Photo Spill and Crazy Police Department Story in QUOTIDIEN

This is me back in January:

And this is me from last weekend:

I was pretty much of a coward, refusing to have my picture taken from the neck down - but there IS a 35 lb difference between the two.

These are the shoes from a few entries back:

Got the Runway inserts! I'm wearing them tonight to a friendly get-together at...well...a friend's house. WAY over-shoed, but there's a story behind them and dammit, I'm un-reserved. g She put this together because I've been so sad these days - and because the people from the seminars (where we all met, and who will be there as well) are a loving bunch. It's Pizza Night!

Anne-Marie is coming home this afternoon. As much as we have been bickering, I am relieved she'll be back!!! She knows about my outing tonight - and she was quick to encourage me to go. "I've been cooped up with my 14 year old girlfriend for 6 days. I'm DYING for some alone time!!"

And just because it has been two paragraphs since my last picture, I give you evening morning glories:

I read somewhere that there are places where it is against the law to grow these things as they would gladly take over the world given half a chance. I happen to think that wouldn't be to awful bad. I find them to be beautiful in any stage!

HOUSE: It showed Thursday afternoon, it showed Friday afternoon, and it is showing today. Today's guy is coming from out of town - cash in hand. I was told to not get excited yet, but that he was coming in to see two properties - mine and another.

I could definitely use the prayers. I have to, HAVE TO get out of this place. It is contributing to my un-well-being. It has nothing to do with Dave - and everything to do with it falling down around my ears - and the fact that I'm one septic/roof/floor/foundation disaster away from abject poverty.

AND finally:

Over a week ago, we had an incident involving the police. This is the official complaint I lodged against one Officer Hammontree.

On the evening of July 21, between 19:15-19:30, I received a call from my 14 year old daughter regarding a man who had pulled up into our driveway to inquire about our house. Having told the gentleman that I was not available to discuss this with him, he persisted on asking her questions. My daughter, unsure of what to do next, contacted me. After a couple of relayed messages to the gentleman in the driveway, she handed the phone to me. I informed the gentleman that our house is indeed on the market; that we have a Realtor, and encouraged him to call the Realtor with any further questions, and that he needed to leave. I was unsure as to whether the man was old or drunk – as it appeared that he did not understand what I was saying. More attempts and requests to leave finally hit the mark, and he promised he would contact the Realtor, but that we would be back ‘later’ with his son. The man hung up the phone. Uncomfortable with the idea that this man, who was so difficult to persuade to leave, and insistence that he would return with his son – I attempted to contact my daughter. More than a half-dozen times, the calls went straight to voice mail. Unbeknownst to either of us, T-Mobile was having some issues. My daughter had also tried to contact me – but got similar results. I contacted 911 for a well-check. The call was re-routed to the County Sheriff’s department where I relayed the above account. When I arrived home several minutes later, I was met by a Raymore Police Officer Hammontree. “Can you tell me what is going on, here?” As I began to explain, he made his derision clear through body language and in speech, interrupting me to inform me that I simply could not ‘just call the police when someone pulls into your driveway. Your house IS for sale, ma’am.’ Noting the attitude and complete disregard for my concern, I invited the officer to leave my premises. I was told, “Can’t do that, now, since you called us here.” When I pointed out that a Realtor sign is not an invitation to trespass or to not leave the premises when asked, the officer shared that when he went house hunting, he freely trespassed on private property to look into the home. I went on to explain the real reason I called – to make sure that my daughter, who had not responded to attempted calls (again – phone service issues we were not aware of), was safe – given the circumstances. The officer glossed over this with a ‘sure sure – I understand, but you can’t just call the police…’ . Aside from the attitude, the derision, and impatience – I was given the clear message that calling the police was the wrong thing to do. His countenance spoke of having been bothered by some flighty woman who jumps at shadows. There are too many crimes against women, these days, for a newly widowed mother (anyone, really) of a young, teenage daughter to disregard the circumstances which prompted my call. My question is this: At what point would it have been appropriate to call? When I arrived home to find her missing, raped, or dead? And had I not called – and the worst had come to pass – would the message still be one of derision, but now for the mother who couldn't be bothered to make use of available public services to see to the safety of her child? After all, didn't she notice the warning signs? Thankfully, my daughter is fine and all is well except for the work that must now be done to convince ourselves that we deserve to feel safe without being ridiculed by those hired to protect and serve.

I have been urged to forward this to the local Journal...by the local journal editor. I'm not sure what the legalities would be - or how that might impact our quality of life in this community, so I'm holding back. But the temptation to rake this department over the coals is strong in this one.

This is the same department - and, according to my son who was here last week when this all went down, the same police officer who pulled him out of a car he was in that had been pulled over for a bad tail light. He was home on leave from the Navy, hanging out with friends (they don't drink). When the police officer asked for his driver's license (my son didn't have his driver's license until he had served his 3 years in the Navy), all my son had to show was his military ID. The cop took this as a personal affront, and accused my son of being a smart-ass O*(#&#^ ^@%(#&...and the litany went on.

Dash cam thankfully caught the whole thing, so when I called and lodged my complaint - incensed that while my son was taking a break from his time in a shit-can under the sea to protect our borders, this punk-ass cop determined to treat him like ocean scum. That complaint came back 'founded', and the officer underwent some additional training.