Some Great News, and, of Course, More Drama

So...I have some news. After a couple of years of scrimping and saving and working my fingers to the bone, I (we) are the proud owners of a van! It's not new, but it's new to us, and the best part is that it is big enough to fit me, my girlfriend, her son, and ALL my kids. Yep, 8 people fit very comfortably, and it's great!!

I can't tell you how nice it is and what a great feeling it is to finally be able to take my kids places and to just have a second vehicle in general. It has been hard for the last 2 years to only have one car, especially when schedules differ so much. Now, we don't have to worry about that.

Upon getting the van up and running including registration, inspection, etc., etc., I sent an email to my Ex telling her that I (or more likely, my girlfriend) would now be picking up the kids from school every Thursday and every other Friday for my visitation and that it would be her responsibility to pick them up on Sunday afternoons as she has been doing forever now.

I asked her to do me the courtesy of responding to the email to let me know she received it, but she never did. The only confirmation I got was that she added my girlfriend to the pickup list at school.

Anyhow, before I got the van on the road I did one other thing. I believe I told you all that I once took out criminal harassment charges on my Ex because she would not stop texting me and calling me and emailing me regarding, mostly, child support, but also other things.

During that case, we mediated out of court through a program provided by the courts. She signed a document stating that she would stop texting unless it was about the kids.

If I haven't yet told you about the harassment case, I apologize for letting the cat out of the bag early, but knowing about it is important to what is happening now.

I have gone back and taken out another criminal harassment charge against my Ex because, despite the agreement she signed, she has not stopped the harassment. I will not go into anymore detail than that due to the pending court date; however, just know that I have done that and it is for VERY good reason.

I forwarded a copy of the email I sent to my Ex to my attorney so that they would be aware that I had a vehicle and I was intending to begin picking up the children from school so that I can FINALLY have my visitation. Since I hadn't seen them since Christmas, I was really excited for this to happen!

I received a response from my attorney a couple of days later that stated that my Ex did not want to pick up the children across the street from my home anymore because of the pending criminal action. My attorney stated that my Ex was asking that I keep the children overnight on Sunday night and take them to school on Monday morning.

Well, you know, that would all be fine and dandy if there were anyone available on Monday to take the kids to school. As it is right now, I have to leave for work at 6 am (sometimes earlier), and my girlfriend works the night shift on Sunday nights and does not get home until after 8 am on Monday morning.

It was just not possible, so I informed my attorney that my Ex would have to come and pick up the kids. I also stated that we don't have contact when she comes to pick them up anyway, so there really wasn't anything to worry about.

I never heard anything back from my attorney, so I assumed everything was fine.

On Thursday afternoon, my girlfriend picked the kids up from school and then she took them to school on Friday morning. On Friday afternoon, she picked them up again and we had an awesome weekend. On Friday evening, my oldest son had a band concert that we all went to together. We then took them all to the park on Saturday and had a blast.

Everything was going great for a change, and I was so thankful!

On Sunday, however, all the wheels fell off. The time for the kids to be picked up came and went with absolutely no contact from my Ex. I had the kids call her several times and she did not answer her phone. They left her messages that she did not return. I sent text messages that she did not answer.

When it became totally clear that my Ex was not coming, I had the children contact their grandparents, who live close by. They also did not answer their phone and did not return phone calls.

I did the only thing I could do. I loaded all the kids up in the car and drove them to their grandparents home. I was then told that their grandparents had told them that if I went to their house they were going to have me arrested and put in jail.

Nice thing to tell your grandkids, huh?

Anyway, we parked on the side of the road, completely off the property. My kids had to walk to their house down a very long driveway. My oldest son then had to walk all the way back to the car to tell me that their grandparents were, in fact, home and that everyone was inside.

To make matters worse, it was extremely cold, raining, and SLEETING.

I felt very bad for them, but what more could I do? Their mother had, in effect, vanished, and I had already made it very clear that the kids could not spend the night that night.

On Monday, I sent an email to my attorney and explained everything that happened. I was told that someone from my Ex's attorney's office had called and stated that my Ex would not be picking up the kids on Sunday but that it was after office hours on Friday, so no one got the message until Monday morning.

I was also told that now my Ex was saying that she didn't want to pick the kids up because, apparently, I take pictures of her when she is across the street picking them up.

Ummmm.....ok? That is a blatant lie, first of all. Secondly, there is absolutely no reason for it. I mean, what purpose in the world would that serve? And thirdly, I have absolutely no desire to take pictures of my Ex-wife....and neither does my girlfriend (who was also accused).

My attorney wanted to know if I would start dropping the kids off at my Ex's parent's church on Sundays.

No. They are telling my children they are going to have me arrested. I don't think I will be doing that.

OR would I take them to the Sheriff's Department so my Ex could pick them up.

Sorry. Been down that road before. Not doing that either.

Bottom line is that my Ex has put herself in the position she is in. She cannot come on my property because of actions she committed. She has a pending harassment charge on her because of actions she took.

It's time to grow up and get over it and take care of your responsibilities.

I informed my attorney that I need an absolute guarantee that my Ex will be picking up the kids on my Sundays or I just won't pick them up on Fridays anymore. I will have them for my Thursdays, and until we get in front of a judge, that is how it will be.

I still don't have a response.

Funny how the excuse/reason/whatever for not picking them up changed when the first one didn't work, huh?

Then, this past Thursday, my girlfriend went to pick up the kids from school and only ended up coming home with 2 of my 5 children. At the school she was told that the youngest is supposed to have a note from home stating that he is to be a car-rider and that no note was sent.

The other 2, who knows? The two children that did come to my house told me over and over again that EVERYONE knew they were supposed to come to my house that day.

I texted my Ex and let her know they got on the bus. I was concerned that they would get to her house and no one would be there. I had no idea if they could even get inside if no one was home.

She never let me know if they were okay.

I have texted several times asking that the kids call me.

She has not let them call.

Just when I started to believe that now that I finally have a car everything would begin to get back to normal, everything blows up.

I just don't get it. I do not get the drive behind it. I don't understand, and never will, why someone wants to cause problems when there just isn't any reason to. All I heard from my Ex was "get a car, get a car, get a car" and now that I have one, more CRAP!

Before she wouldn't bring them for my visitation, and now she's refusing to pick them up?????

If anyone can explain it to me, I would love it, but I don't think there is an explanation that works for this.

I would like to say thank you to everyone who has been reading and/or commenting on this blog. I am sorry there are sometimes big gaps in between posts, but, as you can see, a lot can happen in just a few short days and I sometimes just don't have the energy to sit down and write it all out.

I will update as soon as I know more, and will also get back on track with the past goings-on that I haven't yet told you about.

For now, though, I think I'm going to sign off.

Until next time!