona; you should tell her that you can't come over there for two weeks." (Don't jump on me.  I'm not making a joke about the pandemic or anyone who caught COVID-19.  I'm pointing out the hypocrisy of someone who says she's so scared of the virus that she refuses to visit her parents that live less than 3 miles away, but has a family vacation planned in a city that's over 140 miles from their home and has a population almost 4 times higher than Tiny City.)

  After we were heading home, I kind of felt bad for making the comment about not going to see The Ex for two weeks.  I asked Husband if he thought I should apologize to Son and/or Daughter for it.  He said he didn't think it was that big of a deal.  I said I was just tired of The Ex's constant theatrics every time she gets sick.  I asked if Husband remembered the time that The Ex's mom called him up saying that The Ex was "as sick as a dog" so she and The Ex's dad were going to be providing transportation that weekend; when Husband suggested that the kids should just stay here if The Ex was that sick, her mom said that The Ex's eyes "were hurting from getting Lasik" and that was the only "sickness" that she had.  Or last year when The Ex told Daughter that she "might have stomach cancer." (Update: she didn't.)  Then it dawned on me that The Ex had wanted Daughter to come to her house for dinner and also wanted to go shopping at Kohl's; when Daughter asked if she could stay at Son's apartment, suddenly The Ex was so sick that she "wouldn't get out of bed."  How convenient that her debilitating illness would strike immediately after Daughter asked to stay at her brother's place.