A Summer Medley

Two of my attorney bosses, Emilie & Angela

The three of us took a three day course at Johnson County Community College earlier this month to become Court Approved Mediators. The class was somewhat stressful since it involved a lot of role playing. Most of the people in the class were attorneys and really got into the "fake fighting" aspect of the class. Despite the "Days of Our Lives" style drama, I really enjoyed the class and actually learnt quite a bit. As we were leaving class one night, the tornado sirens were blaring. We debated whether to stay or make a run for Lawrence. Of course, we took the less safe course. While we made it through without any trouble, Chuck said we were in sight of a tornado which touched down we just couldn't see it because it was wrapped in rain. He was less than pleased with my reckless behavior. Though upset, after 26 years of marriage he has finally come to grudgingly expect my dare-devil attitude.

Jade & Andrea at Mom's house

Dusty the Cat

Relaxing at Mom's house

Family Portrait

Back row: Chuck, Dave, Rain, Chris, Mom and Mike

Front Row: Me, Erica, Andrea, Jade, Brian and Angela

Mom invited us to her house for dinner on September 6. Earlier in the week, Erica and Dave brought us over an anniversary gift. We opened it to discover a Picture Frame with the word "Grandkids" stamped on the glass. I was in too much shock to speak and Chuck didn't get it. I finally had to say "Do you have something to tell us?" It finally dawned on Chuck he was going to be a Grandpa and he roughly pushed me out of the way to be the first to grab and hug Erica. He explained later he though the frame was missing it's picture. He always calls Dave and Erica's dogs his "grandkids" since he apparently never expected to have any human grandchildren. The surprise is on him! Erica has already had her first doctor's appointment and they got to hear the baby's heartbeat. The doctor did not give them a due date but they calculate it will be early April. Of course, we are very excited thought Chuck has restricted me from making any baby purchases until closer to the actual date. At the Dinner, Erica made her announcement to the rest of the group (minus Andrea who, of course, had already been informed). It's going to be exciting to have a baby in the family again. I had to break the news to Wiley he will no longer get my sole "baby" attention. He took it fairly well.

Wiley and me.

Here are a couple of pictures from our trip in August to Ha Ha Tonka State Park.

You can view all of my Ha Ha Tonka pictures at:

http://www.hahatonkastatepark.blogspot.com/

Since this blog is public, I didn't put any real personal pictures on it. Feel free to tell people about the blog if you think they might be interested in visiting. I thought it was beautiful.

Wiley loves to camp!

Chuck has Plantar Fasciitis has been in physical therapy. The doctor prescribed this device which is designed to pull up his foot muscle. When he wore it, it looked like he was in training to become an "elf" so I sewed a bell on the end (suggested by Emilie above).

Wiley was fascinated by the bell and thought it great fun. Chuck says his foot is slowly getting better. His doctor said most people with this problem come to the office within 2 weeks due to the extreme pain. Chuck waited six months and as a result caused damage. The doctor is not a fan of the Walgreen's do-it-yourself braces and almost everything else Chuck had done in an attempt to fix himself. While I was in the class mentioned above, Chuck had to stay off his feet since one of the things his doctor prescribed was steroid shots into the bottom of his foot (ouch!).

Brian, Andrea and their new dog, Lily.

Scotty and Wiley.

Scotty was our house guest for two weeks while he attended "Pionner School" the last two weeks of August here in Topeka.

Our Friend Lakes and Erica.

Lakes was an instructor in the class and Erica was also a student along with Scotty. They both really enjoyed the class which is an in-depth Bible based course designed to make us more effective Bible teachers.

Chuck was complaining I hadn't posted anything to the blog in almost two months so this entry is to "catch me up" on this summer. We both have been extremely busy with our jobs.

In fact, one of my largest (and longest) investigations was filed this summer. I am the investigator on the case (now being assisted by a junior investigator due to the large number of consumers involved) and Emilie (pictured above) is the Attorney who has diligently worked with me and who filed the petition.

If you live in the Kansas City area, you couldn't help but hear about the case since all the newspapers and TV stations ran major stories on the case before and after the case was filed:

http://www.nbcactionnews.com/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=375615aa-156e-4933-a9e2-d66103b68e70

http://videos.kansascity.com/vmix_hosted_apps/p/media?id=2092393&item_index=9&genre_id=843&sort=NULL

Most of the stations and newspapers tried to take credit for "breaking" the story, however our investigation began several months before any of them began reporting on the issue. The Missouri AG filed a similar lawsuit three days after we filed.

Mom, Andrea, Chuck and I are leaving on vacation October 9 to go see Joel in New York and then we are all driving to Acadia National Park in Maine. I'm sure I'll have plenty to "blog about when I get back.