Some days are worse than others

WARNING: Today's post is a long winded explanation of what my job entails at the Police Department, and why it sucked today. You can skip it if you want, I won't be offended. (Actually, I won't even know, which is even better).


Today was the first day I had any real energy since my procedure on Tuesday. I actually got up when my alarm went off and had a little time to go and get a new haircut before I had to go to work. Then a yummy turkey, pepperjack cheese, avocado and tomato sandwich on grilled sourdough bread. It couldn't get into my belly fast enough.

Then... I went to work. Normally, not such a big deal. Emily had a fever today so I was on my own, again normally not a big deal. Tonight it was though, no co-worker support and our supervisor doesn't work weekends.




A snotty officer called me and said right off the bat, "I can't believe I have to do this."

THIS meant calling me for help.




I was as polite as I could be, but the officer simply couldn't understand why I needed her to add an assault offense to her report because the suspect BIT the victim. The victim doesn't want to prosecute, but the state and FBI don't care about that... they just want to count every assault that happens, regardless of desire for prosecution and probable cause. (This is my job... crime reporting, statistics, and arguing with officers).

This officer said it was only disorderly conduct (not to mention DOMESTIC VIOLENCE) and she was upset that my unit had rejected her report back to her for correction. She said she was NOT going to do what I (and several others) had asked her to do because we were wrong. I told her that was great, I would just put her report on hold for my supervisor to review on Monday.
That made her angry (you mean she wasn't already?)

She talked down to me, she was rude and sarcastic, and she really didn't like it when I said her report would never get approved to public record until this correction was made.
I said that if she wanted to re-word her narrative in order for her report to pass inspection, that would be fine. She said she refused to falsify documents.
You mean you won't falsify an ASSAULT THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN???
That was my point exactly, thankyouverymuch.



This is what I deal with every day. I have strict guidelines from the FBI that I have to follow, and most officers get that. This one just didn't like being told that she was wrong.

Well, does anybody like that? But seriously, she didn't have to be so rude. I had to walk laps around the building in order to calm down, I was prepared to be unprofessional to the next person I talked to.

So... sorry I bored you with such a long post about the details of my job, I just had to get that off my chest.
I can't wait until next week when this officer, and her sergeant, get a phone call from my supervisor explaining how I was right and she was wrong. :)


P.S. My brother is a cop, and the best one that I know. Not all cops are stupid and I thank my brother for teaching me that. Joe, you rock.

This is a week late, but get over it... I just had my tubes tied :P

Last weeks big storm took Arizona by surprise. Come on people, doesn't anyone remember the awesome monsoon storms we used to get when I was a kid, late seventies early eighties? House shaking thunder, the power going out and the family sitting around candles or lanterns, torrential rain, people's trailer-park-roof landing in the middle of the freeway... now THOSE were storms. Today's kids are pansies, they don't know how to handle a real storm :) Actually, two kids broke three umbrellas that week. Either wind damage, or seven-year-old trying-to-make-a-weapon damage.

Austin took the kids down the road a bit to see the Salt River running, so close to our house. The kids thought those were real waterfalls, it was very cute. I think I heard somewhere that they had to open 3 dams.




I like this picture, THIS reminds me of my childhood storms. Once a palm tree was struck by lightning at the house right across the street from me when I was about 8. It was so loud, I woke up thinking something inside the house had exploded. I screamed, woke up mom and dad, and listened to the fire trucks approach. This tree wasn't hit by lightning, but by incredible wind. Can you believe the valley had a TORNADO?!



This downed tree is about a block and a half from my house.

I love it when Arizona has actual weather. I enjoy the sunshine and dry heat, but a really good storm wakes me up inside, like a jolt of electricity. As JoDee Messina puts it, "I am not afraid,and I'm thirsty anyway, so BRING ON THE RAIN!"

Ben lost his first tooth!

Ben was very afraid to have his first tooth pulled out, even though it was hanging by a thread and the new tooth was already growing beneath it. He was sure that it would be the worst pain he had ever felt. Austin dabbed a little orajel on his gums, got the needle nose plyers, told Ben to close his eyes and practice skip counting by 2's. When Ben opened his eyes, Dad was holding his tooth! :) Ben didn't feel a thing, and now he's so excited for the tooth fairy to come.

My list of things to do just got a lot smaller...

As I may have previously mentioned, I love to write. I love journals. My current fave is my "therapy" journal. Everyone should have one. No, seriously.

My goal is to write a list of my accomplishments for the day (with some witty commentary). Today's list was the bomb! (whatever that means). There were 50 things on my list! Did you catch that? Fif-teeee! I was thinking that this must be what other "normal" moms do, just plug along all day long taking care of EVERYTHING. There was no burst of energy, just the slow and steady tortoise. I sat here pondering, at 2:00 in the morning, why that may be. My previous record was 23.

Here's what I came up with:
I'm doing the opposite of nesting.
What's that you say? Nesting? Isn't that what pregnant women do?
Why yes, it is. That's why I did the opposite.
I cleaned my house from top to bottom. Organized cupboards, swept and mopped floors, scrubbed toothpaste off the mirror and walls, threw out expired medications, maxed out our recycle barrel (is there a weight limit?), along with a few other things.
50... did I mention that?

So, back to the opposite of nesting.
As my friend Emily puts it, I'm getting spayed :)
That's right folks, the tubes are being tied and this baby making factory is being closed down for good.
I'll be out of commission for a day or two, so I guess I was just preparing my house for the absence of Mom.
Of course, I'm absent a lot of the time anyway.
Emotionally I mean.
And sometimes physically, I guess.
Don't judge :)

I got my house in order so that I can be made 'out of order'.
hahahahaha! (well, I thought it was funny)

The big day (my due date?) is Tuesday, January 22.
Any procedure is risky because of my Crohn's disease, it can cause a flare up (which is kinda why I'm doing this in the first place) but it needs to be done. My health can't handle any more kiddos.
Who are we kidding, neither can my sanity.

Wish me luck.

It's raining shoes! (I'm a little embarassed)

My friend Emily recently sorted through her shoes and sent some to the "time to live in someone else's closet" pile. Thankfully five pairs of adorable shoes made their way into MY closet!

As a result, I decided to do some shoe purging of my own. Behold, the pile of shoes. (Reminds me of that commercial about cheese...)




I can't believe I owned that many pairs of black shoes. There's quite a few brown pairs mixed in there too, and some shoes I didn't even remember having that I pulled from the back of the closet covered in dust bunnies (I DO NOT want to know what was going on back there... you know how bunnies are).

So this is my "time to live in someone else's closet" pile. If anyone wears a size 9, you're welcome to come pillage! After next week, these shoes will be joining the ranks of Goodwill, good condition, gently used.


Do flip-flops count as shoes?

Let There Be Hope (Again)

With the just announced win of Senator-elect Scott Brown to the US Senate for MA, the People of this great nation once again have hope for the future.

No longer do the Liberals have a free pass to spend our money, our children's money, and our children's children's money. Now there is a chance to stop the outrageous takeover of our healthcare system (and other tax and spend plans). We, the People, have hope that the conservatives may be able to stop it and protect our futures.

For too long I have worried about what the Congress has done and continues to do. I have watched and waited for a glimmer of hope.

Well, as it turns out, I was not alone. Even the people of Massachusetts, one of most liberal places around, has recognized the downward, spiraling of the nation caused by the extreme left-wing, liberal agenda of Obama, Pelosi, and Reid. The people of Massachusetts, echoing the voices of We, the People, said, "No Way!! We don't want it!"

Thank you, Massachusetts. You give We, the People, hope.

Just wait, Democrats, the People won't stand for this.

Pack your bags!

Look what climbed into bed with me last night

Perfect fingernails... eyelashes... mouth... she is stunning, and she took my breath away.

I saw God today.

Journaling

Anyone who knows me knows how much I love journals. I have about 15 volumes filled from BEFORE I got married, and who knows how many since?

I also have journals in every room of the house that aren't even written in yet. If it's got a cute cover, and blissfully unlined pages waiting for my thoughts to be written, I buy it. I can't help myself. I brought one home from the store last week and my daughter said, "ANOTHER journal? Did you already finish writing in the last one?" Well, no. But I'm halfway there and you never know when you're going to run out of pages and need a new one at a moments notice!

My current project is my therapy journals. I write every single day (been going for 4 months now without missing once) and I have to make a list of the things I accomplished for the day, or the things I'm proud of doing. I CANNOT make a list of my failures or disappointments. Some days the list consists of 1)waking up, and 2)writing in my journal. That's it, the end. Some days I fill the whole page and I feel like super-Mom.

Yesterday's entry looked like this:


I couldn't write anything negative, it's against the rules. And I couldn't think of anything else to say. Poignant, isn't it? Who needs words to describe how you feel?

That's what Mom's are for

Mom has been asking me for my opinions on some scripture blocks that she's teaching to her early morning seminary class. I thought this was a pretty clever way for my mom to make sure I'm reading my scriptures (*wink*wink*) but I really like the challenge. I've only read two chapters so far, but I like the insight that the Lord is giving me.

Alma 2:28 The people prayed mightily until the Lord, for strength and deliverance. The armies of the Lamanites were large and powerful, and without the help of the Lord, who knows what would have happened? The Lord answered their prayers, they were strengthened, and they defeated their enemy.

Enemies are not always armies with swords. My enemy is my disease. Often, it is too big, powerful, and scary for me to handle myself. I cannot fight it alone. I have often prayed mightily unto the Lord for strength and deliverance. He has answered my prayers time and time again and I have been strengthened in times of my greatest need. My trial isn't taken away, I'm just made strong enough to handle it when it gets too bad.

It's fun to read the scriptures specifically looking for something to learn from it. It takes almost the same amount of time than just reading for the sake of reading, all you add is a little pondering into the mix.

Thanks for the challenge, Mom. Thanks for asking for my opinion, whatever it's worth. I love you :)

Perspective

Grace has been asking questions all day about my childhood. Was I as big as her when she was a baby? How old was I when I met daddy? Was I the same when I was four as she is now? It was kind of an eye opener when I told her that I married her dad nine years after I met him. Weird, unless you consider that we were 12 years old. I told Ember that in three years, she could meet her future husband! Wow...

So, 2021. That's going to be a stellar year for me. Ember will be the same age that I was when I got married, 21. Ben will be leaving on his mission, and Grace will be driving us to the airport.

Brain cramp!

Letters to the Editor:

To the first day of 2010, the beginning of a new year and a new decade, I say to you:

















I want a do-over.