Summer things.

   Daughter and Guy did get back together.  I wasn't happy about it, but whatever; it is what it is.  In his defense, Guy has made more of an effort to spend time with Daughter and has been over to our house a number of times.  One of those times was when Son & Girlfriend came down to visit which was...interesting.

  You see, Guy has been to The Ex's house in the past so Girlfriend was already somewhat acquainted with him.    I had a whole bunch of stuff typed out detailing the visit and why Girlfriend doesn't like Guy now, but realized that this blog is about The Ex and not anything else.  To make a long story short, everyone - Son, Girlfriend, and Daughter - all agreed that Guy is "completely different" when he goes to The Ex's house vs. when he comes to our house.  Why, I do not know exactly.  Girlfriend and I talked about it briefly and I told her that Guy is sucking up to the wrong parents; The Ex doesn't even know who Daughter is as a person and Guy has no idea who The Ex is as a person, so his time spent trying to get/stay on The Ex's "good side" is ridiculous.  But anyway...

  Guy did invite our entire family somewhere last weekend, I contemplated not going and just taking a nap instead but then realized it's pretty stupid of me to criticize Guy for "not making an effort" and then doing the exact same thing myself.  So we went, we actually had a good time, and if I'm being honest...I like Guy a lot more now that we got to spend some time with him.  I still think have my reservations about him, but it was nice to actually talk to/with him and joke around and get to know him a little more.

  Son, Daughter, and The Ex's daughter all had their birthdays within the same week a little over one month ago.  Daughter is irritated with The Ex and I told her that she had every right to be irritated.  You see, The Ex began messaging their family group chat on the morning of Daughter's birthday.  The Ex was telling her niece congratulations on her second child, and then went on to start talking about their family Christmas this year; The Ex wanted everyone's clothing/shoe sizes, said that she wanted to go shopping soon, and told everyone in all CAPS that if they will only receive their gift(s) if they came to the family Christmas.  The Ex's niece said thank you and sent a few pictures of her new baby.

  Then, almost as an after thought, The Ex sent:
"Happy 19th Birthday [Daughter]!!! We all love you, Sweet Potato!!" (The "sweet potato" thing started years ago.  The Ex had a habit of calling her kids "sweet pea" until one day, Daughter told The Ex to "never call her that again" so The Ex started calling her "sweet potato" instead.)
"Can't wait to c u next weekend"

  The family conversation shifted back to The Ex's niece & her new baby and not a single person on The Ex's side of the family acknowledged that it was Daughter's birthday.  Whatsoever.

  The next day, The Ex sends in the family group chat:
"Happy birthday to my amazing young man [Son] Happy birthday my sweet little guy (emojis of smiley face with hearts, lip print/kiss, and smiley face kissing with a heart) You have been a great Daddy to my grandbabies and I am so proud of the man you have become (heart emoji)"
"Love You!!!"

  A number of family members wished Son a happy birthday and he thanked them.  This is where Daughter got a little irritated and I don't blame her.  The Ex wishes her a "happy birthday" but then rants and raves about what an amazing human being Son is and how she's so proud of him.  It's gross.

  A few days later, The Ex sent in the chat:
"[The Ex's daughter] is 13 today!!!!"
"Happy Birthday My Sweet Little Princess!!!

  Again, a number of the family members all sent well wishes for The Ex's daughter.  The chat continued with The Ex sending a picture of one of the gifts she had bought for her daughter, and then with The Ex sending 37 pictures of her daughter, one-by-one, from throughout the years.  One of the pictures was of Son at his & Girlfriend's baby shower; I'm not sure how or why that was sent, but whatever.  After sending all of the pictures with their own individual little caption, The Ex messaged:

"Ok, I had to share some of [The Ex's daughter] with you all. I'll stop now... not that I want to. Brings back so many wonderful memories (emoji of smiley face with hearts)"

  The Ex had a joint birthday party for all three of the kids like she does every year; she didn't bother posting anything about it so I can't tell you much other than I know that Guy went up to Tiny City with Daughter.  Husband later asked Daughter where Guy sleeps when he's up there; Daughter said that Guy would sleep either on the couch or in Ned & The Ex's room. (.....I don't even have words for how freaking bizarre this is.)  Husband said, "What, you both sleep in there?"  Daughter said that the first time that Guy spent the night, The Ex had told them that they needed to sleep separate but then later said they could share the master bedroom "as long as they left the door open." (This is interesting because Girlfriend told me that she thought The Ex was trying to get Daughter pregnant; she said that The Ex let Guy & Daughter sleep in her room, went into the room while the two of them were in bed, turned on porn, and then closed the door.  Who even knows what's real anymore...)

  So just to recap:
     Son's birthday was on a Monday and The Ex sent his raving birthday wish while she was at work and everyone else joined in.
     The Ex's daughter's birthday was on a Thursday and she was able to wish her a happy birthday and share 37 pictures with everyone.
     Daughter's birthday was on a Sunday when everyone had off of work and all The Ex could muster up was a "happy birthday" but nobody else could be bothered to even let Daughter know they were thinking about her.  

  And yet, The Ex's younger sister will call Daughter every few weeks whining, "When are you coming back up here?  I feel like you forgot about us; I feel like this side of the family isn't important to you."  That whole family sucks ass, honestly...