So there's that in Book Six: Trying to Hold On 2019

At some point in the middle of the night, the lightning raging outside definitely got to Nala. She was pacing the room and kept trying to jump up on the bed; so I picked her up and set her between Wife and I and she instantly calmed down and curled up against my chest and went back to sleep. It was adorable and I would have taken a picture of it if I hadn’t been acutely aware that taking a picture might wake up Wife or accidentally contain graphic content that should not be shared (I sleep in the nude, the wife sleeps only in panties).

Humorously, the fact that a warm body (even if only a tiny one) was pressing against me all morning.... my body temperature rose. I woke up very warm. Though it is worth stating… I had a… very strange dream. In the dream, I was back in Omaha, visiting law school friends, surrounded by law school friends, but it was very much set in the NOW timeline. We were hanging out at a friend’s place and debating politics. I was (in the dream, this is true) citing and referencing IRL News Articles I’ve read in the last few weeks. We were all agreeing how, political party aside, as lawyers the complete disregard for American Jurisprudence and Constitutional Law by this administration was abysmal and should have been enough to alienate the President from every rational or intelligent member of Congress. I stood up to get a drink of water, and my friend Tom came with me. He slowly got harrier and harrier before repeating “A warm welcome”. That’s when I woke up… super warm… because the dog was nuzzling into my chest.

I grabbed my clothes, showered and dressed, fed the dog and left. The clock said I would maybe be 5 minutes late to work if there was traffic. About 10 minutes outside of town, though, was a large piece of Farm Equipment that took up the entire road (northbound and southbound) and was sparking. So… I definitely gave it considerable room! But that also meant that I got to my desk about twenty minutes late. I haven’t broached the subject with my boss but… I hope he isn’t mad. Like… there has been MASSIVE construction on Highway 65 and Highway 175 and the Farm Equipment is coming out ALL OVER the County so… being here before 8:00 has been almost impossible of late.

My day today? I suppose some would consider it “not bad” but I’m not exactly looking forward to it.
I have to return 3 phone calls.
(1) NO. Pay your damned ticket. Fine. I’ll do something. But you’ll still have to pay the ticket, at least a little.
(2) GAH! I don’t want to lift the no contact order; but honestly… I think your boyfriend was arrested because the cops are just sick of you calling to get him to stop and then thanking them when they get there but telling them to leave. Like… seriously… I will tell them to start charging you with false reporting if you keep doing this!
(3) No, ma’am, the County Attorney’s Office has nothing to do with State Wide Department of Transportation decisions. If you don’t believe your daughter should be required to drive with a specific restriction, there’s nothing I can do to help you.

Have I mentioned I hate the phone?

Then I have a complicated, convoluted Child Protection thing. Kid was removed from parents. Dad is an abuser, Mom is a druggie. Mom refuses to stop taking drugs but Dad went to an abuser class. We let the kid stay with Dad for a while. We discover Dad is turning his abusive behavior on his kids.
(1) Since DHS returned the child; what is DHS liability?
(2) Since the child is still legally ordered TO DHS, can they remove the child without further orders?
(3) Yes, the rules in Iowa Code Book state “best interest of the child” and “six months consecutive” so we would hope the court sees that less than 40 days does not meet the statutory time required and that continued placement with the father would not be in the best interest of the child.

Then I really need to clean my desk (we’ll see if that happens). Then I need to drive to Des Moines for an eye appointment (to see if the glaucoma is being beaten back) and get a haircut.

But in the interim… I have 52 Prosebox Entries to read from all of you who’ve been writing since Friday :) :p

Our mower is in the shop. They only have one dude who fixes mowers, and he only comes in once a week. Our neighbor has mowed their lawn three times in the 2 weeks we’ve been waiting for our mower to come back. Wife and I are starting to think he keeps mowing as a passive aggressive way to tell US to mow. Dude, we would. Seriously. If you really wanted, you could come over and ask what the deal is. But then… you may have already deduced that our mower isn’t working and know that, were you to come over and bitch, we might ask to borrow yours.