Yesterday, Beth, Chuck's sister called and asked him to get her youngest daughter from daycare because the babysitter didn't pick her up. He brought her back here and then the babysitter was supposed to call Chuck and tell him when she was at Beth's house with Beth's other two kids, and then Chuck would drive the youngest home. She never called and Beth had to eventually come by after 11 to pick her up. Beth works in the hospital and with the doctors in the ob/gyn section and she knows the doctor we've been seeing. She told Chuck that she overheard him talking about us, saying that I looked like I was 12 and Chuck looked like he was 40. She was like, hello? Are you serious? Chuck said she said to the doctor that he better watch what he says because that's her brother and soon-to-be sister-in-law. I'm pretty pissed. That violates our right to privacy and he was making fun of us! Seriously! Plus, that joke that I look like I'm 12 is pretty old and I really hate it. We have an appointment with him in May and I'm going to ask him to refer us to someone else after I call him on his unethical practices. I'm thinking that he might say something like, "I sometimes discuss cases and patients with the other doctors to get their opinions" and then I'll say, "Regardless, talking about us in the way that you did is unethical. You can't discuss our looks and our ages in the way that you did." He really pissed off the wrong pregnant lady! Maybe he's not ready for his big boy pants, huhPoola? :) That just makes me so mad! I liked that guy! I'm 20 weeks in and I STILL haven't found and OB/GYN that I like! Beth recommended some to Chuck but he can't remember who so I'm going to ask him to ask her again. She's got all the connections. This is just one more thing that I'm stressing about! I should not be stressing!

Chuck's boss, Tony, made a big decision recently. He decided to go incorporated. Before, Chuck was an independent contractor, which basically meant he worked for himself. Tony got the job and scheduled everything and arranged everything and then paid Chuck, but he was an independent contractor. Now, Tony's gone incorporated. This means that Chuck will be on the proverbial payroll books again. Before, Tony just collected all the money, put it in a checking account, and paid the guys. Now, they have more of a payroll system, and this means that FICA and SS and Medicare/Medicaid will be taken out automatically instead of Chuck paying at the end of the year in one lump sum. Also, Tony is going to be paying the guys overtime, which is going to shock the hell out of Tony. Chuck almost never works just forty hours a week. He usually works more. Tony is going to see just how much these guys do actually work and then he might rethink this overtime thing, or, more likely, just make sure that none of the boys work more than forty hours, thus cutting back on Chuck's pay. Also, Tony got a contract to work on the riverboat in Sioux City. It is going to be only at night across two weeks. Chuck mentioned that he wanted to work every night the whole time and it was put down that he would, as well as work during the day. I don't like this idea of him working 16 hours a week, but we really need the money (twins). Now, with the overtime, I bet, and so does Chuck, that he won't let Chuck work the whole time. He'll let him work a couple of nights a week and fill in with someone cheaper on the other times. And, Chuck says, last time he was "on the books" as I put it, child support decided to up his payment amount. He says that between the auto-withdraws and that, that it could be that Chuck ends up making about $5 an hour. We can't raise twins on $5 an hour. That is just a guess, but the child support people have been talking about a re-evaluation of Chuck and then maybe changing his payment. It sounds like they don't take Chuck into account at all when they make these decisions about how much he's going to pay. His ex-wife owns her own home, has a good, high-paying job, her husband has a high-paying job, and the money that Chuck pays doesn't even go to his kids. I might have said this before, but right after they split, she decided to go to college to be an accountant. The state helped her with her tuition. After she got her degree, she never used it. Now, Chuck's payments pay for that. The kids don't see a dime! It's not like she needs the money anyway, but it IS called child support. Chuck was talking about giving up parental rights to his kids. That means that he has no right to see them and he doesn't have to pay anymore. He has to pay the back payments, but that's it. I don't like this idea. I think his kids are going to be jealous already with the two new babies, and if he abandons them, they will see this as a blow. I'm thinking about how I would feel if I were his kids. I told him he'd never see them, and he says he never sees them now. I told him that's because he doesn't try. He doesn't. I feel like he barely knows his kids, and why he let it get that way. No matter what happened between him and his ex-wife, he should have been there for the kids. I told him that he made a commitment when he got with her. He knew what could happen, and then they had three kids together. It's not a mystery that when one part of a man goes into a women, sometimes babies come out. He knew that. This is bothering me a lot because it goes to speak about Chuck's character. This doesn't say good things about him if he's willing to abandon his children to save money, because that's what t really comes down to. I'm worried about all five children. I know we can't raise our two on such a small salary, but his first three children really come first, or they should. I don't think Chuck sees it that way.

11:24 A.M. - Wednesday, Apr. 23, 2008