My Life is Filled....

With "Days of Hell!"

Let me setup the situation. It all started on Monday evening. Rob asks me if I had any plans for Tuesday. Well, because of his work schedule, I NEVER schedule anything. He says to me that I have to take him to work and pick him up. He says he told his daughter that he would take her to where she needed to go because her mom was just getting ou tof the hospital and couldn't drive her.

OK. I am never asked. I'm just told I need to do this.

I understand his situation. He hasn't slept a wink, except an hour or so nap in the afternoon. He's working is part-time job Monday night. I knew he would need a second driver because of the little sleep he would have.

So, Cassi and I drive him from our house to his job and back. It actually was a good experience because we found a better way for him to get to work. It costs about 50 cents more, but he doesn't have to deal with "Cleveland" main county driving and a road that has a traffic light, for what seems to be every 50 feet.

But, Cassi and I got home and immediately went to bed at midnight. We had to be up at 6am to go back and pick him up. It took a little to get Cassi up and moving. On the way over, she slept in the backseat of our wagon, but complained first that it was too cold.

We picked up Rob. We had to drive that road, full of traffic lights. For those of you familiar with the area, we were driving in Parma north on Ridge Road, and south of downtown Cleveland.

Then, it happened. At the street before my turn at Snow Road to the left, there is this woman sitting in the middle of the road, trying to take a left turn. This is a 5 lane road (2 each way and a turning lane). Her car is perpendicular to me. I blast my horn at her and slam on my brakes.

Because the road is wet, it is slippery. I go into skid mode with the car and skid into her car. I scratched the left back bumper. At first, it looks like she is leaving the scene of the incident. So, I follow.

She gets out of the car and starts screaming her head off at me. Rob gets out of the car, making sure no one was hurt and on his cell phone to 911 and the Parma Police. She's yelling at me because she has a 1-year-old and a 3-year-old in the back seat of her car.

The policeman arrives and looks at her car and where she had come from. Before she can say anything, he says, "You're at fault."

Turns out 2 things were against her:
1. the street she was coming out of had a Right-Turn Only sign on it.
2. because of the number of lanes in the road, and I was in the fast lane of my side, I did not have to yield to her at all. She was required to yield to me.

At first, she tried to say that she had Progressive, but told the policeman that she had Nationwide on the report. Then, she didn't want us to report the incident to our insurance. Hmmm? So, of course you know we reported it. Luckily, the woman did have insurance. We got a call in the evening.

So, of course, it was a bad day for me. And, I couldn't drive at all. I was shaking so bad. The accident turned out to be in my wagon, on the driver's side. I'll end up having to have my front bumper and my left fender replaced. The place where we're taking it will also look at my struts in the front. Because of the slide, we'll see if they suggest needing them to be replaced. If one needs to be done, they both do.

We ended up being late to pick up his daughter. (this is a whole OTHER story) We took her to where she needed to go and came home. On our way, we talked with Dan a little.

We came home. Cassi watched TV in her room while Rob and I napped.

In the afternoon, Rob's daughter decided to text Rob and tell him she needed to be picked up later. Rob was uncomfortable with this because mom didn't know the change in time. He told her to call mom. No response. Rob ended up calling mom at about 6, with mom furious about the situation. (still will talk about it in a few) We ended up having to meet mom and boyfriend out near where we dropped her off for them to pick her up.

Of course, Rob wants to make sure he has a trusting relationship with ex. I agree 100%. And, I told ex this. We want her to know that we are not going to lie to her at all.

After we leave them, we go back to Dan's house. Rob helped Dan gut his bathroom to redo it. Last night, they were working to get the first pieces of bathroom drywall (stuff doesn't attract water and mold) to the ceiling.

We ended up getting home after 11:30. Cassi spent the night there, with Dan's kids.

Just after we get home, I'm on the pot, going. Rob gets up and flies out of the house. I finish and get up quickly and go out. He shouts to get him a cell phone and keys. He's calling the police and going after a group of punks boys who just egged the house.

Lovely!

I walk outside to find broken egg shells and crap on my front steps. I go back into the house and grab my camera. I start flashing the camera for pictures. I find they've egged above the window in my office. As he's driving around, the policeman shows up. At this point, Rob is VERY aggravated, to the point of shouting at the officer. He's very angry because the first year we were here, he had grabbed someone who decided to cut all my flowers off my plants. That police officer decided to tell Rob, "Welcome to Elyria. If you don't like it, go back to Grafton." So, that frustration continued with this officer. He adamantly told Rob he would never tell anyone to leave. He's lived in Elyria for most of his life. I thanked him for his time. He took the information, but without the kids, there wasn't much he could do.

About an hour later, we hear this, "WHOMP!" out toward the front door. We had both showered and were in jammies by then.

We fly out the door again. I got shorts on and go out too. I look up the street, toward Cassi's school and shout there's kids up there. Rob takes off and they take off. Needless to say, he didn't get them. But, this time, turns out my laptop bag fell off the couch. That was where the sound came from. The kids who were up the street, in our opinion, were the kids who egged our house.

I ended up being up until 3am, because, of course, I was wired from the incident. Then, I had turned on the TV and started watching One Life to Live, one of my soap operas.

I had to get up at 6am to come here to the flea market. My brain isn't working very well.

Lots of love,
Cathy
8^ )


Next Story: My Time Grows Short at the Flea Market

Because it is taking longer than imagined to get established here at the flea market, this will be my last week here. We just don't have the money to keep paying for the space. As much as my sister would probably be willing to send me the money to help for a couple of weeks, it just isn't feasible. Besides, I was going to have to leave after the end of August anyway because my classes start on August 25 (for my Saturday classes).

The ladies who run the market are sad that I have to leave, but understand. I'm going to continue working on my Web site. Plus, I've got the craft show booklet for this fall. I'll be heading to craft shows in the fall. I know my stuff will be sellers then. It's a different mind set for crafts at these shows. By being home, I'll be able to devote more time to fixing my online store. Plus, I'll be able to go around to bridal salons, etc, advertising my services. This might be a good thing. And, I made little, business-card sized cards for one of the managers of the flea market. She said she would keep my business card. She also asked if I kept her project on my computer, for which I replied most certainly. She'll be ordering more in the future.


Next Story: First Impressions (oh, yeah FOURTH Impressions) do not help someone get in your good graces.

As promised earlier in this post, I wanted to elaborate on part of our day yesterday. According to Rob, ex was told daughter was going to her boyfriend's house to be with him to go with him for wrist surgery. He had broken his wrist and was having surgery to put pins in his wrist.

I told Rob as we were arriving to their house, did mom know she was going to boyfriend's house? My assumption was that we were taking her directly to a medical facility, where he was having surgery and had to be there by 9am. We pick up daughter and her friend and take them to boyfriend's house.

Wait a minute, boyfriend? She doesn't have a boyfriend, according to mom. Obviously mom doesn't know what daughter is doing.

We are to pick her up at 7pm from boyfriend's house. We get there. Rob asks why we went there.

"Oh, the surgery isn't until 2pm. We're going to wake him up," daughter said.

Huh, again? Where's HIS mom in all of this. But, Rob complies, not really asking what to do.

By 4pm, though, she sends him a text message, saying that the surgery was going longer than planned. Instead of picking them up at 7, pick them up at 8:30pm. Rob put his foot down and saved the text message, telling her she needed to call mom and let her know of the change.

Like I said earlier, Rob called mom to make sure she knew there was a time change. Because of his need of keeping a honest relationship with ex, he wanted to let her know. Not sure what phone conversation consisted of, she was DEFINITELY mad. She didn't know about a BOYFRIEND. Nor was she aware of daughter going to boyfriend's house. They both thought she was going to the campground their family camps at and would be picked up and taken to the medical facility, not to some boy's house.

So, mom says, please meet us at such-and-such location before the campground. Drive us down to where you dropped her off. We'll pick her up.

When we met them, I came right out and told them, before Rob could, how we wanted a honest relationship with them. Because of the newness of the relationship with daughter, we don't want ex to be suspicious of us in any way.

Rob walks over (because at that point, he's talking with the accident person's insurance adjuster). He tells ex and boyfriend the same thing I just said.

We go down where she's at and come back to the same location. At that time, I tell him, she's playing both parents against each other. She's lying to both of them. Who knows what she actually did.

After mom comes back with her, she tries to say she didn't have cell phone service. But, it appeared that her friend did. She chose not to call people or text people. She was doing what she wanted to do.

Rob got upset because, as she says it, she hates her mother.

I told Rob he will never take her anywhere again. He isn't going to get played like that. If she wants a relationship with him, it's going to be honest and fair.

But, of course he was upset.

So, my first impression turned into my fourth impression. It wasn't exactly how I imagined it would be, but close. Mom said she was taking the daughter's cell phone away for the week. In my opinion, not long enough. Also, I feel she shouldn't have a cell phone at 16. Believe me, Cassi won't get one unless she's working and it's for her job, like I required one because I traveled.

And, I warned Rob that I didn't want Cassi around her to get these bad traits. If I EVER catch Cassi doing what his daughter is doing, I will BEAT her within an inch of her life! That's a guarantee. Hopefully, I'm raising her to be different.

With that, I'll close this now. This post has helped me stay awake so far. We'll see how everything goes. If it stays slow, I'll make an excuse and leave early.

Lots of love to all my friends and family,
Cathy
8^ )

P.S. If I haven't commented on your blog lately, it isn't that I haven't been to your place, it's just been HELL at my house.