I'm feeling left out

[swamp]

I don't have family trainwreck stories to tell. I'm boring.

Entertain me with yours.

[Peace Of Mind]

Welllll.  I have this cousin who gets help on her apt. that has a bagillion kids and allows them to trash it and flood the upstairs.  They need a free attorney to sue the landlord for wanting them out.  What should they do? 

[swamp]

Mar 27, 2015 14:41:39 GMT -5 Peace Of Mind said:

Welllll.  I have this cousin who get help on her apt. that has a bagillion kids and allows them to trash it and flood the upstairs.  They need a free attorney to sue the landlord for wanting them out.  What should they do? 

Go to legal aid.

[Peace Of Mind]

Mar 27, 2015 14:42:49 GMT -5 swamp said:

Mar 27, 2015 14:41:39 GMT -5 Peace Of Mind said:

Welllll.  I have this cousin who get help on her apt. that has a bagillion kids and allows them to trash it and flood the upstairs.  They need a free attorney to sue the landlord for wanting them out.  What should they do? 

Go to legal aid.

LMAO!!!  Thank you.  That was very helpful.  I'll tell them. 

[milee]

It's weird like that, but I agree - the more I distance myself from the crazy relatives, the more mellow my life is and the fewer interesting stories I have to tell.

I think I'm OK with the tradeoff.  

Don't you have any neighbors?  They're often a source of entertainment.  Or dang, you practice law in a small community, that has got to be good for some stories. 

[Lizard Queen]

Awww, here's the world's smallest violin playing a song for you... 



DB took my mom's minivan in to get an exhaust leak fixed.  He told me he would pay for it ($150), because he had a hospital bill ($300+) that my mom could help him with..  Umm, why would mom pay for your hospital bill??  She just gave him a $1000 to pay for his daughter's braces, $350 of which has gone to pay for them so far...  

In a week, he's taking the kids to Great Wolf Lodge 3.5 hrs away for a couple days.  He's "obviously" taking my mother's minivan there--he's not about to take his truck all that way!  Why would he do that  <Let us now reflect on everything that is wrong with that picture>

(Sometimes, I really want to call the cops on him for stealing my mom's minivan, but I know she'd never press charges. )

[swamp]

Mar 27, 2015 14:44:57 GMT -5 milee said:

It's weird like that, but I agree - the more I distance myself from the crazy relatives, the more mellow my life is and the fewer interesting stories I have to tell.

I think I'm OK with the tradeoff.  

Don't you have any neighbors?  They're often a source of entertainment.  Or dang, you practice law in a small community, that has got to be good for some stories. 

most of my good stories come from when I was a prosecutor or public defender.

most of my recent stories come from crazy ass prosecutors, and they're only interesting to other lawyers.

[KaraBoo]

Let's see.....

I have a cousin who has been married 5 times to 4 different guys.  Same cousin is an alchoholic who has in the past attempted to chop off her toe with an ax while attempting to feed the bon-fire more wood and missed....  Hunting, getting tattoos and drinking are her hobbies.

Or....

I have another family member who has decided that they are preparing for the end of the world.  Bought a "compound" in the country and is in the process of stockpiling it for "the end"....

Or.....

What about the other cousin who is a funny-car-racer wannabe?  5 kids, no job, but manages to make it out to the races every weekend....

Or.....

That bum of a Karaboo who quit her job and decided to stay home, eat bonbons and watch Judge Judy - she's probably the worst of the bunch!

Any of those stories interesting enough for you?  

[swamp]

Mar 27, 2015 14:51:48 GMT -5 KaraBoo said:

Let's see.....

I have a cousin who has been married 5 times to 4 different guys.  Same cousin is an alchoholic who has in the past attempted to chop off her toe with an ax while attempting to feed the bon-fire more wood and missed....  Hunting, getting tattoos and drinking are her hobbies.

Or....

I have another family member who has decided that they are preparing for the end of the world.  Bought a "compound" in the country and is in the process of stockpiling it for "the end"....

Or.....

What about the other cousin who is a funny-car-racer wannabe?  5 kids, no job, but manages to make it out to the races every weekend....

Or.....

That bum of a Karaboo who quit her job and decided to stay home, eat bonbons and watch Judge Judy - she's probably the worst of the bunch!

Any of those stories interesting enough for you?  

we need to hang that bum Karaboo!!!

[Lizard Queen]

Mar 27, 2015 14:51:48 GMT -5 KaraBoo said:

Let's see.....

I have a cousin who has been married 5 times to 4 different guys.  Same cousin is an alchoholic who has in the past attempted to chop off her toe with an ax while attempting to feed the bon-fire more wood and missed....  Hunting, getting tattoos and drinking are her hobbies.

Or....

I have another family member who has decided that they are preparing for the end of the world.  Bought a "compound" in the country and is in the process of stockpiling it for "the end"....

Or.....

What about the other cousin who is a funny-car-racer wannabe?  5 kids, no job, but manages to make it out to the races every weekend....

Or.....

That bum of a Karaboo who quit her job and decided to stay home, eat bonbons and watch Judge Judy - she's probably the worst of the bunch!

Any of those stories interesting enough for you?  

You win with the toe-chopping cousin! 

[KaraBoo]

[KaraBoo]

Mar 27, 2015 14:53:33 GMT -5 Lizard Queen said:

Mar 27, 2015 14:51:48 GMT -5 KaraBoo said:

Let's see.....

I have a cousin who has been married 5 times to 4 different guys.  Same cousin is an alchoholic who has in the past attempted to chop off her toe with an ax while attempting to feed the bon-fire more wood and missed....  Hunting, getting tattoos and drinking are her hobbies.

Or....

I have another family member who has decided that they are preparing for the end of the world.  Bought a "compound" in the country and is in the process of stockpiling it for "the end"....

Or.....

What about the other cousin who is a funny-car-racer wannabe?  5 kids, no job, but manages to make it out to the races every weekend....

Or.....

That bum of a Karaboo who quit her job and decided to stay home, eat bonbons and watch Judge Judy - she's probably the worst of the bunch!

Any of those stories interesting enough for you?  

You win with the toe-chopping cousin! 

Even though she's a mess and a half, she's probably my favorite cousin!  She'll welcome anyone into her house and life, the more the merrier and doesn't pass judgment on anyone.  Live and let live is her motto in life.  If it isn't bothering her, why stress about it?  By the way - have another beer!  

[KaraBoo]

Mar 27, 2015 14:50:48 GMT -5 swamp said:

Mar 27, 2015 14:44:57 GMT -5 milee said:

It's weird like that, but I agree - the more I distance myself from the crazy relatives, the more mellow my life is and the fewer interesting stories I have to tell.

I think I'm OK with the tradeoff.  

Don't you have any neighbors?  They're often a source of entertainment.  Or dang, you practice law in a small community, that has got to be good for some stories. 

most of my good stories come from when I was a prosecutor or public defender.

most of my recent stories come from crazy ass prosecutors, and they're only interesting to other lawyers.

I wanna hear your stories about crazy ass prosecutors!  

[swamp]

Mar 27, 2015 14:58:20 GMT -5 KaraBoo said:

Mar 27, 2015 14:50:48 GMT -5 swamp said:

most of my good stories come from when I was a prosecutor or public defender.

most of my recent stories come from crazy ass prosecutors, and they're only interesting to other lawyers.

I wanna hear your stories about crazy ass prosecutors!  

Can't do it.  

[KaraBoo]

Stupid ethics....gets in the way every time!  

[Bonny]

Mar 27, 2015 14:57:56 GMT -5 @tbird said:

Mar 27, 2015 14:38:28 GMT -5 swamp said:

I don't have family trainwreck stories to tell. I'm boring.

Entertain me with yours.

I need to call my mom, haven't done it in a while....it's going to be 45 minutes or more of either blood pressure readings/dr visits/health problems, her string of fiances circa 1940-1950's, or her childhood of trials and tribulations.....

I call her less and less, I feel guilty, but I just can't listen to this stuff anymore. Even if I'm on the internet, it's not enough distraction....

You can call my MIL instead. She can tell you all about Corgis including their poops and Dr's visits.

Oh and how her psychologist says she's the only one in her family who doesn't have mental illness.  

[giramomma]

Well, no drama yet.

It will be interesting to see how BIL and SIL do over the course of the next year or two. There's lots of spending on the horizon (bigger house, fertility treatments), and I don't think their income will support all the wants, as there's not room to pay for daycare for the children.

I also don't like how SIL probed me, to see if DH's experience is the same as BILs growing up. Actually, that bothers me way more than her ideas on her future lifestyle.

[KaraBoo]

Mar 27, 2015 15:06:56 GMT -5 Sum Dum Gai said:

You win with the toe-chopping cousin!

One of my brothers almost got his big toe with a circular saw. We were working on my mom's new porch. He was cutting stair risers using a saw with no guard. Finished a cut and set the saw down to move the board, while the blade was still spinning down. Set it down on his foot, instead of next to it. Cut right through his boot, and the blade stopped spinning with one tooth an eighth of inch into his big toe. A little more oomph and it would have been an ER trip with possibly the dumbest explanation for an injury that a doc had ever seen.

This is my smart brother, believe it or not, but he can be fairly absent minded while absorbed in a project.

This reminds me of another cousin!!  (Brother to toe-chopping cousin)

He was doing some type of project with a circular saw.  He didn't have any saw horses to put the board on.  His solution?

He sat down, put the board across his legs and sawed through the board and his thigh.  8" gash that DID require an ER visit......

[Deleted]

Considering my family is really large, the number of train wrecks in there is minimal.  There are one or two cousins that are financial idiots and are in over their head in debt, but besides that are rather normal.  No drug/alcohol issues (that are out of control, there are a couple alcoholics that don't drink anymore or manage to not completely destroy their lives with drinking).

I have my cousin that keeps running off to different parts of the world to live with guys she meets on the internet.  A couple times with her son in tow (when he was like 6-10 years old), so that made for some interesting times when we thought she might be endangering his life doing so.  I'm usually left to clean up her apartment when she leaves ("rented" from her Mom).  She lived like a disgusting pig.  I'm pretty sure all her stuff is still in a port in Greece because she couldn't afford to have it shipped back.  She turns 40 this year and I think she's just fine with living paycheck to paycheck and in a crappy small apartment.


Then of course there is the cousin that married Newt Gingrich.  Not sure if she qualifies as a train wreck or not, but she sure caused a stir in the family back in the day.

[billisonboard]

Mar 27, 2015 14:38:28 GMT -5 swamp said:

I don't have family trainwreck stories to tell. I'm boring.

Entertain me with yours.

Here is my personal favorite. A story with many threads which all come together one weekend:

My folks were married for about 30 years when Dad met a gal who was 6 months older than my oldest sibling sister and three years older than I am. He decided to leave Mom, marry her, and take a two year active duty recall with the military (he was in the National Guard) stationed outside the country. Sister was devastated (she was always the apple of Dad’s eye). Younger brother (who was aware of Dad’s new relationship well before our parent’s separated) took the opportunity to cut the apron strings of being Mom’s little baby. I ended up with custody of Mom, a woman who had been very abusive to me growing up.

I was divorced with two kids and back in our hometown in college (after six plus years in the military). I had been dating a woman and we introduced her best friend and my younger brother to each other so we would be able to play mixed doubles tennis. Their relationship blossomed and ours died (badly). I became involved in a new relationship.

My brother planned a wedding for a Saturday (and his college graduation was Sunday). My ex-girlfriend was selected as the Maid of Honor. I was to be in the wedding party but my current girlfriend was invited to be a guest. Bride was very displeased that I refused to cut my hair which was well below my shoulders at the time. My 6 year old daughter was invited to be the flower girl (and of course you had to invite the mother of the flower girl to the wedding as well).

My brother was pushing Dad to fly back to the country for the wedding. Dad was saying he couldn’t afford it while all the time planning to be there (a family tradition of pulling surprises); wife was not coming. Grandparents on father’s side were busing in because the bus went through the small rural valley in which Grandfather was born 83 years prior. Both Grandparent’s bus and Dad’s plane were scheduled to arrive early evening on Thursday. Dad’s oldest sister was set to meet the bus, girlfriend and I to meet the plane (so Dad could meet new girlfriend). Aunt shows up at airport, bus delayed. Sorry, plane delayed also. Aunt leaves. Met Dad, took him to Aunt’s house. She meets him at the door with the news that Grandfather had traveled past the old homestead and then 50 miles beyond died when the bus was stopped and Grandmother was in getting some coffee. At that point, my brother drives up, excited that Dad was there, and I having to pull him quickly aside and inform him that the number of guests for the wedding was up one but also down one. My girlfriend assessed the situation and decided to head home.

(Did I mention it was final’s week – test for me at 8 o’clock Friday morning)

Saturday rolled around and we had a wedding with my parents seeing each other for the first time since the divorce, my ex-wife, my ex-girlfriend, and my current girlfriend in attendance, and Mom’s Mom upset that the other Grandma got to sit in the front pew as compensation for just having lost her husband.

Sunday girlfriend and I take an extended drive and picnic that took up the entire day, leaving no time for family.

Entertained?

[bean29]

There is my sister. Last year she called me and told me her husband pulled her MIL's mail and found a forclosure notice...DS and her husband live in his Grandparents old house him Mom lives in a newer house next door. The whole property is about 2-3 arcres and has a shared driveway. DS's house is in such poor condition that the front porch is rotting, If someone takes a shower upstairs, water leaks through the ceiling in the bathroom downstairs, the kitchen faucet leaks, front porch is rotted, house needs to be painted, roof needs to be replaced, foundation has holes in it and the window in the basement has been broken for several years but has not been fixed (this is just the house my DS lives in).  So anyways the two properties are supposed to be separated.

DS's FIL died about 10 years ago.  Her FIL had some grudge against the IRS...There is something like a $200,000 tax lien against the property from the state of WI.  My DS's husband has been largely unemployed for a good 6-7 years.  He does Mechanic Work/Body work on cars out of the garage on the property.  There are about 20 cars in various states of repair on the property.  DS pays for the Heat, all the utilities, all the food and all the clothing etc for the household.  BIL is supposedly paying his mother rent and he did pay off the 1st Mtg.  DS claims her DH did not know his Mother had a second Mtg...and she was not paying on it.  Soo, when they found the foreclosure notice they only had a week or two to respond. 

There was some paper work in there for a mediation group.  I completed it, took it to my Brother in law, had him have his mother sign it and faxed it back.  if I had not done that, I don't know if anyone would have responded.  I told my BIL that tax lein did not make sense b/c his Dad was never self employed and 200,000 in unpaid state income taxes would indicate a pretty large income which his Dad never had.  He had a CPA working on it...he said the CPA needed a few thousand to file ...my Mom and I each gave him $500...I don't think the CPA has yet filed anything so I am unsure if the CPA was ever paid.  Mom and I did not want DS and her family to be homeless - this is why we got involved and threw some $$ at it but we will not do it again.

So the Bank decided to re-open the loan...but to my understanding the tax lien is still there...DS and DBIL think they are going to inherit the property but his Mother is not in good health.  He has 3 siblings...I told him he had to tell them about the foreclosure, and he did,  they all said it was his property and he could deal with it...but his Mother probably does not have a will.  2 of his siblings have congestive heart failure and are in their 50's and can not work.  They get SSI...so if they inherit, the state will take it.

DS works FT.  She has an Associate degree and she supposedly completed a BS...but I don't think she has the actual degree - not sure if she still owes the school $$?  Her oldest Son wanted her to get a different job, but he was never able to convince her to look for a different job.  He has Parent Plus loans outstanding from her Oldest Son's schooling but I asked him about it and he said the loans were not for his schooling my DS used the $$ to pay other higher interest debt.  She had debt consolidated on a 10 year repayment plan, and she did manage to pay off part of it, but now she needs to start paying on the outstanding student loan debt...so she is in the same boat as before. DS's DH does have 2 or 3 PT jobs now, but they do not pay real well or offer insurance ... but hopefully he will be able to move into something better.

DS and their family on on Vacay in Vegas this week.  Her DH rented a mini van for the trip as their cars were not dependable enough to make the trip. 

DH asked me last night about going down south to visit his family.  I mentioned that I had priced airline tickets to take our family but decided I did not have $2,000 ish to go on vacay.  He wants to send his parents.  He claimed we wouldn't pay it...but I don't think that is true.  I am fine paying for my in-laws if he wants to do it...they provide doggie daycare for us which is pretty much uncompensated.  He says to me, maybe my brother would take them if we buy his ticket.  I told him if we are paying for someone's ticket, then one  of us is going on the trip.  Then I told him DS's family was in Vegas.    I actually wasn't going to tell him b/c I figured he would be really mad.

If we are still bored next week I can dig deeper and come up with a story or two about DH's family.

[Knee Deep in Water Chloe]

That's well done, billisonboard, well done!
Yikes, bean29 !

I do have a crazy sister and nutso mother, but our sad story at the moment is that XH is choosing his GF over a relationship with my daughters. My daughters have had enough of his selfish antics and have stopped talking to him. It's been three months today, and while I talked to him about three weeks ago, he has made absolutely no contact to either daughter or me since.

[Deleted]

Mar 27, 2015 14:38:28 GMT -5 swamp said:

I don't have family trainwreck stories to tell. I'm boring.

Entertain me with yours.

Can you adopt Loony?  Maybe Loony and Archie, I think they are in love.

[CarolinaKat]

Here's my current one:

My not-yet-21 SIL (Rainbow), is planning on moving herself, my 2yo nephew and all her stuff to Nevada to be with her boyfriend. Boyfriend is not babydaddy (thank god he's not in the picture). She knows Boyfriend from before she got together with babydaddy. I have no idea what he does for a living or if he's helping with the move or what.

Where she currently lives she has, a job with minimal benefits, a massive support structure (My inlaws, her dad's family and even babydaddy's family has stepped up some even though he's not in the picture), an affordable apartment and sitters to watch nephew while she works. Where's she's going is just Boyfriend.

Just gonna have to let her make this mistake

[The Walk of the Penguin Mich]

My step family is in your neck of the wood, should I send them your way?

[Artemis Windsong]

Living out of state creates some of the problem.  My inheritance from my Dad is being held hostage by my drunken brother in a trust.  I have an attorney and I'm waiting for word on a trial.

I asked for attorney fees and so did dead beat brother.  If he wins, I have to pay.  He will use those funds to sue me to get my paid-off property that we let him live in because he was unable/unwilling to work.  His attorney said he could sue for in-kind payment of care taking over the years.    He told his GF this right in front of me.

I won't go into my marriage.  I am in a calm spot right now.

[Deleted]

DH's brother is living on a small military pension.  One day a woman he used to date showed up on his doorstep with her stuff and nowhere else to go. He took her in and eventually they married in Vegas.   She's got a lot of chronic and very expensive health issues; we're not sure what's just bad luck, what's aggravated by overweight and bad diet and what's psychosomatic. 

Anyway- she's terrible with money.  Last year she was healthy enough to go somewhere on her own.  On the way back she stopped to get something to eat and noticed that the local used car lot was having a sale.  She decided her car was falling apart (well, it probably was).  So, she traded hers in on another used model.  Her credit rating is in the toilet but somehow she got BIL's name and credit on the loan.  He found out when she drove the new car home.   I feel really bad for them but I'm glad they're halfway across the country.

[Deleted]

Daughter wanted to have my (ex?) stepsister over tonight. (They are the same age.) Stepsister is at her dads so I texted and asked him if it was ok. He preferred not since he hadn't seen the girl in six weeks because most recent stepmother was 'punishing him' because he took most recent stepmother's father to MY Dad's in Florida to fish for a week. ... Yes, my father got most recent stepmother's ex husband in the divorce...

When I was in my 20s I hung out with a guy and we used to cultivate our similar appearance because we liked when people asked us if we were siblings, so that we could say, no... but my father's current wife's ex husband once had an affair with his stepfather's ex wife...

I have a cousin who is finally employed again! Yay. After serving time because when one of the mother of his children refused to let him pick up his daughter for Christmas, he said he'd go down to the school and get her and no one would stop him (not long after the last major school shooting).... he's a loud mouth some times, but not really dangerous. Despite the lockdown she called in, he never went near the school... the cops picked him up at the Adult Boutique outside of town.

A friend just learned my maiden name, surprised it was the same as her mothers and wondered if we were related. I said that side of my family is traced pretty well, and I didn't know all the details, but was aware the first one on continent jumped a prisoner ship... 

Want more?

[shanendoah]

I think I'm at a point where I find most of my family drama to be sad more than amusing. But here's one little bit I did find somewhat amusing.

When I was back in NC this December after my Grandfather passed, we were going through the house and trying to decide what was being sold and what was being kept and by whom. We'd been back in my grandparents' bedroom looking at some things and my brother and I both asked about a couple of things to which our Aunt instantly replied that those things were going to her kids. My brother and I are both adults and accepted those answers, but it did get to the point that any time anyone asked about something in the room she claimed it for herself or her kids, so I left the room, no need to feed that.
About 10 minutes later, my father and uncle come out of the room (my father is 11 years older than my aunt, my uncle is about 3 years older than my aunt), also pretty much done. But my uncle went to the hall closet and pulled out the last uniform my grandfather had worn (Papa was a retired AF LtCol and 3 war veteran), and started pulling pins and ribbons off of it. He handed half of them to me and half of them to his daughter who was there, just saying here, and nothing else.


My Aunt in general is one of those people who thinks she's low drama but actually couldn't survive without drama surrounding her. I adored my grandparents, but she is totally their fault. She was their baby and they never made her grow up. Her ex had a lot of issues, but whether she wants to admit it or not, his behavior is not the only reason their relationship didn't work. She never learned to compromise or listen to other people. For example when she wanted my cousin to have a car on his 16th birthday and her husband did not- he wanted cousin to work to earn money to help pay for a car, my aunt decided to run to my grandparents and say husband is being mean. I want your grandson to have a car. So, my grandparents bought my 16 y/o cousin a car - a Mustang. They also bought his younger sister a Mustang when she turned 16.

My aunt's oldest turned out pretty responsible. While he did get a car for his birthday, he got a job and in less than 3 months was paying for his insurance, gas, and doing any repairs on the vehicle himself. His sister, she's a different story.



Ooh, I guess other good story. Aunt's oldest started dating this girl in high school. And she pretty much decided then that she was going to marry him. And he's one of those guys that's used to have a fairly domineering woman (his mom, my aunt) telling him what to do, so he never broke up with her. When my grandmother died, she decided she should get to sit in the front pew with family (meaning there wasn't actually room for ME in the front pew). And she had a couple of tantrums during that time when she decided cousin was spending too much time paying attention to his family and not enough to her.
Anyway, they got married Pop Tart's first summer with us. I set polite regrets about not being able to go, though I'd actually already told cousin I didn't support him getting married just yet (he was barely 21). Well, less than 6 months later, they were filing for a divorce because she had cheated on him. He tried for an annulment given how short a time they had been married, but was told she hadn't committed fraud, so it couldn't be annulled. (However, if she had done something like tell him before marriage she wanted kids and then after marriage said she didn't, he could have gotten an annulment, but cheating requires divorce.)
And, to make it some what financial, in the divorce, she tried to claim equity in their home- a home he had bought BEFORE the marriage (from his parents after they divorced), that none of her money had ever gone to, and that she had lived in less than 3 months before moving out to live with the other guy she was seeing. The judge luckily did not buy that and awarded her nothing.

[andi9899]

Ok. Here's one. My cousin,M was dating this skanky girl who was from a small KS town where she was known as the town whore. We all told him to stay away from her and her nasty self. Then she comes up pregnant and we are all sure it's not his because she didn't even know who's it was. They decided it was a good idea to go on Maury to find out because they could get a free trip to NYC out of it. She even does the whole throwing herself on the ground crying bit. It unfortunately turned out to be his and all the cousins obsessively DVR Maury until it's on and show it to his dad, my uncle, who they were living with at the time. Uncle tell them both to get out of his house and don't come back. I can't remember who they moved in with after that, but it wasn't our side of the family.