Don't Laugh In Court

Yesterday, I had to tell my self not to break out with a belly laugh in Family Court!

When my daughter went through her divorce 12 years ago , I would get physically ill sitting in court and watching my daughter's soon to be ex and -n-laws putting her through the mill with new charges and court dates.

One such charge was when she had the audacity to keep Stephen at home on Mother's Day! Imagine a mother wanting to be with her own children on that day. That one made her ex-n-laws so mad that they tried to get her put in jail!

Well, my daughter took me and the Bible seriously when it said to turn the other cheek. I must confess though, there were times I just wanted to punch a few cheeks, but I restrained myself.

She never denied visitation and yet somehow, the paternal grand-parents took her to court for Grand-Parent visitation. Their hope was to take Stephen to Korea to Dad and his dad's adulteress and leave him there for them to raise. I never said they were particularly intelligent people!

Well, being a God loving Mother, my daughter kept her chin up, her attitude positive, and tried her best to be the best Mom and person that she could. She kept the door open for visitation because she was always taught that a child should never be blocked from having a relationship with any part of their family.

As a result, Stephens' father decided not to see him for the past 9 years, the grand-parents dropped in and out and now back in to his life and they are actually now regretting all that took place in the past to upset the relationship.

But the best part of all, in court yesterday, my daughter, who was worried that her minuscule child support (from when he made $900 a month) would be going down now that Stephen is 14 actually saw her child support almost double!

Her ex-husband had to do a conference call from Northern California to the Judge. Now this is a man who has had four more kids and his adulteress turned wife is not working. When the Judge asked when my daughter's ex last saw Stephen, he said "around 2000." Mistake #1. When the Judge asked if there was a reason why his (my daughter's ex) wife couldn't work, he told the Judge "NO". Mistake #2. When the Judge asked him if he would like to consider a hardship considering the number of kids her ex has at home, my my daughter's ex didn't understand what the word hardship meant, and he said "NO, I'm fine paying what I do right now." Mistake #3.

Bottom Line Visit your child, zip up your pants and ask for the Judge to explain anything you don't understand!

1. Getting a divorce from a man with no self control = over $25,000

2. Fighting one last time in court without a lawyer = $ - 0 -

3. Hearing your ex-husbands reaction when the Judge doubles his child support because he never visited his child = $ PRICELESS!!!

bitsfrombonnie

Top Ten New Years Resolutions

10. This year, I will spend more time with my kids and grand-kids at their homes, and less time stocking my own fridge.

9. This year, I will pay to have my hair dyed so that my forehead is not dyed chestnut brown.

8. This year, I will try to be successful at weight loss, or gain 10 pounds so I have a better chance at the quarter million on "Biggest Looser".

7. This year, I will watch less TV, because I am too cheap to buy the converter.

6. This year, I won't wait for the other person to leave the bathroom first. I will proudly exit without shame as I look them right in the eye!

5. This year, I will wash my hands every time I leave the public bathroom.

4. This year, I will try not to pick my teeth with my tongue, straws , credit cards or the edge of a piece of paper.

3. This year, I will not jerk my head away when someone catches me staring at them. I will simply keep staring and then smile strangely.

2. This year, I will be kind enough to tell people when I see a whistler hanging from their nose.

And the number one New Years Resolution.....

1. This year, I will stop sniffing my hand every time I touch something.

Happy New Year!!!

bitsfrombonnie

Dear Mother, Our Mother

Dear Mother Our Mother
What Great Love We Share
You Raised Us All Five
With Your Love And Care

You Nurtured And Guided Us
With Discipline And Love
And Lovingly Taught Us
Of Our God Above

You Prepared Us For Life
And Now That We're Grown
You Respect Our Decisions
Though Some Aren't Your Own





Through Good Times And Bad Times
You've Guided Us Through
You're Always There For Us
In All That We Do

Your Patience Abounding
Through Bad Moods And Tempers
You Taught Us Forgiveness
And To Always Remember



That Our Heavenly Father
Will Keep Our Love Strong
And Know That He Is With Us
Through All That Goes Wrong

Dear Mother, Our Mother What Great Love We Share...You Raised Us All Five With Your Love And Care

My Mother's Trunk

I was sitting at the computer doing some work, when I heard my mother groaning behind me. I got up to get her settled in her bed, and give her a little more water before she falls back to sleep. She is bed ridden and has three broken bones from the cancer that has riddled her body. She sleeps most of the day because she is on morphine for the pain. I am thankful for every moment that I get to spend with her as she prepares for her final journey home.





Memories from my childhood come rushing back to me as I take care of my mother. One such memory, is my mothers' old trunk.





When I was a child, my parents had an old trunk in the closet. In that trunk were some old pictures, the family picture album, a few papers, my mothers' wedding dress, my dads pen striped suit, and his sailor suit from the Navy.





There wasn't a lot in that old trunk, but for some reason I would be drawn back over and over again to look at those old things and my imagination would run wild. I would look at my Dads' sailor suit and think of Gene Kelly in a sailor suit dancing along with Frank Sinatra, . I remember getting in trouble for wearing his sailor pants to school once and then trying to sneak them back into the trunk. His pin striped suit made me think of Edward G. Robinson in a gangster movie. My mothers' wedding dress made me think of Betty Grable or Katherine Hepburn in an old movie. It was not a traditional wedding gown, it was a peach suit made of a delicate material with a belt in the middle. I used to try it on and stand in front of the mirror seeing myself as one of those old movie queens. I would even put on gloves and bright liptstick sometimes, and hold one of my mothers cigarettes in my hand like they did in the movies. (that was a time when for some reason, they managed to make smoking look glamorous)

Several years ago, the trunk and all of its contents were ruined when a flood hit where it was being stored. I was so sad to hear that everything was ruined in that old trunk. It held such fun and wonderful memories for me.

Today, I still hang on to those memories and rely on them from time to time to help me get through the tough times.

I just hope that my kids have something to hang on to as wonderful memories about me, the same way I hang on to memories of my Mom, my Dad, and that old trunk.