This Week's Highlights

High speed chase down my dead-end dirt road (cop neighbor said over 80mph).  BP lost.  Illegals bailed and ran.  They're like desert rats the way they can scramble.  Still on the loose...  CBP friend said incident at his house too.
They found the illegal's Escalade later on down the main road...loaded down with pot.  It was being towed in to add to Uncle Sam's car lot.

Sick kid at home.

Lightening storms.

Snake in the yard (just a gopher snake though, with pretty round eyes).  He gets to live in the garden.

Just learned my kid has a rattler skin in his friend's freezer.  (Don't even ask...)

Scorpion in the house. Windex won.  damn things...

(Airsoft bb's all over the floor, ..ouch.)

Gun range closed due to gnats.  I'm serious. 
Apparently they can fly off with firearms and start air raids. LOL 
...I never thought a gnat could be more dangerous than using reloads.  They OK'd reloads on the range this week, but not gnats.  I guess gnats make people crazy enough to shoot at each other...

How can a bug so small be such a menace?

Today, after the sun came up: 

I'm off work to care for my son... and do a million other things.  Made it a few miles down the road... then:

Pretty lights for me this morning.  Speeding. 50 in a 35... he didn't say exactly how many years I'd do.  He just came up to my window, saw me on the phone and said,
"Do you know why I stopped you?" 

I nodded yes, but I couldn't hang up the phone.  Just handed him my license, ins, registration and CCW I had ready for him and kept talking. 

The Sheriff didn't press me or get upset.  He just stood, in a good cop-like and well-trained sideways stance....listening to my conversation... tuned to body language, holding my information in his hand.  I looked up at him mouthing "s o r r y"... but kept listening intently to my caller and ignoring him.

I've noticed cops are very sensitive to body language...tends to keep 'em alive, I'm sure.  In this case, he seemed to 'get' what was going on.  He remained patient and raised his hand in a gesture to say, "It's OK"  Then he went to his car. 

I couldn't hang up.   It was my son's doctor.  You don't wait all morning for a call back, then hang up.  I had no laters left in the day anyway.  Out of laters.

The Sheriff was kind...compassionate...and huge. like a tree.
He came back to the window of my car and saw I was on the verge of something worse than speeding.
He waited patiently.
...I looked up at him apologizing again, in a way I couldn't help but look.

Three times he tolerated my ohpleasehavemercy glances..  (qualified him to hero status)

(we never have enough sheriff on duty to cover the county the size of ours.. he didn't have time for this, of that, I'm sure. Yet, he nodded kindly, like an Arizona Ranger might and let me keep talking on my phone)

I finally hung up with my caller.    Spent. 

Spent, but still having to face a cop, and an interview, and other vitals to my life before the sun would set.... not having a clue how it would all end. 

It took all I had to translate foreign doctor language into something meaningful in the presence of the oak tree and pretty lights and looming life-sustaining interview minutes away.

He gave me back my license... with no pink or yellow papers involved and said,
"Be careful ma'am, sounds like a rough day ...watch your speed and be safe".
"Ma'am?"  ..."be safe".

"I will," I nodded.  "I will."   "Thank you,  ...for caring." 

...he walked away with a compassionate smile and wave, the kind that have to be sincere to be seen coming from an armed oak tree....giving me hope in humanity once again.  Hope hasn't been in my hood for awhile now...

...if I ever see him around again, I'll tell him how he saved me that day.  I had no energy for a life-sustaining interview, let alone a run in with an irritable cop.  I was so thankful. 
I had left early enough to include that little event, and made the bank to save my future life, and get to the job interview early, which my interviewer seemed to appreciate:

We talked 5 minutes.   But no interview.

5 minutes more.

Still no interview. 

(Can't read his expressions.  Intimidating.  Busy.)

Just keep it going, Wrexie.  Life depends on it.  Smile. Talk. Don't let him intimidate you.  Be confident.  Think positive ++++. You can do this...

He called in his secretary and told her to cancel the next 4 interviews and hired me on the spot.  Told me the pay... blahblahblah.  Said, "I don't need letters from your boss or to waste time interviewing you.  You're hired. When can you start?  ...oh, and a raise in 90 days."

Once I got my jaw off the floor, I managed a "thank you"... and a hand shake.

I've had 5 jobs since the school had to let me go due to no funding.  I think this one will keep us alive.  Finally.   But what a strange day.  and a crazyhard week...


Doctor visit stuff is pending... but my little dude is doing better.  I know he'll be ok...because nothing will ever stop me from making sure he's always ok.  

....But the day's not over yet:

Number one son sends a dreaded text: 

"Mom... if you hear anything on the news... I'm OK."

WHAT? ... I'm driving again. Sh**

Next msg... "chemical plant's gonna blow up."

Wrexie throws some dust...
...pulls over.

WHERE ARE YOU?  ARE YOU OK?

several 'torture mom minutes' later...

"Oh, yeah.  I'm fine.  We're in the building across the street. I can't see the sky through the smoke though. ..and I smell like oil.  It's bad."

HOW are you fine, then? 

"If it blows up, they'll send us home... but it looks like they were able to stop the explosion.
Love you mom."  


and I wonder why I startle and jump when a turtle farts.


Hope was bleak this morning... I dreaded this day for even more reasons than I wrote about...  the past several weeks have been a hell of a ride... but as I watch the sun set, I think I just might feel safe enough to hope it just might...possibly... be ok again.  one day.

the end of today. Yay.