R.I.P. Officer Jesse Hamilton

My prayers go out to the family of Officer Jesse Hamilton and the Pasadena Police Department today. He was shot and killed today in the line of duty. This hits very close to home for me and my family. As most of you know, my husband is a fellow officer and this is his department. This is the fourth officer to lose his life while on duty in the history of the Pasadena Police Department, and the first officer to lose his life since my husband started with the PPD department nine years ago.

My heart is breaking for his wife and children. His fellow comrades are mourning his loss and dealing with the reality of the dangers they face every day on the job.

I will be praying for his family and fellow officers and will be hugging mine a little tighter this evening.

R.I.P. Officer Jesse Hamilton, and thank you for your selfless service to the citizens of Pasadena. May God be with your family.


Article about the shooting.

Memorial page and donation info.

Facebook or Crackbook? (as one friend likes to call it)

When I went to post the new link about the arrest in my friend’s murder, I couldn’t remember my password to blogger. It eventually came to me but the reality of just how long it’s been since I’ve updated my blog hit me. Three-months without blogging is a long time, even for me!

Since my last update in May, Les and I have taken a trip to Chicago where he had a work seminar to attend. I tagged along and we flew up early and took a detour over to Michigan to spend Memorial Day with my friend Vicki and her family. Lauren moved home for the summer and my front living room has been serving as her storage room for the past two-months. She also spent five weeks studying Spanish in Costa Rica and returned home last week. Les and I went kayaking for the first time. At night! It was really cool. We also celebrated our 22nd wedding anniversary on July 9th. That’s more than half of both of our lives! We decided to skip out on the annual family camping trip this year but Cassidy & Caden still went with my parents for the full two weeks plus a few days. Les & I enjoyed the time alone but by the second week it was just too weird around here without the kids. I’m not so sure I’ll ever be ready for the empty nest! My friend Shelli bought a house with a pool nearby and I have spent many days over there enjoying it, sometimes all by myself because she had to work most of the summer. (Side Note: Enjoying her pool has only fueled my desire for one, but I’m still trying to convince Les that he wouldn’t be stuck doing all of the maintenance alone). I became involved with Dakota Rescue, a local dog rescue organization. I took a volunteer position as their foster coordinator/recruiter, which mainly consists of staying updated on all of the dogs in foster care mostly by email and some phone calls, which I can do from home. We also took in a foster dog from Dakota Rescue, so we now have three dogs living inside until we find her a home, which is sometimes stressful, but worth it. I have stayed true to my night owl ways while being off for the summer and now only have three days left to adjust my sleep schedule before going back to work. Ugh!

I wish I could blame my blogging absence on something relevant like I’ve been busy saving the world but there’s no valid reason for my long absence. If I had to pin it down to one specific thing I would have to say it’s been facebook, along with Farm Town.

Most of my online time now is spent communicating with friends on facebook. Facebook is a place where I can go 24/7 and always find at least one of my 200 plus friends online. I’ve reconnected with lost friends from elementary school, old teachers, old friends from our Military years, out of state friends and relatives, local friends and relatives that I don’t get to see very often, etc. It’s really been awesome. I’ve been “tagged” in photos from the past that I never even knew existed.

People of all ages seem to be taking advantage of facebook. I even set my mom up with one and she loves it. If you don’t have a facebook you’re truly missing out on an invaluable service that can help you reconnect with people from your past and present. Once you join you will start receiving friend requests from people you haven’t seen or heard from in years and you’ll be wondering how in the world they ever found you. I’m constantly seeing friend suggestions pop up on my side bar of people I might know.

I grew up in a very tight knit community where everyone knew everyone back in the day. It’s been a blast reconnecting with some of these people that I haven’t seen in 20 or 30 years! There have been regular social outings going on all summer with old childhood and school friends. Someone will post an open invite for their friends to join them out somewhere to hear a band, to do a walk for charity, for a welcome home party, swim parties, a girls luncheon, etc. just to name a few and it will turn into a big reunion style get together. I’ve attended a few of the outings and had a blast seeing people. It’s funny how you can pick up right where you left with some people.

You can get a peak into someone’s world and generally know how they’re doing that day just by their status updates. Prayer requests are common and the outpouring of emotional support being offered can be comforting to a mom with a son in Iraq, someone with a sick parent or child, etc. Last week we were all viewing mobile photos from an old school friend of his wife while in labor! Nothing graphic but we were being updated throughout the day until we finally got a picture of the new baby. You just gotta love cell phone cameras and phones with internet access.

I have converted some anti-facebook people who wanted NOTHING to do with it into full-blown facebook addicts! Be careful, because once you take the plunge into that world, it will suck you right in and you might find yourself up all night long chatting with people, looking at their photos, searching for friends or playing one of the many games that facebook offers, sitting in the doctor’s office updating your status and checking your facebook from your phone.

Facebook itself is addicting but inside of the facebook world is a game called Farm Town. Typically, I’m not a big game player but this game has turned me into a farming junkie, along with many of my friends and people all over the world. I’d love to elaborate more but have to go check on my pineapples!

Answered Prayers!

They finally got him. Now let's get him back to Texas and see justice served.

News story.

Slightly Awkward Moment

I picked Caden and his friend up from the Strawberry Festival yesterday and was headed to drop his friend off at home. Both boys were riding in the backseat. I really wasn't paying much attention to the conversation between these two 13-year-old boys until something caught my ear.

Caden: I couldn’t tell if they were real or fake. Could you?

Alec: No.

Me: (Without even thinking, spoken in a shocked and shrill tone of voice)
Are you two talking about boobs?

I turned around to see Alec with a mouth full of strawberries, eyes wide open as he burst into hysterical laughter and both boys responded in between their laughter with a loud NO.

Caden: We were talking about those fake people in front of the church. They look real.

Laughter continues. My face is now flushed and I am now laughing, explaining myself and apologizing.

Caden: Mom, I will never look at you the same again.

More laughter. Maybe I need to get my head out of the gutter.

Last night I drove back past the church and saw the fake people (a.k.a. statues).
I laughed out loud just thinking about it.

Effective Way to Break a Nasty Habit

I have tons of pet peeves. One of them is when people leave their dental floss picks laying around after using them instead of putting them in the trash. It totally grosses me out. Seriously, who wants to look at something that was stuck between your teeth with remnants of your last meal hanging from it? Please, do us all a favor and find a trash can. I feel the same way about used Q-tips. Luckily no one at my house does that but I’ve seen them next to bathroom sinks elsewhere.

Cassidy has recently started wearing rubber bands on her braces. They are supposed to be worn 24 hours a day and taken out while eating. They can be reused after meals but generally need to be changed out once a day. Since day one she has been removing them to eat, but forgetting about them and leaving them laying around the house in various places.(The coffee table, the dining room table, the bathroom counter, etc.) To her credit they’re usually lying on a paper towel, but still!



I cringed at the thought of her being at school and removing them during lunch every day, so I bought her a small round plastic container to hold them in. It’s about the size of a quarter and is actually made to hold medicine. I told her to use that rather than laying them on a napkin on the table for everyone to see while they’re eating. I know she has been using it because I recently found it in the washing machine after doing a load of her jeans.

I've made it perfectly clear that I’m tired of stumbling upon her used rubber bands throughout the house but she continues leaving them all over. After I saw four of them sitting on the coffee table this last time I started thinking of ways I could break her of this nasty habit. (Obviously, my complaining isn't doing the trick).

I thought back to how Les once cured Lauren of a nasty little habit she had several years ago. We were having issues with her leaving huge wads of her hair in the shower drain. Cassidy & Caden would complain about not wanting to remove it before their baths/showers and often times Lauren wouldn’t be home to go do it herself. I was often stuck pulling it out for them and my constant complaining to her wasn’t phasing her. It went on for a while before Les finally got fed up and found a way to finally get through to her.

He took a big wad of her long hair from the drain and left it sitting right on top of her pillow. She finally got the message. Perhaps I should try that out on Cassidy.

Justice for Tina

In April of 2008, I shared a local story that hit close to home. You can read about it here.

It's been one year since Tina's murder and one suspect is still at large. The family recently appeared on the Today show hoping to generate some new leads in the manhunt for the remaining suspect. It is rumored that he fled to Mexico. Imagine that.

As stated in the original post, both suspects were here illegally and both had been arrested prior to the murder. Please pray that this monster will be caught and that justice will be served for this grieving family.

Happy 21st, Nawen!

For the first time since you were born I will not see you in person on your special day and that makes me sad. I hope you have a wonderful day and night out with your friends.
I love you.