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For those new to this thread
Episode 1
Episode 2
Cast of Characters (to refresh your organic memories)
ME-Yours truly
SO-Mrs. TGK i.e. now my wife, my GF at the start of this saga
GR-SO's next oldest sibling and father of FN
XW-GR's first wife and mother of FN and TN
XG-GR's GF 'til about '04
FN-Our flakey niece, daughter of GR
TN-Our together niece, younger daughter of GR
IA-Present GF of GR
OR-SO's oldest brother
IR-SO's mother, my MIL
SB-FN's slacker boyfriend and baby-daddy
AR-FN's now ex-husband and father of her first two kids (6 y.o. and 2 y.o.)
Joining and leaving this drama:
TG-(For Tatoo Guy) TN's now former BF
TN moved from the Mid-West to the Portland, OR area with XW about 5 years ago. TG, her BF at the time, followed her. TG was a reasonably accomplished tatoo artist, we assumed that he would be plying his trade there.
At my FIL's funeral a couple years ago, we (ME, SO, gr, FN, OR, IR and AR) got to meet TG in the flesh. He seemed quite affible and charming. He complained that there were onerous licensing requirements for tatoo artists and could not get hired there without a license.
Yes, there are hoops to jump through. But getting no job whatsoever before that?! GR once hired TG to do some work on one of his construction sites (the business was a lot better then) and TG never showed.
Over our vacation (we all had a great time, thank you for asking), we learned that TG has quite the baggage. He is divorced and has a child but not is his custody. He has considerable support debts from his refusal to work on the books or file a tax return--he claims that the mother wasn't spending the money on the kid (he knows or has evidence of this how?
He has had no contact with them for at least a 3 years
, according to TN). In other words, he was living off the grid.
After a few years of this nonsense (which apparently included cheating on her
), TN finally moved out on TG--leaving him to his own devices sink or swim. I hope she has the sense to alert the child support enforcement authorities of his whereabouts
. As for TN herself: She is now a store manager of a beauty product chain. The store is within walking distance of her apartment. TN is also talking about taking classes when not working towards a MBA.
Gotta give her credit, all this time I thought her moniker (Together Niece) was largely relative to her older sister, Flaky Niece.
As for Flaky Niece, she is not pleased that SB only kicks in $100/week to support his kid--as she is living with GR, she gets no public assistance other than medical aid. She did Thanksgiving with AR and his family--no word yet on how she and the new rugrat were received as this kid was not AR's but SB's (yes, there was an actual DNA test to verify this). SO and I is suspect that FN is trying to get back with AR. Is AR going to be crazy and magnanimous enough to take her back? Time will tell.
GR has been hitting FN with guilt trips about spending holidays with "her own family". He quipped that it would be nice if she would visit for a reason other than hitting us up for money. Will she show up (we're hosting Xmas)? FN will not be receiveing cash or attention, so I'm not betting the mortgage money that she will drag her self-absorbed ass out here.
Updates as they appear.
Episode 1
Episode 2
Cast of Characters (to refresh your organic memories)
ME-Yours truly
SO-Mrs. TGK i.e. now my wife, my GF at the start of this saga
GR-SO's next oldest sibling and father of FN
XW-GR's first wife and mother of FN and TN
XG-GR's GF 'til about '04
FN-Our flakey niece, daughter of GR
TN-Our together niece, younger daughter of GR
IA-Present GF of GR
OR-SO's oldest brother
IR-SO's mother, my MIL
SB-FN's slacker boyfriend and baby-daddy
AR-FN's now ex-husband and father of her first two kids (6 y.o. and 2 y.o.)
Joining and leaving this drama:
TG-(For Tatoo Guy) TN's now former BF
TN moved from the Mid-West to the Portland, OR area with XW about 5 years ago. TG, her BF at the time, followed her. TG was a reasonably accomplished tatoo artist, we assumed that he would be plying his trade there.
At my FIL's funeral a couple years ago, we (ME, SO, gr, FN, OR, IR and AR) got to meet TG in the flesh. He seemed quite affible and charming. He complained that there were onerous licensing requirements for tatoo artists and could not get hired there without a license.
Yes, there are hoops to jump through. But getting no job whatsoever before that?! GR once hired TG to do some work on one of his construction sites (the business was a lot better then) and TG never showed.
Over our vacation (we all had a great time, thank you for asking), we learned that TG has quite the baggage. He is divorced and has a child but not is his custody. He has considerable support debts from his refusal to work on the books or file a tax return--he claims that the mother wasn't spending the money on the kid (he knows or has evidence of this how?
He has had no contact with them for at least a 3 years, according to TN). In other words, he was living off the grid.After a few years of this nonsense (which apparently included cheating on her
), TN finally moved out on TG--leaving him to his own devices sink or swim. I hope she has the sense to alert the child support enforcement authorities of his whereabouts. As for TN herself: She is now a store manager of a beauty product chain. The store is within walking distance of her apartment. TN is also talking about taking classes when not working towards a MBA.Gotta give her credit, all this time I thought her moniker (Together Niece) was largely relative to her older sister, Flaky Niece.
As for Flaky Niece, she is not pleased that SB only kicks in $100/week to support his kid--as she is living with GR, she gets no public assistance other than medical aid. She did Thanksgiving with AR and his family--no word yet on how she and the new rugrat were received as this kid was not AR's but SB's (yes, there was an actual DNA test to verify this). SO and I is suspect that FN is trying to get back with AR. Is AR going to be crazy and magnanimous enough to take her back? Time will tell.
GR has been hitting FN with guilt trips about spending holidays with "her own family". He quipped that it would be nice if she would visit for a reason other than hitting us up for money. Will she show up (we're hosting Xmas)? FN will not be receiveing cash or attention, so I'm not betting the mortgage money that she will drag her self-absorbed ass out here.
Updates as they appear.
