Whining

Here it is.  The blog I warned you about in the last paragraph of "Mooving Right Along". Whining. Why me?  A pity party.  Stop reading right now if you have a "glass half full", "the sun will come up tomorrow", "God never gives you more than you can handle" personality.  I'm letting it all hang out.

• Hubby has not been working since February.  His foot had been bothering him for a couple of years and upon going to the doctor, was put in a boot.  Work, after four weeks of Hubby doing all but using the floor machine, informed Hubby they couldn't accommodate the boot.  He's on family medical leave.  No sick time.  No vacation time.  No pay.  I'd like to do a Nancy Sinatra at "the club": put on that boot and walk all over those managers.
• Surgery on Hubby's heel is scheduled for April 22.  Good Friday.  ?!?  I hope so.  They're removing some spurs and possibly will have to repair the tendon with a graft.  This will be 6-8 weeks with no weight bearing and I don't know how much healing time after that.  I can tell you, it's not going to be pretty around here.  Hubby does all the cooking.  Two of my specialties: tuna gravy on toast and scrambled eggs and hominy.
• Son's wife filed for divorce the day before my birthday.  Son was blindsided. Shocked.  He was having a "down" time.  We were called over on Monday to help him through a rough evening.  Son was headed for medical assistance the next day.  By 10:30 Tuesday morning, his wife had filed for divorce.  No through sickness.  No through death.  No standing by your man.  No giving it a chance.  No trying to work it out.  Just an "I can't handle it" and an "I'm outta here."  Son is doing OK.  His biggest concern is the love of his life: his two-year old daughter.  She comes to see her Daddy on Tuesday evening, stays overnight and they spend Wednesday together.  She's then back for 9 hours on Sunday.  What has happened to Daddy and daughter's time together is heartbreaking, cold, selfish, unthinkable and cruel.
• Along the same line, I have to say this "visitation" set by attorneys and courts is completely ridiculous.  Apparently they have some highly educated, but not so sensible, people who decided that it's OK for a daddy to be jarringly removed from a child's life simply because the wife doesn't want to be married any longer.  All of a sudden, kids who are used to seeing their Daddy every morning, every evening and on weekends now see him 33 hours out of the 168 hours in a week.  I can see it if the Daddy is abusing the kids or wife or has an alcohol or drug dependency and is not a proper parent.  But for the person that cooked meals for the child, dressed the child in the morning, bathed the child nearly every night, put the child in her p.j.'s and put the child to bed nightly, this stealing of their precious time together is a crime.  It is not in the best interest of the child to have this chasm forced between them and their Daddy.  If the woman wants the divorce, the parents live in reasonable driving distance from each other, day care and education are provided for, and there is no danger to the child, there should be a more equitable time split.  What they have now is not in the child's best interest.  It is biased and discriminatory and needs to be changed.  My heart breaks for my granddaughter.  I've seen what happens with kids of a divorce.
• And don't forget the grandparents in this mess.  Where we were seeing the granddaughter four days a week, including Gampa Tuesday when he kept granddaughter the entire day, we now see her the same days our son has her.  Yes, the wicked witch took Gampa Tuesday guitar-playing, singing, movie watching, snuggling time from Gampa and granddaughter.  Gamma's every other Friday evening with granddaughter has also been taken away.  Now I feel guilty when granddaughter wants to sit on my lap instead of Daddy's.  This should not be.  Her time with us should be cuddles and kisses and books and bubbles.
• Another thing.  Why is someone who killed someone and is unable to afford an attorney, appointed an attorney by the courts? Yet a wonderful father who works for a living and still can't afford an attorney, has to come up with hundreds of dollars before an attorney will take a case?  This makes me go "Hmmmmm...", among other things.

So there you have it.  The reason's I'm whining.  If you've stuck with me this far, thanks for listening.  Wish us luck. We do have something to look forward to in May.  Our daughter and son-in-law will be having a baby!  We are excited to meet grandchild number two.  Yes, we know, the sun will come up tomorrow, but it is sometimes difficult to see when it's behind the clouds.