We went to look at the rental house last night. Ohh nooo... It was alright on the outside. A bit on the plain side, but there was no fence. With two dogs who are not used to being on a chain a fenced in back yard is almost a must. Then we went... Inside. Holy moly! It seemed like they were finished with their painting as it smelled only faintly of new paint, but it was a C-R-A-P-P-Y paint job. I wouldn't even paint that badly. All the walls were painted different shades of blue, grey and taupe. It looked like they thought that if they painted along the wall and got it all over the ceiling it would look "artsy". They failed. All the wood doors were painted white, and the framing around the doors were partially painted from painting the walls as well. The carpet was stained and the refrigerator smelled like moldy gym socks. All the rooms were too small for our furniture and the basement smelled like it had mold in it as well. In other words - we keep looking.
When we returned I found out that my kids were not leaving for their Grandparent's house until Saturday morning instead of today (Friday) because their "wonderful" Dad was not coming up for a visit as he had originally said he would. Big surprise.
I'm not sure if I've posted this before but here goes the condensed version - According to the divorce decree SFB (Shit For Brains) is supposed to get the girls for one month in the summer because he lives out of state. He wanted to put this into play for the first time in 5 years, but I nixed the idea as I don't know his latest child bride, where they live or their living conditions. He doesn't have the best track record. I did agree to let them go to his mother's house for a week or two if he wanted to come up here instead to visit them. All was set in motion. He was coming here for an extended weekend as that was the only time he could get off work (I'd like to know where the child support is if he's working...).
Newest Twist - He told the girls this past week that he may not be able to come because the DMV has confused him with another Kenneth R Johnson and has suspended his license instead of the Other Ken. I have to admit I snickered when the girls told me this. How does the DMV confuse two people? They don't. The fact that he hasn't paid his child support in YEARS has finally caught up with him, and the Child Support Enforcement Agency has FINALLY taken a small step. I didn't tell the girls this though.
Bottom line is he's not coming this weekend because he has no license. The girls told him to take a train, he told them there are no trains from where he is. They told him to take a bus, he told them there's no bus service near him. They don't believe anything he says anymore. He promises to come up in a few weeks when the DMV unsuspends his license and suspends the "right" Kenneth R Johnson. I say don't hold your breath. The girls both say that if he doesn't come up within three weeks they're going to be "pissed". I'm not holding my breath on that either. As usual, he'll come out smelling like roses and I'll still be the bad guy in our house.
I can only hope that the suspension of his license is due to child support issues. I don't know for sure and I don't have the patience or the time to hold on the phone to find out. I find it highly suspect that the DMV would confuse two people regardless of their names. Don't they go by license number or social security number? I doubt they base anything on name alone. If this suspension is due to child support he's going to be license-less for a LONG time. He owes anywhere from $65,000 to $70,000 in back child support. If suspension due to child support works the way I think it works he'll have to get caught up before he can get his license back. BAHAHAHAH!!!
The girls are still going to their grandparent's today though. Both girls were wishy washy about wanting to go. I told them they didn't have to go if they didn't want to, and they both decided that they'd go anyway. K got a call from their Nonnie last night telling her that their Pa would pick them up on Friday morning about 9am because he had the day off after all.
They just called and said they were on their way with their Pa. Now I have to get through another day of work here, then I get to go to my friends' house after work for drinks, dinner and if it doesn't rain - some night swimming!!
Lianna & Kiley
Friday, July 30, 2010
Thursday, July 29, 2010
To Move or Not To Move. That's the BIG Question.
So Mr. I-Own-The-House-You-Live-In-So-I-Can-Sell-It-If-I-Want-To-And-I'm-Going-To can't get a single bite on his "home for sale". My landlord, and I shall call him Mushmouth because I can hardly understand him when he talks to me, owns the house I rent as well as several other properties in the area. I expressed my desire to re-sign our lease for a longer term than the typical 12-18 months lease, and he expressed his desire to sell the house.
Huh?
He told me that he had to unload some of his properties and he was going to list our house for sale. Hey, I don't own the house so technically I have no say in the matter. My current lease, by the way, isn't up until October 1st of this year.
He then came back to me several weeks later and said that due to the fact there were two other houses on my street that had been on the market for 6 or more months it made no sense to add a third. OK. Makes sense to me. He said he decided to sell one of his smaller properties in a different neighborhood. That was the last I'd heard of it for well over a month. At the beginning of this month he said that he had a buyer for the other property but the financing fell through, and now he's going to list this house after all because one of the other two houses that were for sale has sold and now there's only one house for sale on the street.
Huh?
His Realtor came by a few days later, took some photos and stuck a sign in the yard. Mushmouth was over last week to oversee the A/C guy fixing the busted A/C unit (it had to bust during the 98 degrees-but-it-feels-like-120-degrees weather, too). Mushmouth was telling me what they had done to the unit and then says "I can't believe this house has been on the market for two weeks and not even a phone call." I said, kind of point blank and... OK, yeah a little rude like "there are two other houses for sale on the next street over, and three or four others between (this street and that street)" He looked at me like I'd told him he had a huge booger on his face. He then said that if he didn't get a bite in the next few weeks that he'd take it off the market and we could re-sign the lease.
This was the point where I had to tell him that we've already started looking, and if I should find something that I like there's a very real possibility that I won't resign the lease. The look he gave me was like... I don't know - surprised the the only word I can think of. Very surprised. What did he think? That I'd wait until a week or two before my lease is up to find out that he sold the house and I'd have to find a new place? I started looking as soon as he mentioned the word "sell".
On the one hand, M and I don't want to move. The very thought of packing up an entire house full of crap exhausts me. I don't want to move the girls out of their schools. They'd be devastated if I moved them away from their friends. On the other hand, I want to stick Mushmouth with the mortgage payment and no rent coming in for putting the house on the market after telling me he wasn't. Yes. I realize it's not my house. I realize that he did give me ample time before the lease is up. I get all that. I still want him to eat it.
M and I go back and forth. We'd like to move but if we moved it would have to be further away than a town or two. We've seen houses online in areas like Poplar Creek, Algonquin, Huntley that seem to be really nice houses for a fraction of what we're paying now. But they're all 30+ minutes away from where we currently are. All houses in this area are WAY too expensive for what we want/need.
I did call my Realtor lady, Sue, who has helped us find the last two rentals. (I would desperately love to be able to BUY a house, but when your income barely exceeds your expenses it doesn't leave much room for savings, and our credit isn't good enough that we could get financing without a significant down payment.) I told Sue what we were looking for and what our budget was. She called me today and said there's a house that just went on the market two days ago. It's not in the same town, but it's closer than the ones in Poplar Creek and the such. It's more than we're paying now, but not by so much that we'd be in the poor house.
This house would put us in a different School District (L will KILL me but it is what it is), but it's a single family house, three bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, a full finished basement and a large yard. And dogs are allowed. We're going to go see it this evening. I'm not sure what to expect. I saw the photos of the house online but it's hard to tell for sure what it looks like.
My dilemma is - do I keep my kids happy and resign the lease for a long term period even though I'm not happy with the house necessarily (like I said, lots of cosmetic things need to be fixed and lets face it. It's a rental. I'm not dropping dough to fix up a place that I don't own.) or do I move out into a house that I like (possibly - won't know until tonight) but risk getting my kids REALLY angry with me for making them leave their friends for no reason.
Hmmm....
Huh?
He told me that he had to unload some of his properties and he was going to list our house for sale. Hey, I don't own the house so technically I have no say in the matter. My current lease, by the way, isn't up until October 1st of this year.
He then came back to me several weeks later and said that due to the fact there were two other houses on my street that had been on the market for 6 or more months it made no sense to add a third. OK. Makes sense to me. He said he decided to sell one of his smaller properties in a different neighborhood. That was the last I'd heard of it for well over a month. At the beginning of this month he said that he had a buyer for the other property but the financing fell through, and now he's going to list this house after all because one of the other two houses that were for sale has sold and now there's only one house for sale on the street.
Huh?
His Realtor came by a few days later, took some photos and stuck a sign in the yard. Mushmouth was over last week to oversee the A/C guy fixing the busted A/C unit (it had to bust during the 98 degrees-but-it-feels-like-120-degrees weather, too). Mushmouth was telling me what they had done to the unit and then says "I can't believe this house has been on the market for two weeks and not even a phone call." I said, kind of point blank and... OK, yeah a little rude like "there are two other houses for sale on the next street over, and three or four others between (this street and that street)" He looked at me like I'd told him he had a huge booger on his face. He then said that if he didn't get a bite in the next few weeks that he'd take it off the market and we could re-sign the lease.
This was the point where I had to tell him that we've already started looking, and if I should find something that I like there's a very real possibility that I won't resign the lease. The look he gave me was like... I don't know - surprised the the only word I can think of. Very surprised. What did he think? That I'd wait until a week or two before my lease is up to find out that he sold the house and I'd have to find a new place? I started looking as soon as he mentioned the word "sell".
On the one hand, M and I don't want to move. The very thought of packing up an entire house full of crap exhausts me. I don't want to move the girls out of their schools. They'd be devastated if I moved them away from their friends. On the other hand, I want to stick Mushmouth with the mortgage payment and no rent coming in for putting the house on the market after telling me he wasn't. Yes. I realize it's not my house. I realize that he did give me ample time before the lease is up. I get all that. I still want him to eat it.
M and I go back and forth. We'd like to move but if we moved it would have to be further away than a town or two. We've seen houses online in areas like Poplar Creek, Algonquin, Huntley that seem to be really nice houses for a fraction of what we're paying now. But they're all 30+ minutes away from where we currently are. All houses in this area are WAY too expensive for what we want/need.
I did call my Realtor lady, Sue, who has helped us find the last two rentals. (I would desperately love to be able to BUY a house, but when your income barely exceeds your expenses it doesn't leave much room for savings, and our credit isn't good enough that we could get financing without a significant down payment.) I told Sue what we were looking for and what our budget was. She called me today and said there's a house that just went on the market two days ago. It's not in the same town, but it's closer than the ones in Poplar Creek and the such. It's more than we're paying now, but not by so much that we'd be in the poor house.
This house would put us in a different School District (L will KILL me but it is what it is), but it's a single family house, three bedrooms, 2 1/2 bathrooms, a full finished basement and a large yard. And dogs are allowed. We're going to go see it this evening. I'm not sure what to expect. I saw the photos of the house online but it's hard to tell for sure what it looks like.
My dilemma is - do I keep my kids happy and resign the lease for a long term period even though I'm not happy with the house necessarily (like I said, lots of cosmetic things need to be fixed and lets face it. It's a rental. I'm not dropping dough to fix up a place that I don't own.) or do I move out into a house that I like (possibly - won't know until tonight) but risk getting my kids REALLY angry with me for making them leave their friends for no reason.
Hmmm....
Wednesday, July 28, 2010
Really, K? Really?!
K's had an early curfew all summer. She has to be in the house at 5:30 and she is to remain there for the rest of the night. Before you start to tell me how awful a mother I am for doing this to my kid during summer let me lay it all out for you...
All the girls are required to do before they leave the house in the morning during the summertime is 1.) Make their bed and pick up their room (dirty clothes, garbage, etc.) 2.) If it's their day to do dishes they are to either unload the clean dishes and reload with dirty breakfast, or if the dishwasher didn't get run the night before they're to load any dirty dishes in to it and start it (unload and put away later.) K has an additional item and that is to put her dirty sheets and pajamas in the washing machine and start it. (She still wets the bed occasionally and she has a nasty dirty habit of letting the sheets and pj's sit in her room all day in the heat so they ferment and smell up the entire house, and I do mean the ENTIRE house.)
That's it! That's all they have to do!! It's not that fucking hard!!! Yet K consistently doesn't do it. I don't know what her deal is. We tried to ground her. She left during the day anyway while we were at work. We tried taking her cell phone away but because she's not glued to it like L is so that didn't really phase her. We tried not letting her do something during the weekend that she really wanted to do, like a sleepover. That didn't work because she never has sleepovers. The only thing that I've been able to do is to force her curfew to be 5:30 pm regardless of the day. Sunday through Saturday she is to be in the house at 5:30 and her day is done. This is after her REPEATEDLY not doing the two to three things in the morning she has to do on a daily basis.
Occasionally M will think she needs a break from being inside (maybe he needs a break from K's constant banter. That child will talk without stopping whether or not anyone is listening to her or answering her. It can get rather annoying really) and if she's done her stuff for the last several days M will tell her after dinner that she can go outside until 8:30. Yesterday was one of those days. M told her to she could go outside and I think she was out the door before he finished the sentence. Then he went upstairs. Guess who didn't make her bed or pick up her room before she left for the day? Yep. K. I told him he should have looked upstairs before letting her go...
All the girls are required to do before they leave the house in the morning during the summertime is 1.) Make their bed and pick up their room (dirty clothes, garbage, etc.) 2.) If it's their day to do dishes they are to either unload the clean dishes and reload with dirty breakfast, or if the dishwasher didn't get run the night before they're to load any dirty dishes in to it and start it (unload and put away later.) K has an additional item and that is to put her dirty sheets and pajamas in the washing machine and start it. (She still wets the bed occasionally and she has a nasty dirty habit of letting the sheets and pj's sit in her room all day in the heat so they ferment and smell up the entire house, and I do mean the ENTIRE house.)
That's it! That's all they have to do!! It's not that fucking hard!!! Yet K consistently doesn't do it. I don't know what her deal is. We tried to ground her. She left during the day anyway while we were at work. We tried taking her cell phone away but because she's not glued to it like L is so that didn't really phase her. We tried not letting her do something during the weekend that she really wanted to do, like a sleepover. That didn't work because she never has sleepovers. The only thing that I've been able to do is to force her curfew to be 5:30 pm regardless of the day. Sunday through Saturday she is to be in the house at 5:30 and her day is done. This is after her REPEATEDLY not doing the two to three things in the morning she has to do on a daily basis.
Occasionally M will think she needs a break from being inside (maybe he needs a break from K's constant banter. That child will talk without stopping whether or not anyone is listening to her or answering her. It can get rather annoying really) and if she's done her stuff for the last several days M will tell her after dinner that she can go outside until 8:30. Yesterday was one of those days. M told her to she could go outside and I think she was out the door before he finished the sentence. Then he went upstairs. Guess who didn't make her bed or pick up her room before she left for the day? Yep. K. I told him he should have looked upstairs before letting her go...
Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Being Religious, Being Gay and Being A Dumbass
I would never in a million years think it was acceptable to tell someone who doesn't believe the same way I do about anything, that they're "wrong" and they need to change their ways of thinking. Why do people think that it's acceptable to tell me that I'm wrong just because I don't believe the same as they do?
I had a friend in college who was, quite simply, an awesome person. We got along great. We had SO much fun together. She went through a really tough patch in her life and in the end she "found God". To be honest I'm not even 100% sure what that means, exactly, but I do know that she started going to Church. Then she started to attend an Adult Sunday School. Finally she started going to a Bible Group three times a week. That was great for her. She found something that gave her life meaning. Whatever she was got out of all that religion she soaked up did wonders for her mentally, and I wouldn't ever have wanted to take that away from her because she became a happier person because of it. However, the downfall of all that religion was that suddenly it became her mission to "Save Erin". I dismissed it at first. I let her go on about her latest Bible Group discussions, and all she was doing with the Church she had joined. Until she started to practically pry open my jaws and SHOVE her religion down my throat.
I had let these "discussions" go on for several weeks. I'd let her have her say then I'd gently tell her that I was glad she found something that made her happy and I'd change the subject. Occasionally I'd tell her that I didn't believe the way she did. That I had to physically touch, see, smell, taste something to believe it's real. I didn't have the blind faith that she did to believe in this entity that couldn't, to me, be physically proven. (I can see the proof in evolution. I don't see how man could have been created out of nothing and woman created out of man's rib. To me, to believe in that is blind faith.) That usually quieted her down for a few days.
One St. Patrick's day we went into The City (as anyone in the suburbs of Chicago refers to Downtown Chicago) for the night. We got a hotel and went to a Irish Pub on Michigan Avenue. We had a fucking BLAST!! We got back to the hotel room about 5 am. I was TIRED. I was DRUNK. All I wanted to do was SLEEP. Val, on the other hand, decided that this was the perfect opportunity to tell me that she'd decided that she had a new "mission" in life. She was going to Save me if it was the last thing she did. She actually used those words. I could not get her to SHUT UP and let me sleep. My usual tactics didn't work. Maybe it was the alcohol. Maybe she was just fucking determined to complete her mission. Whatever it was - she annoyed the living crap out of me. The more I told her to knock it off the more determined she got. We ended up in a huge argument. She insisted that she cared so much about me that she could no longer sit back and watch me live my life the way I was (whatever THAT meant) without trying to save my "eternal soul".
We checked out of the hotel at 10 am the next morning (after getting maybe 3 hours of sleep), got on the train to go home, and I didn't speak to her for weeks. When I did finally break down and call her, she started right in again with her mission. One thing I can say, that girl was DETERMINED. That was the beginning of the end of our friendship. I miss hanging out with her. Pre-God, of course. I just couldn't take it anymore and she wouldn't quit. To this day I still get emails from her on a weekly basis about attending this or that Church thing and save yourself. I don't even open them anymore.
I would never in a million years think that it was acceptable to insist that someone share my belief if something. Why on earth do people who believe in God think it's acceptable to insist that I share their beliefs?
On another rant: Target used to be my favorite store ever. Until today when I learned that Target is a major donor to a Minnesota politician who believes that Gay Rights are to be abolished. This guy supports a Christian rock band who preaches that it's acceptable to harm Gay/Lesbian/Bisexual/Transgender people simply because "the Bible" tells them it's wrong. This just goes adds to my extreme dislike of uber-religious people. I will never shop at Target again. That makes me want to cry a little because I HATE Wal-Mart. I find Wal-Mart's to be dirty, unorganized stores with rude and unhelpful employees. Not to mention the people who shop at Wal-Mart all need to be run over by a Mac truck. I'm just sayin'. I guess my new store to shop at will be Meijer. Thankfully there's one that's closer to my house than Target is.
My final rant is kind of a dance of joy as well. I have an ex-husband who owes me over $65,000 in back child support. The Illinois Child Support Enforcement Agency is a joke when it comes to finding him, and forcing his hand. However, they may have finally gotten something right. My ex was supposed to come up her (from Indiana) this weekend to see my kids. They wanted to go spend time with him at his house, but that was only gonna happen over my dead body. I don't know his wife, I don't know where he lives, and he's practically a pedophile. He has a habit of "falling in love" with girls who are 18. He, on the other hand is 38. Sorry, but that's a little too creepy for me. Not that I think he'd do something with/to his own children, but people have a tendency to hang out with others who have similar interests. Who the fuck knows who his friends are and how deranged they are.
He was supposed to come up to Illinois this weekend to spend time with his kids at his mother's house. He apparently called L this week and told her that the DMV got his name mixed up with another Ken Johnson and "accidentally" suspended his license instead of the other Ken. I know this is not a DMV mix up. The Illinois Child Support Enforcement Agency has finally taken a small step in this situation by suspending his license. He won't be able to get it unsuspended until he pays off the back child support he owes. He told L that he might not be able to come now. L told him to take a train. He told her there are no trains from his location to Chicago. While L was on the phone with him, she was also online looking up Amtrak schedules and called his bluff.
L has a HUGE issue with her Dad. While on the one hand she loves him because he is her Dad, on the other hand she doesn't believe a word he says because he's promised too many things to her only to fall back on his promises. She told him that he'd better be here this weekend or she was going to be REALLY PISSED at him. I'm so proud of her for taking a stand against him. When she was 5 years old, she was crying to me about how her Daddy made her feel bad when he would promise and then not follow through. I told her to tell him how he made her feel.
During a phone conversation (which she had to work herself up for which is really sad considering she was only 5 years old) she told him how he made her feel. His response was to yell at her, and tell her to tell me to stop making her say things like that to him. That child was devastated. She was so mad at me because I told her to tell him how she felt, and she didn't talk to me for three days. And she never again told her Dad how badly he hurt her when he'd make promises and not follow through. That is until recently. Now that she's a sassy mouthed teenager she has no fear of telling him exactly how it is! All I can do is sit back, listen to her recount her conversations with him, and laugh like a maniac after she's gone back to her room. I can't wait until she realizes that he is NOT worth her time.
Friday, July 23, 2010
Drag Queens and More Drag Queens
So last weekend my friend, Jess and I went to Berlin Night Club in Chicago. If you're familiar at all with Chicago and/or Berlin you may be asking why on earth I, a straight female and my equally straight friend, were at a night club in the middle of Boys Town in Chicago. Well, I was there to watch my brother perform in a show. (My baby brother, Mark, is gay. While I've know this for years, even when he came out to me it wasn't that much of a surprise. You should see some of the photos we have of him as a kid! Oh My God!)
Mark has an "alter ego" (I think that's the phrase) and her name is Tippi Marie Peppermint. Yes, on certain days my baby brother dresses as a woman. And to be really honest - kind of an ugly woman, too. Sorry, Mark, but the truth needs to be said. Tippi is not the most beautiful man/lady I've seen. BUT to his (her?) defense maybe that's because I can't look at him as Tippi and not see Mark. Whereas I look at other Queens and I don't know what they look like as men; I have no base to go by.
Tippi, along with about 4 or 5 other Queens, performed at Berlin last Saturday night. They all got up, individually, and lip synced to songs - put on a performance. It was a TON of fun! Without a doubt it's something I want to go to again. Jess and I had to leave before the show was over, which was disappointing, but Jess had gone to a wedding the night before and Captain was her best friend that night, so she was pretty dang tired. She hung in there, hung over and all, until about 12:30 am. That's when I looked over at her and it looked like she was really struggling. I felt badly about keeping her out that late, so we left after Mark/Tippi's third song.
The show was supposed to start at about 10 pm, but one of the Queens was really late. Really late as in didn't walk through the doors until nearly 11 pm. But while waiting we did get a chance to see Christina, Mark's best friend from high school, and meet her boyfriend, Ryan. He's a nice guy but he reminds me of the scene from Beetlejuice when he's in the waiting room with the shrunken head guy? Ryan has these massive shoulders and this teeny-tiny head. Like I said, he's a nice guy though and he's good to Christina so that's all that matters, right?
Jess and I left the show with some questions that I need to get Mark to answer for us!
#1 - What do the guys do with their junk? There were several Queens who showed their crotch areas (covered, people! Covered!) and there was no tell tale bulge. If they still have their... Frank and Beans as Jess put it, how come it looks like female parts?
I had a theory about this. I said double sided sticky tape and Ryan debunked that saying there's no way that would work. I'll have to defer to the person who was part of this discussion who had the "Frank and Beans" and would know best.
#2 - Some of the Queens had this really cool lipstick that was really red and glittery. Jess and I want to know where they got it so we can show up to the next party wearing no make up except ruby red, glittery lipstick! How cool would that be?!
There were a lot of people there and we weren't disappointed in the turnout of oddities. There was one couple who from a distance, and across a room, and maybe through a really dirty window just looked like a couple of older women out for fun. Until they got closer to us. That was when we realized that they were men dressed as women. I'm all for expressing yourself and if that's what makes you happy - fucking go for it! There's something to be said for a Queen who has a 5 o'clock shadow, though! These two were so funny. Jess and I still laugh about them. Some of these Queens really had the "female" thing down good. They walked well in heels (Some of them better than me! I love me a high heel, but anything above 3" and I can't stand hardly, let alone walk right.), their make up and hair was flawless, and their clothes were fashionable... Then there were the ones who looked like a little kid in Mom's clothes. They just didn't have what it takes to be a female! All the power to them for trying though!
Mark has an "alter ego" (I think that's the phrase) and her name is Tippi Marie Peppermint. Yes, on certain days my baby brother dresses as a woman. And to be really honest - kind of an ugly woman, too. Sorry, Mark, but the truth needs to be said. Tippi is not the most beautiful man/lady I've seen. BUT to his (her?) defense maybe that's because I can't look at him as Tippi and not see Mark. Whereas I look at other Queens and I don't know what they look like as men; I have no base to go by.
Tippi, along with about 4 or 5 other Queens, performed at Berlin last Saturday night. They all got up, individually, and lip synced to songs - put on a performance. It was a TON of fun! Without a doubt it's something I want to go to again. Jess and I had to leave before the show was over, which was disappointing, but Jess had gone to a wedding the night before and Captain was her best friend that night, so she was pretty dang tired. She hung in there, hung over and all, until about 12:30 am. That's when I looked over at her and it looked like she was really struggling. I felt badly about keeping her out that late, so we left after Mark/Tippi's third song.
The show was supposed to start at about 10 pm, but one of the Queens was really late. Really late as in didn't walk through the doors until nearly 11 pm. But while waiting we did get a chance to see Christina, Mark's best friend from high school, and meet her boyfriend, Ryan. He's a nice guy but he reminds me of the scene from Beetlejuice when he's in the waiting room with the shrunken head guy? Ryan has these massive shoulders and this teeny-tiny head. Like I said, he's a nice guy though and he's good to Christina so that's all that matters, right?
Jess and I left the show with some questions that I need to get Mark to answer for us!
#1 - What do the guys do with their junk? There were several Queens who showed their crotch areas (covered, people! Covered!) and there was no tell tale bulge. If they still have their... Frank and Beans as Jess put it, how come it looks like female parts?
I had a theory about this. I said double sided sticky tape and Ryan debunked that saying there's no way that would work. I'll have to defer to the person who was part of this discussion who had the "Frank and Beans" and would know best.
#2 - Some of the Queens had this really cool lipstick that was really red and glittery. Jess and I want to know where they got it so we can show up to the next party wearing no make up except ruby red, glittery lipstick! How cool would that be?!
There were a lot of people there and we weren't disappointed in the turnout of oddities. There was one couple who from a distance, and across a room, and maybe through a really dirty window just looked like a couple of older women out for fun. Until they got closer to us. That was when we realized that they were men dressed as women. I'm all for expressing yourself and if that's what makes you happy - fucking go for it! There's something to be said for a Queen who has a 5 o'clock shadow, though! These two were so funny. Jess and I still laugh about them. Some of these Queens really had the "female" thing down good. They walked well in heels (Some of them better than me! I love me a high heel, but anything above 3" and I can't stand hardly, let alone walk right.), their make up and hair was flawless, and their clothes were fashionable... Then there were the ones who looked like a little kid in Mom's clothes. They just didn't have what it takes to be a female! All the power to them for trying though!
Tuesday, July 13, 2010
Child Support Enforcement Agency? I Think They Should Change Their Name - They Don't ENFORCE Anything
The Illinois Child Support Enforcement Agency. The name makes you think they actually ENFORCE the payment of Child Support. Yeah, I've been duped, too. Background information first: I'm divorced. I have two kids with my ex-husband. He's a LOSER. He moves around, both residence and job, constantly so I never know where he is. He's out of state as well.
I got tired of doing all the investigating myself to find out where he is and where he's working, so I was told about the Illinois Child Support Enforcement Agency. It sounded like a dream. I could pass along the support order information, case number, etc and they would find him and FORCE him to pay his child support. HA! Right.
I've been divorced since 2000. He's only paid his child support maybe 20 times in the last 10 years. He owes me somewhere between $65,000 and $70,000 in back child support. The problem is that he's out of state. I live in Illinois. He lives in Indiana. I think. He could live elsewhere. I don't know. He's a pro now at moving and not being found. Out of 50 States in this country Illinois ranks in the bottom 5 or 10 in collecting child support. The fact that my case is an interstate case makes it even more of a joke.
In 2006 I received a Notice Order of Withholding (this is the paper the state sends to the non-custodial parent's employer listing how much he has to pay and how often). This notice stated that he didn't have any back child support owed. At the time he owed me somewhere around $45,000. I tried to call the 1-800 number to talk to someone about this, and kept getting transferred, and finally disconnected. This happened every time I was able to get through to someone. Most of the time it's a busy signal. On the off chance that it's not a busy signal, it's a recording after you go through the motions of press 1 to speak English, press 2 to talk about this, press 4 to talk about that, now hold. Then a recording comes on telling you that there's an unusually high volume of callers, please call back. Then you get disconnected. Yea. Fun stuff. All in all it can take DAYS to get a live person on the phone.
In 2006 I was instructed to send a letter to the Disbursement Unit with all my information. Long story short in about 3 months it was straightened out and the Notice Order of Withholding indicated a correct amount. (Thank god I keep notes and paperwork meticulously filed in an accordion file for this exact reason.) Then he quit his job.
I received a new Notice Order of Withholding yesterday. They're indicating he's not delinquent on his child support again. I'm about ready to SCREAM at this agency; however, I've done that before. They don't like it and they'll disconnect you if you swear at them. I wish I had the money to hire a lawyer...
I got tired of doing all the investigating myself to find out where he is and where he's working, so I was told about the Illinois Child Support Enforcement Agency. It sounded like a dream. I could pass along the support order information, case number, etc and they would find him and FORCE him to pay his child support. HA! Right.
I've been divorced since 2000. He's only paid his child support maybe 20 times in the last 10 years. He owes me somewhere between $65,000 and $70,000 in back child support. The problem is that he's out of state. I live in Illinois. He lives in Indiana. I think. He could live elsewhere. I don't know. He's a pro now at moving and not being found. Out of 50 States in this country Illinois ranks in the bottom 5 or 10 in collecting child support. The fact that my case is an interstate case makes it even more of a joke.
In 2006 I received a Notice Order of Withholding (this is the paper the state sends to the non-custodial parent's employer listing how much he has to pay and how often). This notice stated that he didn't have any back child support owed. At the time he owed me somewhere around $45,000. I tried to call the 1-800 number to talk to someone about this, and kept getting transferred, and finally disconnected. This happened every time I was able to get through to someone. Most of the time it's a busy signal. On the off chance that it's not a busy signal, it's a recording after you go through the motions of press 1 to speak English, press 2 to talk about this, press 4 to talk about that, now hold. Then a recording comes on telling you that there's an unusually high volume of callers, please call back. Then you get disconnected. Yea. Fun stuff. All in all it can take DAYS to get a live person on the phone.
In 2006 I was instructed to send a letter to the Disbursement Unit with all my information. Long story short in about 3 months it was straightened out and the Notice Order of Withholding indicated a correct amount. (Thank god I keep notes and paperwork meticulously filed in an accordion file for this exact reason.) Then he quit his job.
I received a new Notice Order of Withholding yesterday. They're indicating he's not delinquent on his child support again. I'm about ready to SCREAM at this agency; however, I've done that before. They don't like it and they'll disconnect you if you swear at them. I wish I had the money to hire a lawyer...
Thursday, July 8, 2010
What did you call me?!
L's curfue, since it's summer and she doesn't have to get up in the mornings, is 10:30 pm. Personally I think this is a little too late for her, but M convinced me that she needs to be able to have a longer curfue than the 9 pm that I had originally imposed. She is, after all, going to be a Sophmore in high school this coming year.
This is an actual phone conversation I had the pleasure of having with my 15 year old daughter last night:
L: "Zac and I want to go see a movie but the movies we want to see don't start until 9:30. Can I stay out until after the movie? I promise I'll come home right after the movie. I won't go anywhere else."
Me: (After looking at my watch and realizing that it's now 8:30 pm and she's been at Zac's house since 6:30 which gave them pleanty of time to decide to see a movie and be home in time for her to meet her curfue, yet waited until now to decide this) "You can go watch a movie but you have to be home by 10:30"
L: "Please? I promise to be home right after the movie. Please?"
Me: "You were out with an extended curfue the last two nights. You must be home by 10:30"
L: "Fine."
Little does L realize that she hasn't hung up the phone yet, neither have I because I didn't realize we were done with our conversation since she ended with a simple, sarcastic, attitude filled "fine", and the next thing I hear is "She's such a BITCH" before the line goes dead.
You may be asking yourself "what did she do then?" I'll tell you what I did:
L: "Hello?"
Me: "I'll see you in a few minutes."
L: "Why? It's not 10:30 yet."
Me: "Because you're going to say your goodbyes, pack up your crap and come home right now."
L: "WHY?!"
Me: "Because I'm such a BITCH"
Needless to say, L came home but decided to go directly into her room and remain there for the rest of the evening.
FOR SALE: One Teenager. Smart. Pretty. Already knows EVERYTHING. No refunds. No returns.
This is an actual phone conversation I had the pleasure of having with my 15 year old daughter last night:
L: "Zac and I want to go see a movie but the movies we want to see don't start until 9:30. Can I stay out until after the movie? I promise I'll come home right after the movie. I won't go anywhere else."
Me: (After looking at my watch and realizing that it's now 8:30 pm and she's been at Zac's house since 6:30 which gave them pleanty of time to decide to see a movie and be home in time for her to meet her curfue, yet waited until now to decide this) "You can go watch a movie but you have to be home by 10:30"
L: "Please? I promise to be home right after the movie. Please?"
Me: "You were out with an extended curfue the last two nights. You must be home by 10:30"
L: "Fine."
Little does L realize that she hasn't hung up the phone yet, neither have I because I didn't realize we were done with our conversation since she ended with a simple, sarcastic, attitude filled "fine", and the next thing I hear is "She's such a BITCH" before the line goes dead.
You may be asking yourself "what did she do then?" I'll tell you what I did:
L: "Hello?"
Me: "I'll see you in a few minutes."
L: "Why? It's not 10:30 yet."
Me: "Because you're going to say your goodbyes, pack up your crap and come home right now."
L: "WHY?!"
Me: "Because I'm such a BITCH"
Needless to say, L came home but decided to go directly into her room and remain there for the rest of the evening.
FOR SALE: One Teenager. Smart. Pretty. Already knows EVERYTHING. No refunds. No returns.
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