Perfect start of the day....

      Just a short mention this morning about my day yesterday...... well, wait a minute!!  I can't talk about yesterday without first throwing in an honorable mention for my boy Kingston!  (My awesome Great Dane!)

     In preparation for our big day at the Komen walk on Saturday morning, I realized that Kingston needed a bath!  As a red-blooded American alpha male Dane, he likes to explore....well, let's just say he didn't smell that great, and he was carrying around about an acre of dirt and a few free-loading, blood-sucking parasites, a/k/a FLEAS!  All of that to tell you....BATHTIME!  I won't go into great detail....I'll save it for another time, but if you can imagine waltzing/wrestling with a hippo, you got it!  I must say he does clean up nicely!  Okay.  Enough about that!

     Kingston and I met my daughter, Rebekah, in Tyler before the race/walk, and I should say in East Texas lingo....."Kingston loves him some Bekah!!"  Don't get in between Bekah and King when he gets the urge to love on her!  After the happy reunion was over which included sounds of high-pitch, baby-like talk from Bekah like, "How's my big boy!  Kingston, come see me!  Baby, I've missed you so much!  Give sissy a kiss!  That's my boy!"  Those are just a few!  But to really appreciate those quotes, you have to put them in the high-pitched girl voice/baby talk to really get the feel for it!

    Here we go!   Kingston loves crowds.  He loves people and everything that goes along with people!  Food, attention, photo-ops, back rubs, sweet tea, etc.  We saw lots of friends, enjoyed great conversations with everyone that we met!  The one thing I will say about having a big dog that doesn't know he's a dog, he draws a lot of attention!  You have to be ready to talk if you're with him!

     It was great to see many of my police officer friends!  You guys are awesome in all that you do for the City of Tyler and the County of Smith!  Met some friends I haven't seen in a long time!  But I have to say, the highlight of my day was meeting up with the IN Magazine girls!  I like to call them girls not in a negative sense, but because if you knew their personalities, it fits them!  Amy, Connie, and Dawn were the three that I walked the three-mile trek through the beautiful neighborhoods of the Azalea District in Tyler!

     Connie snapping pictures and memoralizing everything and Dawn saying whatever enters her mind at the moment, and Amy adding perfect compliments and witty banter to everything that was said tied everything together into the perfect walking/laughing/fun time trio!  What a fun walk with these ladies!  Thanks for the laughter that uplifted my spirit!  Thank you for the honor of  escorting you!  Just spending time with you!  You ladies/girls are beautiful, and I look forward to future awesome/perfect days! 

Did I mention that they like my cupcakes??????  

More to come on that later!!!










     

Back in court!

     Today was my first day back in the courtroom after a long well-deserved retirement.  I was fortunate enough to be close to the courthouse when the phone rang for a sub court reporter.  Of course, I fit that profile, since everyone else in the room was busy.  I packed my machine and misc. power cords and walked back up the hill to the Smith County Courthouse.  As I entered the 321st District Court, a sense of excitement overtook me.  I completed my setup which included a laptop, one steno machine and a comfy cushion for my chair, and that my friends is the recipe for an afternoon of listening to attorneys advocate for their clients as the all too familiar pain creeps up the small of your back.  It sounds like I'm complaining, and I am.  (Just a little bit.)  
     Watching the different attorneys, such as, Mike Hogan, Alicia Cashell, Bo Sinclair, Eric Jensen, Cynthia S. Kent, just to name a few.  Listening to family law makes me appreciate the years I spent in Felony Criminal District Court.  I longed for the murder pretrial, the aggravated robbery plea, the revocation of probation, DWI cases, and many others that are so engrained in my mind. 
     Today I heard cases such as fighting over where to drop the kids off at a mutual public place full of witnesses, and the admonishments to be good as you're doing that.  Please, we're talking about adults.  Somebody needs an ass-kicking.  I heard a case where the Judge raised child support on a father and the surprise that was so apparent on his face.  I listened to a little squabble over who gets junior this weekend instead of next.  I even got to sit and listen to a case involving CPS and all of the entourage that comes with that including CASA workers, case workers, lawyers representing the State of Texas, lawyers representing both the deadbeat woman and man that has the lable of biological mother and father.  There were lawers, called "ad litem" that appear and represent the child or children and only serve to advocate for the best interest of the misfortunate children of the aforementioned woman and man. 
     All in all it was a pleasant afternoon.  I define "pleasant" as a trip to the endodontist for a root canal or a cozy afternoon in an IRS audit, just to name a couple.  I think you get the idea. 

I also want to say that I miss my lil' ms. b.  My favorite person!!!  You know who you are!     

For now those are my thoughts.....
 

Retirement

As the second hand ticked closer and closer to midnight... tick, tick, tick.... 11:57, 11:58, 11:59... April 29, 2011 is over as the hand struck 12:00 carrying over into the 30th of April 2011.  What is significant you ask about this moment for me?  As the second hand carried time into the next day, this marked the last day of my career as an official court reporter for the 241st District Court of Smith County, Texas.  A flood of emotion and memories dwell hidden beneath the facade of this cool, poker faced, no emotion court reporter.  So many hearings, words, secrets, confessions, trials, pleas, settlements, verdicts, hung juries, truths, lies, travesties, joys, death, life, exonerations, convictions, happiness, sadness, and many, many other feelings tied up and sealed deep in the vault of my memories.  I do confess there is an excitement of the unknown future as well as fear.  I hope to be remembered as serving the citizens of Smith County with professionalism and compassion for any and all that appeared in court as either a litigant, spectator, defendant, prosecutor, juror or any number of other titled participants in the judicial system.  I know I have made mistakes.  I ask for forgiveness.  God help us all in the judicial system of this great country.  All of you who are without sin, cast the first stone.  If I have performed in excellence, please praise me.  If I have helped you, thank me.  If I have given, I do not require repayment.  If I have blessed you with a kind word, repay me with the same.  If I have made an impact or helped you in any way, it is an awesome compliment for me.