In Which Mr. Tapioca Makes Lilymane Throw Up

Mr. Tapioca Head (my ex) filed a petition, had me served papers*, and is the reason we're due in court this morning at 8 a.m. From what I can tell, he is 'representing' himself. My lawyer and I are going to be there, but really, the District Attorney's office is representing my kids in this. My lawyer spoke to the Assistant DA yesterday and discovered that my ex has not furninshed the information required. Get that? HE filed the petition (six weeks ago) and then failed (refused? forgot?) to send the court the information needed to make a decision!!!! We still have to go to court today but the State is going to ask for a continuance to have my ex appear in court on December 8 for the sole purpose of presenting the documents he was supposed to have presented before today. Then, if I understand the procedure correctly, the State will ask that both his petition and mine be heard on December 14. Gah. And bleck. Another month of dread.

My stomach is churning, my head is throbbing, my hands are shaking and there are hours and hours before court - and likely nothing will actually happen today! On top of that? Guess how much this morning is going to cost me. You guessed it - LOTS. My ex? He is a pain in the potatoes. And? I don't like him. Anyone with extra mojo, feel free to send it my way.
Peace.

*Have you ever been served papers? For me, it was an awful experience. The Sheriff's Deputy walked up to my door and rang the bell. Now, my kids weren't home from school quite yet - and for a second I had a panicked thought that he was there to tell me something horrific had happened to my kids. The dog, of course, was going crazy - barking at the bell, charging the door, probably feeding off of my adrenalin spike. I had to lock him up before I could even find out what was up. The Deputy (who was nice as he could be, considering the circumstances) explained why he was there, handed me the papers, chatted pleasantly with me about the sunny day and the ivy in my courtyard, said "God Bless" and left. Left me standing there shaking. When my kids came home? I was still shaky. I'm ridiculously glad that the Deputy didn't show up while my kids were home. I'm trying to keep as much of this away from them as possible but there are days when it is hard to do. And there are even more days when it takes a whole lot of energy not to say bad things about their dad. I really, really, really think that somewhere along the way I should get a butt load of good behavior stickers for all this restraint. I am so due.
More Peace.