The Last Hurrah.

   I feel like I've been telling you guys forever that we're going to take The Ex back to court for contempt.  That day has finally come.  A few weeks back I finalized the affidavit I'd already had drafted, Husband got it notarized, I printed all the receipts for the kids' medical bills, I printed multiple messages from 2houses showing that Husband not only provided the receipts but also multiple reminders, made copies of everything, drove to our county courthouse, and filed.

  We'd been in contact with a process server company in our state but I figured for grins, I'd see what the sheriff in The Ex's county would charge for service.  I called their office and spoke to a lady who was very nice but not really giving me good answers.  She explained that their office "tries to avoid serving the person at their place of employment."  I told her that I don't know when The Ex would be home, but I did know what her work hours were so that was going to be the best place to find her.  The woman said they would try 2-3 times to serve the party at their home and if they were unable to serve them, they would try to call them to let them know that there was paperwork for them at the sheriff's office. (No, seriously.  If they can't find the person you're suing, they call them.  In my opinion, that is an extremely foolish way to handle process service.  If I was trying to avoid being served and got a phone call telling me that they needed me to come pick up the paperwork, I would continue ignoring them.  No service = no court hearing.) I told the woman this would be difficult because The Ex doesn't have her voice mail set up on her phone.  She said, "Oh, boy..." (See, she gets it.  But that doesn't change their stupid way of doing things.)

  We ended up going through the process server which cost us $77.65 due to the motion, affidavit, and supporting evidence being a total of 51 pages.  They literally served The Ex one day after we sent them the paperwork, which I found amazing; we didn't pay for expedited service, they just handled it and got it taken care of within 24 hours.

  A few days went by with no response.  I emailed Our Attorney asking if she thought that we needed to send a copy of everything to Attorney 4 since she was still listed as The Ex's attorney in the court case, even though we haven't had a court hearing in over 6 1/2 years.  Our Attorney never answered me which I found irritating, but I guess I get it.  She wasn't going to come to this hearing; we were just going to present our case, which is pretty strong, and hope for the best.  I ended up faxing everything to Attorney 4 last Tuesday evening with a cover letter that said it was being provided to her because she was the attorney of record for The Ex; I said that if she is no longer representing The Ex, then she could advise the court at her earliest convenience.

  Suddenly on Friday, my work phone kept ringing as if someone was trying to send a fax.  The problem is that the line they were dialing did not have a fax machine on it.  After about 6 tries, my boss called and asked why they were tying up our business line by repeatedly trying to send a fax to the wrong number; the woman who answered the phone said they were trying to send a confirmation receipt. (This got me a little nervous for a few reasons.  1)We've served Attorney 4 by fax in the past and she has never once sent a confirmation receipt.  2)I'm not a party to the case, so there is absolutely no reason at all that Attorney 4 should be trying to send me anything.  On top of that, our fax machine prints a transmission verification report after every fax is completed, so I have proof that she received it.)

  All weekend, we heard nothing else.  Nothing from The Ex, nothing from Attorney 4, nothing updated on the court website indicating that The Ex and/or Attorney 4 had submitted anything.  If I'm being 100% honest, I was beginning to get a little bit nervous.  I was wondering if we'd done the wrong thing by filing, I was wondering if we should have let it go, I was wondering if we should just have Our Attorney represent us at the hearing...my mind was working overtime.

  And then, Monday happened.

  The Ex texted Husband at 12:26pm saying:
"Hi [Husband]. I really wish you would have contacted me about this balance before you took this to court. (Husband used 2houses, even though The Ex refused to log in.  Husband emailed The Ex once in July about this, and he emailed her again 4 days before we filed; she didn't respond either time.  But of course, what is the name of this blog???) Knowing I haven't been on 2houses for almost a year and [Daughter] telling you a few times. (First, this is not a complete thought.  Second, Husband owned her ass with his response to her pathetic excuse which will be posted after I finish typing her nonsense.) I would like to settle this once and for all and put all this in the past. I should have my half day next week Tuesday and I am willing to drive out to your work and pay you the full balance. (HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA...where does she come up with this shit?!) I'll even pay you in cash (but would rather pay in check to show I paid). (Why is the second half of her sentence in parentheses?) [Son] and [Girlfriend] said they would take a ride out there with me. (...what?  Why would Son or Girlfriend come with her?) Please let me know. I won't take up too much of your time. (You have already taken up 20 years too much of his time.  Pay your damn bills and leave us alone.)"

  Husband was going to reply later.  Apparently he didn't do it fast enough because Son messaged him on Facebook at 5:51pm saying:
"Hey mom told me today about how she wants me to drive down with her and give you money she owes you. (Why is she asking anyone to go with her, particularly Son?  He doesn't need to be in the middle of any of this; it's between Husband and The Ex, period.) She has showed me some things (WHY is she showing him anything?!  What's Son going to do about it???) I just don't know why this is all going on. I know it's not my business I just don't understand." (I feel like the majority of this message was written by The Ex; she probably told Son to copy-and-paste it.)
  Husband replied saying he didn't know what Son didn't understand; he's been sending bills to The Ex for years and she ignores him when he emails her.  Son read it and didn't reply.

  Husband then replied to The Ex:
"I've been sending you receipts for over 4 years. (So don't give me your "I really wish you would have contacted me" bullshit.) You didn't log into 2houses for almost a year which was your choice.  You still made a payment on March 8th of this year even though you didn't log in so you knew that you owed the money and still chose not to pay it. (So don't give me that "I didn't log into 2houses" bullshit.) I emailed you twice this year using your Gmail address and you never answered me.

I'd prefer that you mail me a check.  There's no reason to drive down here, and there is no reason for you to keep involving our kids in this.  It's ridiculous and has nothing to do with them.

The balance for the bills with interest and the process service fees is $438.95 through today's date.  I'll deposit your check into my account the day that I get it in the mail.  Once it clears my bank, I'll ask the court to cancel the hearing.  If not, then I'll see you in court on the 14th."

  As this was going on, Girlfriend messaged me and said she wasn't trying to get involved, but that The Ex was "hardcore in [Son's] ear."  She said The Ex had called him about five times that day; Son told Girlfriend that he messaged Husband like The Ex had asked him to do.  I told Girlfriend that I'd figured that's what was going on and gave her a brief recap of what had happened.  When I told her that The Ex said to Husband that both Son and Girlfriend said they'd come down with her to deliver money, Girlfriend replied with five laughing-crying emojis and then said, "Yeah no.  She's never even asked me and I wouldn't get involved like that even if she did. It's not mine or [Son's] job to get involved. Idk why she don't just pay it."  I said it was because The Ex didn't want to pay it.  I told Girlfriend a little bit more as far as what the court order said; she replied that the whole thing was out of her pay grade, but she wished that The Ex would leave her and Son out of it.  I told her that I agreed and I normally wouldn't have gone into such detail but since The Ex was bringing them into it, I figured I'd give her the facts.  Girlfriend said it was fine, she was the one who messaged me and not the other way around; she said that she read my messages to Son, he said that it matches none of what The Ex told him, but he thought she should just pay the bills and be done with it.  I said that's exactly it: if she'd pay, then we wouldn't HAVE to go to court.  But she's not paying it, she just wants to keep arguing.

  Exactly two hours and forty minutes after Husband replied to her, The Ex sent back:
"The lack of communication is not intentional. (I'm pretty sure this entire paragraph was composed while she had Husband's affidavit in her hand; one of the points in Husband's affidavit stated that since he signed up for 2houses, he's able to prove that The Ex is refusing to communicate with him as agreed and ordered by the court.) You knew I no longer had whatever email your (*you're) trying tosending me things. ("trying tosending me things."  It took her almost 3 hours to respond, and there are still typos.  This is awesome.) I only had 2houses open through that email. (She clearly skipped the point in the affidavit where it states that 2houses is accessible without having to access your email.  Either she skipped it, or she saw it but her no know big words mean.)
If you would have contacted me through different means like a phone call, text or certified mail to notify, this wouldn't have gotten out of control. (The court order says that both parties will check their emails and text messages on a daily basis to see if the other parent communicated with them.  The Ex provided Husband with an email address, chose to stop using said email address, did not provide a new email address to reach her at...and this is somehow Husband's fault because he didn't contact her "through different means.") Your (*You're) the one that took this way too far. (How?  How did he "take it way too far"?  What steps did he skip in between providing you with the receipts, sending repeated reminders via 2houses and email only to be ignored, and then he finally went to court?  Exactly what part of the process did he refuse to do that resulted in "taking this way too far"?)
You also have gotten a stimulus check for [Daughter] in the amount of $500.00. (Now I know she's reading the affidavit.  Husband pointed out that The Ex had multiple opportunities to repay her half of the bills but she chose not to; one example was that The Ex should have received a stimulus check for $1,200 this year, but only made one payment for $30 this past March and nothing since then.  I didn't even bring up that she got an additional $1,000 for her two kids with Boyfriend because her children are not a part of this; I simply brought up that The Ex, herself, had received $1,200 but gave Husband absolutely nothing.  So her bringing up stimulus money that she thinks Daughter got is irrelevant.) Half of that should go to my part of the expenses.  I really should only owe you $109.54 (We got NOTHING for Daughter because she was 17 when the stimulus came through which excluded her from being eligible for any type of stimulus payment.  And just to stir some hypocrisy into the mix, The Ex had texted Daughter earlier this year while there were talks of a second stimulus check; The Ex told Daughter that she ought to tell Husband that if he got money for her, he needed to give Daughter "the full $1200.00" but not to say that The Ex had told her this.  So $1,200 stimulus check = 100% Daughter's money, while $500 stimulus check = half Husband's and half The Ex's.  This bitch has lost her rabbit-ass mind.)

  Husband read this trash and replied:
"It's not really any of your business but I didn't get any money at all for [Daughter] from the stimulus check.

You can mail me a check for $438.95, which is what you owe me by the court order.  Otherwise I'll see you in court on the 14th.  Have a good night." (One of my friends commented, "How does she go from wanting to pay you ASAP, to making a comment [that she only owes $109.54]?"  Because the inside of The Ex's head is like an episode of "Whose Line Is It Anyway?" - the rules are made up and the points don't matter.)

  Tuesday afternoon, Husband gets a text at 12:16pm:
"I just wanted to let you know that a lady here at work suggested I go through my spam mail and I found 1 email of yours sent on November 5th. I'm truly not trying to ignore you [Husband]." (She just proved the point in the affidavit where Husband stated he signed up for 2houses because The Ex kept claiming to have trouble with her email.  She also just proved in writing that Husband did try to reach out to her before taking it to court.  She honestly does not know when to shut her mouth.)
  Three minutes later:
"I just never look at spam emails. (Why is that my problem?) I only want this to end. (Then pay me.) All this HATE you have for me... Don't you want this behind us?" (First of all, there is no "us" between you and Husband; that bridge burned 15 years ago and you pissed on the ashes.  Second, "all this HATE" that he has for you?!  You left Husband a voice mail about 3 years ago in which you called him "a stubborn prick" and asked him to call you back "when he had time to get something out of his ass."  When Daughter was 14 years old, I personally heard you tell her, "Your dad's a piece of shit and I just want to stab him in the fucking heart" and how you wanted to torture Husband to death.  But please, elaborate on how badly Husband "hates" you.)

  Husband replied with a very simple message:
"I don't hate you.  I'd love for this to be done and over with. That's why I said I'll cancel the hearing once your check for $438.95 clears my bank."

     This entire scenario over the last two days is a narcissist's dream.  In a matter of four text messages, The Ex has managed to: blame Husband repeatedly for her not reimbursing him or communicating with him; indicate she has the money available to reimburse Husband in full but hasn't done it; state she doesn't have access to the email address that she provided to Husband and had no problem using for 5+ years; stated that she thinks she's entitled to half of Daughter's stimulus money; accuse Husband of hating her.

  I also can't help but hear the longing in her voice when she sends things like, "Don't you want this behind us?"  Husband said to me that if she's got the money, it doesn't make sense why she doesn't just pay it.  I told him exactly what I've said multiple times before:  she is still in love with him.  The Ex doesn't want to pay Husband because once she pays him, then it's officially over - he has no reason to contact her, he has no reason to see her, he has no reason to have any involvement with her whatsoever.  It's over, permanently.

  As of yet, Husband has gotten no response from The Ex.  I'm sure she'll pull some stupid shit like calling him on Thanksgiving and leaving a voice mail that's 18 minutes long, rambling on about settling this and putting everything "behind them" or whatever else.  This is going to be epic.