Chaos

Some days off are great.  Others suck so much that I actually wish I had been working.  Today was the latter.  I was awakened at 6:20am to Phoenix getting up and the boys waiting outside my bedroom door.  I stayed up with P until my mom left, because when he hears her voice is when he gets up and moves around.  We went back to bed for a couple hours until I heard baby S crying out in the living room, so I decided it was time to get up and see if my dad needed some help.  Apparently my sister had a meeting with her lawyer at 10 this morning, so my dad was in charge of all three kids.  In spite of his attempting to get dinner started, he did a great job.  He left at noon to go pick my mom up from work, and my sister left again because apparently the argument she was having with her lawyer was not finished; she needed to go back and argue with him some more.  So we put this kids down for naps and she left again.  I laid down for a little while, but baby S woke up first, shortly followed by Z.  I called my parents to see where they were and got no answer.  They should have been home between 1:30 and 2, but they didn't come home until 3:30.  I guess they went to lunch after my dad picked my mom up from work, and on their way home my sister called them for assistance at her lawyer's office.

I feel like I was taken advantage of.  No one asked me to watch the kids, or to stay with them all day by myself.  Luckily I hadn't made plans for myself for today (I often don't so that I can be around to lend a hand if it's needed), but I hadn't planned on feeding the kids lunch, putting them down for their naps, and then playing with them for two hours after they got up.  I had no idea where my parents were because no one had told me anything, and every time I called my dad, he'd pick up, say nothing and then hang up.  I tried texting him to say that I needed to know where the hell they were, but got no response. 

Apparently what happened is that my sister had a "meltdown" of her regular kind at her lawyer's office.  I don't know what it was that they were discussing, but I know that my sister has a hearing tomorrow to establish "temporary" orders for parenting.  I put "temporary" in quotations because the orders are nowhere near "temporary," they are established for at least 90 days (usually more) for who gets how many days with the kids and other things of that nature.  My sister had decided that she wanted Monday through Friday with the kids, and wanted her ex-husband to have weekends.  She told me when she came home the first time that she wasn't paying the lawyer to say no to her.  I said, no, you're paying him to give you the best advice possible for your case.  See, because she slapped her ex-husband after a particularly nasty comment he made, and due to the fact that Z apparently saw that happen, she's been charged with domestic violence.  In the state of Colorado, if a child sees one parent strike the other parent, it's an automatic domestic violence charge.  Because she now has this charge on her permanent record, her lawyer has told her her chances of getting what she wants for custody of the kids are very slim.  This is not what she wants to hear. 

I'm sure I'll get the details later of what actually went down at the lawyer's office, I can speculate about the nature of the situation.  If nothing else, it's wonderful to know that there is someone else in the world who has had to face the Wrath of "Angie" besides her ex-husband and her immediate family.  It will come in handy someday when I'm forced to take her to court to revoke her financial rights because of how ill she is and how unwilling she is to accept that she's very ill.  I'm thinking it will be something very similar to when Britney Spears' father was given control of her rights after her very public meltdown.

I got the phone call from the mechanic today about my car, and it's more than what I had anticipated, although the problem is exactly what I'd hypothesized it was - the fuel pump has "seized" and needs to be replaced.  And in the language of all mechanics, that means also replacing the entire fuel module - gauges, filter, the whole enchilada.  I trust this mechanic more than I'd trust any Joe Schmo out there, but I'm not thrilled with having to pay more than the $600 I saved for it.  I thought that would be enough, but it will be about $350 more than that.  I can easily pay for the whole thing with my next paycheck, which isn't until the 15th, and the parts for the car won't be in until the 10th, so I think it will work out okay.  My dad has offered to cover whatever I can't, but I've pretty much decided not to accept his offer to help.  I really want to do this on my own, no matter the cost.  So we'll just have to see what happens.  Perhaps I'll let him put $100 towards it just for comfort.

I got the card that Kara had told me she sent today.  It was glorious.  I got a beautiful purple homemade bracelet which am I wearing right now.  She's extended her invitation to move out to San Diego again, which I am more and more seriously considering.  If I can save up until this summer, May or so, I can afford to make the move and live for a few months off of savings while I look for a job.  I'm just ready to jump into the deep end of adulthood.

My boss offered me another job yesterday.  I guess in February they start showing the apartments that they lease and they need extra help to do that.  I'd be doing that on my days off.  It sounds like a more relaxed schedule than the job I was offered by the financial adviser in my building, and I wouldn't be stuck in front of a computer for hours on end.  I'll be making more money that way, too, so I'm going to do it.  I could use the extra moola. 

And speaking of that financial adviser...The guy is starting to creep me out.  Last week, he came in to the office and said "Wow, you have really beautiful hair," and I appropriately said thank you.  But then the next day, he asked me if he could touch my hair.  I surprised myself with how strongly I said "NO!"  Normally I try to be as polite and kind as possible, but the word just popped out of my mouth before I even gave it a conscious thought.  But I meant it!  Then, Monday he said, "Are you sure I can't touch your hair?"  I again, said that I was sure, no, he could not touch my hair.  I think he probably thinks it's funny and not inappropriate, and for the most part I'm not intimidated by him, but I'm creeped out by his insistence on the subject.  I don't actually think he's just being joking or complimentary anymore.  I'm going to continue to tell him no.  Ew.

I changed my appearance today.  I'm pretty sure I like it, but a lot of that will depend on the upkeep.

My dad is really upset by what happened at the attorney's office today.  Luckily he's ready and willing to talk about it, so I know he will be okay.

Also, I woke up this morning with a searing pain in my lower left back/side.  From my little sister's experience dealing with an irritated sciatic nerve, that's my first guess as to what is wrong.  It hurts all the way down to my knee, but I've also been feeling pain in my lower left quadrant of my abdomen and I had an episode of dizziness that almost made me puke this evening.  I'm documenting it just in case I die.  I'm also quite a hypochondiac.