Timing is Everything

My ex-husband is a deadbeat dad.

And I am an expert enabler. Seriously, if there was a school for enablers, I would be the Dean. Financial responsibility was never one of his strengths, but I provided no real incentive when we were married, as I continued to bail us out when he fell short. So why I expected anything different after we divorced I don't know. Long story short, he has accumulated arrears in the 5 digits in the short time since our marriage's demise and I have done nothing legally about it. Oh I have threatened, pleaded, reasoned and been on the verge of tears, but again these things never worked before, why should they make a difference now? But old habits are hard to break and I am a "benefit of the doubt kinda girl". That, combined with being overly prideful, and a chronic procrastinator has resulted in me putting off for months what I knew had to be done.

So after some rather forceful nagging from my mother, I finally got my ducks in a row, gathered my paperwork and my pride and marched down to the courthouse to file a petition to enforce the terms of the divorce. But could I have picked a normal day? Of course not. If I was the kind of girl who did things in the typical fashion, this blog would not have come about. Oh no, I chose the day of our first blizzard of the season.

Getting there wasn't too bad. Driving in the burbs had turned hairy, but downtown was fairly clear. And I was feeling pretty smug as I walked in to the waiting area and saw that I was the only one brave enough (and stupid enough) to drag my ass out in the storm, therefore speeding the process along nicely. I completed the necessary paperwork, was assigned my court date, and prepared to head back to the office. But the weather had changed dramatically while I was fighting for my rights, and I was thrown into a frozen tundra rivaling the Alaskan wilderness. White out conditions, highways closed and minimal visibility. I found a street I knew would eventually lead me to my destination and vowed not to deviate from this street for fear of becoming lost and my frozen body being found days later clinging to my court papers.

Suicidal pedestrians appeared out of the whiteness begging to become hood ornaments. Traffic lights would sneak upon me with little warning. My speedometer hovered at a blazing 10mph. And I was starving! Robert, my pseudo-boyfriend, sweetly called to see if I was ok and where I was. Ten minutes later, white knuckling it on un-plowed snow swept streets, with my face against the windshield squinting to see 20 feet in front of me, Robert calls again. Again, sweet, but should I really be taking one hand off the wheel to talk about how dangerous the conditions are? Do I really need the distraction right now? So I tell him I need to go and will call in a bit when things are clearer. A few minutes later, ding, a text message from Robert. Seriously, if it's too dangerous for me to talk on the phone, do you really think I can type?

I make it back to the office just in time to take the call from daycare who says they are closing early and can I come pick up Jake. So Jake and I strap ourselves in the Subaru for the last leg of the day's journey home through the storm.

Robert who is now on the roads himself, calls and says, "Wow, its really terrible out here...you can't believe how bad it is! I can't talk, I gotta pay attention to the roads."