Tuesday, January 29, 2008

Patiently waiting to win the lotto . . .

Hey !



Today has been a good day, all in all. I didn't win the lottery or anything, but I've managed to stay busy and productive.


We woke to an overcast 54 degree (13C) day. By 110:am, the temperature dropped to 24 degrees ( -4.44C) with even lower wind chills. By noon, it looked like a blizzard outside, although we only ended up with a couple of inches of dry, blowing snow.

My first, and biggest, job of the day was to keep Roy from sinking into despair. He only had one service call and none of his other (previous) employers had any work that needed to be done. Roy can easily fall into depression and give up. Understandably, during times like this, he could easily go to bed, pull the blankets over his head, and sleep all day and night. I finally convinced him to ONLY focus on what CAN be done, and on moving in a forward direction. I told him that I would deal with the rest. I didn't tell him that I would be relying on 100% faith. Anyway, I got him out of the house. (whew !)

Since heather was still running a low grade temp, and has almost completely lost her voice, there was no school. I made a few phone calls, and started cleaning up stairs. As I walked past Jake's bed room, I noticed that he left his lights and T.V on when he left for school this morning. Jake's room is an attic bedroom and the only room on the third (or fourth, depending on how you count them) floor. I make it a rule to avoid going up there as much as possible. Heather's room is bad enough, but Jake is a teen, and a boy. As I walked up the seven steps and slowly pushed the door open, my breath was all but knocked out of my chest. I had never seen his room in such a state of total disarray ! The mystery of where all my missing dishes had gone, was suddenly solved - even though I had sent him to retrieve them at least twice in the last week. I couldn't even fully open the door due to all the debris. Every surface was covered with at least half an inch of dirt and dust. It was unreal. When Nick was Jake's age, his room would become so utterly filthy that I was inspired to write the only poem that I have ever written. (I'll try to track it down and post it tomorrow.) Strangely enough, I didn't close the door and run away in horror. Instead, I went down stairs got my cleaning supplies, a laundry bag, and several trash bags. For the first three hours, I did nothing but sort through the trash, laundry, bags of cheese curls, pop cans, and other various items on the floor. Once I could walk through, sort of, I set about rearranging the furniture, and finding a place for everything. By the time I was able to wipe everything down and vacuum, I looked at my watch and realised that I had spent FIVE HOURS in this one room ! At 6:00PM, Roy arived home, helped me carry the four bags of trash to the garage, and I started dinner while he went to wait for the buses to return Jake to the school from his ski trip.

After Jake got home and ate his dinner, he took his shower, and spent the rest of the evening enjoying his 'new" room. I think he likes it.

The other big job today was going to visit Nick. I had no idea what frame of mind he would be in. When I got out to the jail, which I have been to countless times, I checked in and was given a tag which specified a different visitation room. On every other visit, I have always been sent to the visitation rooms for the minimum security pods. As I waited, I had no idea what this meant, nor what to except from this change. However, when I entered the visitation cubicle and saw Nick waiting for me, I was relieved to see that he was calm, and pleased to see me. As it turned out, his behavior and phone conversation with me the night he was arrested DID result in him being placed in a suicide watch cell. Nick felt rather embarrassed by this because, as I suspected, it was all drunken hysteria and ravings. In fact, his memories of Sunday night were jumbled with alot of gaps. Nick vaguely remembered an argument before he left the house, and his biggest concern was that I might still be angry with him. He had no recollection of his phone conversation with me, and when he awoke in a suicide watch cell, he was worried that I had requested he be put there. (which I didn't) I had to explain the events of that day to him, and he was somewhat able to tell me how he was picked up and arrested. As it happened, he ended up at his A.A. home group meeting place, which is, conveniently, only a block or two from the bar. He later learned that someone at the meeting hall called the police and requested that he be removed - for obvious reasons.

Anyway, he has come to terms with the fact that he must serve his time, and is trying to figure what the best way to make use of his time would be. His resources and options are pretty limited in county jail. Although, there is a good chance that he will be "farmed out" to a small, less crowded, county jail in order to free up space in Johnson County, and who knows what options that will result in ? I think that's another thing that will depend on faith, and God's will.

So I think that my visit went well. Nick understands our financial situation, and he's okay with waiting to get money on his phone account and commissary account.

Okay, It's getting late, and I need to get myself to bed. My head is trying to produce mass qauntities of snot, but I'm pretty sure that it's just the result of the weird, extreme temperature changes today. All the same, I should probably get some extra rest.

Good night all, hope you have a great Wednesday/Thursday !
Love ya,
Susan

2 howled back:

Anonymous said...

As time passes we mature and understanding begins with a new level of maturity. I'm glad to hear that Nick has resigned himself to a self-designed fate and has matured to know that the will of God will prevail to conform his faults into gems.

I'm even more pleased to learn you're doing well and tings at home seem a bit more calm and reserved. You deserve a few moments of peace and love.

-c

Anonymous said...

Hey I'm glad that Nick was happy to see you, that must make you feel a lot calmer.

Oh I love getting in there and cleaning up a bedroom. My boys share a room and even though I only did a huge spring clean a few weeks back, it now needs another. It's a trash pit!

I'm glad things are pottering along for you guys, I really am.

Take care,
love mel