Creating a Swimmer

Part of our birthday present to Zach was swimming lessons. Today he had the last of the first set. He invited me to come watch and see how far he has come. He resisted lessons all summer and then finally relented. He went from being very scared of the water to being able to put his head under the water. We'll see what happens when he takes the next set.

Zach is so Funny

So yesterday was Zach's birthday. He had a little party. We ate BBQ hot dogs and had cake. After I got there he showed me that his friend had brought the biggest present. I lifted the gift bag and said oh it is a just a little present. Said mine was heavier than that. So he lifted mine and told me he knew what was in it. I said of course you do...it is the same thing every year. He says yup school clothes and hopefully shoes. He was absolutely right it was clothes, but his mom got him the shoes. His friend gave him a half pike thingy for finger boards.

Saw a Man About a Horse

Elizabeth and I ran into our old family friend Jerry about a month ago. He offered to let Elizabeth come over and ride his daughter's therapy horse. He was heading out of town for a bit but told us to call in August. So we did and made arrangements to go over there today. Once there we met Carly, the horses owner. She hasn't ridden in about five years, and so is very happy when people ride her horse. Then Elizabeth was given a true riding lesson. She knew some of the early steps because of her experience with Breeze. But this time she had to brush the horse. And she had to put the blanket on and learn how the saddle goes on. The biggest obstacle was getting on Too Much Power. Jerry made her get on the way that riders do. No ladder or stool. It took her a couple of tries, but she got up there. And then he taught her how to sit and balance. Then she learned how to steer, stop and go backwards. Also she learned about the command voice and that one was a bit hard for her. But she did it and she rode the horse all by herself in the arena. Then she had to learn how to undo all she did before riding. She was going to walk Too Much Power to the pasture, but the horse got her number and had to be walked by Jerry. We have another tentative date scheduled in two weeks for another day in the arena and then after that she is ready to ride in the pasture.

Guilty

Over the weekend Tanya asked me to go to the reading of the verdict. It was done this afternoon at 3 p.m. She reminded me that I would be done with work by then. I reminded her that I would have to sit with the Pawski's if I went. That seemed to be her object. So I met her at the courthouse and we went inside. In the courtroom she went to the other side of the room and I stayed near the door. Pawski's group came in and surrounded me. Then the mother of his girlfriend introduced herself to me. I told her who I was and what I was doing. That is when the young people who sat in the aisle ahead of me said if I was going to sit with them, then they would sit with me and they all moved to my row. They all thanked me for my support.
That said the judge came in and explained what the law was looking for. As he did this I knew it was a guilty verdict. And according to the law it was right. Doesn't mean that I feel the law was just in this case. The judge did allow Pawski to stay out of jail until the sentencing. After Tanya and the others left I voiced my opinion of "That sucks".
Out in the hallway the prosecutor was explaining how sentencing was going to work. He wanted to know if Pawski showed any emotion. Tanya said that he lowered his head into his hands. Then the prosecutor said he only showed that because he was found guilty. That we only had one more chance to make an impact on this kid so that he never does this again. Wow. I would think that 21-27 months in prison is going to make one hell of an impact. Whether he does "it" again or not is not going to be up to any of us.

Guilty

Saturday I finally got to talk to Tanya.

Trial Update

The actual portion of the trial is over. Tanya did have to testify for a few minutes. Kind of as background. The judge will render the verdict on Monday. That makes me wonder since the prosecutor seemed to think the judge would come back with a verdict within a couple of hours of closing.
So it did my heart good. I had Elizabeth Thursday and we were talking about the trial. I told her my opinion and how I opted not to go so no one got angry. She told me that she would have had to sit with me over with the Pawski's had she gone. I was surprised, but glad that it shows she is healing.

Behaving

So Kenny Pawski's trial starts tomorrow. I have opted not to go. I had explained to Tanya that I would have had to sit with Pawski's family. I could not sit with people who feel that Pawski should go away for life because he took a life. I guess when Tanya told her mom what I would do she declared that I was rude. That I should be there to support Tanya. Well I always support Tanya, but this trial is not about her. It is about Pawski.

Full Moon?

Traffic is doing that crazy thing again. People making multiple lane changes, etc. So I am driving home. There is a string of cars ahead of me, but due to my depth perception I always leave a little extra room now. So I'm watching this subaru ahead of he suddenly swing right which put him into a pretty good ditch. My first thought is what the heck is that guy doing. Well then I see all the cars ahead of him are stopped. He must not have been paying close enough attention and went into the ditch rather than rearend the lady ahead of him. He rode the ditch until it became less so and stopped. Now four cars went by him, but I was the only one who stopped and asked him if he was all right. That was quite a bump into the ditch. He said he was fine and after I passed him he pulled his car into a parking lot that he was close to. Wow.

The Luckiest Kitten

Yup...just what we need....another kitten. So Dave was heading to town in the truck to pick up Myk and Cassie. He got to the end of the driveway when he heard meowing. He quickly stopped the truck and opened the hood. There in the engine compartment was this little black and white kitten. All in one piece but scared half to death. So Dave brought him up...we verified it was a male...and decided he was not staying. We put signs up on the mailbox about finding him. No one has come and it has been three whole days now. And in the meantime he has purred and conquered. His name is Max and he lives here. And he is very cute.

Sanctuary

So I have been thinking and stewing since Saturday. Dave's mom had requested having a meal out here for a small family reunion type thing. Dave agreed and even told her it was fine if she invited his brothers. We did not think they would show up. They haven't shown up the last couple of times she has tried to get us all together. And we like that just fine. So this time they did show up. To be fair I never said anything to them, but they never said anything to me either....not even hello. It is not all right to come to our house and eat our food and not acknowledge the people who live here. Dave said they did thank him, which is more than they usually do.
I realized some things while they were here. Like how much I dislike them and how uncomfortable they make me. And I'm not the only one. Tanya wanted nothing to do with them and spent her time avoiding them (and that made it so we couldn't visit with Gayle and Bill). She was completely ill at ease. She had her own hair on the back of the neck thing going on and then she was concerned about her daughters. And so was I. And we should not have to feel that way at my home. This is my sanctuary (even if at times a rocky one) and has always been Tanya's too. This is one place both of us have always felt safe. And I think that we should always have that.
So in the future we may have to set our foots down and say if Gayle wants a reunion she has to do it somewhere else. Not here. This is sanctuary.

Family Dinner

Dave's mom wanted to have a bbq here at our house. So Dave agreed and made the plans. Tanya brought Adrianna's wading pool with. Adrianna loves to play in it.

Audrie

Cassie had another ultrasound yesterday. At the last one there was a very minor concern that Audrie was a bit small. So they wanted to check again in eight weeks. So that was yesterday. This time they said she was progressing along just fine and weighs about 2.5 pounds right now. Then through the magic of technology we got to see pictures of her. She looks adorable. Now to be fair 98 percent of all babies are cute. And I admit I am prejudiced.

Audrie

Cassie had another ultrasound yesterday. At the last one there was a very minor concern that Audrie was a bit small. So they wanted to check again in eight weeks. So that was yesterday. This time they said she was progressing along just fine and weighs about 2.5 pounds right now. Then through the magic of technology we got to see pictures of her. She looks adorable. Now to be fair 98 percent of all babies are cute