Update: Evil Ex

I know I promised a list of good things about hot weather, but I interrupt my previously planned post for an update on my life:


It’s over. It turned out to be $17,000 stolen from us instead of the $12,000 we’d originally thought, but it’s over. Our income is back to normal, from being at HALF for the last few months. Our savings are gone, our credit accounts are almost maxed out, and we borrowed as much as we could from family and friends, but it’s over. Another month of it and there was a very real possibility that we would have lost the house, but it’s over. It will still take us a couple of months to "catch up", but . . .It's Over!

And it wasn’t nearly as bad as I would have thought it would be if I'd been told about it beforehand. We learned that money really is not what makes you happy. We grew even closer as we got creative about entertaining ourselves without spending money, not to mention as we shared the stress and the distress of the situation. We spent more time cooking together, which we love to do, and more time just talking. Our puppies benefited as we spent more time at home training or at the dog park playing. The cats saw more of us than usual as we stayed at home instead of going out.

All in all, I’d have to say it was at the very least a not totally bad experience, and taught us a lot. I wish we hadn’t had to spend $17,000 on the lesson, but I’m not sure we would have appreciated it as much if we hadn’t. So, if you ever read this, thank you, Courtney. You have reminded us just how much we love each other.

And may you reap everything you deserve from the stolen money.

Evil Ex

I've been avoiding writing in this blog because I didn't want to talk about this, but since I can't seem to talk about anything else until I get it off my chest, I guess I'll go ahead and rant.

[rant mode engaged]

Last Friday, I take a quick glance at our bank account (online) to make sure my husband's paycheck was deposited on schedule.  Lo' and behold, it was, but only half the amount showed up.  After investigation, it turns out that his ex-wife, in Florida, has somehow managed to convince the Ontario government to dock his pay to the tune of $12,000 (over the next few months) over an issue that was settled years ago. 

Now, we could have explained this, had we been asked, or even notified, before they started docking his pay.  But, no.  No warning, no opportunity to tell our side, nothing.  And, to make things even better, she's a lawyer, so she gets her legal help for free, while we're going to have to pay another lawyer (and maybe two--we might have to have one here in Ontario and another in Florida) to stop this action.

Whatever money she gets before we can stop it, or at least freeze it until we get it straightened out, is, I'm sure, gone.  We'll never see it again no matter how much we sue.  But that's not what really gets to me.  What really gets to me is that she was able to do it without involving us, warning us, telling us--without anything!  The money just started disappearing, and without half a day of research, we wouldn't have ever known why.  This is so UNFAIR it makes me want to scream, but what's worse is that it's really scary.  Can she do it again, just by making something up, as she basically did this time?  Can she do it any time she wants for any amount she wishes?  WHY DON'T WE JUST PUT ALL OF OUR ACCOUNTS IN HER NAME AND JUST LET HER HAVE IT ALL, THEN????

[end of rant mode]

Sorry, everybody, but I just had to get that out.  Hopefully we'll be able to get back to normal now.

Friend Request

Surprise, surprise, surprise! I got a Facebook request to be friends with an old boyfriend today. I have, in the past, considered what I'd do if my ex-husband every asked, but I never even gave a thought to ex-boyfriends. True, this particular ex and I parted friends at the time, but do I want to include ANY ex-boyfriends?

Grrrr!!!!!!!!! If Mom's friend's sister is an RN, why can't she look up things for herself on the 'net? OF COURSE it's Soveida's sister! Grrrr, grrr, grrr!