Neighbors form group following manhunt | desmoinesregister.com | The Des Moines Register

Thank you Des Moines Register for the great story. Let's hope it brings in a few new faces on March 2.

Neighbors form group following manhunt desmoinesregister.com The Des Moines Register

Life 365 Update

The latter half of the third week of 2010 turned out to be quite icy, but beautiful.

Happy 8th Birthday Girls

Happy Birthday girls. Hard to believe you will be turning 8. I love you so much.

Life 356

So far I've stayed on task with my picture a day. Here is the left half of the 3rd week of 2010.

Supplies: Gina Marie Huff, Sweet and Simple Life 365 (January) System available at Weeds and Wildflowers Design

Go Hawks

A couple weeks ago the Iowa Hawkeyes played in the Orange Bowl--and WON!. We watched the game at Jeremy and Sarah's house and Jaren was all decked out in his gold and black.

Supplies used: Papers from Let's Go, a collaboration between Amanda R. Designs and Dunia Designs; layout based on template from Dani Alencar's Multipix Templates set 4.

Life 365 Update

Two weeks into 2010 and I've managed to take a picture every day. They may not be good or interesting pictures, but they are pictures nonetheless.

Scrapping those Christmas photos

Des Moines is getting socked with another winter storm. I started feeling crummy again yesterday and decided to stay home today inside where it is warm and the humidifier is running. Took advantage of being home and scrapped my Christmas morning pictures.

Supplies:

25 Days No. 25 Template by Simply Tiffany Design

Papers: Paisley Press "Adorned"

Title: Karla Dudley Designs "25 Days: Titles"

Molly B. Good

Worked on this layout tonight. Molly was quite a pistal (and can still be at times). We named her Molly but found ourselves frequently saying "Molly be good." So when it came time to send in her papers, I officially named her Molly B. Good.

Journaling reads:

She moves slower these days and is no longer able to jump on the bed. Getting on or off the sofa or off the deck is a major chore. I no longer have to worry about her running off. She has some serious health problems and her monthly prescription bill for one drug costs more than our prescriptions. I’m unsure if she can still hear me, but she can still smell and is contantly under foot when working in the kitchen. She’s been such a great companion to me and I treasure every day she’s still with me. JANUARY 2010

Supplies used: Papers from Jessica Sprague's Holidays in Hand kit; Songbird Avenue Bloom and Grow Temoplates

Rantings of an angry woman

Last summer Bruce J. Mundy, a father of two and a two-decade member of the Iowa National Guard was hit while riding his motorcycle and killed by two brothers who had stolen $27 worth of gas from a Casey’s General Store and was leaving the station. Mundy was wearing a helmet.

Police said 25-year-old Santos Rodriguez and his brother, 23-year-old Orlando Rodriguez, stole gasoline from a nearby Casey's General Store. Police said the brothers hit and killed Mundy as they were driving away.

This wasn't Santos first brush with police. Santos Rodriguez was 16-years-old when he shot Officer Jeff Gowen in the chest and Sgt. Garey Bryan in the hand on September 27, 1999. Drugs and guns were found in Rodriguez's car. Both officers survived. Rodriguez was also shot in the incident and lost his leg and suffered brain damage. Polk County prosecutors determined his injuries made Rodriguez incompetent to stand trial in 1999. When he was encountered by the police in 2009, however, he was able to answer questions and was very coherent and knew what was going on.

Well today Polk County District Judge Joel Novak ordered treatment for Orlando Rodriguez, one of two brothers in the vehicle that struck and killed Mundy.

Novak’s order indicates that Rodriguez “poses a danger to the public peace and safety” and “refuses to cooperate with treatment” for an unspecified condition. Rodriguez is to remain in custody and undergo a mental-health evaluation and a hearing is scheduled for Feb. 5 to help decide whether he has recovered enough to stand trial. This is not the brother shot in 1999 and found incompetent! So you mean I can go out and kill somebody and then act crazy (some think I already am) and refuse to cooperate with treatment and I can do as I please?

His 26-year-old brother, Santos, faces similar charges from the Sept. 23 incident but has also asked a mental-health expert to evaluate whether he is fit for trial.

This just makes me so angry that these guys are getting away with it again. Personally I think Judge Novak's competency should be questioned.

In the 1999 incident, Officer Jeffrey Gowen was shot in the chest near his badge. Sgt. Garey Bryan II was shot in the hand. Gowen still has bullet fragments lodged near his spine. Police returned fire during the 1999 clash and hit Santos Rodriguez. A Polk County grand jury cleared Gowen, Bryan and Jason Bennett, an officer who fired 15 shots at Santos Rodriguez in the 1999 shooting, of any wrongdoing. However, in June 2001, Bennett committed suicide. Des Moines Police Spokeswoman Lavorato said, "We'll never know what the reason was, but after something like this, it just builds inside you."

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/article/20100104/NEWS/100104027/Man-charged-in-death-of-biker-ruled-incompetent-trial-postponed
http://www.kcci.com/news/21107611/detail.html
http://m.dmregister.com/news.jsp?key=528812

The Torch Relay Begins.....

The digi Olympics will be held at Digital Scrapbook Memories on February 12-18. You can help them pass the torch and possibly win your choice of either a class package to the Digital Scrapbook Retreat in Park City, UT thisApril 12-28, 2010. Check out http://forum.digitalscrapbookmemories.com/showthread.php?t=7701

Picture of the Day

Last year I participated in Project 365 and while I completed the year, I didn't post all of them. After debating whether to do it again this year, I decided to continue. Here is my cover page for January and the first three days of the year. I think this week will be food and beverage-relaterd photos.

The photo on January's cover page is from last week when I was babysitting some grandkids. Cailey and Mia were pretending to be asleep when I came back down from putting Luke to bed.

January 1: I've already posted this photo of the empty juice containers after the kids left.

January 2: Roger and I went to Bordenaro's, usually one of our favorite pizza joints, for pizza. Service was the worst we've ever had. We sat there for 10-15 minutes before a waitress even came over to see if we had been served. I might add they weren't that busy. We gave her our drink and food order and she then left and cleaned off a table, went back behind the counter and picked up her wine glass and took some sips and joked and visited with other workers and friends. She hadn't even placed our order. After waiting 10 minutes I marched up to the counter and asked if we cold get our drinks "tonight." "Oh, yes, sure. I'm sorry." I walked back to the table and she disappeared into the kitchen to place our orders. The rest of the night went okay and I don't think I had anything in my pizza or drink that shouldn't be. I'm not sure, but I don't think she should have been drinking while at work. On top of that, I seriously doubt she was 21. The pizza though was worth the wait. Love their pizza and onion rings.

January 3: Needed groceries plus I had made some purchases from one of my favorite digi shops, Weeds and Wildflowers Designs. Unfortunately for reasons that remain a great mystery, I am unable to download my purchases from this store (and a couple other ones) from at home so I have to find a public wi-fi spot to download. So we headed off to Hy-Vee for breakfast and shopping. I just had OJ and toast; Roger had their breakfast buffet. Came home and fixed the Pioneer Woman's pot roast and while it cooked, got some digi scrapping and organizing files done. Great Day!

Supplies used: All from Gina Marie Huff's Sweet and Simple LIFE 365 January Template and Kit Bundle available at Weeds and Wildflowers Design.

Happy Birthday G.G. and Happy New Year

Happy new year to everyone. Hope everyone had a happy and safe New Years Eve. We went out to dinner and then stopped by our son's house and spent a couple hours with their family. We were home and I was in bed by 10:45, where I watched the ball drop in New York at midnight (11 p.m. for me). Does that count for seeing the new year in?

My mother is a New Years baby and we visited her yesterday to help celebrate her 83 birthday. She is called G.G. by her great grandkids. Here's a picture of her with six of her eight great grandkids. We sure wished we could have gotten the two older boys in it but they live in another state. Maybe soon!


Then after visiting her Jaren and Keira came over for us to watch while their parents went to a movie. I called and asked Carrie to bring Cailey, Mia, and Luke over too. Grandpa brought out a train and sat it up on the kitchen table for the kids to watch/play with. Jaren and Luke played with Hot Wheel cars and toys and Keira played in the bouncy saucer or was held by Uncle Dave, Aunt Carrie, Mia, or Grandma. Had a great day. I unfortunately forget to get my camera out when everyone is here. Perhaps Carrie will post a picture or two she took with her new camera? Here is a shot of my empty beverage containers after they left: