Catching Up

Hi again. It's Lorilei.

Yeah, I know, I haven't written. I really meant to, but I've been so busy, out having fun.
Yes, I know. I'm a terrible liar.
So, what have I been doing? Let's see....

I've read the first two books in the Twilight Saga. Yes, I enjoy them, though I still prefer Harry Potter. But that's apples & oranges, to me, because no other books are HP, any more than they are Jane Austen.
Doesn't matter. I can't wait to read Eclipse. I just can't figure out how it will all end. I believe in love, but I think the unabated obsession from New Moon is just downright unhealthy. Yeah, I know what I'm talkin' 'bout, Willis. Been there, done that, got the t-shirt. It still didn't stop me from crying for Bella. I'm a terribly empathetic person.

But, good golly Miss Molly, that chick is a magnet for pain, grief, and all kinds of bad news. And isn't there enough drama here? Sheesh, Simpson County could be the Forks of the midsouth. I just can't decide which are the werewolves and which are the vampires around these parts.

For a while, my daughter Cathie was trying to be a kind person, and to head off future repercussions with EJ, by setting up supervised visitation with He Who Must Not Be Named. (Oh, sorry, I've already mentioned his name -- Ian the Terrible.)

First, the visits were to take place at Cathie's dad's house in a nearby town, since Ian said he got along fine with Jim. Ian refused to have any contact with either my brother Bobby or my son Paul, since he openly acknowledges his contempt for them both. For some reason, Ian still tried to use this exchange as a chance to talk to Cathie and pressure her to drop the order against him. After this happened once, I became the person to bring EJ to Jim's house. I did not speak to Ian. I'll talk to my ex, but I don't have to talk to hers.

Sometime after supervised visitation had been going on, every Friday morning at Jim's house, the Incredible Dork decided to have everyone return to Family Court to prove something happened which actually had not. Ian swore that on the occasion of his first visitation, Cathie had admitted to him that she'd lied about his threatening behavior, and he said both Jim and Christy (Cathie's stepmother) could swear to it, since they'd both been present. Needless to say, Ian's cause went down. He did not get the order revoked. He couldn't care less about the child involved. But why should he? He doesn't pay any attention to the other children he has fathered, either.

There should be a term for someone who is neither a parent nor just a sperm donor. I mean, there should be a specific term, and one that is acceptable in polite society.

We had several appearances in both family court and district court during the next few months. Between Ian's gleeful disregard for the order that he stay at least 300 feet away from Cathie (and family), and his mother's and his accusations that Cathie was stalking them, we were regulars at the Justice Center.

Jim no longer wanted Ian in his house, at all, so we made arrangements with Community Action Agency to provide supervision for visitation. I transported EJ to the local library, where a woman from the agency took him to spend the allotted two hours in a meeting room with said sperm donor (whatever).

Unfortunately, according to the Family Court schedule, visitation rapidly progressed to un-supervised visits. Exchanges were to take place at the Sheriff's Office. Also unfortunately, the Simpson County Sheriff's Office closes at 5:00 PM, isn't open on holidays, etc., so it still didn't feel like a safe place to meet the jerk. I won't go into all the details about my trips there, but I wasn't happy. EJ smelled like an ash tray after the first visit. I suspect Ian dumped EJ on his mother for the four hour visit, since she is a chain smoker, and Ian denies ever smoking. (Paul says he has seen Ian smoking, but Ian says that is a lie.)

Before it could escalate to the point of all-weekend visits every week, Cathie took him back to Family Court. Our judge had really hoped things were progressing nicely and all bad feelings were healing, but that wasn't the case. Cathie had photos of eczema where Ian had put EJ in diapers he was sensitive to (disregarding what was in EJ's diaper bag). Ian made many rash -- and often contradicting -- statements in the courtroom, including the counterattack accusation that EJ had a black eye on one occasion. Odd that he would take photos at the Sheriff's Office of this alledged black eye, but not think to mention it in court until he got mad. And he got mad a lot. He had to be reminded to stick to the subject at hand, not to get into hearsay, and to avoid other verbal transgressions.

Finally, boy genius (please note my sarcasm) said he wanted to completely forgo visitations with EJ, because Cathie was never going to give him any peace as long as they continued to take place. The judge looked somewhat disbelieving, but then he agreed it could be arranged. So EJ no longer has to go spend time with Voldemort. Trust me, the dude is neither brilliant nor magical, but he has about as much love in his heart.

Yes, there's more. But the divorce is final, and EJ doesn't have to go over there anymore. Now the rest of the drama in my life can assume its usual place. Like the issues with my son and his former roommate. Ah, yes. They were introduced by Ian. She was obsessed with Ian after she slept with him, while Cathie was deployed, and Ian decided to foist her off on someone else. But that's a story for another entry... or two....