Devil went down to Loveland...

The week has been one beautiful, chaotic mess. No, not really.

Rewind to Monday Night, Court date impending, Charlie nervous as all get out.

I make some flippant statement about it getting worse. I'm then informed that one of our witnesses had to bail due to food poisoning.

Tuesday, 8 pm: Babysitter backs out, causing major panic. Blackouts strike the eastern seaboard as we attempt to find cure. Third Seal is broken.

Wednesday morning. Nice, normal. Almost confident. My father-in-law drives me to the courthouse, where comes satan and attorney. I go through my first round of questioning fairly easily. Well, I started fairly easily. I must admit I was shaken when my wife entered in a clear state of agony. Thankfully, the questioning ended shortly and a recess was called. I think the judge was aware of what was going on.

She had ruptured a vertebral disc (one of the cushions between the bones) and needed immediate medical care. I convinced her to go with her dad, and she did. Leaving me with her mom, who was really supportive and helpful. But the thought of my wife in total pain was still distracting. Oh, and another witness didn't show. And the questioning of the witnesses that did make it was woefully lacking in depth. Some of it was really helpful, but there was some... we could've talked about butter and gotten about as much info. And then there was rebuttal. Questions from the opposition continued to rattle me, so much that I couldn't remember the names of friends... really good ones, in Utah. I'd mentioned them earlier, but it was still shaking.

It ended around 4:30, sucking a little hope away with "no verdict today, but keep your eye on that mailbox!"

The pluses:
*I mentioned seeking counseling. So that I could be a better parent.
*webcams
*A few of the oppositions lies were caught. And the leading of the witness by her attorney was also caught. That was nice.
*At no time did I slap anyone or utter the phrase "bite my crank," as I was sorely tempted to do.
*The last 4 years have been mostly peaceful, and that was evident.
*I'm still the primary guardian of my oldest son. And will probably be so as long as I remain in the state.
*An evaluator with a doctorate says that I should take Tristan with me when I move, and that's a big friggin' deal. Really.

The negatives:
*I came across as either a robot or an idiot. Did I mention the name thing? I even managed to think of the name. I whispered "I don't know" on at least 3 separate occassions. This thing was an all day affair. Mostly it was good.
*But a Crystal waving, tea sniffing, wiener claimed that I would definitely run for the border if allowed to move to Utah. And she's a licensed therapist. Her claims went against those of the evaluator in that regard.
*Not once was Satan struck by brazen-lie induced lightning. I kept waiting. Hell, I'm still waiting for the stuff from the last time we were in court. With her last husband present. Next divorce for her in 3...2...1...

The witnesses tended to cancel each other out, with the exception of the counselor. Which wound up being nice.

I get home and my wife and father-in-law aren't there, and I panic. Are they still at the hospital? Did something else happen? What more can occur? We decide to call the woman we managed to get for daycare and ask about the kids.

My wife is there. Score! Mother-in-law stays at home and does mystic things to make us feel better, Father-in-law makes a food run for all of us, and I just take care of my wife and kids.

So, at the moment, aside from a bed-ridden wife, all is well.