Saturday, January 27, 2007

DENIED

Unfortunately our attorney was correct. The stupid-a$$ judge denied our request to dismiss the case. He said that prosecution needs a chance "to prove their case."

I guess a 4-year old, his emotions and well-being do not get placed above the prosecution's right to 'prove their case.'

Our trial is set for March 29th.

Lovely.

(I am composing a long rant against the stupid Guardian ad Litem* which will be posted shortly)

*GUARDIAN AD LITEM - Lat. "guardian at law." The person appointed by the court to look out for the best interests of the child (HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!) during the course of legal proceedings.

Thursday, January 18, 2007

New Year's resolution

New Year's Resolution:

In the year 2007 I resolve to:
Figuring out why I really need 7 e-mail addresses.

Get your resolution here.



...and this is way more accurate than I like to think...

Monday, January 15, 2007

Thursday, January 11, 2007

Delurking Week

Delurking Week. Yes it is. I looked it up. That means that anyone who reads this blog must leave a comment. Yes, it does. If you don't I will sell your IP address to a Nigerian prince who will then steal all your 'monees.'

I will send you a Neiman-Marcus cookie.

I will give your address to the Scientologists (this happened to my brother and we got tons of junk mail for years).

I would love to read your comments. Call me a bitch. Call me a complainer. Say I couldn't write myself out of a paper bag. Just say something.

Or else.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007

More Court Crap

Well, I guess it's time for a little court update. Our appearance on the 4th was really just a formality (again). Sheesh, no wonder the court system is so clogged. It takes 3 or 4 different appearances to get anything done. Our attorney filed a Motion for Dismissal. She doesn't think the judge will dismiss it, but I figure it's worth a try. If the stupid judge actually decided to read the allegations, any of the stuff we have filed or any of the answers to their allegations then this crap would be over, but I don't think he bothers.

What we filed was:

COMES NOW, the parents, XXXXX and XXXXX, by and through their undersigned attorney and move this Court pursuant to Rule 8.235(b), Fla. R. Juv. P., to dismiss the Petition for Dependency for failure to state a cause of action and would state the following in support of their motion:

1. The Petition fails to allege the factual basis for any reasonable efforts made to prevent or eliminate the need for the removal of the child from the home.
2. The Petition fails to allege any allegations of abuse, abandonment or neglect. The allegations are merely that the mother did not make the minor child available to the Department Investigator. The mother does not have any duty to make the child available. There was no court order, nor pending case.
3. The Petition fails to allege any actual abuse or neglect or abandonment. In fact, the Petition fails to date any actions by the Father in paragraph 6.b.
4. The Petition fails to allege any actions by the father that are in the presence of the minor child. The Petition alleges that the father wears “vulgar” clothing, boxers or a
towel to the mailbox, and shorts to answer the doorbell. The allegations do not rise to the level of dependency.

Wherefore, the Parents pray that this Court will dismiss the Petition and grant any other relief deemed proper and appropriate.


++++++++++++++++++++

Our attorney keeps saying how she can't believe that the state is proceeding with this case. They have nothing. N. O. T. H. I. N. G. It is a collassal waste of time and money.

The real reason they have continued with this is because of point 2 above. We refused to jump just because they said 'frog' and tried to make them follow the law. You know, things like following due process, adhering to unimportant little documents like the Constitution and the Bill of Rights.

Assholes. They think they are above the law; that the Constitution does not apply to them.

They certainly aren't doing any of this 'in the best interest of the child.'

Friday, January 05, 2007

Changes abound

I am so sorry but this is just too funny and this line is unbelievably hilarious!!

"While it is unlikely that this will result in a "fart-tax" with civil
servants chasing cows round with breathalyzer style methane measurers..."

*...laughs hilariously...wipes drool from mouth...*

If anyone has been paying attention, yes, I have made some changes around here. I don't think I will ever be 'home' again so I have decided to just go along with whatever comes my way.

"What the f%$k is she talking about?"

My project did not get renewed for this year so in spite of our delivery being splendidly received by our customer and riotously successful, I and my whole team have been let go effective the 18th of this month.

Joy.

So, I am off on Monday to interview in Minneapolis for a Technical Architect position at (wait for it) ...Target.

*ahem*

Might have to change my opinion of them.

Thursday, January 04, 2007

2006 Meme

I think I will jump on the bandwagon and do the latest meme that is going around (far be it from me to buck the trend...besides it is an easy post and one designed not to be too depressing...see how I look out after my readers...?)

This meme involves listing the first line of the first post from every month last year. See? I told you. Easy peasy.

January 2006
We are currently on the road on the way from Seattle to Florida.

February
I missed the whole blog war.

March 2006
I am going on a business trip to Philadelphia.

April 2006
I received a letter in the mail this week that stirred up some really conflicted feelings.

May 2006
A joke...since I can't think of anything else to blog about...

June 2006
So. I'll bet my legions of readers* are wondering, 'How goes the potty training?

July 2006
I have always loved the following story.

August 2006
I was reading the other day about some poor schmuck that got fired by text message.

September 2006
(Bad blogger...no posts in September...)

October 2006
The polls are open.

November 2006
Feeling kind of bummed out today but I thought I would pass on probably one of the last places in the world I would go to eat.

December 2006
This could possibly be the worst holiday season ever in my life topping even the year my mother died (3 days before Christmas, 1989).

Feel free to go back and revisit any of this scintillating reading...

(tomorrow I will update about today's court hearing...for now let's just revel in the easy...)

Wednesday, January 03, 2007

Dear God. You suck.

NOTE: I wrote the following post yesterday. I was feeling very down and blue and was terribly sorry for myself (why not? who else will feel sorry for me?), but then last night I watched Betty Ford as she said goodbye to her life's partner. She had such grace. She is so strong (this country has had many many first ladies with buckets of courage and grace...seems there must be a few posts in that). I know that I will come out of this mess on the other side. I know that I will and can carry on. But I am sure that there will be times when I feel like the world is stomping all over me. The following post reflects that.

- sheilah
==========================

I am going to borrow Cecily’s letter from a few years ago: Dear God. You suck.

I hate this. I usually love the holidays but this year I didn’t do anything for Christmas. Before all this crap happened I had such nice plans. A nice quiet Thanksgiving at home with turkey and all the trimmings. Then maybe stay home for Christmas too. Or maybe go to Houston to be with B’s brother and family for a few days and then home again.

That’s what I want to do next year. I want to be at home with my little family. I know I don’t want to go to the in-laws (I just have trouble with MIL & FIL…I like B’s brothers & sister). The visit this year was as excruciating as I thought it would be. The first 4 days in Houston were fine and would have been plenty for me. It was the last 5 in Austin that almost made me take a jump off a nearby bridge. If it hadn’t been for the fact that MIL & FIL now have custody of MY SON and I need to be SUPERVISED to be with him, I would have left after a day. I stayed only to be with E.

He can sense that they do not like me (never have…MIL disliked me after seeing me ONCE for about 10 minutes…not a good relationship with her at all). He asked me on numerous occasions, “Do grandma and grandpa like you?” I didn’t want to lie and I didn't want to tell him the truth so I just told him how much they loved him.

It didn’t help that I have been so sad and emotional and weepy either. E asked me more than once, “Are you sad, mommy?” I hated to lie to him but I didn’t want to make him sad too. It’s bad enough that I cried in front of him. He was so sweet. He held me and stroked my hair and said, “Don’t cry, mommy.” He is such a good, kind boy.

God, will this nightmare ever end?

Tuesday, January 02, 2007

Personality test

Actually this came out surprisingly accurate. Found this link from Tertia.


Stability results were high which suggests you are very relaxed, calm, secure, and optimistic (boy...is this me, or what??).

Orderliness results were moderately high which suggests you are, at times, overly organized, reliable, neat, and hard working at the expense of flexibility, efficiency, spontaneity, and fun (this seems to be a bit off the mark...not really that neat...I always thought I was fairly flexible).

Extraversion results were medium which suggests you are moderately talkative, outgoing, sociable and interacting (pretty close, I'd say).

I agree with most of the following. The ones that are most on the mark I have made bold.

trait snapshot:

clean, organized, regular (glad to know this), self reliant, tough, positive, high self control, very good at saving money, dislikes chaos, resolute, realist, trusting, hard working (how can I get this, but have low work ethic??), dislikes unpredictability, prefers a technical specialized career (hehe...yep...), not worrying (at least until 2 months ago), respects authority, enjoys leadership, finisher, normal (this is good to know), optimistic, controlling (hmmm...really?), prudent, modest, adventurous, does not like to be alone (not sure about this), intellectual, likes the unknown, very practical (that's the engineer in me), high self esteem, assertive, perfectionist, busy, altruistic

Monday, January 01, 2007

Back home again...

Back in Florida again. Hard without E. He is still in Texas with grandparents. I miss that little guy every day.

While those CPS jerks had him some dumbshit said something to him about never seeing his mommy again. He asked B that the day after we got him home again ("will I ever see mommy again?"). I didn't find out about that comment until Christmas Eve.

That explained why E didn't even want me out of his sight. He followed me around and was angry when I walked away from him (into the kitchen, into the office, the bathroom, etc.).

What kind of an asshole would say that to a 3-year old?