Yesterday was kind of stressful (they all are, recently). But it was also pretty good. The weather was fantastic. The nice thing about Portland is that the weather is steady-eddie. I understand Omaha has had some really nice weather this spring. The difference is that it will return to sub-30s weather in a heartbeat.
On my way into work, I stumbled across a nickel. I immediately wondered if nickels provide 5 times as much luck as a penny because we'd need a little luck that day. We were to have a hearing with the judge and opposing counsel to hammer out some details of the ruling. It turned out that it didn't really matter because 4 blocks later, I struck pay-dirt. As I bent down to pick up a penny, I saw 8 others. 14 cents on my way into work isn't a bad way to start the day! When I told Ben about it, he informed me that he had also found a penny. If a nickel wasn't going to give us much luck, surely 10 pennies would.
And maybe it did? The ex's lawyer was a no-show for the hearing. She had originally said that she might be there in person (it was a telephonic hearing), but she wasn't. She also wasn't available by phone when my lawyer, and later the judge's office tried calling. She has to know that it doesn't reflect well on their side when she misses hearings. And this isn't the only one she's missed (or been late to). She was late to her own appointment when we did interrogatories. Sheesh!
My lawyer called to discuss. I asked a million questions about what they *could* do and what we can do to mitigate that. I asked about the cost of all of this. It has been a struggle, that's for sure. For going on 8 months, now, we've maintained 2 households, we've paid for at least 16 round trip tickets to and from Omaha, and paid a full year of Ben's take home pay to a lawyer. Luckily, Bubba's daycare is also higher and we've had almost $2,000 in car repairs. Oh, wait. Seriously, though, putting it all out there is pretty impressive. We've done this on our savings. What despairs me is the thought that there are women (and men) out there who would like to better their lives, but do not have the means to fight lengthy court battles. I still think that one party (not mine) is just trying to outlast the other. One party (not mine) makes more than the other and has not had the burden of mortgage, rent, plane tickets, etc that the other has. But you know what? Right is right. Might is not always right. So we will not be outlasted. We will not fold under the pressure. Sure, our savings is nearly depleted, but we're going to be OK.
The end is in sight. We'll pay a few thousand dollars for the order to be drafted and our time to be wasted by opposing party. We'll pay a few more thousand for the appeal (he's "definitely" going to appeal). And we'll pay about $9,000 out of pocket when we sell our house. But then it's done. Then, we can start saving, again. I hope. If we're not forced to declare bankruptcy before then. Bright side: we don't have to move back to Omaha and be jobless anytime soon. We wouldn't be homeless, as my friend Rob has offered his transient-people living space to us if we have to move back. We'd have been squatters, padlocked into his basement, but at least we'd have been warm (or cool...depending on the season). No. We're staying put. We are standing our ground. You can't scare us anymore.
And we're going to continue to pick up pennies.
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