Enough already.....

Damn, damn, damn. I got called for Jury Duty...again! I've already served in District, Circuit and Federal Court....what's the deal. It can't be because I'm so freakin' gorgeous. I believe its a good thing to serve on jury duty.....but come ON! I've done my share. More than my share. This is such a major inconvenience for me. I guess after you reach the age of 70, they will finally leave you alone if you request it.

I have a doctor's appointment on Thursday and I'm going to ask him for a letter to see if I can get out of it....but I've been told by others that its next to impossible to get out of it. So here I am....having a hard enough time getting around in all these slippery conditions and now I'm expected to walk from a parking lot to the courthouse, which is a good distance according to Homeland Security standards....then once inside I have all kinds of more walking to do. This on a bad knee and bad hip and I'm not even taking the bad back into consideration. I've served there before and know what I'm in store for. I think if you've served more than once before, they should toss your name back and pick someone else who has never done it. (how's that for a colossal WHINE......but I'm mad....damn damn damnit)

I may be able to get an extension and serve in 6 months during warm weather rather than now. I remember I did that last time because night driving is so hard on me and court sometimes doesn't let out until after 5:30, depending on the judge and the type of case. So I at least wouldn't have to worry about night blindness OR falling on my ample azz because of ice and snow. I'm telling you, this getting old is the pits!

I know so many people who have NEVER served and here I am going for number 4....or maybe number 5.....not sure. They need to get another method of choosing their jurors. I can't help but think, if this were a drawing for the Lottery or some other prize, no matter how trivial, my name would NEVER come up! Sigh......its always SOMETHING.

I have to laugh.....

because if I didn't.....I think I would just cry. I won't go into a lot of detail but Saturday my son got another court "order" in the mail. Now he's being ordered to reimburse the court for the services of the Guardian Ad Litem for his daughter. This is the same on-going case in which his daughter (who he has custody of) was sucked into court because her mother (whom she rarely sees and does NOT live with) uses drugs and was neglecting her two other children she's had since my son broke off with her. We had nothing to do with that case or with his ex. But my son's child was made temporary ward of the court just like her two half siblings....only difference was that she was permitted to stay with her father, where the half-siblings went to foster care because THEIR father was part of the neglect.

Friday I am giving copies of all this paperwork to the County Commissioner in hopes that she can help us get away from all their drama. My son and his child were not involved in it until now. And this last communication from the court just added insult to injury. He's forced into all this...has done no wrong...has NO criminal charges against him....has to put up with weekly visitation to the ex.... bi-weekly "home visits" from the social workers...and NOW they are making him PAY for services that he had no involvement in instigating.

I hope you don't find this boring. Maybe by letting you know what could happen to you when you're doing nothing wrong will start up some effort to protect the INNOCENT....instead of just laws on the books to protect the GUILTY. We have looked into getting legal counsel but he has to come up with a $2500 retainer fee and lord only knows what more costs will be tacked on after that. He really can't afford that. And again....he shouldn't HAVE to be putting out money like this for something he had no prior knowledge of and definitely was not involved in. As we find out more, I'll post the results. And if any of you have any suggestions....please advise. Thanks.

On a different subject.....I was paying bills online last night and had just clicked OK to pay the last bill and saw it go when the power went off. This really disgusted me. I have reported this to the power company before and they were supposed to check it out and remedy it. We lose our power here on the average of once every two weeks. I have given up reprogramming my answering machine and my VCR. I have purchased clocks with battery back-up because I got so sick of having to reset them all the time. The power outages lasts for about 1 or maybe 2 seconds for the most part. Sometimes its out for 3 minutes but that's rare. This is about the worse thing you can do to electronics.....especially computers. I have a battery back-up system for my computer but its old and it didn't work last night when the power went out. So I guess I'll have to replace it....and soon...... before the outages ruin this system. I've lost two computers due to these outages and I tried to get the power company to reimburse me, but they wouldn't. They state they aren't responsible for your stuff. Anyway, Mercury is retrograde right now and that means the time is right for computers to crash, appliances to stop, cars to break down and communications to get screwed up. So I waited for a good 10 minutes before I booted up my system again and....sure enough....the keyboard wasn't working. I was dismayed because even though they are cheap now...my keyboard is special and I'm not so sure I can find another one like it. I shut the system totally down and left it alone for about an hour. I rebooted again and everything worked! Computers are strange things....but I'm glad everything is working again. Mercury will be normal again on June 19.

And the beat goes on.....

I'm sorry I haven't answered any comments on here lately. Things are just getting to be over-whelming in some ways. We are still dealing with the so-called court system and custody battles. I finally lost it today and stuck my nose in. The social worker is calling my son at work and his employers are getting a bit frustrated with it all. She (the social worker) knows I'm not intimidated by her so she won't talk to me....she won't even answer my messages. Instead she will bother my son at his place of employment. She's making some mistakes in her handling of my 3 year old granddaughter and its gotten on my last nerve. Today I made waves. BIG ones. This will probably cause another court hearing, but I've contacted my granddaughter's "lawyer" and advised him of what's going on. He agrees that the welfare and safety of the child should be foremost in the minds of these social workers and that just has not been the case lately. They are, instead, coddling my granddaughter's drug addled mother who has lost her other children to the State and who does not have physical custody of her. He has promised that he will talk to the judge and get back with us. I told him that I'm ready to go to my State Representative. Enough is enough!

Add to this huge pot of turmoil another big dosage of trouble from my daughter and her end of the family. Seems as though a guy her son knows, who is 19, has been kicked out of his house and also his grandparent's house. This guy is a loser. He doesn't have a job or a car or a diploma. His parents and grandparents are rich and have handed him money every time he asks for it for years now. He takes the money and gets high with it. They have enabled this for years and have finally had their fill. Last night he was knocking on all my daughter's doors and windows....wanting inside. She will not let him in her house any longer since rumor has it that he's on serious drugs (heroin) and she fears he will steal from her. Her dog was having such a fit last night, she went out in the back yard to check and found this guy in her little girl's playhouse. It was 1 in the morning. She didn't call the police on him, but did threaten to. He said he had no place to go. She offered to take him to a shelter but he didn't want to give up his drugs. He finally left. This guy wanted to take advantage of her kindness and was hoping she'd let him stay there. My daughter is a kind soul so even though she knows he's a loser I think she would have let him stay there for the night if it wasn't for his drug addictions. So today she has to consult our local police and find out what to do about him. No doubt in her mind that he will be back again tonight trying to find a place to stay. Even though there is a 2 year age difference, I wish my grandson would man up and just take care of this guy. My grandson outweighs him by 50 lbs. and is a head taller. I had a little talk with him a while ago about just that. We'll see what happens.

There are so many stresses in the world and the above stresses I have talked about have all been brought on my someone's stupidity....by being on drugs. That's the bottom line of it all and its so very sad. Its a domino effect and drug use hurts everyone.....those who do it as well as those associated with those who do it.....not to mention those who love them.

Tomorrow is another work day and then the blessed weekend is here. I have hopes of getting the border up in my bathroom this weekend. And my grandson starts work tomorrow. Yep, its a fast-food place but its a job and that will help him in so many ways. If he can keep the "loser" from hanging around begging for food. I already warned him he could lose his job over being too caring.

I blink and a week goes by.....

This is just getting plain ridiculous. I cannot believe how fast time is going. I know I've said it before but it almost feels like I'm in some kind of time warp or something. True, I've had to work every day and usually I only work two days a week and I know that sort of throws things off....but wow, before you know it, it will be WINTER again....oh the thought of THAT just makes me shiver in me knickers! LOL

I sure wish I could say that in this time period the Publisher's Clearing House visited me and presented me with a large sum of money but....alas...no such thing happened. Nor was I blessed with the visits of any royalty or not even Brad and Angelina. I just live my day to day existence being ME. When I think of it now, I wonder how in the world I ever found time to WORK when I was employed full time. Ever since retirement it seems like there are never enough hours in the day to get stuff done I would like to do. Oh boy....I need some cheese to go with this serious WHINE, don't I?

We are still at the mercy of the family court. A hearing will take place on the 27th and we will know more of what's going to happen at that time. To say that I literally HATE this unnecessary invasion of our privacy is an understatement. Seems like they inconvenience all the wrong people. If they had been more diligent and investigated my granddaughter's mother, she may not have put the lives of her two other children at risk, not to mention the life of her unborn child. I'm so glad my son chose to leave her when HIS child was just a baby, but its still biting us in the butt, even though he has full physical custody of his child and NO input in any of his ex's actions in the last 2 1/2 years. In the meantime, I'm having to slap my hand over my mouth to keep it shut. I've already shown my displeasure and also shown that I'm not intimidated even though I'm being forced to comply. Now that I've growled and shown my teeth, I'll pull my claws back in and only hiss and arch my back every now and then just to keep them in their place, if there is such a thing. Whew....Being a matriarch is tough stuff.

Well, I'm off to buy baskets, jelly beans and tiny toys for the 'bunny' to leave Sunday morning. I'm making a ham. I think I'm going to use Coke on it this time. If any of you have the recipe for that, please let me know. Thanks!

A kiss on the cheek.....

My Monday act of random kindness this week was on Monday but it wasn’t random. I had been sorting out things in my closet, attempting to free up some room. I came across a top that I had purchased nearly two years ago on sale. It was either marked wrong or ran small for the size it claimed to be, as it didn’t fit. I hung it in my closet, complete with tags, thinking that I would exchange it. Soon it slipped my mind and there it hung. As I now looked at it I thought of a woman that I work near who is about the size of the garment. I decided to offer it to her.

I gave it to her on Monday, complete with tags, and with no strings attached as far as owing me anything….it is a gift. I could not have been repaid any better than what transpired right after. She became misty eyed while looking at the top and then leaned over and whispered in my ear that I was an answer to a prayer. She stated she had prayed on Sunday and asked if she could have something new for herself as money was tight and she was tired of buying used clothing….and on Monday I gave her the top. I felt like I had been kissed on the cheek by God for a job well done. What a wonderful feeling.

I guess I shouldn’t hide behind the excuses that my sporadic posts are the fault of being too busy or working too hard. In reality, we are having family problems. Sometimes I just feel so overwhelmed that I don’t want to read or write anything. Other times I’m so upset and can’t even think of a post. I want to keep things upbeat, but unfortunately our lives are not always upbeat. My son and granddaughter have been here living with me since last July and things are getting a bit strained all on their own, but add to the mixture an ex (mother of my granddaughter) who has gotten the family courts involved in our lives and the stress level tops out. She’s had her children taken away due to neglect and even though she did not have physical custody of my granddaughter, she shares custody of her on paper, so the child has to be included in the petition to remove. The children directly involved are the ones she had AFTER my granddaughter and have a different father. My granddaughter does not live with her, she lives here with her father and this is where she still is. Her half siblings are in the care of the State right now.

We have been up to our ears in case workers, protective service workers, interviews, home visits every two weeks and now being forced to take the child twenty some miles one way for supervised visitation every week. All this has just about done me in, I am so angry. My son would like his ex to give up her parental rights and this court case coming up may put that in motion.

All the paperwork and the waiting and the miscommunication between agencies is mind-boggling. So, there you have it…now you know why I haven’t been posting as regular as I’d like. Hopefully, this will be over soon. My son is attempting to retain an attorney at this time.