All in a Day's work (or a few)

So it's been over a month since my last post.  I found out after my last post that I must not have actually been sick since I was able to write a blog and be on Facebook after I went home sick.  Apparently going home sick from work means I cannot access the internet through my phone or laptop.  I didn't sleep that night despite being sick because I was tending to the other sickies in the house and was afraid to sleep for fear of not seeing/hearing the 4 year old get sick despite me being right next to him.  Oh well.  In the end I know I was sick and that should be all that matters.  So what if I was on facebook or writing a blog to pass the time.  I didn't know that was against the rules of being sick.  It's hard to know the "rules" of being home sick when the last sick day I took at work aside from my maternity leave was almost 5 years ago.  I don't take sick days so I didn't know. 

 We celebrated our youngest son's 2nd birthday and it was a "Bubbletastic" birthday party.  We, and by we I mean Gabe, is obsessed with Bubble Guppies.  I don't mean he likes to watch it here and there...NO, he has to watch it ALL  THE  TIME.  I have the words to these shows memorized.  There are only so many episodes a person can watch!  When one episode is over, he brings the remote over and asks for more Bubble.  If we don't do it right away he throws the remote at your face.  It is literally his addiction so why not throw a Bubble Guppies birthday!  It was fun.  He got more toys, and some clothes.  We also got to watch 3 grown men attempt assembly on a plastic Ninja Turtle Scooter!  We all had a good time that day, but apparently the sickness I previously wrote about had not yet exited our house, despite a deep disinfecting that was enacted upon it.  I found out over the next few days that about 10-12 of the adults present apparently all got the "bug."  I felt awful for that... thought it was gone!

I got some of the photographs back from my best friend's wedding that she asked me to be a bridesmaid in.  I am in LOVE with one of the photos that was taken of my oldest son and me dancing!  I just have to share it.  And one of the mister and I too!  I can clean up okay when I want to, I just normally choose not too!

I think one of the most truly amazing things that I have ever witnessed happened on February 17.  It was a normal morning.  We were sitting in front of the computers typing up reports before calls started coming in.  Around 6:30 we heard EMS get dispatched to a residence for an imminent birth.  My partner was dispatched but I went too due to the nature of the call.  There was snow and ice on the ground and we knew where the ambulance was coming from so it was a real possibility we would get there first.  As luck would have it, EMS pulled up right behind us.  We were directed upstairs and in the hallway the soon to be mother was laboring and the baby's head had already crowned.  Yep, this was definitely not going to happen at the hospital.  So the paramedic talked her through the delivery and she had a healthy boy.  While the other medics tended to the baby, I held her hand while she finished the rest of the delivery.  I had to chuckle though, the medics prepared to start her IV and she was worried about how bad the needle was going to hurt.  I reminded her that she just delivered a child without an epidural or any pain medication so I doubt the needle would be too bad.  She realized the reality of what she just did and she had a small laugh as well.  It was truly an amazing experience to be a part of.  

I have recently realized the realities that small town policing brings.  For example, my partner and I were dispatched to residence for a cat stuck behind an armoire. We didn't both go because we were bored, but the CAD insisted this was a 2 officer call.  2 officer calls are usually reserved for serious stuff, so apparently this had to be serious, lol.  We get there, free the cat, then play moving company while the dressers were moved no less than 3 times to make sure they would be in a position that would prevent the cat from getting stuck again.  

And if that wasn't enough, a few days ago I got dispatched to one of the highways that runs through town for a report of cows on the road.  Yes.  Cows.  So I go and hear my SGT go in route too.  I then hear my other partner ask if he should respond as well.  Oh the thoughts that were racing through our heads.  This is the same guy that may or may not have shot an "escaped" cow several times with an AR-15 that ran off of the truck at the meat processor before it was finally taken out by the farmer with a shotgun.  The newspaper caught wind of that episode and there was some drama in town over it for a minute.  So fast forward to this call....we chose to take the high road and not joke with him on the radio.  We get to the property we think they came from and turned on to the drive.  They were no longer on the road, but standing in the yard and the driveway, we saw about 20 cows.  They had knocked down a section of fence.  They all got herded back to the fence and the fence was secured all without a single shot being fired!  lol.  

I now want to jump on my soapbox for a minute... When you see a police officer on the side of the road with their red and blue lights flashing, PLEASE, PLEASE, PLEASE switch lanes.  If that is not possible, I beg of you, SLOW DOWN.  I made several traffic stops yesterday on a major highway through town.  I counted at least 12 cars that were too busy or too unaware of their surroundings to slow down or change lanes.  Many of these cars passed within a foot of me or my patrol vehicle.  One car in particular drove on the white line until he was about 20 feet away from the rear of my car where I was sitting before he swerved.  All I could think was "This is going to hurt!"  So again, I beg of you...PAY ATTENTION.  Please do not be the reason that I don't get to go home to my family at the end of the day because you were just SOOOOO BUSY that you couldn't slow down for 5 seconds to make sure that you didn't hit me with your car.  IT IS THE LAW.....MOVE OVER!!!!!!

Things on the home front have been good.  We celebrated Valentine's Day by taking a tour of Busch Stadium and then walking around Ballpark Village.  It was fun but Ballpark Village really wasn't my thing.  I don't drink so I can't see me having fun there.  It seemed to me that it was just a big collection of drinking establishments.  We also went to an Italian restaurant that my husband had never been too.  It was good, but not our favorite.  The boys had a date with Nana.  They loved it.  They are in Heaven when they spend time with their grandparents.  It is so comforting knowing that these boys are surrounded by love and by people who truly care about them.  It sets my mind at ease knowing that they will be in good hands should the unthinkable happen to us.  With our jobs, it obviously always a possibility no matter what size of town you work in.  

Especially as of late.  My thought turn to Ferguson.  Yes we all know about what happened that fateful day in August when Darrin Wilson was faced with the ultimate decision to go home at the end of his shift or to take action against an adult male that was trying to take his gun.  We all know the decision he made and the aftermath of what happened. What I don't understand is that how, 9 months after this happens, the "protesters" choose to start shooting cops.  They are getting what they want and so they will continue to protest as long as they think they are getting "change."  They show up at the PD to protest as Chief Jackson announced his resignation and then that night out of no where, shots rang out and two officers were down.  One shot in the shoulder and the other in the face.  Neither officer was from Ferguson.  They were there to help as they have done since August.  SO WHY???  WHY SHOOT THEM NOW???  All I can say is that these two men had some angels on their side.  The one that was shot in the face had a 223 round deflected by his riot helmet.  The round went under his eye and allegedly lodge near his ear.  They were both treated and released to their homes just hours after being shot. 

Through all this what I cannot wrap my mind around is their chant that Black lives matter.  Where have the protests in been when day after day we hear about young black males being gunned down in the streets by members of their own race.  Where were the protests and outrage when 4 black cops were murdered in the last several weeks while doing their job.  WHERE WAS THE OUTRAGE when hours earlier a 5 year old black child was shot in the chest and pronounced at the hospital in St. Louis.  A child that the muni officers tried so hard to save.  They even put the child in the back of their patrol vehicle and transported him to the hospital because they knew the ambulance was too far away and he didn't have that kind of time left.  He died, but there was no looting.  There was no protesting. There was no outrage.  WHY??  I try to see the logic behind this and I have tried so hard through all of this to be understanding.  I am just struggling to find the logic in all of this.  The protests and outrage only seem to happen when there is a police officer involved.  

I could continue, but I won't.  My husband will be home soon and we are going to go volunteer our time at the VFW fish fry while the boys have some quality mamaw and papaw time!