The Post In Which I Whine and Complain so Maybe I Can Feel Better

I need a moment. I have a lot weighing on my mind and heart. I need to stomp my feet, cry, and have a little pity party. I need to mourn the probable loss of a friendship.

It breaks my heart; it makes me sad to think of all the times we had. 

You made me laugh and you made me cry. 

And all that I can do is sigh and wonder why.- Author Unknown 

This quote begins to express the feelings floating around in me.  My dear friend, like a sister, dropped a bomb on us about 2 weeks ago - she was moving out.  She had not planned to tell us at that time, but her son blabbed.  This was Betrayal #1. Her date for moving out? December 31. Betrayal #2, since she had obviously been planning this for some time, without dropping a single hint so we could plan for our family.

She went out of town the next day and I worked hard to make peace.  We resolved several things, including a shared cell phone account (which was almost Betrayal #3.)  She returned to town and my daughters left the next day.  She barely said 5 words to me. Did not ask about Christmas, would not make plans to celebrate her birthday or New Year's Eve.

Then, as she packed, I noticed things start to disappear. It started small: 4 rolls of paper towels I purchased while she was out of town (she hasn't contributed to the household pantry in about a month).  Then my cutting board and pizza cutter. After a denial about the cutting board, it mysteriously re-appears. I opt to ignore the pizza cutter and towels, trying to keep the peace. Betrayal #who cares.

Now the largest. We made our arrangements for cable, internet, and phone.  That was a debacle - she hadn't actually canceled the current service, as it was in her ex's name.  She simply made new service orders for her new place.  So when I spoke to 2 different people at the cable company, on 2 different days, I was told CLEARLY that I should keep the modem and the technician would deal with it on Tuesday.  There was even a memo put on the accounts to that effect.

Today, when my DH and I went out and about, we felt the urge to disconnect the modem.  Call it the gift of foresight.  We stuck it in our closet and went on our way.  When we returned home, sure enough, she had been up to our computer.  We got the modem back out and went to reconnect it.  Lo and behold the cable from our brand-new router to the modem was GONE. I had unplugged it from the modem and LEFT IT in the router - so it was ready to reconnect.  It was obvious that she had taken it - it certainly couldn't grow legs and walk away.

In a short string of texts, she denied everything and continued to harp about turning in the modem. She did admit to looking for the modem, but of course, it was not in the computer room.

Betrayal #irrecoverable

I'm done. I spoke to DH and told him I want to just go buy our own modem, even though the cable company is bringing us one on Tuesday. He said no, we aren't going to give in to her. He said he would barricade the door and call the cops if she tries to take it.

Have mercy. Isn't it enough that she is stringing us along with getting her crap out of the house? She still has a full bedroom of stuff, a full closet, 2 couches, a fridge, and a washer and dryer - not to mention a crap ton of stuff in the basement.  And of course, she isn't going to contribute to the January rent - so she is getting free storage of her stuff, for all intents and purposes.

So, just to purge this out of my system, once and for all, here is a bulleted list:

• I'm keeping the modem, you can have it Tuesday afternoon after the tech comes.
• I want all your keys to the house. Including the ones you gave your ex and your in-laws.
• I want your bedrooms emptied, ASAP. It is completely unacceptable that my family is living in the chaos you have created.
• I want your couches out of the living room.
• I want your washer, dryer, and fridge out of the kitchen. (Chaos thing again. My washer and dryer is coming on Tuesday.)

Whining over. Lets hope spilling my guts makes it easier to cope.