Close encounters of the Law kind

I love lawyer shows.  My heart belongs to a lawyer.  I listen to law cases discussed all the time at least until my eyes glaze over and then I just pretend to listen.  I work with law enforcement day in and day out, I even have a few cops I would <gulp> call my friends... but I have never had to deal with the law until this summer, prepare yourself for: CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE LAW KIND - cue Wilhelm scream.

Okay, for those of you who don't know, I was in a little fender-bender in May where I grazed the car in front of me in order to avoid being rear-ended full on by an asshat in rush-hour traffic and creating a multiple car crash (because my car would have hit the one in front for sure).  This got me a ticket for "careless driving" which I was totally POed about because I was being careful trying to avoid a BIG accident.  I kept hearing from people, "you should have just let that car hit you, you could be avoiding all this mess" - and by mess they meant having to go to court because the ticket didn't give me a monetary amount that I could pay immediately (not that I would have).

My attorney (also know as DH - Dear Hubby) and I went to court.  My attorney thought I could explain the situation and plead down to something more reasonable, be happy and done with it.  But nooooooo, turns out the City Attorney we dealt with is a total bully and thought he would force me to pay with a different charge of "following to closely" (which I wasn't).  My attorney advised me to plead not guilty and stand up for myself.  At this point, half of me just wanted to make the mess go away but it was overpowered by the half that wanted to stand up to the bully so I went with counsel's advice.  The judge was so shocked she did a double take... yep, that's me, shocking judges since 2011.  I gotta tell you though, I felt super-duper important standing there speaking to the judge with my attorney slightly behind and to the left of me offering me advice like when the judge asked: jury or judge? My attorney whispered: jury. And then I answered like a puppet sans hand stuck up my body (for a more natural effect).  After that I went to see the clerk and set a date for my trial - fun times.

Two weeks later I get a jury summons.  I have somehow always been lucky enough to have gotten out of jury duty.  Could I have this time? Yes.  But I chose not to, I decided that if I was going to have a jury trial might as well understand the jury experience, right?  Let me just say that the difference between Arapahoe County (where I live) and Denver County (where I had my traffic thingy) is like ice cream and cake - both desserts, both sugary.... but nothing alike.  To begin with the courthouse in Arapahoe County is nice, it looks and smells clean, you can tell it is well cared for and the placing is actually welcoming... in Denver County the building makes you feel like you are up sh*t creek without a paddle right away with a slight smell of urine in certain corners.  Jury duty was interesting, it was fun listening to answers and thinking "you're not going to make the cut buddy", the judge I was assigned to was really nice, what I imagine I good judge to be like, overall a positive experience. Denver... not so much.


Two weeks before my trial asshat City Attorney adds some BS charge about changing lanes unsafely or something - ugh!  Night before my trial - I got to do what the pros call "prep" more like torture, but I do have new insight and appreciation for what DH does.  How did it end? My attorney has told me to answer: truth and justice prevailed.  My interpretation of that: stand up to bullies and you just might get to kick them in the nuts once in a while, like in this case!

Falling from Grace

It has been an 'interesting' few months... and by 'interesting' I really mean scary, sad, and uncomfortable.  Don't get me wrong, this hasn't been an ongoing and ever-present thing throughout the past few months but more of something like the Whack-an-Alligator game that you find at places like Dave & Busters where you whack the gator and it retreats but sure enough it comes right back out while speeding up.  It also hasn't been the only thing going on in my life, (more to come in future posts) so when the alligator attacks from the hiding hole it can exacerbate other irritants.  


What happened?  I fell from Grace.  What does that mean?  I fell out of favor with someone who can seem/feel God-like, at least to me.  How did that feel?  Scary, really scary.  Like I was taking a bungee jump with no bungee cord.  It meant consciously making a break from indoctrinated behavior, thought process and automatic response.  Sad, because I had chosen to ignore deplorable flaws as long as they didn't apply to me or affect me too much but now they can no longer be swept under the rug or hidden in the back room like we used to do to our 'touched' relatives.  And most of all uncomfortable, because falling from Grace meant hurting another in the process (not on purpose but inevitable), letting go of things I thought I knew and taking a big leap while trusting that the person I've become could do this.  All in all, let's just say wwwwwaaaaaayyyyy outside my comfort zone.


Falling from Grace has also meant awesome discoveries, like true and kind love, what having a tribe looks like, affirmation, confirmation and solidifying of affection/relationships, how to forgive myself and learning that I am strong enough to hold on to what I deem true and right... for me.  It has allowed me to grow as a person, I've learned to take the hit (although painful) instead of hitting back, and boy is it hard and tempting to hit back - I know that the alligator is hurting and therefore lashing out.  Could I hurt it some more by whacking it back?  Absolutely.  But I'm trying my best to resist even grabbing the mallet to avoid doing any further damage.


Unlike what we are taught by most religions, falling from Grace hasn't been a punishment, it has been a journey of discovery.  I have however willingly and conscientiously chosen to disobey and rebel by not conforming to the norm, I have chosen myself.

Things I learned by going to school in Wisconsin

Recently, DH and I had an old college friend and one of the best men in our wedding (a Wisconsin native) come visit for a few days.  We reminisced, of things and people like beloved Patrick Blessing, Pearl Harbor parties in the basement of Merriman house, Ripon police officers and more.  In many of the stories we found little pearls of wisdom that we believe we would not have acquired had we not gone to school in Wisconsin, to wit this list:


1- You can always find something portable to use in a hotel room when someone (possibly you) is feeling sick and needs to vomit and can't make it to the toilet, e.g. an ice bucket, a trash can, the dirty laundry bag, a glass, the pot for the coffee maker, etc.


2- Never, ever leave someone who is super intoxicated (read: if you can still stand but they can't) alone to meander off and find their own room, dorm, etc.  You want to be responsible, two drunks are always better off than one alone.


3- If you want to be a good roommate, floormate, friend, etc., you must at all times keep on hand quality supplies that can help you clean up a puke-fest mess created by drinking too much vodka and eating pizza while celebrating someone's birthday.


4- A "tall" drink as they call them in Colorado, does not mean the same amount of alcohol you would have in a regular size but with more mixer, it means you make a bigger drink with more alcohol and the same amount of mixer you would use in a regular size as they do in Wisconsin.


5- Wisconsinites are trained from when they are wee ones to make Bloody Marys, this is why they make the absolutely best ones!


Now I realize that all of these are related to alcohol, but hey, aside from getting a good education at Ripon, I learned how to be a responsible drinker there!  And for the mommies out there, I am sure some of these will come in handy!  Please feel free to add on any that you might have, would love to hear/read them!

Mock Moussaka

This weekend I was sick (and still am), I had energy in short fits but I wanted to make a good/hearty dinner for us on Saturday so I tried my very own version of Moussaka.  You can do it little by little and never use up all of your 'sick' energy.


I had never had this dish before but many years ago when I still watched Iron Chef one of the judges and Iron Chef Cat Cora used to mention it often from their Greek heritage and I always thought it sounded interesting.  So I looked up some recipes for it and decided my version would be 'mock' because I didn't want to cook it with traditional Bechamel sauce (since flour is a no-no at this time) and maybe instead with some Alfredo sauce, also I used beef instead of lamb but other than that basically the same recipe... if you like eggplant (or even if you don't), this is the dish for you.  

If this were Lasagna, these eggplant slices are your noodles

Peel, slice and then salt your eggplant.  You can place it in a colander or on a rack (as above) to get it to sweat and release the bitter flavor it can have, do it for about an hour.  When you are ready to cook it, wipe it clean (don't wash or it will soak up that water) with a towel.

Meat mixture with no tomato sauce added as of yet...

Roasted eggplant laid nicely as my 'noodles' in the casserole dish

Meat sauce with tomatoes layered on top of eggplant

BEFORE - Home made Alfredo on top (only cause I was too lazy to go buy some Alfredo - oxymoronic)

AFTER

YUM!

Adventure in Buena Vista

As part of the adventure in me trying to stay at my current place of employment, I am trying to 'diversify' some of what I bring to the table.  A recently took on the task of becoming a Mental Health First Aid instructor, meaning not only am I able to provide mental health first aid but I can teach others how to do so.  

This required me to go to Buena Vista, CO for a whole week (at the cost of my employer), participate in and pass the class.  I thought it would be a piece of cake, to pass you have to take a test and then do a presentation - you of course get graded on both and then either pass or fail.  Since I do presentations all the time I thought 'no worries': wrong! The instructors start telling us how not everyone passes, they give us a scoring card so we know what we will be graded on for our presentation, things like: "if you go over or under 6 to 8 minutes your allotted time" things aren't looking good for you buddy.  All I'm thinking is: great, I'm trying to impress my employer and might end up costing them a bunch of money and me failing the class, awesome. 

To top it all off I develop an eye infection late on the second night for which I head to the ER on the third night in Salida, 30 minutes away, driving myself wearing glasses that are a couple of prescriptions old - don't say it! I know what you are thinking cause I thought it myself too.  But, I won't keep you in suspense, eye infection and all - I passed!  If it makes you feel better, I put my contacts on to drive back down to Denver although it stung the crap out of my eye, but I like to say, better to put up with a stinging eye than not being able to see really well while driving, right?  This here, this is the case I'm building for lasik surgery...

On the other hand, I met a great group of people (most of whom I won't see again probably), was able to stick to my new eating habits (I have lost 12 lbs. since I started!!!) and had some great time to myself.  Also, I enjoyed flipping channels on the TV like a zombie all night long, something I haven't done at home in over 2 years since we decided to eliminate cable/TV from our lives, but it proved once more to be a total time suck and reminded me why I'm glad we don't have it at home.

I was really glad to be home at the end of the week, that is until I started coming down with something Q the brother-in-law kindly passed to DH who then was generous in giving it to me and am now feeling totally BLAH, upside though: the cold medicine has me so wired I was able to get this blog posting done, ah life!

A few of my favorite things...

So we've established that I'm on a diet and that DH is partaking of the torture we are willing enduring.  It is a high-protein and veggie diet (read: very low carb).  How did I never, ever realize how many carbs we ate on a daily basis?!?  How many? Wwwwaaaaayyyyy too many!


Well, let me get to the good stuff.  Lately (read: last week and a half), I am really craving salmon, I even ate it for breakfast one day!  And, I'm following this recipe for it that I found recently which is really easy, super tasty AND doesn't leave the house smelling like fish.  Let me know if you are interested in the recipe!

Before...

After! Ta-da!!

And my two favorite side dishes: roasted asparagus (hey, it is worth the funny pee smell) and tomato slices with lemon olive oil and balsamic vinegar drizzled on top - YUM!!!!

Aren't you wishing you were on a diet now too? :)  Probably not, but at least now you know that if you come over to our house for dinner, our diet won't affect you in a negative manner!

Playing catch up

My apologies for being MIA for a month.  Lots of stuff in my lap the past few weeks and I haven't been very good about taking care of all of it, the ball-juggling was temporarily out of service but I seem to be getting a grip on things again.  


So what's been happening?  What did you miss?  A little of everything.


Life in General
The biggest reason there haven't been any posts? Not even of what I have been up to in the kitchen?  DH and I went on a diet *GASP*!  I know, I can barely believe it myself.  I have been soda-free for 16 days *double GASP* - and it is killing me!  (Hi, my name is Jenny and I am a Mountain Dew addict) Because of this diet there haven't been any exciting recipes to share but hopefully I'll come up with something soon.  My pants are already a teeny-tiny bit looser (yay!)... but this is hard.  Thankfully, when I have a bad craving day like today, DH tries really hard to provide the moral support needed from a diet buddy.  At my office some of my coworkers know what I am doing and are also very supportive and full of praise ~ this kind of back up is one of a kind and truly appreciated.


We had the carpet cleaned at the house... they didn't do as good of a job as I expected but it does look somewhat better than before.


I was in a car accident.  Long story, not in the mood to tell it but if you ask me about it one-on-one I will share all the details.


Milestones
Aggie turned 10!!  Sounds silly to say but I am grateful everyday that I have him in my life.  Before becoming his human companion, I had only experienced "shared" dogs, you know, like when your parents get a dog for you and your 3 siblings to "share", get what I mean?  He is my little puppy doodles who constantly wants to follow my commands to make me happy, stingy with his kisses, always hungry and willing to eat whatever is offered (or not), a constant visitor at the vet's office for a number of issues, amiable with DH and myself but not with most other humans, old-man cute and most recently a pirate.

Yes doctor, I'm on the treadmill every day...

My brother-in-law turned 29 (for the second time)!  Just remember: Age is something that doesn't matter, unless you are a cheese.


My older sister, also known as Candela and her husband had their 20 year wedding anniversary!  I totally spaced it even though I had a reminder in my phone and just realized it the other day as I was going through all the important dates in my calendar - what a doofus!  But I think it is an awesome occasion with the proof of their success evidenced in their three kiddos, not many people achieve this milestone anymore so be proud of yourselves and may you be happy together for many more years!  
Chains do not hold a marriage together.  It is threads, hundreds of tiny threads which sew people together through the years.  ~Simone Signoret

It is really hard to find a picture of just the two lovebirds, so instead here is one with their kiddos as well.  Please notice that the youngest child in blue is smiling (a rare thing for him in pics) this is because I bribed him with $1.

My other brother-in-law (Candela's hubby) had his birthday!  I think (but am not sure) that he turned 43.  Happy birthday viejito!  "Age is strictly a case of mind over matter. If you don't mind, it doesn't matter." Jack Benny


Transitions
My intern Mary finished her internship with us and graduated from her MSW program.  I couldn't be happier for her but miss her every day.  In the process, she completed a much needed program evaluation on one of my star programs, an invaluable contribution! 


After 6 years with AT&T I switched to Verizon.  DH made that transition over a year ago because of his phone so it wasn't that bad.  My contract was done and my phone was falling apart.  Why is this a transition big enough to mention here? Because I went from my beloved Palm to a Droid Pro.  Mind you, I started using my first Palm back in December of 2000 and have been a loyal user but with the company being defunct there was no other option (and no, the iPhone was not an option, I don't like Apple products).  It hasn't been as hard to adjust as I expected it to be, but the Droid Pro and I are still just getting to know one another.  You can still hear me asking a few times a day: babe, why the f@$k is this not working like I want it to.... ah life.