Just my latest little rant

I just got off the phone with support enforcement.  I was not able to be transferred to the supervisor I asked for because he's on vacation.  Must be nice.  The regular worker will never take my call.  The phone answerer (or whatever she is), tells me that there has "been activity" in his file and that they cannot locate him.  Let me tell you, it is so very easy for the state of CT to punch in my SSN and find out my life story, why can they not do the same for him?  Either he found a way to buy himself a fake #, or he found an incredibly stupid female to support him.  There is absolutely no way he is working under the table, because, well, that would actually involve work - you know, the sweaty, manual kind - which he has never done one minute of in his life.  From the moment my boys were tall enough to push a lawn mower or reach a sink, they did every last thing in and around the house that I didn't do - and it made them great men, not afraid of work. 

It has been 20 weeks since the last child support payment.  Any state worth a crap would have already taken his license, or locked him up, or plastered his face on a billboard.  $12,880.  This does not include the almost three years he didn't pay one bloody dime before that.  It's getting a little tiring trying to hock dolls, and weed peoples gardens, and driving in an unsafe vehicle - just to survive.  Don't get me wrong, we enjoy the doll-making, and we love gardening, but people must be getting tired of me advertising and complaining. 

Why does he keep getting away with it?  If I had been a career woman from the start, I could most-likely have some sort of occupation which would somewhat provide for the 8 minors here, but I was the one staying home, per our decision, with no work experience to speak of and a liberal arts education, which my second son will tell you, is woth NOTHING.

We will never have a proper vehicle, we will never go on vacation, we will most likely never have our own house with land, and it will not be because I am not so very frugal, self-sufficient, and willing to go without.  It's because when we do sell a doll, or I sell books on Amazon, or one of the boys does some yard work, that money goes to the kid whose feet grew last, or used to buy shampoo and toilet paper, or that is the time the oil tank is empty or the car breaks down again.

I am not complaing that we're poor.  I am not complaining that we don't have the latest.  I AM complaining that the state of CT is so very rich, yet they don't have the budget for the places it's needed most, and that the state workers and the deadbeat disgusting excuses for humans who let the children they're responsible for rot can go on vacation and have no worries.

A new dress

Courtesy of Big Sister who is getting quite good!

New editions to the shop

 Farm Animal Finger Puppets

 St. Faustina

http://www.etsy.com/shop/11onmyown

Memorial Day

After living in CT for 36 years, I finally made it to Gillette Castle, one of the state parks that, for some unknown reason, we had never been to.  It was an absolutely sweltering day, hovering around 90 degrees with humidity at 200% (it felt like it, anyway).  The views were awesome, though, and the company was great :)

 William Gillette was an actor around the time of Ethel Barrymore, who led a very interesting life, and who built a very peculiar home for himself.

 He was best known for his portrayal of Sherlock Holmes.

"Pose for Mom's blog," one of the smart-alecks said, and another smarty called me today and said, "It's 2:30!  Why haven't you blogged yet?"

A view of the inside great room, with wood or reed walls and built-in seating.

Below is the bed he had built for his cats.

An example of how small the rest of the rooms were.  This one was for his favorite niece (he had no children).

After touring the castle, we had a picnic.  Organic free-range egg salad (Sally's!) on sprouted wheat.

We took the ferry across the river, where the captain told me my clunking front end sounds like a cv-joint.  Can't be good.

The view from the ferry of where we just were.

We stopped in Essex for ice cream, courtesy of all the kids who chipped-in their earnings from working in the neighbor's yard.

There the kids spotted a dead fish, that was this big!

Our last stop was Mystic Seaport.  A good but very (very) hot day!

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Annulment?

The other day I was out with one of my best friends and I told him about my weekend.  He knew much of what was happening around here because he was in and out - but he didn't know about the surprise I had in store for me Sunday night.  My dear friend Wayne set me up on a blind date.  (Is it okay to say that, Wayne?!)  Yep, me, who hasn't had a date in, oh, about 18 or so years.  It came as a complete surprise, and I truly did try and talk my way out of it, but it happened anyway!  The kids were okay with it (better with it than I was, actually) and so I reluctantly went, and didn't have that bad a time.

It wasn't a love connection or anything, but it was a major hurdle in my life if you look at the fact that I have been single for almost 5-and-a-half years.  That's a long time.  I hadn't much wanted anything to do with a man, if you can imagine, but lately my thoughts have been wavering in that area.

Anyway, my bestest, he said to me, "You don't have an annulment!"  That was the last thing I'd thought he'd remark about, given the field was wide open, and he usually has something pretty obnoxious to say.  I don't have an annulment.  I don't ever plan on getting married again - it will be reallllly hard to ever trust a man that much.  However, he said it would be nice to have for my piece-of-mind, and he may be right.  The process does take awhile, and who knows what the future holds, maybe I should make sure my path is clear.  I also have a friend in the tribunal, so getting an annulment for me would not be as lengthy or difficult, I would think - as he already knows my background.  I am just so paperworked out with all of the letters I've been writing lately.

So there you have it.  I'm sure there are many and varied opinions.  I know several of my friends do not believe the Church should issue annulments, under any circumstances.  I'm sure some people do abuse them.  I for one, would not like to be supernaturally and eternally bound to tbj, whether or not I ever plan on remarriage.

Joke of the day

Support Enforcement sent me a letter asking me if I knew where to find him.