Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore...

Interesting fact from last weekend: while Danielle was visiting, I had the inspired idea to look up and see how many people in my judicial district (the counties of Dawson, Gaines, Garza, and Lynn, for those not keeping track) voted for Obama in 2008. Of about 60,000 people in the whole district, 2,804 people voted for him according to cnn.com. Wow. Awesome. But at least I received my voter registration card in the mail today, so I'm officially able to cancel out one red Dawson County voter. Although I can't vote straight party, because I do like my boss and he's as GOP as they come. :)

In other news, had a blast with Danielle. (I miss my friends!) We ate dinner from the drive in and caught up on gossip and whatnot Friday. Then she came back through on the way home Sunday and we got lunch at Sonic. I think I'm actually starting to get burned out on Sonic drinks, which makes me sad. There's just a lack of options here.

Today we had the first grand jury since I started working in Lamesa. Eight cases, eleven jurors, five officers testifying. All in all, took just under 3 hours to indict (I think) all of the variations on the cases. Woot. Docket tomorrow and Thursday, then grand jury again Friday in another county. Nothing terribly exciting (so far as I know) going on this week, but I'll probably be sending more people to prison or probation since we'll be in several more counties this week. There is rumor of potential drama at docket on Thursday, but I'll wait to see if anything actually happens before sharing. I'm mean like that. :)

That's all I can think of that's new and different in my life. Have a good night!

Just call me Negative Nancy

I hate living in a place where I don't have anyone to hang out with after work. Life is boring when you can't even choose to be by yourself or not, it's being forced upon me. Granted, I did this to myself by applying to work in a town I'd never heard of before, but that doesn't really make me feel any better, since I was applying everywhere and not hearing back from anywhere, so I'd expected more of the same. I even tried to ride my bike today for the first time since moving here, but it's been too long since I've used it so my tires are flat. I have a little pump that goes on the bike, but either it's ineffective or the operator is, and the air pumps at gas stations are really too big for a bike tire's nozzle. Sigh. I guess I'll just bring my bike home with me next weekend and take it to Sun and Ski Sports, because they're nice and helpful. I'm just grouchy today, and I really shouldn't be, because tomorrow's Friday and Danielle's coming through on the way to Brandon's wedding. Yay, a visitor!

Also, since I haven't written in awhile, Lisa's 21st birthday was a blast. She celebrated as she ought and Kyle and I DD'd so she and her friends could have fun, which generally speaking, I think we all did. :) Today was also Linda's (office secretary) birthday, so we had cake.

Tomorrow's going to be a tough day at work because I have to (jointly) tell a mom that the case against a guy charged with sexually assaulting her daughter is being dropped because he passed two separate polygraphs. That's going to be unpleasant, based on previous interaction with them. Sigh. But it's all about justice being done, so I think that's what's happening, at least as far as the guy is concerned.

That's all that is new with me. Over and out.

A lawyer, a Texas ranger, and three game wardens walk into a DQ...

First off, last weekend was generally fun. My cousins are awesome, Maria was super for letting five of us stay at her house with three dogs, and it was good to see various family members I hadn't seen in many years. Some drama ensued among Grandma's kids (my aunts and uncles) but none of it involved me, and it wasn't as bad as expected. We ate a lot, drank some, didn't sleep much, but had a good time. And I made a friend on the flight home. Woo. This weekend should be even better: less drama, more sleep, and two of my favorite people! :)

Seriously, this week has been...real. Monday afternoon a guy was found murdered in his house in Lamesa. No worries, he lived in the bad part of town (southeast...I live north central) and it was probably drug related, so I am not fearing a drive-by or anything. On the upside, I've now been to my first murder scene, which sounds really cool until I tell you the body had already been removed. But it was a long day: most of us (police, sheriff's deputies, Texas rangers, ADAs) didn't leave the office until around 10:30, and boss stayed even later. Tuesday we had court, and I actually did the state's part of sending someone to TDC, so I've officially (helped) put someone in prison. Woo. Most of the week has revolved around investigating the murder. Today we stayed at the office until 7, waiting for a call from the PD that didn't come.

Today was also the circumstance that led to today's title. Brian, one of the rangers, wanted to get food, so I went with him to DQ to get dinner. We arrived at the same time as three Texas game wardens from Marfa, so we sat and ate with them. Apparently every county has at least one game warden, some have more than one, and some counties share a single warden (like our four-county judicial district). These are the things you learn when you eat dinner with four peace officers. Also, every peace officer in Texas seems to have at least 50% friends in common (or acquaintances in common) with every other peace officer, so if you get too many of them together, it's bla bla do you know this person...ad nauseum. But I'd still rather be on the good side of the law and slightly bored, enjoying my blizzard, than the alternative. :)

Have a great weekend!

Playing catch up

Sorry for the lapse in blogging (although I really wonder if anyone noticed). Last weekend Kyle was here, (huzzah!) and we ended up spending Saturday afternoon and evening in Lubbock because Lamesa's pretty boring. But we did see "Public Enemies," which was ok but not as awesome as I had hoped. Tuesday I had internet installed,(yay!) and today I had my first CLE class. Woo. Three hours of legislative update. At least it was in Midland, so we went to Carino's for lunch. Good stuff. :) Tonight I had someone come to my door to ask if they could do a free water test. I let them, which took almost 2 hours and an attempted sales job (for a water softener machine thing) and resulted in my liking Lamesa water even less than I did before. It's kind of gross. But I don't really like soft water, either, because it feels slimy to me. I'm just used to good old hard Texas water, I guess.

In other news, here's my travel plans for the next couple months: Columbus and Austin and home in August, Austin and San Antonio (for CLE classes) in September, and home and Houston in October. I'm supposed to be getting the puppy when I go home at the end of August. She's a husky/shiba inu mix and I'm going to name her "Scout." For anyone who's interested, the plan now is to go tubing over Labor Day weekend...read, IF YOU WANT TO COME TUBING WITH US (ME) LABOR DAY WEEKEND, COME TO AUSTIN! The Mondays of Labor Day and Columbus Day are county holidays, so I get the day off, so I'm thinking...travel? Yes! Discuss among yourselves and in comments or emails whether these weekends are good for me to visit and whether I'll get to see you when I'm in town. Also, this means the weekends I'm not going to be visiting elsewhere, I'm open to host visitors (hint, hint).

I think that's all, folks. Have a good night!