Happy Memorial Day and Happy Birthday to a 5 year old!!

Tomorrow my baby turns 5. How can that be she was just born yesterday!! I, of course, say this about her 3 brothers too and they are 19 (next week), 15 and 8.

Not much knitting going on around here, I've been pretty pokey with getting things done. I'm not quite halfway on another sweater from the same pattern as the blue one I knit not long ago, this one is in a cotton/wool blend. I'm finishing up another crop of hats to drop off at the hospital. But with the end of the school year festivities, the husband's business trip a couple of weeks ago, and this car accident stuff I've just not squeezed in a lot of quality knitting time lately. But on June 14 the judge will formally drop the charges against me (I'm not sure when the guy who hit me will be charged, I do know that the police are investigating what happened. I'm just glad that the guy who rear ended me will be charged and I will be able to put this in the past).

While the husband and I were out birthday gift shopping on Friday the dog(s) (we're babysitting a friends 14 year old son and 3 year old dog this weekend) got into a bag of raisins. I believe that my basset hound, Jenny, ate the lions share of them (my golden didn't eat any), my friends lab ate some too, but the basset got so very very ill. Grapes and raisins are toxic to dogs. They can cause kidney failure. It was too late Friday night to have her stomach pumped. So we waited while she vomited and had diarreah. We've watched her for 2 days now. Finally today she's pottied without passing massive amounts of raisins (bet you wanted to know that!). She's wanting to play. From what I've read she's probably not out of danger yet, but her kidneys are still working and I think she's feeling better.

When the going gets tough, the tough knit socks

I have griped and complained about this whole car accident thing, the unfairness of it all. I've knit all sorts of things that I don't have to concentrate on, baby hats and most recently these socks. But finally things are turning around. Late(ish, it was 9:00) the phone rings and the caller id says the name of my city. Since the town hall closed hours ago I piqued my interest as to who could be calling me at that hour. It was a seargeant from the local police depart calling to tell me that they've been reviewing the accident information and have come to the conclusion that they should drop the case against me and charge the guy who hit me. Gosh, what a concept!! The guy rear ended me and I even had a witness come forward (which the officer mentioned last night) to say I was innocent. Too bad they didn't do this before I went to court the first time. I really think that the only reason that they "reviewed" the case was because I told the court I was not guilty and now the case was going to trial. They could not just blindly charge me without looking at the facts.

I feel like singing. I feel like dancing. I feel like I can knit something that requires math. I have told the kids, tell the truth, no good comes from lying. Lying catches up to you and bites you on the behind. The guy who hit me is (possibly) going to find that out soon.

Sad non knitting news

My mom called me this morning to let me know that my step mom passed away in her sleep last night. Good bye Betty, tell dad hi for us.

The judge is not scary

I've known our local judge for many many years. We were scout leaders with him and his wife when my older boys were in elementary school. In his "real" life he is a high powered divorce attorney, which nearly cost him his life several years ago when a disgruntled ex husband stalked and shot the judge (cost the judge one eye, and if his son hadn't been in his office at the time it would have cost him his life). When he called my name and I stood up and stepped forward he told me "Why you dragging Cheri, you know that I don't bite". He read what I was charged with (reckless driving) and what the fine/points are for that ($200/8), he then read the plea (careless driving) and the fine/points ($200/4). Let's see, I really am only guilty of making a right turn on a green light with the right of way, having a guy cut me off nearly hitting me and then plowing into the back of my car and managing to get me blamed for it.....I plead not guilty (of course I managed to do it before John read me my rights, so we did things a little backwards). So he gave me a trial date and I'll get to stand before him once again. Engineer boy told me he "relishes a trial"....oy!! I really just want this to go away. Did the cop really think that I would plea out? Did the guy who hit me (who didn't get cited and so doesn't get to participate in this nincompoopery) have a bad driving record knew the cop and asked him to "protect" him? In my experience dishonesty has a way of coming back and biting you on the backside. The cop is protecting his friend, the chief of police, obviously didn't take our letter of complaint seriously. Now we'll face them at a trial. Either way it's a gross waste of time (I did sit and knit while I awaited my turn).

So, high ho high ho it's off to trial we go.

Preparing for court

I don't go until Wednesday morning. I have girlchilds care taken care of. Off to a friend from dance class in the morning so she doesn't have to miss her dance class, recital is around the corner and she needs all the practice she can get. Then her friend's mom (bless her) will drop her off at my neighbor's house. It is the neighbor girls birthday and after neighbor girl comes home from kindergarten girlchild and she will go to the park and do fun things while I sit in court. Oy! Wednesday evening the boys have karate, so I won't even get to relax then (or maybe I will, maybe I'll drop girlchild in child care while the boys are doing their karate and I'll go sit in the hot tub).

But, tonight....preparing for court (because tomorrow night I'm playing bunko and I'm going to have fun.....damn it!). I've written out cue cards. I need to draw up some diagrams. If the police haven't given the judge all of the information I know for a fact that they have in their possession, the case should still be thrown from court, because how could I have caused that idiot to rear end me short of putting the little car in reverse and backing into him? But I digress.....diagrams (makes me think of "Alice's Restaurant" with 27 8 x 10 color glossy photos with circles and arrows and a diagram on the back of each one)....diagrams....my mind is tired, and my best pictures these days are stick figures and smiley faces. I don't think there will be smiley faces on my diagrams.

I may work on the diagrams more tomorrow, girlchild will be home, maybe I should let her paint them (not). Soon it will all be over....or just beginning. But how someone could believe the police report is beyond me. Without measuring and figuring (like the husband did) I could tell you that there was no way it could have happened as the guy who hit me said it did. Maybe in Hollywood with some good special effects and the super duper souped up mini cooper and some trick photography. But no way with the traffic on the road at that time of day, with a middle aged mom chatting about Easter eggs with her 4 year old daughter in the back seat would the mini be going 20 miles over the speed limit, skid around a corner in front of a Ford F150 slam on their brakes while flipping of the truck driver and let him rear end her. Impossible.

Now I shall end this drivel, fix some more tea and draw....

How to ruin the knitting muse

Yesterday the husband told me that I had to get dressed in clean clothes and not the sweats I'd been wearing for 2 days and go out somewhere. Go to the Y (but if I exercise I have time to obscess about what's going on), go shopping, and here's where I knew he thought I was really really sick, he told me to go to a yarn store. I got dressed. Not snappy and stylish, but clean. I went to Kohl's. I bought bras (I know, about as exciting as an audit). I also found 2 pair of capris on a clearance rack for $3.50, I bought a sleeveless t-shirt. Girlchild and I ventured over to Target so she could buy a neighbor girl a birthday present (girlfriend will be at her friend's house when I go to court, that day just happens to be her little friend's birthday). Then we ventured over to our nearly empty outlet center where we bought the husband a little something for his birthday on Cinco de Mayo.

My witness to the accident sent me a message through his son. I've only met the witness briefly at the accident when I stood next to his car crying and asking to use his phone. My son figured out who his son was the day after the accident (his son is a year ahead of mine and they both were running on the track team). It seems that my witness took the time to go down to the police station to give a statement. The officer basically told him that he wouldn't take the statement, that he believes the guy that rear ended me. We (my husband and I)have emailed a statement to the chief of police. We are contacting a lawyer. I have hives. I can't knit. Oh, I can knit the baby hats and I'm churning those out at a faster rate than usual. I have half a footie on needles, but the knitting mojo isn't there, it's been replaced by hives, and thoughts of hiring an attorney. Thoughts that I really don't believe in lawsuits. I mean, there's nothing wrong with them in the right context, and I'm sure that this is the right context. I don't want money. I want my car back. I want to not be afraid to drive it again. I want to wear my sweater that matches my car and putter around. I want to be able to read and comprehend what I'm reading, I want to be able to focus. I want the guy who hit me to take an anger management class and perhaps a driving course.

I want to feel like me again.

I survived my challenge

I challenged myself to not purchase anything knitting (or any non-job related craft) for the month of April. I finished up a sweater for myself, yoga socks for a friend, a sweater for girlfriend and several hats for the hospital. Mid month a guy rear ended my new car and managed to report to the police that I was suffering from road rage and was driving dangerously) and therefore I was charged (I go to court in 2 weeks) I was in a mini and he was in a Ford F-150, I had my 4 year old daughter in the back seat of my car, the police obviously think that I am insane (they also must think the car is magical because there's no way I could have been speeding around the corner this guy says I was speeding around). Anyway from April 13th on it was a pretty shitty (excuse my French) month. But I resisted I didn't buy yarn (of course I spent almost a full week in bed emotionally unable to do much that required thought), I still have moments, but slowly I hope to be myself again. At least we weren't physically injured.

But here I am to say Happy May and in a week or so I should have some lovely cotton/wool yarn to knit up another sweater. And if/when the charges against me are dropped I may just buy more yarn to celebrate.