Prayer for Judgement

Ever since I got pulled over for speeding six weeks ago I have been worried about going to court. I was speeding 16 miles over the posted speed limit. Luckily the officer left off the "work zone" part of it--that would have made it a lot worse! If I would have been driving just one or two miles less I could have paid the ticket through the mail.

As it was, however, I had to go to court. My court date was yesterday. I had no idea what to expect. Six weeks ago I just imagined that Chris would take the morning off and I would go down to the Durham Courthouse and pay my fine. I soon learned that it would not be that easy. Chris informed me that he would be out of town and that meant I would have to find someone to watch my kids.

I didn't want to ask one of my friends because my "ticket" said I had to be there at 7:45 a.m. I called a girl who used to be in my ward and she is now in college. I had heard from many people that she is a good sitter. I felt confident in her abilities so I called her. Luckily she was on spring break when I needed her, otherwise she had a full day of classes.

As the date approached I realized that I didn't have to go to the Durham Courthouse but I had to go to the Raleigh Courthouse since I got pulled over in Wake County, not Durham County. Silly me. That added more stress to my situation.

I really worried about this whole thing and earlier this week I got online again to make sure I knew where I was going--I get a little anxiety when it comes to finding and going to new places. There were few details about what would happen when I got there. I found some links to other websites that gave me some insight into what kind of trouble I was in. Here are some phrases that fall under the category of speeding 16 miles over the speed limit:

• Licence revoked
• Insurance points
• 45% increase in insurance premium for 3 years

I considered, too late, hiring an attorney. I also read somewhere about "Prayer for judgement" although I had no idea what it meant. I talked to my neighbor the night before my court date and she told me to ask for a "prayer for judgement". Neither of us knew what it meant.

So the morning finally came and, needless to say, I had said many regular prayers up to this point and the blessings were already starting to come. Both my kids slept through the night (miracle!) and so did I. I was shocked when my alarm went off at 6:00 and I had not been awakened for anything in the night.

My babysitter arrived and I left for Raleigh. I was a little late but I had learned that I could actually go anytime between 7:45 and 3:30. I just wanted to get it over. I easily found parking and walked to the building. I went through the metal detector and asked the security guard where I was supposed to go. He pointed to a room and I proceeded.

I walked into the room and there was a long line of people, none seemed to know if they were in the right place. There were no signs anywhere that directed me to where I needed to go so I just stayed in line and eventually someone who had been there before mentioned that this was the right line.

As I stood in line to "check in", which I later found out, I looked around at all the people in that room and there were only a handful of people who were, what I would consider, normal. I would not group myself with this crowd of people in any other situation.

After I finally got checked in I was shuffled off to another line, the DA line. The only other line was the "magistrate" line and I heard things coming from that line like "underage, possession of alcohol, illegal possession of marijuana", etc. I think most of the people in my line were for traffic violations though. This line was much slower than the first line.

It was finally my turn to talk to the DA. He said he could reduce my charge to 9 miles over instead of 16. I looked at him and he kind of smiled and said, "Is there anything else you would like to ASK me???????" I considered just taking it and paying for the charge instead I chuckled and said "Can I ask for a 'prayer for judgement'?" He smiled and told me to go to the courtroom around the corner.

When I went into the courtroom it was almost full. I thought it would be at least another hour before the judge called my name and wondered if this would be worth my time. The only easily-accessible seat was on the very front row. I could easily hear the conversations between the judge and other "criminals". Most of them were speeders, like me, and asking for a "prayer for judgement". I soon realized what I was asking for. Since I had no other speeding tickets on my record I could ask for a "prayer for judgement" and it would be like a warning, except I would have to pay court costs, $110. To my surprise, I was only in there about 15 minutes.

The judge was very nice and in a very good mood. I don't know if he is always like that but it was refreshing to see someone enjoying this kind of job so much. I felt fortunate to stumble upon this phrase and it will be my duty to pass it on to anyone who needs it.

I went home to find everything in order. Sariah was an awesome babysitter. She dressed and fed both kids, cleaned up, did Kennedy's hair, put Tristan down for a nap and was playing with Kennedy. Kennedy didn't want her to go home and asked me if Sariah could come over again. Yes, but hopefully under different circumstances!

Glad that is over!

*#$%&! Weekend

I have been writing the last several days but each time I "post" it disappears. I don't know what's wrong with my blog. It's probably my computer. Like everything else I own it's about to die. Next month will be our 11-year anniversary and we have been in school or residency training ever since and only living on one income except for the year Chris was an intern and we saved his earnings for a down payment on a house so it was like one income.
Anyway, it's been a crappy weekend-no pun intended. Tristan still has diarrhea and he still just doesn't feel well. He actually slept pretty well last night. He woke up around 4 or 5 depending on if you had changed your clock already. He was pretty upset so I nursed him. After I started I had a thought that his diaper probably needed to be changed and nursing him would calm him down and then he would get upset when I changed him. I nursed him anyway and as soon as he was finished he vomited all over both of us so it was upsetting anyway!
It was quite comical today because I had one child sleeping and one child awake almost the whole day. As soon as I put Kennedy down for a nap Tristan woke up from his morning nap. Kennedy woke up about two minutes after I put Tristan down for his afternoon nap.
We have had such beautiful weather the past few days but haven't been able to enjoy it much. This afternoon I opened the sliding glass door to the deck and let the kids play outside. Tristan was in shorts, it was that warm.
I had a little emotional breakdown yesterday. I decided that I would not go to church today and I had a lot of things I needed to take care of there. That meant a lot of phone calls and asking others to do my job. I hate that. It's quite draining taking care of a sick child. I miss Chris too. I'm never quite 100 percent when he isn't around. Anyway, I called my neighbor Sheila because we planned to watch a movie and have dinner together. She could tell I wasn't quite right and I just started to cry. She came right over and sat with the sleeping kids while I went to the grocery store. I don't know what I will do without her after we move.
Next weekend will be better. . . .I hope!

Busy Week

It's been a busy week. Selling a home is no small project. Monday was the inspection and we received the repair request yesterday. Apparently our house was "backed into by a vehicle or something". It must have happened before we moved into the house but the person who inspected it for us did not pick this up. There is a 4' crack in the foundation of our garage that is visible from the inside and out. On the outside of the house the siding is bulging and the downspout and gutter are damaged. After reading the request I went out myself and viewed it. I have no idea how we could not have seen it before. This was the only major thing on the report so I guess we are fortunate.
Chris left Thursday morning for Utah. His brother Kimball is getting married. At 4:30 that morning I heard Tristan crying. I was letting him fuss hoping he would go back to sleep. I soon realized that he was trying to tell me something. I went into his room and smelled an odor that I associate with sickness. He cried and screamed but I had to change his diaper and his underclothes and his pajamas. Finally Chris came it to see what was wrong. We inspected his crib and found vomit too. Chris changed the sheet and put fresh blankets down while I nursed the poor little guy. Tristan went back to sleep quickly. Chris and I snuggled for about 10 minutes before his alarm went of and he had to get ready to go to the airport. After he left I was just starting to relax and fall back to sleep when Kennedy woke up.
I had my first Enrichment Committee meeting as the "leader". I will be working with a great group of women. Our meeting ended up being two hours. We talked a lot about each other and life in general and some about our upcoming meeting too! It was fun.

My Absence

It's been over a week since I last posted. Here is why

• A week ago Thursday my wonderful mother flew in from Utah to spend 10 days with us. When we first started looking for a home and thinking about putting our home on the market we asked her to come out to help while I got the house clean and ready for showing. I had no idea that we would find a house we liked so soon and, therefore, have to put our house up sooner.
• Friday I had a showing so my mom and I packed up the kids and went to the mall where the kids played and we shopped and ate lunch. I love going to the mall with my mom.
• Saturday we went up to the new house to show my mom around outside. We would have to wait until Monday when our realtor could let us in.
• Sunday my mom and I stayed home with the kids because they were sick--green stuff oozing from their nose and eyes! Just after Chris left for church we had a phone call from our selling agent. We had an offer on the house! It wasn't great but by the time Monday night came we had an agreement. Our house is under contract!
• The rest of the week was spent wiping noses, mine and the kids'. Not much sleeping going on and my mom got sick too. We were in sorry shape. Luckily we didn't have to show the house--that was painful.
• Thursday I had to take Kennedy to the doctor. I thought she had a urinary tract infection. She woke up at 1 a.m. and went to the bathroom. I took her back to bed and she came back 15 minutes later insisting she had to go again. This went on for almost two hours. Finally I had her drugged up enough (ibuprofen and Tylenol) that she was able to fall back to sleep. Turns out it was not an infection but irritation from her virus--adenovirus.
• Saturday we were all well enough to go for a walk at the UNC Gardens. It was a breezy but sunny day. We enjoyed the fresh air and drove up to the new house again.
• Sunday came and I got called into the bishop's office. New calling--Enrichment Leader. Heaven help me! I can think of at least a dozen other people in my ward who would be more qualified.
• This morning was sad when I had to say good-bye to my mom. She is a wonderful person. She spoiled us all while she was here with trips to Baby Gap, Pottery Barn and eating out. Back to the usual routine now.

Spring Fever

This year the groundhog reportedly missed his shadow which means that spring is right around the corner. We have had a small taste of spring the last two days, warm and breezy. Yesterday we spend a lot of time playing outside. I put warm-weather clothes on the kids and we went to the park. I was so glad to put Tristan's clothes on because I have quite a few 12-months short sets that I thought he was going to grow out of before he even got to wear them. Luckily both sets I tried have fit just right. The kids looked cute and were excited to get out and breathe some fresh air.

In other news, we continue to show our house but no takers yet. It has been very difficult, with two kids, to keep the house looking nice at all times. Sure hope someone puts in an offer soon!

Tonight we look forward to the arrival of Grandma Mary. She is coming to help with the kids while I clean the house. We intended on having her here before we put our house on the market but we ended up listing it sooner than we originally thought.

Here are some more pictures I downloaded tonight. The infamous step stool. Tristan drinking from a flower vase--he is his father's son. Whenever we go to Beaver Chris finds my mom's vase that looks like a big drinking glass and uses that for his water.

My Kids

I have not been in the mood to blog lately but today I wanted to write a few things about the cute things my kids are doing right now.

KENNEDY (aka Genevieve)
Kennedy has been through a mix of names lately. She keeps telling me her name is NOT Kennedy anymore it's Genevieve. Last week she was Rapunzel. She is really into princesses lately and I don't know where it's coming from. We took her to Blockbuster a few weeks ago to rent a movie and Chris wanted to get the latest Disney movie but Kennedy insisted on one of the Barbie Princess movies. That was our first indication that she liked princesses. She also informs us that she is not a girl but a princess. Of course, we have always thought that!
Sunday we arrived at church a little late. Chris was already there and had saved us a seat but when I walked in with the kids I couldn't see him so I sat in the back. After the sacrament Chris joined us. Kennedy always likes to test her limits. When the meeting was almost over Kennedy started inching her way to the front of the chapel. Next thing we knew she was almost to the front! She had such a mischievous look on her little face. Chris had to walk up and grab her. Luckily she behaves in primary. We always receive accolades about her behavior and participation in primary.
Last night as I was getting Tristan ready for bed Kennedy was in her room reading. After I put Tristan down I stood outside Kennedy's room to listen to her. She was reading out loud from her scripture reader. She knows a lot of the stories by heart and can tell them better than I can. When she saw that I was there she looked up at me and said, "She found it! She found the coin. She lost it, remember?" I looked down at her book and she was looking at the Parable of the Lost Coin. It amazes me how interested she is in Heavenly Father and Jesus. She asks us to "tell a story about Jesus" all the time. What a sweet girl.

Tristan
Tristan is turning into quite the porker. He consistently eats more than Kennedy. I guess that's to be expected since he is growing much faster than Kennedy. On Saturday we went to the church for a Primary Breakfast. They served French toast, muffins (the great big kind), fruit, sausage and drinks. Kennedy had one piece of toast, a few strawberries and about two bites of a muffin. Tristan ate at least two pieces of toast, a whole muffin, half a banana and the scraps from our plates. He gets so excited when he sees food.
Lately Tristan has been playing this little trick on me. He will crawl over to me so innocently. I will lean down to pick him up or kiss him and then he will grab onto my hair and give it a yank! He thinks it's so funny when I respond to that. He laughs and laughs.
When Tristan was born his hair stood straight up. Kennedy would often reach over and pull it. Now she is getting her just desserts. Tristan loves to touch her hair and he will sometimes pull it. I haven't reminded her that she used to do that to him for fear that she will start pulling his hair again.

What a blessing it is to have these two children in my life. I'm so lucky!

More Recipes

I'm not sure how many people see my recipes and try them but I have most of them typed up anyway and I figure I might as well put them out there. I love finding a good recipe and I find that I have a few sources I can trust, some are cookbooks and magazines and some are people I know. Here are a few that we use a lot. The bar recipe is one that we have used in my family for a long time and there are a few variations on it but I really like this one.

Supreme Beef Casserole
From Recipe Hall of Fame Cookbook
1 pound ground beef
1 16-oz can tomatoes
1 8-oz can tomato sauce
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
2 garlic buds, crushed (or garlic salt)
1 5-oz pkg egg noodles
1 3-oz pkg cream cheese
1 8- oz container sour cream
6 green onions, chopped
1 cup grated cheese
Brown and crumble beef in frying pan. Break up tomatoes and add to beef with tomato sauce, salt, sugar and garlic. Simmer 20-25 minutes. Cook noodles and drain. Mix noodles with sour cream, cream cheese and chopped onions (it’s easier to have the cream cheese and sour cream already mixed up before adding the noodles). Grease a 3-quart casserole dish. Put a small amount of meat sauce, layer of noodles, and grated cheese. Repeat and top with meat sauce. Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. May be frozen and reheated to serve. Serves 6-8.

Oatmeal Fudge Bars (aka Fudge Jumbles)
1 cup margarine
2 cups brown sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp vanilla
2 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 14-oz can sweetened condensed milk
1 12-oz pkg semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/4 cup margarine
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9x13x2-inch baking pan. Set aside. In a large mixer bowl cream margarine and brown sugar; add eggs and vanilla. In a small bowl sift flour, baking soda and salt; add to creamed mixture. Mix in oats. In heavy saucepan mix sweetened condensed milk, chocolate chips and margarine and heat until just melted. Stir in vanilla and nuts, if desired.
Spread two-thirds of the dough into prepared baking pan. Spread with chocolate mixture. Drop remaining one-third of the dough on top by spoonfuls (I find it easier to kind of flatten the blobs with my palms so they cover more area). Bake for 25 minutes. Cool, then cut into bars.