Namin’ Names!

So, I talked to the greatest attorney in Colorado on Tuesday…MY attorney!

Yep, that’s right! I’ve finally found an attorney who loves what she does and recognizes the value of doing the “RIGHT” thing! Only took me three years!

Well…actually, I talked to her about two years ago, but went with the last attorney I spoke with…wish I had stopped with this one!

Anyway, I’ve mentioned several times to her that I wanted to write the story of this divorce.

On Tuesday (during a hearing, and I’ll get to that on another page – it’s GREAT!), I asked her if my writing a book about all of this would get me into any trouble. She said, “you can write whatever you want!”

BUT she added, “DON’T YOU DARE CHANGE THE NAMES TO PROTECT THE “INNOCENT”!

If you’ve clicked on “The Whole Thing” link, you’ve noticed that I’ve changed out a name and replaced it with “Skippy”.

Of course, all of you know who that is…and the only innocence I was protecting was my own.

SO…I’ll be “namin’ names”!!

Besides, if I can get this published…and it’s any good…maybe I’ll finally be compensated for my half of the property and the business. I’ll just be coming at it from a different angle.

But here’s the thing…

I’ve wanted to run it all past all of you, first.

I realize there’s not much there just yet, but there will be and I’m really hoping to get some feed back on some things…

…like, if something reads a bit confusing.

…if there’s something that seems missing.

…not enough detail to hold you.

…boring.

…whatever you think!

On the other hand, all the stuff on “keekers” is really just for fun (they are actually two different blogs, connected together), and hopefully, I’ll be able to fill it up with some worthy information…I just need to find my niche! It’ll come (maybe). Or maybe I’ll get bored with it and dump it…Who knows?!

But “the whole thing”…that one is important to me.

If nothing else, I’ll have my day to speak. And I’m going to post the documents to prove every bit of it!

So, I hope you’ll read…and let me know how it’s reading.

I’m going to tell every ugly thing that was done and I’m going to tell who did it!!

And by the way…

Katherine Grier is my attorney.

If you EVER need her number…just let me know!!

I would recommend her, over and over!!

She was an absolute relief to me, and once the story has been told, you’ll understand how valuable and life-saving that ended up being!

K~

Right now…

I’m thinking I need to tell you where thing are right now, in all of this mess.

Ol’ Skippy hasn’t made his support payments since July ‘07. Since my budget is based on that income, it’s been unbelievably difficult.

This is the short of it:

In July I ran out of money. I had been covering the expenses for the girls since we separated. Doctors, dentists, eyes, school fees, school supplies, winter coats, shoes…everything. It has buried me, and Skippy has contributed squat! It’s now been three years.

Obviously, at some point you’re going to go under, and that’s what I did in July. I had been paying the mortgage on the house on my own for 18 months. On January 29, 2007, we finally got to permanent orders and the divorce was final! BUT, we still had the house. We refinanced to cover the cost of finishing the 2400 sq. ft. addition and legal fees (not our attorney’s), so now I am “sharing” the mortgage payment with Skippy, but it’s so much higher with the refi, I’m paying about the same amount as I was in the first place.

By July, I had nothing left. I let Skippy know that I had no more money and that if he couldn’t cover mortgage, we needed to let it go into foreclosure. Well, he didn’t like that! He decided he was going to take out a loan, “on my behalf” and continue paying it. I told him that I was not agreeable to that, if I don’t have the money for one loan, I certainly don’t for another!

So, he quit making his support payments, regardless of the impact on the children.

The house sold on October 15th, 2007, but he has still not made his payments to me. It’s been 8 months – 5 months since we’ve had a mortgage!

My attorney filed contempt charges against him. He can’t just decide to stop paying when it’s been court ordered. He has to file contempt charges against me and show cause. But then Skippy is above the law, and does whatever he wants.

We went to an advisement hearing in January on the contempt charges and Skippy cried “poor mouth”, saying he has only made $23,000.00 this year, so they gave him a public defender.

Now, let me go back a bit. This past July, Skippy said he couldn’t make the mortgage payment, but decided to get an unsecured loan to pay a secured loan (the mortgage). The next month (August), he had his wedding and went on a two week honeymoon in the Caribbean – because he’s broke. Then they moved into a 3-bedroom apartment, in a gated community, incurring a 60% increase in rent, it’s now $1600/month – because he’s broke. His new wife quits her job…she’s going to be a “stay at home mom”(?) – because he’s broke. In January, they file for food stamps and medicaid…because you know…he’s broke. In February, they go on a Jamaican Cruise for 7 days. On March 7, it’s Skippy’s birthday. The girls go to his house for his birthday dinner. They have steak and crab. In fact, they have crab for 5 people and enough left over for the next nights dinner.
And having leftover’s is just fine…because…yea, you got it… he’s broke.

So, you tell me…