#$*#%$ Apartment manager!!

Do you think this guy is in his right to do this??

Ok, today my kids were outside the apartment playing. My son was playing soccer, well just passing the ball back and forth with his friends, and my daughter had been riding her bike with her friends. Well, about 6:30 my son comes inside and tells me that the manager just took his soccer ball away, told him that he can no longer play outside, and threw his sister's bike, along with three other bikes, into the garbage.

WHAT??

So I asked the kids to calm down and explain to me what they were doing when the manager came by. My daughter had just set her bike down, propped against the fence of the building to get something inside her friends house when the manager came by. My son saw the manager pick up her bike, and the other bikes, and toss them into the garbage bin. Then the manager told my son to hand over the soccer ball, and then he drove off with his ball.

I called the police to file a report. Of course, a police officer called me back and said that he couldn't do anything because the apartment complex was a privately owned area, and that the manager was in his right to do whatever he felt was necessary if any apartment rules were being broken. One of my neighbors also called the police and the officer ended up coming out to the apartments. We were told that basically, the police have no jurisdiction over the apartment complex because it is a privately owned property, and that the resident manager has the right to do whatever he wanted to because he was the person in charge of the property.

Something else- Before I called the police, I called and left a message on the manager's cell phone. I said I wanted to talk to him immediately because I was upset and I wanted to know what had happened. 20 minutes after I called him, and about 5 minutes after I called the police, he drives up to the building. I said, "Sorry, but I actually don't think I should talk to you right now because I am so mad at what has happened, and I have already called the police." He just said "ok fine" and then peeled off- and by peeled off I mean drove away going well over the posted speed limit of 10mph.

I mentioned that to the police officer, and he just shrugged and said that he cannot enforce the speed limit on private property. Ok, and this police is a traffic officer. I'm not fully understanding this at all.

First of all, there has been an ongoing problem with this particular manager. I've lived in this apartment for over 2 years now and have not had one personal dispute with the manager until this very day. I have many hispanic friends that live here as well, but they all have had many disputes with the manager over the last few years. The main problem is that the manager has been extremely disrespectful and often times downright abusive in dealing with kids. These last couple of months the manager has suddenly decided to drive or walk around the complex and tell the kids they are not allowed to play outside. My son has complained to me on numerous occasions that the manager told him to go inside. My friends have also told me that the manager has done the same to thier children. Children need to be outside, riding thier bikes, playing tag, etc, not inside becoming couch potatoes. The apartment complex has no play ground for the children. On the side of the complex where I live there are signs posted that say "Caution- children at play" On the side of the complex where the manager lives there is a sign that says "no skateboarding, rollerblading, bicycle riding, etc" There is no sign whatsoever that says that on this end of the complex. Our complex is basically divided into to areas, with two separate entrances and exits. In between each area is the office, pool, and tennis court. The only way to get from one area to the other is to walk.

Well, when the police officer arrived to talk to me and my neighbor who also called the police, he seemed annoyed that we called him for a civil problem. We walked him to the apartment manager's apartment and the officer briefly talked to the manager to fnd out what happened. The manager told him he has repeatedly told everyone to not block the common areas with the bikes, and that he has had way to many problems with bikes being left laying around, seemingly abandoned. He claimed that my daughter's bike and the others were blocking the driveway. He also claims that the fire department has been out multiple times for inspections recently and has given the manager multiple warnings about blocked fire acess, etc due to tennants bikes and other stuff. It's supposed to be in our contract that we cannot block common areas, cannot leave items in the breezeway of the buildings, etc. Ok I understand that. But the bicycles were not blocking the driveway and were not in anyway left haphazardly in the path that people need to walk, and were certainly not left abandonded.

Now with the case of my son and the soccer ball- the manager told the officer that the boys were hitting the cars with the soccer ball. Did he just insinuate that the boys were doing that on purpose and that is why he took the ball away from them? I'd understand if that was the case. However, shouldn't I have been notified immediately by the manager if my kids were doing something wrong? My kids would never purposely hit a car with the ball. When I asked my son about that he said they were just playing and the ball had accidentally hit one car at the same time the manager was throwing the bicycles into the garbage. You play with a ball, soccer or anything else, and of course the ball won't always stay where you want it to go, and could hit a car or someone. Everyone knows that.

Now the manger also told the officer that in our contract/lease it states that children must be supervised while they are outside. He actually said that in a different manner, which the officer interpreted that the kids are not allowed outside ever unless an adult is with them at all times. Umm, ok. You can supervise your kids from your apartment. You don't need to be watching them like a hawk or be standing there where they are playing or following them wherever they go to play. I can hear my kids and know where they are and know what they are doing. They can hear me from the apartment if I call them. I can see out my bedroom window what they are doing. I can stand on my balcony and watch them do stuff. My kids are not left alone with no parental supervision whatsoever. I am a responsible parent. Now, some of the other kids on the other hand are not supervised whatsoever. In fact, thier parents assume without actually getting my consent that I am watching their kids for them.

Oh I am so mad still, and it's been 3 hours since this all started. I've called the landlord and tenant dispute office and the property managment office and left messages. I will be calling them back in the morning to talk to someone before they can call me back.

If I go into labor tomorrow or this evening, then the manager will have to pay my bills for me since it is his fault. I can't even think anymore about this and cannot keep writing because I'm so angry.

What a wild weekend I had!

Wow. I'm exhausted!! It was a long and wild, but extremely fun weekend for me!

Friday I lots of stuff to do to prepare for my baby shower. But I had an appointment in the morning, so went to that. IT was just a new mother's group that was forming, and so we just hung out and talked about our kids. not everyone showed up, but I think I'm the only one that is pregnant in the group. There were quite a few newborns there too, including twin girls that were 2mo. DD was just ecstatic to see all those babies!!

Then I decided that it was time to get my hair cut, so I did that. And of course DD wanted to get her's cut as well, so I relented and allowed her to get it cut. They took of a little more than half the length, but that is what she wanted. Actually, she wanted it short and layers like how I did mine, but since her hair is fine, I told her that layers wouldn't work as well on her hair. She settled for short (just below the shoulders) and barely layered. And she looks good!! It's been a long time since she has had short hair, about 3 or four years now.

Then we got some shopping done and ordered the cake for my baby shower and picked up some decorations.

Saturday I took both kids out for lunch to Subway. Then we came home and I had them help me gather laundry and help me wash some clothes. DH called me around 3:30 to say to be ready at 5pm to go to a birthday party of a friends- I was just starting the laundry. Well, we ended up leaving the house after 6pm, because I wanted to shower, but had to wait for the towels to dry.

Well, guess what?? That birthday party ended up being a surprise baby shower for me!!! I'm amazed that DH was able to surprise me!! He's never done that before. IT was a blast. We didn't leave my friends house until midnight. Towards the end of the night we played a game of cards that I had never played before, and it must have been my lucky day because I won $24 from the game!

So then Sunday morning rolls around and we are all tired, but we still had tons of stuff to do. I had to go to Costco and get plates, napkins, silverware, and drinks for the planned baby shower, and a few tablecloths. By about 4pm I was at the pool setting up for the party. People started showing up around 5:30. The food finally arrived about 6pm.

I tell you again, I'm exhausted today, but very happy. I never had a baby shower with my first two kids, so this was one of the best weekends I've had. I'll post some pics later this week when I'm not so tired.

As if I needed anything else to worry me...

I just found out last night that my dad had a heart attack on Tuesday.

His girlfriend emailed me to let me know. Supposedly he has been feeling "yucky" for the last few days and thought it was just because of his elevated blood sugar levels. Well then Tuesday evening he said he had felt heavy weight on his chest, and then sharp pain that lasted about 10-15 minutes, but then went away. He didn't think anything of it until she talked to him the next day. So he went into his doctor yesterday and they did an EKG, which didn't show anything, and drew some blood, which showed elevated levels of something that indicated that he had a heart attack. So his DR sent him straight to the emergency room for more tests. Sure enough, the tests revealed that he did have a heart attack, but they are not sure if it was one big event or a series of smaller ones. So he was transferred to another hospital to get a heart catheter put in place. He'll have that procedure done this morning around 11am.

I'm a little scared. He's approaching his 70's- his birthday is September 20 and I think he'll be 66 or 67 this year (can't remember). But he's always made light of his health for as long as I can remember. I so want to go visit him, but 1. I can't fly right now, 2. I'm so close to my due date that I run the risk of going into delivery up there, and 3. it's about a 10-12 hour drive. He's in a hospital outside of Portland, OR. My sister is closer, she's in Portland, but I don't know if she's going to be able to see him since she doesn't drive. He normally goes to visit her once a week or every two weeks, and has been helping her out a little financially while she is in school. So I'm a little worried about her as well. She's 25, so I know she's capable of taking care of herself. Its just that she's my little sis!

I couldn't sleep last night after reading that email. I'm going to try and call him this afternoon at the hospital and see how he is.

Still hanging in there!

This morning I had a follow up appointment with the psychiatrist to see how I've been doing on the Zoloft. I'm proud to say that I no longer feel like crying everyday. So far that's the only good change that has been noticeable to me. Side effects, on the other hand: I am sweating more, and did get very drowsy if I took the pill in the morning. I ended up taking it before bed after about a week and a half on it, because I would fall asleep during the middle of the day. Well, I'm sleeping better at least now!!! LOL! And the sweating I thought was a result of the warmer days we've been having here, but the DR said that it probably was a side effect of Zoloft. I guess I'm ok with that. If those are the worst side effects I will get, then I think this will be fine. The only thing is that we agreed to try and up the dose because I'm still not as happy as I would like to be. So I will start taking 100mg instead of 50. I'll try and see how that goes. I'll start tonight with the increased dosage.

I'm now 5 weeks away- 35 weeks and 1 day down, 34 days to go until baby!!! I'm starting to get a little nervous because there is a possiblity that it could be sooner. I have my regular visit with the midwife next Wednesday the 20th, and then I've scheduled a tour of the hospital to pre-register for the next evening the 21st. If only I could get the kids and DH to help out more right now, I wouldn't have so much to worry about! Laundry has piled up again, and I need to wash a few of the new baby clothes I have, along with the car seat cover... still no crib, but I did put one on my registry list at Baby Depot @ Burlington Coat Factory and I also have a registry at Target as well. My mom does have a moses basket for me that I will use until I do have a crib. I hope that either someone gets me the one I put on my registry, or we get the money to get it ourselves- it's a convertible crib! It can be converted into a toddler bed with bedrails, and then a twin bed with headboard and footboard when he's outgrown the toddler bed! I so wish we had gotten one when DS was little!