The look of death.

Oh man, if looks could kill…

So remember the little tiff with my neighbor 3 weeks ago?  I took the advice of the officers who responded and filed a TRO.  The TRO was granted and our court appearance was scheduled for this past Monday.  I was fidgety and anxious.  The Radicals haven’t been out to play since the incident and I just wanted this to be over with so the Radicals and I could go back to living our normal life.

So, court is in session and Radical #2 decided he wanted to roam around and loudly object (haha, no pun intended) when I tried my hardest to calmly refrain him and I instantly got hot flashes.  Yes, I wanted to focus on what the judge was saying but I had a 2 year old to deal with so my focus wasn’t really there until he said those dreaded words…

“I am ordering mediation.”   

And that’s when I gave that judge the look of death.  

This was literally my facial expression!

Oh boy, I didn’t see that coming.  Was he kidding?  Mediation?  For what?  Can’t he just grant it (or not grant it) and call it a day? 

Nope.  We will do mediation, become BFFs, and all will be well in the world.

The neighbor objected and said he tried mediation 11 years ago with the Mister’s mom and it didn’t work.  Well, this moment is not 11 years ago and I am not the Mister’s mom but I also feel that this is not going to solve anything.

I say that because we’ve called truce 3 times and he’s never stuck to it.  It’s always something with him.  This guy is not capable of talking in a civilized manner.  He and his wifemom are the ones who started yelling.  And in the past they never talked, they yelled.  Yes, I could have kept my temper in check but that’s beside the point.  If you approach someone in a hostile manner, what do you expect their response to be?  A happy and cheery one?

He also changes his attitude when there are others around.  When the police come, he’s always different person.  When we would see them in public, they were civil.  But as soon as it’s just us, the ugly comes out.  I have never once approached them or made trouble during the 7 years I’ve lived here.  When he would burn his tar or whatever it was and the smell would blow directly into my house, did I ever say anything to him?  No, no I did not.  When he would loudly rev his truck engine early in the morning or late at night, did I ever approach him?  Again, no I did not.  Why?  Because I felt like it was a waste of my time and its little things that I could shrug off.  If he did those things all day, every day then maybe I would say something.  But I would be civil about it because we are neighbors and neighbors are supposed to be friendly.  Right? 

If we do mediation, would they be able to guarantee that the nonsense would stop?

Another thing I’m being stubborn about it is the Radicals.  I feel that I shouldn’t be dragging them through this but since we have no friends or family to watch them, I have no other choice.  My mom said she would make the drive over to watch them but that’s 2.5 hours each way and not to mention, she’d be taking off of work.  I get where she’s coming from but that’s insane.  I have to rearrange my life and my parent’s life to mediate with a crazy person.  It’s like talking to a wall with him.  If anybody needs mediation, it’s him and his multiple personalities.

So.  I will keep you updated on how the mediation goes.

Jenn.