Still Alive and Well

OMG.  It’s been so long since I posted.  And I hate it when I do that.  I write this (when I get off my dead ass and do it) to document my life and by all accounts, it looks I’ve been in a cave (bunker? LOL!) since December 17.

So – bullet points are again my friend.

• Holiday dinner went swimmingly.  New faces, new table setting, new recipes and old standards.  Way fun.
• Christmas was lovely.  Calm, stress free, no problems.  And best (well, maybe not best – it will make me sound shallow) of all – I got the diamond solitaire earrings that have been on my list for at least 10 years.  The man of the house waited until Dec. 24^th to do his shopping, which forced him to make snap decisions.  Yay!
• A second year has gone by without a Christmas card from one of my mom’s friends that I’ve kept in touch with.  She was always so good about writing.  I’ve used my resources at work to check the death files for her home state and it doesn’t appear that she’s passed away.  She was quite a bit younger than mom, probably only about 62 or 63 now.  I’m concerned.  I’m going to drop her another note and see if I can get a response.  It makes me sad.  She loved Mom so much – and I loved having that connection to her because of Mom.
• Did some travel in January – to Dallas for a meeting.  Direct flight, both ways!  Sweet!  And it was held at a Four Seasons.  Nothing wrong with that.  Not a single thing.
• Crazy Oldest Brother finally had the procedure on his heart in January.  Before he went to the hospital, he asked my dad to talk to me about reconnecting with him.  Dad did and said he thought this health scare had finally gotten through to him that he needed to make some changes and asked me to consider reconciling with him.  I told Dad that I would think about it, but no promises.  Well, I’m surely glad that I didn’t open that door.  The week after he got out of the hospital and back home, he’s feeling better and drinking again.  And angry.  And pissy.  He verbally attacked my sister’s husband on the phone and the very next day, called her and raged about all sorts of nonsense.  She SAYS she’s finally done.  We’ll see.  I’ve heard that before.  On one hand, I give her credit for having the capacity to tolerate the nonsense and be a contact for him.  On the other hand, it’s the same Crazy over and over and over.  She wrote him a letter and cut the cord.  She read it to me and it’s kind, but certainly to the point.  As of yesterday, she hadn’t mailed it yet.  We’ll see…
• I think what happened to his attitude is directly related to the summons he was served the day after he got home (or so he says, who knows when he really got it) regarding the paternity of his daughter.  He had to be present in court last week to get the paternity results (100% positive).  The mother is asking for him to provide medical coverage for her until she’s 26 or is eligible for her own medical.  He thinks he can put her on his CHAMPUS through the military.  Maybe?   Not sure how that works.  And the courts will now determine how much is owed in back child support and if he’s going to be responsible for a portion of her college tuition.  It’s all spun wildly out of control for him and he reacted just like he always does by abusing the people closest to him instead of dealing with the issue.  He told Sister that the daughter (her name is Emily…sigh…) wants to meet him.  I wish that I could contact her mother and try and dissuade her from allowing it, at least until she’s older.  If the mother was in court last week, too, she saw the state he’s in and changed her mind.  I’m still trying to figure out what, if anything, I should try to do about this.  I take my role as aunt very seriously and it’s killing me to think that I don’t know her.
• There’s an idiot in our small town who hates my kids.  He went to school with the husband and hated him, too.  My husband is generally mild mannered and from everything I’ve ever heard wasn’t a bully and didn’t pick on anybody.  This guy is just an idiot blowhard that enjoys tormenting and bullying anyone he thinks he can lord over – namely, kids.  I’m very pragmatic about our kids – they aren’t perfect by any means, but they’re both polite, well-spoken, friendly, hardworking, good students, etc. etc. etc.  Why he’s targeted them – SINCE THEY WERE ABOUT 12, FOR GAWDS SAKE – I have no idea.  We’ve told them to just ignore him – nothing good ever comes from allowing idiots to get to you, you know?  Well, Wednesday night, it came to a head for the youngest, now 18.  There was an incident at the City Council meeting (idiot is a city employee, youngest had to attend a meeting as part of graduation requirements).  David left the meeting with idiot on his tail.  Like RIGHT ON HIS TAIL.  Instead of doing the smart thing and turning left to come him, David drove south out of town.  Idiot tailgated him all the way to the gravel road that he lives on.  Keep in mind that Idiot could have passed him anytime on the pavement, but didn’t.  David turned down the gravel – which is soft and sloppy – and proceeded to drive right down the middle of the road – going about 5 miles an hour.  Dave was driving the Subaru, Idiot in a full size 4WD pick up with a grill guard.  There wasn’t enough room for him to pass Dave so he followed him right on his tail.  And then proceeded to rear end him.  Dave drove another 25 feet and stopped.  Idiot did a 3 point turn in the road and left the scene.  All of this is verified by the tracks in the road.  David is panicked – he just got his license back (3 speeding tickets in 6 mos. – one more moving violation and he loses it for a year) at the end of January.  He comes home and tells us the story.  Husband is infuriated and calls Idiot.  Idiot is back at the scene, with the county sheriff.  We all go back to the scene where the sheriff informs us that Idiot said that he stopped, but David drove off.  And was swerving all over the road to block him from passing.  Not true – the tracks in the road disprove that.  Sheriff decides not to issue a citation to either driver.  Good news for David but WTH?  Husband approaches Idiot at his truck (he never got out while we were there) – after being told specifically NOT TO by the sheriff – and tells him, under no uncertain terms and some colorful language, is he to EVER SPEAK TO EITHER ONE OF OUR CHILDREN EVER AGAIN OR HE WOULD BEAT HIS ASS.  Idiot never looks at husband, stares straight ahead and nods.  Dave dodged a bullet but Idiot will pay for the damage, one way or another. It’s about $2k worth.  Either his insurance or we’ll take him to court.  Better yet – JUDGE JUDY!!!!!  Should be a pretty easy case for several reasons: a) there is no minimum speed on gravel b) there is no passing on gravel c) he left the scene.  To top it off, Idiot’s daughter, who is in David’s class, went to school the next day and told people that Husband threatened to kill the family.  Oh the joy of parenting.

I PROMISE myself to update more often.