Sure it's sturdy, but it doesn't offer much in the way of decor

I work at a church. We got a lot of people calling for financial assistance and walking in looking for the same or for food. Lots of transients.

Today takes the cake though.

Our morning volunteer called when she got home this afternoon. She tried to put her paper in our recycling bin and said there was a man in the dumpster. So, I walked out there and sure enough, there's a guy just chillin', having a smoke in the empty paper dumpster. I told him he had to leave, he couldn't be in there. He wasn't pleased.

I don't know why he thought the dumpster was such a great place to be... it's not like it was dry even...

So strange.

A great man

No posts for a while, I know. Sorry about that. It's been a long, busy few weeks since I last posted. On September 11, my uncle Jeff passed away quite unexpectedly. He was just here in July with my mom, brother and sister to bring us all sorts of great baby stuff. I'm so thankful and happy that I got to see him then and show him our house and Austin. I'm sad that he won't get to meet his great-niece, but he was here, playing cards, when I felt her kick for the first time.

Jeff was a great man. Giving, caring and fun. Always fun. Always with corny jokes and one liners. And always up for playing some euchre.

Doug and I were able to go home for the funeral. I was just a couple weeks short of not being able to travel anymore and I'm really glad that we could go. It was good to be there with the family and to see everyone.


HAY Jeffrey H. Hay, age 48, passed away unexpectedly on Friday, September 11, 2009 at Doctors Hospital West. He was the co-founder of the Dublin Furniture Banc. Member St. Cecilia Catholic Church. Member Knights of Columbus and was a JCI Senator. Board member Hilltop YMCA and Cleveland Furniture Bank. Jeffrey was extensively involved in community service and always tried to help people in need. Preceded in death by parents Herman and Helen Hay, brother MIchael Hay. Survived by wife, Laura Hay; son, Jarrod; sisters, Carolyn (Jack) Meyer, Mary Jo Buchanan, Marty (Dave) Nighswander and Grace Whitehurst; brother, James (Bonnie) Hay; numerous nieces, nephews and friends.

7 month update

I had another baby appointment this morning, along with my glucose test. While the stuff you drink might not be as bad as it used to be, it's still fairly gross. Luckily mine was fruit punch flavored and I don't like fruit punch anyway. So, no flavors were ruined for me today!

The doctor said that Little Miss is doing just fine and so am I. They saw everything they needed to see with that last ultrasound in August. Little Miss, at that point, weighed in in the 37th percentile so she's not going to be gigantic at all. (Unless she has a huge growth spurt.) I didn't gain anything since the last appointment, so I've gained 8 pounds total. The doctor said that as long as I'm eating and eating well that's okay- the baby's getting what she needs and it appears that everything I eat is going right to her.

So, if the glucose test is bad, we'll hear from them today or tomorrow, but other than that, everything looks fine and we go back in 3 weeks.

A tiny project

I completed a very tiny project for the nursery this weekend- fan and light pulls. It's just a tiny detail for the room, but something that we needed for the room. The two pulls that were there before were just chain and very short so I was always having to go up on my tiptoes to pull them. Not the best idea while holding an infant I suppose. So, I painted these plain wooden ones that I found. They'll match the blanket and bumper and I think they turned out quite well.

Need a little support?

Police families lead a strange life sometimes. Strange hours, opposite schedules, weird work stories... it all works together to make for a life that can be hectic at some times, lonely at others and just plain confusing most of the time.

It hasn't been that bad for us over the last 5 years. Doug had been doing shift work before he decided to apply to the PD so that wasn't something new to us. Plus, until now, it's just been the two of us so scheduling wasn't always the issue that it can be for families. On top of all of that, Doug doesn't bring much of it home and I think he views the job a bit differently than most police officers. Or, at least most that I've met. He likes it, but it's a just a job. That has all made our experience a bit more normal I think.


But, that's not to say that I don't appreciate getting together with other wives. In person, the job isn't something that we wives talk about very often at all. Plus, it's hard to get everyone together anyway! I did discover a fantastic online support site a few years ago, though: National Police Wives Association. It's been a fantastic resource. There is a huge group of women who understand all the crazy aspects of this life and this job. They've all come together for different reasons, from different avenues and from all over the country and even the world. It's not all business on the site, either. We have quite a bit of fun, too. We're expanding the site and focusing on our mission right now by working on some fundraisers and a membership drive. With funds and a large membership base we'll be able to bring some of our great brainstormed ideas to life on the site.

Police wives, girlfriends, fiancees, come check us out. You're bound to find some great information and some wonderful friends at NPWA. Feel free to email me for some more information if you like. And if you do join, tell them I sent you- HallieK.

Depeche Mode!

Well, it took me a week, but I've got a few photos from the Depeche Mode concert in Houston last week. We didn't take the camera, but Doug's phone is pretty awesome and he emailed me a few during the show.


We grabbed a few snacks and a pillow and hopped in the truck around 4 last Sunday to head down to Houston. The concert was actually at the Woodlands Pavilion which is north of the city. The drive wasn't too bad. There's a lot of nothing between here and there, though. There was a little bit of traffic once we hit the exit for the Pavilion, but that was it. The venue is awesome. The covered seating area is huge and they've got nice big fans going. The lawn is a lot smaller than I thought it would be- certainly smaller than other lawns from which I've watched shows. Plenty of legroom in the covered seats, though, which was really great for Doug, especially once I started dancing. We had really fantastic seats, too, center stage a couple sections back.




Doug took both of these last photos during Personal Jesus. The light show was amazing and that gigantic screen was awesome. There were two smaller screens off to the sides, too. We left after Personal Jesus which started their second encore. We heard the last song while we were walking out. Turned out to be perfect timing for us. We got right out of the parking lot and right onto the highway with no delays and made it home by 2 am which is better than I thought!

Overall, it was an absolutely fantastic surprise from Doug. We had a lot of fun and poor Doug really learned a lot about Depeche Mode... he thought the music was going to be more like Duran Duran or Pet Shop Boys. He was a trooper, though, and said he had fun, too.

Seriously?!

Another winning advertisement from Yahoo! Apparently vampires are so popular that they're being used to sell life insurance. I'm not quite sure what 16 year old cares about life insurance, or what 56 year old is enticed by vampires, but, hey, it's worth a shot I suppose.

Getting bigger

I discovered today that I could have been taking pictures of myself in the mirror all along. Oi. So, at least I can be doing that for the next 3 months in addition to whatever pics Doug takes.

Getting bigger every day... It seems that Little Miss has totally flipped her schedule. I haven't been feeling her as much during the day the last couple weeks. But, the few times I've been up late, she's been kicking a lot. She used to be awake when I was awake for the most part, but now I think she's mostly awake at night. She's kept me up one night so far. This evening she's been having a bit of a dance party again, too.