annieology

I am holding in my hands a paper. The words are in English. I can define each and every word on the paper. I can even tell you the grand meaning of the words that are strung together. What I cannot do is tell you what it means to me in a real life setting.

This paper has long been rumored to have the power to turn furry little kittens into hairless wrinkled alien kittens. The sky would turn dark and puppies would die.

But no one can tell me what it means.

Maybe some of you Twitter attorneys (hookers) could help me out.

“IT IS ORDERED that ANNIE and ‘DADDY AWESOME’ are:
Appointed Temporary Joint Managing Conservators of the children:”

The words mean that for a limited time, we share custody with CPS.  – That’s what everyone keeps telling me, like I couldn’t figure that out myself (or use the Google).

Our agency doesn’t know what it means.  They can’t tell me if we are still in foster care.

CPS wasn’t even aware that it had happened.  EVEN THOUGH THEY SIGNED IT.

When this idea was batted around in May – we were advised by everyone that the kids would lose their Medicaid.  Which is fine (preferred) with us, we can get them on the Daddy Awesome work plan (meet our deductible that much faster).  Yet, there is a little box on the insurance application;

Medicaid Eligible?

We don’t know, and no one can tell us.  Yes, I called Medicaid.  They are active for the month of August.  Really?  I didn’t know that, it’s not like I HAVE A CARD.

Will they be active in September?  I DON’T KNOW – WAIT AND SEE IF YOU GET A CARD.

REALLY?

But, Medicaid people, if they are not covered by Medicaid, I need to get them on my insurance.  I have 30 days after this “life event” to do so.

Did I forget to tell you, that they granted us this TWO WEEKS AGO.  Yeah, it’s not like it affects you or anything.

Again, I remind you CPS WAS UNAWARE.

Medicaid keeps reminding me that they are covered for this month.

CAN YOU LOOK AT A FREAKIN CALENDAR?  THIS MONTH IS OVER IN FIVE DAYS.    What happens on September 1?  Waiting to see if I “get a card” is not an option.  Also, if they ARE covered in September, will they be covered in October?  If so, not under foster care, not under post adoptive services, what’s the in limbo division?

Whatever, our medical issues will be the least of our problems, we are scheduled to meet our attorney at the court house in the town in which Mama lives tomorrow.  It’s three hours away.  We are meeting the attorney AND the paralegal.  Goodbye $325/hour – (three hours there, three hours back) Does anyone in Texas need any legal advice?  You know we’ll be getting our monies worth with 500 questions, we can throw in one for you.

You better get on the phone with your Representatives, or you will be dealing with this in your future.  And worse yet, someone might actually be sick.

We received some correspondence from our attorney today.  Indicating she might actually still be alive.  It was a very short email saying she would answer our questions we posed last week, after she determined they had filed for termination.

Hello????

Weren’t we going to file joint managing conservatorship?  That’s our big plan.  Now we are back to waiting for the state to do their job?  Our problem a couple of weeks ago wasn’t the conservatorship filing, but rather, not being notified that you were filing something life altering on our behalf that we had previously dismissed as a possibility because YOU advised against it.   So, there we were, talking to your paralegal who can’t tell us anything, wondering why we were filing something you had advised against.  That’s the question on the table.

Now, we are waiting for termination again?  I’m confused.

I called CPS – who was under the impression that they were going to file on Friday.  Yes, going to and did are two very different things.  Still waiting for confirmation there.  Yes, luckily my phone goes with me and I’m not sitting in the phone chair like they did 100 years ago.

We didn’t respond to the three sentence email.  Why bother, apparently they don’t get read.

PART TWO – which has little to do with PART ONE

Now, I’m getting stalker called.  Not the attorney.  Mama.  Eleven phone calls in roughly 30 minutes.  This is definitely the best job ever.   Cease and desist does not mean anything to some people.

• 7:03 p.m.  # from that area code – no message
• 7:18 p.m.  same #
• 7:21 p.m. Private number
• 7:23 p.m. original #
• Voicemail message with no message
• Voicemail – message with no message
• 7:24 p.m. original #
• Voicemail – message with people talking in the background no actual message – timed out
• 7:30 Private number
• 7:36 p.m.  original #
• Voicemail – Mrs Awesome this is Mama I need you to call me so I can talk to my kids.

Would it be wrong of me to want to respond, your kids don’t live here, mine do…. Yeah probably.

Yes, I know.  I cannot imagine someone else raising my kids.  Especially if it “wasn’t my choice”  well, you know what?  It was your choice.  Every class you didn’t attend, every court date you didn’t appear for, every counseling session you blew off, every home study you rescheduled or avoided.  You chose.  You may not have gotten to choose that they came to me, but this is where they ended up in the middle of a warm February night.   And you are lucky.

Mama, you know what OUR daughter asked me today?  She asked if she cried when you gave her to me.  She asked if you did.  She asked if I was going to give her away.  She said she’s going to be a good mom so she doesn’t have to give her babies away.

She’s four people.  Shouldn’t four year old girls be worried about something less significant, like whether or not she’s going to get cherry Kool Aid rather than orange, because cherry is so much better.  Or why Barbie knock off clothing doesn’t fit Barbie.  Those are the things four year-olds should be worried about.

Again with the stalker calling….

Yes, Rip Van Winkle is inhabiting my body as we speak.  If I could sleep for twenty years, that would be awesome.  I think the stress has finally gotten to me.

You know it’s bad when you can get completely pissed in one 160 character message.

Our agency is not going to update our home-study.  Not their problem.  They’ll be happy to keep cashing the checks, and issuing citations.  Citations they wouldn’t have to issue if they’d just do the damn home-study.  But again.  “Not my department.”

I’d really like to know whose department it is.  It’s not our agency’s, it’s not CPS’s.  Our worker is trying, but is also getting resistance.  Of course since “this never happens” no one knows what to do when it does.  Our paralegal can’t tell us what anything legal means, but our attorney is never there.  No one can tell us what we’ll need to go to finalization, because again, “this never happens” and it’s not their problem.

So, Rip is coming over, I’m going to sleep for twenty years.  Somebody wake me when this is over.

…if it’s your department.