Apparently the guy who was arrested for torturing Mercy has been released. A bond of only $2500 was set for this felony charge, so the lucky will-be serial killer got out for just $250 to $500 bail. Go figure.
PLEASE PLEASE go here and sign the petition asking that the maximum sentence be handed down on this guy. You don't have to live in Dallas or even in Texas to sign it and be heard. I just got an e-mail from Operation Kindness stating the guy has been charged with torture as opposed to animal cruelty - torture carries a possible 10-year sentence while animal cruelty is only 2 years. They're on the right track, at least. Let's sign the petition and urge them to follow it through to the maximum.
So you may find it odd that I'm so against that Phillip got the amount of time that he got, and here I am rallying for the system to throw the book at the dog torturer. The dog torturer is way different - he intentionally set out to do what he did - be cruel and inhumane to a defenseless animal. He deserves to have the book thrown at him. And that's all I have to say about that.
************************************
The kid's chickenpox are already in the beginning stages of crusting over, so that is a good sign. I am thinking she can probably go back to school on Monday. No word from Mama, who originally was asking about this weekend. In fact, we have heard nothing since we tried to call her and she was in bed at 7:30 p.m. and her friend couldn't wake her up to talk. In the wake of the chickenpox disaster we haven't tried to call again. We are going to visit Phillip in OKC this weekend as he hasn't been sent to Beaumont yet. We will drive almost right through Mama's town. I'm thinking we should definitely surprise her on the way back...
************************************
The weather here is just lovely. Practically a 100% chance of rain the rest of the day and apparently now a tomato watch. That's a joke between me and Jen; she called tornados, tomatoes when she was a kid and so we do that all of the time now. They sound less scary that way. Who'd be afraid of a tomato, right? I don't like them of course, but I don't completely freak out at their mention the way she does. I really hope there isn't bad weather tonight. I am supposed to go pick up my new foster dog and I wanted to go to Home Depot.
Have a good weekend.
Friday, April 28, 2006
Thursday, April 27, 2006
S.H.I.T.
T.G.I.F. vs. S.H.I.T.
A business man got on an elevator. When he entered, there was a blonde already inside who greeted him with a bright, "T-G-I-F.!"
He smiled at her and replied, "S-H-I-T."
She looked puzzled and repeated, "T-G-I-F," more, slowly.
He again answered, "S-H-I-T."
The blonde was trying to keep it friendly, so she, smiled her biggest smile, and said as sweetly as possible, "T-G-I-F."
The man smiled back to her and once again, "S-H-I-T."
The exasperated blonde finally decided to explain.
'T-G-I-F' means 'Thank God It's Friday.' Get it, duuhhh?"
The man answered, "'S-H-I-T' means 'Sorry, Honey, Its Thursday!'
Thanks to my friend Mickey for that laugh :)
Of course, that could also be 'So Happy It's Thursday.' Nah....
********************************************
Speaking of SHIT, I didn't get to make my Idol prediction yesterday since I had to leave suddenly. For the record, I would have been right. Kelli did not sing at all well and was the sure one to go in my book. Paris will probably be going next.
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I am going to be fostering another dog. Possibly 2 because me and my big mouth were a little quick on the e-mail draw. I really have to get off this dog rescue e-mail list. So many dogs and my heart goes out to all of them and I just want to help them all. Oftentimes they have places to go but need people to transport them. There seem to be quite a few trips between Dallas and Houston, so once Phillip gets to Beaumont and we'll be going through Houston occasionally, I may be able to help with that. That would be cool.
At least they FINALLY made an arrest in Mercy's case:
Reprinted here without permission (but also without financial gain to me) from the KRLD website:
"Suspect in puppy's burning death caught in Corinth
(Thursday April 27) -- Less than a week after the puppy named Mercy died from being set on fire, police now have the man they've been looking for. Dashawn Brown was arrested after leaving his mother's house in Corinth early this morning after police staked out several locations where he had been seen. He's accused of setting Mercy on fire, leaving her with burns over more than half her body. She died Sunday despite more than a week of intensive treatments. On Saturday, her care-givers from Operation Kindness will hold a public memorial in Carrollton."
I hope they throw the book at the will-someday-be-a-serial-killer-if-they-don't-throw-his-sorry-ass-in-jail-now-for-a-good-long-time-and-even-then-he-may-be-anyway dude.
I wish I could go to the memorial, but it's on Saturday, and, you know, I can't like, do anything on Saturdays but work.
********************************************
What else? Quiet here today. Most of the attorneys are at some golf thing, I dunno, the Byron Nelson or the Colonial or something. Naturally it's supposed to rain tomorrow, because it always does during one or both of those, hehehe. Though actually I'd prefer that it wait until Saturday. Yes, in case you were wondering, I hate golf. Well, except of course on nice quiet days like this one.
********************************************
Mmmm, yummmm, that new Dr Pepper Berries & Cream is deeeeeee-lish! Check it out.
A business man got on an elevator. When he entered, there was a blonde already inside who greeted him with a bright, "T-G-I-F.!"
He smiled at her and replied, "S-H-I-T."
She looked puzzled and repeated, "T-G-I-F," more, slowly.
He again answered, "S-H-I-T."
The blonde was trying to keep it friendly, so she, smiled her biggest smile, and said as sweetly as possible, "T-G-I-F."
The man smiled back to her and once again, "S-H-I-T."
The exasperated blonde finally decided to explain.
'T-G-I-F' means 'Thank God It's Friday.' Get it, duuhhh?"
The man answered, "'S-H-I-T' means 'Sorry, Honey, Its Thursday!'
Thanks to my friend Mickey for that laugh :)
Of course, that could also be 'So Happy It's Thursday.' Nah....
********************************************
Speaking of SHIT, I didn't get to make my Idol prediction yesterday since I had to leave suddenly. For the record, I would have been right. Kelli did not sing at all well and was the sure one to go in my book. Paris will probably be going next.
********************************************
I am going to be fostering another dog. Possibly 2 because me and my big mouth were a little quick on the e-mail draw. I really have to get off this dog rescue e-mail list. So many dogs and my heart goes out to all of them and I just want to help them all. Oftentimes they have places to go but need people to transport them. There seem to be quite a few trips between Dallas and Houston, so once Phillip gets to Beaumont and we'll be going through Houston occasionally, I may be able to help with that. That would be cool.
At least they FINALLY made an arrest in Mercy's case:
Reprinted here without permission (but also without financial gain to me) from the KRLD website:
"Suspect in puppy's burning death caught in Corinth
(Thursday April 27) -- Less than a week after the puppy named Mercy died from being set on fire, police now have the man they've been looking for. Dashawn Brown was arrested after leaving his mother's house in Corinth early this morning after police staked out several locations where he had been seen. He's accused of setting Mercy on fire, leaving her with burns over more than half her body. She died Sunday despite more than a week of intensive treatments. On Saturday, her care-givers from Operation Kindness will hold a public memorial in Carrollton."
I hope they throw the book at the will-someday-be-a-serial-killer-if-they-don't-throw-his-sorry-ass-in-jail-now-for-a-good-long-time-and-even-then-he-may-be-anyway dude.
I wish I could go to the memorial, but it's on Saturday, and, you know, I can't like, do anything on Saturdays but work.
********************************************
What else? Quiet here today. Most of the attorneys are at some golf thing, I dunno, the Byron Nelson or the Colonial or something. Naturally it's supposed to rain tomorrow, because it always does during one or both of those, hehehe. Though actually I'd prefer that it wait until Saturday. Yes, in case you were wondering, I hate golf. Well, except of course on nice quiet days like this one.
********************************************
Mmmm, yummmm, that new Dr Pepper Berries & Cream is deeeeeee-lish! Check it out.
Chickenpox is a Funny Word
But chickenpox are not funny. That really is a pretty gross picture I posted yesterday, huh?
Rather than wait for the doctor to call me back, I called the daycare center's director and asked her if she knew what chickenpox look like. Of course she did. So I had her pull the kid out of class to see if she had them. She does. The director did say it was unusual, as they usually start on the "trunk" and then move out to the extremities, and the kid only has them on her arms and legs, but in kids that have been vaccinated, anything can happen. The good news is, they should not be nearly as bad as if she had not been vaccinated. Needless to say I had to leave work and go pick her up immediately.
The good news is, the kid doesn't look like the person in that gross picture who has them all over her face. She really doesn't have very many and, as I said, only on her arms and legs. Bless her heart. I tried to get her to wear long-sleeved pajamas to keep her from scratching them, but she wouldn't, she likes nightgowns, so I had her sleep with socks on her hands, which she did not like one eency bit either. She cried and cried and said it was going to hurt. I tried to reason with her that wearing socks on our feet doesn't hurt, why would wearing them on our hands hurt, but she wasn't having any of that. Finally she calmed down and went to sleep though, and woke up in a good mood.
Is it me, or shouldn't a pharmacist know what chickenpox look like? I've half a mind to take the kid back up there and say "guess what, you moron?" And I'm moving all my prescriptions somewhere else.
Rather than wait for the doctor to call me back, I called the daycare center's director and asked her if she knew what chickenpox look like. Of course she did. So I had her pull the kid out of class to see if she had them. She does. The director did say it was unusual, as they usually start on the "trunk" and then move out to the extremities, and the kid only has them on her arms and legs, but in kids that have been vaccinated, anything can happen. The good news is, they should not be nearly as bad as if she had not been vaccinated. Needless to say I had to leave work and go pick her up immediately.
The good news is, the kid doesn't look like the person in that gross picture who has them all over her face. She really doesn't have very many and, as I said, only on her arms and legs. Bless her heart. I tried to get her to wear long-sleeved pajamas to keep her from scratching them, but she wouldn't, she likes nightgowns, so I had her sleep with socks on her hands, which she did not like one eency bit either. She cried and cried and said it was going to hurt. I tried to reason with her that wearing socks on our feet doesn't hurt, why would wearing them on our hands hurt, but she wasn't having any of that. Finally she calmed down and went to sleep though, and woke up in a good mood.
Is it me, or shouldn't a pharmacist know what chickenpox look like? I've half a mind to take the kid back up there and say "guess what, you moron?" And I'm moving all my prescriptions somewhere else.
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
What the Hell am I Doing?
It's official. That is indeed a perfectly appropriate name for my blog because I apparently have absolutely no idea what I am doing, at least it comes to the kid.
I picked her up from school yesterday and there was a notice that the center has confirmed 1 case of chickenpox contracted by a child who had indeed been vaccinated against it. Bummer, was all I thought at the time.
But on the way home, when the kid began complaining of the red bumps on her leg... I began to think serious bummer. Chickenpox are contagious you know. And though the kid has been vaccinated, so had the other kid been...
I couldn't look at them until we got home and then I freaked out. There were indeed red bumps on her, probably 6 or 7 on one leg, 3 on the other leg, 4 on one arm and 2 on the other. I knew they had not been there that morning, as it was her ballet/tap class day and I put her tights on her that morning. There's no way I would have missed them.
So I called my Mom. She asked about a fever. The kid had complained of being hot when we left the daycare, then cold when we got home, and felt a little warm though I hadn't taken her temperature. Fever is apparently one of the first symptoms. We talked about it, and decided that taking her to the doctor would do no good, there is nothing they can prescribe for it, they would just confirm it and tell me to put calamine lotion on her and keep her from scratching them.
So we headed to the pharmacy. Where the pharmacist looked and said... those aren't chickenpox, they are bug bites.
Bug bites? I was skeptical. Extremely skeptical. But he assured me that chickenpox are not "raised" but rather flat. These bumps were raised. He said get some Benadryl to help stop the itching.
So I got some Benadryl anti-itch spray and we went home. The bumps actually looked better this morning and so I thought, hmmm, I guess the pharmacist was right. Then I was trying to figure out how the hell she got all all those bug bites, because if I didn't know, how could I prevent it from happening again?
To school and work we came this morning, and finally 3 hours after I was here it occurred to me to look on the web for pictures of chickenpox. Looky here:
I picked her up from school yesterday and there was a notice that the center has confirmed 1 case of chickenpox contracted by a child who had indeed been vaccinated against it. Bummer, was all I thought at the time.
But on the way home, when the kid began complaining of the red bumps on her leg... I began to think serious bummer. Chickenpox are contagious you know. And though the kid has been vaccinated, so had the other kid been...
I couldn't look at them until we got home and then I freaked out. There were indeed red bumps on her, probably 6 or 7 on one leg, 3 on the other leg, 4 on one arm and 2 on the other. I knew they had not been there that morning, as it was her ballet/tap class day and I put her tights on her that morning. There's no way I would have missed them.
So I called my Mom. She asked about a fever. The kid had complained of being hot when we left the daycare, then cold when we got home, and felt a little warm though I hadn't taken her temperature. Fever is apparently one of the first symptoms. We talked about it, and decided that taking her to the doctor would do no good, there is nothing they can prescribe for it, they would just confirm it and tell me to put calamine lotion on her and keep her from scratching them.
So we headed to the pharmacy. Where the pharmacist looked and said... those aren't chickenpox, they are bug bites.
Bug bites? I was skeptical. Extremely skeptical. But he assured me that chickenpox are not "raised" but rather flat. These bumps were raised. He said get some Benadryl to help stop the itching.
So I got some Benadryl anti-itch spray and we went home. The bumps actually looked better this morning and so I thought, hmmm, I guess the pharmacist was right. Then I was trying to figure out how the hell she got all all those bug bites, because if I didn't know, how could I prevent it from happening again?
To school and work we came this morning, and finally 3 hours after I was here it occurred to me to look on the web for pictures of chickenpox. Looky here:
Specifically note the raised blisters. Which, unfortunately, look exactly like the kid's.
Thank you SO much Mr. I Don't Know Fucking Everything After All Pharmacist.
I'm waiting for the doctor's office to call me back.
Tuesday, April 25, 2006
The Plot Thickens...
Worsens, as the case may be.
I dialed up the kid's Mama last night and as it began to ring, gave the phone to the kid to talk. Someone else answered, the kid said it was one of Mama's female friends who she has met before. I heard (via speakerphone) the friend try for a moment to wake Mama up (at 7:30pm), and then she told the kid that her Mama was sick and had been throwing up and that she was in bed and could we call her back in the morning.
This gets weirder and weirder. First hysterical about the "horriblest" day ever on Sunday, then chipper and cheerful and isn't life grand the next morning with no mention of her voice mails of the day before, then sick and throwing up and in bed before 7:30pm later the same day... I recall that yesterday morning Mama had made it a point to tell me that she is "clean" whilst telling me about all of the other great things in her life... odd because we have talked about that before and supposedly she has been clean for a very long time. I wonder.
I hope Mama doesn't have plans to come down here and take the kid to Oklahoma for the weekend any time soon. Because despite her legal visitation rights, that is not happening until I find a way to figure out what is going on.
I dialed up the kid's Mama last night and as it began to ring, gave the phone to the kid to talk. Someone else answered, the kid said it was one of Mama's female friends who she has met before. I heard (via speakerphone) the friend try for a moment to wake Mama up (at 7:30pm), and then she told the kid that her Mama was sick and had been throwing up and that she was in bed and could we call her back in the morning.
This gets weirder and weirder. First hysterical about the "horriblest" day ever on Sunday, then chipper and cheerful and isn't life grand the next morning with no mention of her voice mails of the day before, then sick and throwing up and in bed before 7:30pm later the same day... I recall that yesterday morning Mama had made it a point to tell me that she is "clean" whilst telling me about all of the other great things in her life... odd because we have talked about that before and supposedly she has been clean for a very long time. I wonder.
I hope Mama doesn't have plans to come down here and take the kid to Oklahoma for the weekend any time soon. Because despite her legal visitation rights, that is not happening until I find a way to figure out what is going on.
And Then There Were 5
I took Shelby, aka Dog #6, to her new home last night. I would have loved for my aunt and uncle to take her but it was not to be. Shelby has a great new home though, with 1 doggie friend almost her size to play with and a mommy who will let her sleep on her bed, too. She is not far from my parents' store and the lady said she will bring Shelby by to see us on Saturdays sometimes.
We went up to the liquor store first, and the kid decided to stay there and play with Pawpaw while I took Shelby. She didn't express any interest in going, and it didn't seem like much interest in saying goodbye to Shelby. But then later on the way home she started crying that she missed Shelby. Not the easiest thing to deal with when I wanted to cry cuz I missed Shelby too, but we had a talk about how Shelby is better off not having to compete with 5 other dogs for attention and that she has a really good home with a nice lady and we can still see her sometimes, and then we both felt better.
We love you Shelby!
We went up to the liquor store first, and the kid decided to stay there and play with Pawpaw while I took Shelby. She didn't express any interest in going, and it didn't seem like much interest in saying goodbye to Shelby. But then later on the way home she started crying that she missed Shelby. Not the easiest thing to deal with when I wanted to cry cuz I missed Shelby too, but we had a talk about how Shelby is better off not having to compete with 5 other dogs for attention and that she has a really good home with a nice lady and we can still see her sometimes, and then we both felt better.
We love you Shelby!
Monday, April 24, 2006
Well it Sure is Monday
I heard on the way in this morning that poor sweet Mercy passed away last night, her little heart gave out after all that she has been through. Such a sad story, bless her poor little heart. 10 short months of life and to suffer the way that she did... at least she got to know in her final days that there are some good and caring people in this world. There is an $11,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of the monster(s) that did that to her. I wish I would win the lottery so I could multiply that by a lot.
The kid and I had a busy day yesterday - we met some friends at Six Flags, then went home for a bit so I could take a shower then went to a long-overdue family birthday dinner, for 4 of us that had not had a birthday dinner yet since November, then we went bowling. It was a fun, busy day.
I am fast determining that the kid's Mama is possibly more psychotic than I already knew. I had not talked to her myself lately, but she has been filling the kid's head with ideas of spending the whole summer up in Oklahoma with her, and going to school up there, etc., which is not about to happen and I don't appreciate her springing things like that on the kid without talking to me. There's just no way any of that is going to happen. She has moved twice in the last month, the first time saying she had to move very suddenly but was getting her own place within a week, she still has no car, and I never know what her job situation really is. She got a new cell phone for a week or two then somehow went back to her original one. It's all very unsettled and... strange.
So she called yesterday as I was getting out of the shower. The kid was watching cartoons and brought me my cell phone as I was toweling off, and said it had been ringing, though it was no longer ringing. I glanced at it, saw that it was Mama, and went on and hurried to get ready so we wouldn't be late(r) for dinner, figuring we'd call her back later. At the restaurant, my Mom hands me her cell phone to listen to a message that Mama left for her right after she called my phone. She was crying, hysterical, saying she just had the shittiest day of her life and all she wanted was to talk to her daughter etc etc.
So then I listened to the message she left on my phone. I give you, verbatim, not as hysterical as her message on my Mom's phone, but upset and through tears:
"I guess it's just a waste of my time trying to talk to my daughter. I don't know what I did to piss you off, or what I've done to not piss you off or what I could do different, but all I wanted to do is talk to my daughter. I've had the horriblest day of my life and all I wanted to do was hear her voice and you can't even call me back. I pray for you and I pray for her and I guess I'll see you when I see you, I don't know what else to say. Please tell her how much I love her and I miss her. Please. Bye"
Now, bear in mind that that was the first time she called yesterday, and she had talked to the kid a few minutes the day before, Saturday morning, and told the kid she would call her back but then never did. Thus the ball had been in her court to call, though had we not been so very busy all day yesterday then the kid likely would have asked to call her at some point and we would have. I have never refused to call Mama when the kid asks to.
We ended up getting home from the bowling alley past the kid's bedtime, though I really wouldn't have wanted to call Mama back even if it hadn't been so late, because I didn't know if her mood/demeanor had changed and I certainly didn't want to expose the kid to that kind of hysteria. I told the kid that Mama called but that we would try to call her back this morning. I actually figured she would be at work, but that the kid could leave Mama a nice voice mail and then we'd try to call again after work/school.
As it turned out, Mama answered, and did not go to work today. So the kid and she chatted a few minutes then she asked to talk to me. I got on the phone and asked her how she was doing, explained our busy day yesterday and asked if everything was all right. She quite cheerfully told me that everything was great, no mention at all of yesterday's horribleness, said she was enjoying living in her very own 2-bedroom house, she has a room for the kid all fixed up, she has changed jobs and is making more money, in fact has 2 jobs, 1 being part time in a bar, and that she had to take the day off to get her water bill changed over to her name.
Um, can't you take care of that with like, a phone call? And taking the day off from a new job?
What I'd like to know is how Mama can suddenly afford her very own 2-bedroom house when just a few weeks ago she was telling me she was looking for a second job to try to get a finance company (aka basically a loan shark) off of her back, while living with some guy and presumably sharing bills. I'm particularly interested in how this sudden awesome house relates to her desire to have the kid there full time ASAP...
I'm looking into it.
The kid and I had a busy day yesterday - we met some friends at Six Flags, then went home for a bit so I could take a shower then went to a long-overdue family birthday dinner, for 4 of us that had not had a birthday dinner yet since November, then we went bowling. It was a fun, busy day.
I am fast determining that the kid's Mama is possibly more psychotic than I already knew. I had not talked to her myself lately, but she has been filling the kid's head with ideas of spending the whole summer up in Oklahoma with her, and going to school up there, etc., which is not about to happen and I don't appreciate her springing things like that on the kid without talking to me. There's just no way any of that is going to happen. She has moved twice in the last month, the first time saying she had to move very suddenly but was getting her own place within a week, she still has no car, and I never know what her job situation really is. She got a new cell phone for a week or two then somehow went back to her original one. It's all very unsettled and... strange.
So she called yesterday as I was getting out of the shower. The kid was watching cartoons and brought me my cell phone as I was toweling off, and said it had been ringing, though it was no longer ringing. I glanced at it, saw that it was Mama, and went on and hurried to get ready so we wouldn't be late(r) for dinner, figuring we'd call her back later. At the restaurant, my Mom hands me her cell phone to listen to a message that Mama left for her right after she called my phone. She was crying, hysterical, saying she just had the shittiest day of her life and all she wanted was to talk to her daughter etc etc.
So then I listened to the message she left on my phone. I give you, verbatim, not as hysterical as her message on my Mom's phone, but upset and through tears:
"I guess it's just a waste of my time trying to talk to my daughter. I don't know what I did to piss you off, or what I've done to not piss you off or what I could do different, but all I wanted to do is talk to my daughter. I've had the horriblest day of my life and all I wanted to do was hear her voice and you can't even call me back. I pray for you and I pray for her and I guess I'll see you when I see you, I don't know what else to say. Please tell her how much I love her and I miss her. Please. Bye"
Now, bear in mind that that was the first time she called yesterday, and she had talked to the kid a few minutes the day before, Saturday morning, and told the kid she would call her back but then never did. Thus the ball had been in her court to call, though had we not been so very busy all day yesterday then the kid likely would have asked to call her at some point and we would have. I have never refused to call Mama when the kid asks to.
We ended up getting home from the bowling alley past the kid's bedtime, though I really wouldn't have wanted to call Mama back even if it hadn't been so late, because I didn't know if her mood/demeanor had changed and I certainly didn't want to expose the kid to that kind of hysteria. I told the kid that Mama called but that we would try to call her back this morning. I actually figured she would be at work, but that the kid could leave Mama a nice voice mail and then we'd try to call again after work/school.
As it turned out, Mama answered, and did not go to work today. So the kid and she chatted a few minutes then she asked to talk to me. I got on the phone and asked her how she was doing, explained our busy day yesterday and asked if everything was all right. She quite cheerfully told me that everything was great, no mention at all of yesterday's horribleness, said she was enjoying living in her very own 2-bedroom house, she has a room for the kid all fixed up, she has changed jobs and is making more money, in fact has 2 jobs, 1 being part time in a bar, and that she had to take the day off to get her water bill changed over to her name.
Um, can't you take care of that with like, a phone call? And taking the day off from a new job?
What I'd like to know is how Mama can suddenly afford her very own 2-bedroom house when just a few weeks ago she was telling me she was looking for a second job to try to get a finance company (aka basically a loan shark) off of her back, while living with some guy and presumably sharing bills. I'm particularly interested in how this sudden awesome house relates to her desire to have the kid there full time ASAP...
I'm looking into it.
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