MONDAY, APRIL 13, 2009 - WHAT A DAY!!!

DAY NUMBER FOUR

DAY NUMBER THREE

DAY NUMBER TWO

DAY NUMBER ONE

VICTORIAN DOLL'S HOUSE

I had little or no sleep, upon sun rise, this morning! I truly was not up on my feet, in spite of our hosting the second annual neighborhood Easter Dinner. However, I was in excruciating pain!! My legs had begun breaking down and had several places which had "blown" and began bleeding quite badly early on this morning!! I simply stayed in my "stitching nest", which felt pretty good, at this point, and decided to just stitch for the entire day and evening!! I took the additional morphine, I have ordered for times like this and started to stitch. Things went along pretty well in spite of the morphine. Some times, needing the additional morphine, brings nothing, but many episodes of "frogging"!!

Having a father who was in the law enforcement career, his entire life, I was raised with a police scanner on 24/7. In my earliest, memories of this "scanner" was it was in our home, basically for my mother, as she was always on "edge" from the time my father left until he returned home every day and especially during "call-ins". Early times, a "scanner" was the very best source for town "gossip" than any ten "tongue wagglers" in our small town!! The scanner told ever detail, with nothing left to the imagination!! In recent years, the law enforcement agencies just about all have went to "scramblers" which only leaves a very obnoxious knocking sound when the police officer decides to switch to it!! However, for any thing very important or life threatening every thing comes over the "scanner" until all agencies needed are contacted and the "scene" secured. However, this does not keep fire, accident and other horrible things locations kept unknown to half the city resulting in ten times the normal traffic that soon become onseekers and just add additional problems for law enforcement to handle!!

About 3:00 yesterday, the "scanner" went off and the police dispatcher kept repeating 10-32, which represents emergency situation involving some kind of gun. Then, came the location of "Work Force Office"!! Unlike, the majority of the local police responding, I knew immediately where this office was located as my dear friend and caretaker Wanda is in charge of this Office!! Before the "scanner" was scrambled, I heard there was already a hostage situation!! Immediately, my mind went to things Wanda had been involved in the past few weeks!! But, with my poor memory, I was having a very hard time trying to disinguish which persons had which problems. I knew suddenly it was Wanda's secretary had been a victim of severe spousal abuse and that Wanda was in the middle of it all!! Wanda is on the Board of our Women's Resource Center that deals with domestic violence along with growing up with a life of it with parents and her own husbands. Wanda will not just not look the other way and ignore any woman suffering any type of spousal abuse!! The last transmission on the "scanner" was did they have any idea of who the "gunman" was and the police dispatcher came immediately back with name of "Shamus Pridmore". This simply is a name usually associated with the "black" culture in our city. All things combined, I suddenly felt like the "wind had been knocked out of me"!! Eunice has been away to Chicago again for an undetermined stay!! I immediately called her to see if she remembered any more than I did and to see what she surmised of the whole thing and also to hopefully find out who could be sent to make sure Wanda was okay!!

Eunice had telephoned Easter night during our Easter dinner as she knew every one would be here to wish every one a Happy Easter. The phone sort of made it's rounds around our dinner table and ended back with me.

So, I asked Eunice then when could we expect her to return. Well, she was having just too much fun and she had no plans of coming back at that time. She had told us of being out till 5:00 a.m. at some Club and had such fun!! We were glad Eunice was getting out with her old friends and had fun as this just is not like Eunice!! So, I jokingly told her Granny Lou, our 85-year old neighbor, and I would go out till 5:00 a.m. dancing with her, if she came home. She just said she was not ready yet!! Then, I asked her which of us had to break a hip to get her to return. Eunice again said she would have to think about that one!! And, others had asked her different things. So, when I called yesterday, and told her about I had horrific feeling about Wanda being held hostage by a "Wacko" gunman Eunice just said, "yeah, sure"!! Then she told me that it had taken me an awfully long time to try to think up that one and it was the worst excuse yet, but she still was not coming back home!! I had sent Eunice the link to the ABC television affiliate who had picked up the news story and had it on their headlines on computer news updates of having occurred 35 minutes before, but knowing my computer skills, I could not be sure of what I had ended up sending. So, I just told Eunice to log onto her lap top (Eunice never goes any where with out her lap top and cell phone!) and see if she had gotten email from me and to open it. Well, amazingly I had done it right for the first time!! I then heard nothing, but OMG and silence!! Then, Eunice told me she would call the only friend of us all that might be available to go find Wanda or be told where the families were being told to wait!! As luck had it, this friend, Linda, was only a few doors away from the Work Force Office in Home Depot shopping and she was wondering what was going on outside. About twenty minutes later, Linda had found out all the "hostages" had been released except the "gunman's" wife. The wife had been hit with the butt of the shot gun and Wanda had a gun pointed at her head.

Evidently, the "gunman" had just received an Order that he could no longer see his child. Wanda had helped this woman get a Restraining Order so this Secretary would not continue coming to work with obvious signs of being severely beaten. The "gunman" said "if he could not see his child, that his wife was not going to ever see him again either"!!

Wanda is closer than any "family" I have!! I was extremely upset and filled with terror for Wanda. Wanda telephoned me about 10:00 p.m. last evening and we spoke briefly. She had asked me to contact Eunice for her and to please get her to call her ASAP. Wanda said she would call me a bit later then. I did call Eunice and gave her the message. I rather imagine Eunice and Wanda talked for a very long time, as they are the best of each other's friend, and this is truly what Wanda needed last night. Thus, I did not hear from her, but am sure I will very soon.

I can not think of any thing, but this horrific ordeal!! And, it only brings up every other horrific shootings and killings that have occurred in past few years and even back to 911!! Wanda is not a "blood" relative, even though she could not be any closer and loved by me!! It sure has made me think of all of these, and will of any future, of just what, especially relatives of these victims are put through!!

My phone began ringing almost immediately as it is rare that the number of sirens that could be heard of responding emergency vehicles happens rarely in this town. Phone continued well into the evening!! Thus, I did not get much additional stitching time in until very late for a few hours until I fell asleep in my chair some where around 3:00 a.m.

I have placed my very start to where I have progressed!! I did not feel like I was getting much of any thing done on this. However, Nancy M. left a comment that I was making quite good progress for the time I have in this considering how I am not back to my best stitching yet. This made me stop and want to see it from start until where I have gotten it! I can see it daily and wonder to dare think my stitching is going to get better and that I may get to where I once was in skill!! Guess, I will spend one more evening on the doll's house as I "think" I may finally be near progressing out of the "browns"!! Once I see just a bit of color, I may be able to put it down and list my especially important WIPS and get a good rotation worked out!! With me, I can almost plan a different rotation than most being I can plan a morning, afternoon and evening piece time.

I am absolutely mesmerised with this doll's house for some reason, but I am well aware it is a BAP and is going to take a very long time, especially for me. I have Christmas 2008 to finish, thank you gifts for my ramp and there is my ongoing Secret project I have been doing since Christmas Day!! I simply can not put these all on hold until building construction is finished!!

I am ready for complete peace, calm and pain relief!!

Love and Hugs!!

Deborah