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Thursday, July 9, 2009

Carrots Coming Out Our Ears!

Have I mentioned that we grew a LOT of carrots this year? LOL I managed to get photos taken - yesterday - and got them scrapped into a layout this morning for posting. Take a look at this. And then - I have some pretty serious news to share. Don't forget to click on the photo to see a larger view! Journaling Reads - "One package of carrots was planted mid-April and on-time, just as they recommend for our area. We dealt with non-stop rains that began two days later and lasted long enough to wash out the seed. A second planting went in a couple weeks later. Only this time - we planted carrots EVERYWHERE! Three rows instead of two - and even under the tomatoes! As you can see - we're not short of carrots this year! I picked and cleaned. Dwayne sliced. We blanched and bagged together!" Kit - Garden of Weedin' by Kimberly Stewart at www.scrapbook-elements.com Okay - now for the news. My daughter, Jennifer, has been living with a roommate that is a few years older than me. This woman has been absolutely wonderful and the two have gotten along together really great. Jen has been going through a lot - lately - after losing her job. She's been fortunate to find another job about three miles from the house where they live. She started working at Sonic. As some of you may know - she totaled out her car in an accident not too long ago. Getting around has been a little difficult. But she has managed. I don't know which route she was taking. But I do know she tends to drive slowly. And it was taking her about an hour and a half to drive to our house from where she's been living. Very recently - my daughter decided it was time to come to me about a situation going on in the house. Her roommate had begun to involve herself with a man she had been previously married to - some time before marrying her last husband that passed away. This man is the same age as my mother. He began coming to spend the night with her roommate. Out of courtesy and respect - Jen chose to sleep in the living room when this man would come to spend the night with her roommate - because her bedroom was right next to her roommate's bedroom. From what I understand - events began unfolding at the point where this man was at the house during one day while Jen was at home and her roommate was at work. This man asked Jen if she wanted to ride to the store with him to get cigarettes. She thought absolutely nothing of it at the time - she needed cigarettes, herself. But the hair came up on her back when on the way back to the house - this man commented, "We don't need to tell _____ about this." Fortunately - Jen had enough snap to inform her roommate. Within one week's time - my daughter began unloading details of events on me that had been going on. I have been absolutely horrified. I have probably aged another ten years over this. Even worse - my car has been broken down for the past four months. I've had no way to get to her at a moment's notice. We've had to stand our ground about not bailing her out of situations in life. However - this was an entirely different situation. Yet - to bring her here would even be more difficult for her. She no longer has transportation. We live way out in the country. She would have no way to go find a job and get to and from work. I could only give her tools of advice and instruction for handling details and protecting herself. The situation reached a point yesterday that Dwayne and I agreed on one plan of action. Since we could not afford to help her with buying another car - we would pay the cost for attending gun safety classes and having her fitted for a gun that we would also pay for. At the same time - we were able to put my car into the shop this week. I had decided that - as soon as I get my car back - I was going to turn the cards on this man. At this moment - I can tell you that Jen has angels surrounding her and working diligently. I was on the phone last night with - a friend. She and her husband are very dear friends of ours - and they know Jen very well. I began filling her in on all that has been going on. Without a second thought - she informed me that she wasn't having any of it. She called her husband. They both have different work schedules. They both agreed on meeting up this evening and going to get Jennifer. They are bringing her to their home to live. She will be in a much safer place. She will be in a more fruitful area for being able to find a job. And she won't have to worry or be afraid - any longer. There are no words to describe how thankful and grateful we feel towards these friends of ours. They have become two of the angels in Jen's life that are there to help in this situation. Now I will give you certain details. I will not divulge certain details. It is imperative at this time that Jennifer's safety be protected. This man's name is John L. Mullins. His birthday is June 23, 1945. He did time in jail and State of Tennessee Felony records show a TOMIS ID 00004958 case number with parole/probation ending 02/14/1998. His last-recorded address is 5135 Gray Rd, Knoxville, TN 37938-2512. His last-recorded phone number is (865) 922-9661. I was able to find this much out on the Internet. This man is 64 years old and has a full set of martial arts belts. He is wiped out on OxyContin. My daughter is 22 years old and is only 4' 9" in height. That's how bad some of the details are that I'm not mentioning. But let me make clear - he has never managed to get a hand on her, as of yesterday. Once this man got her to ride with him to a convenience store - next move was verbal communication towards both - my daughter and her roommate - consisting of verbal attacks and accusations with a level of vulgarity that no other man would even tolerate - had he been standing in the same room at the time. His next move was making noise in the kitchen area in the middle of one night enough to wake up Jennifer so she could see him sitting and eating something while butt - naked. This event occurred several times. The man was merely reprimanded by the roommate each time and told not to do it again. Next move - this man began asking my daughter specific questions such as what her work schedule was - how she was getting to and from work - who was giving her rides home from work, etc. His next move - my daughter worked the closing shift at her job one night. Upon arriving home at 1am and opening the front door to the house - she was met by this man. He was standing butt-naked in the entry way waiting for her. This time - my daughter opened her mouth and began raising hell until her roommate woke up. Words were exchanged between her roommate and this man. He became angry. He picked up his belongings and left the house. The very next morning - he began texting messages to my daughter's roommate while she was at her job. Her roommate came home that evening and connected her cellphone to her computer. She transferred the text messages and printed each and every single one out on paper - which she handed over to my daughter. Those text messages from this man specified things he wanted to do to my daughter - with the use of the most vile - sickening - disgusting - derogatory vulgarity possible. I turn 50 years old this year. There are men I have known in my life that would not even be fit for living in a barn with pigs. But NEVER - have I had one single man EVER speak to me in such manner. Yesterday - my daughter called me - upset - after returning home from her place of employment. While standing outside smoking a cigarette as she waited for her manager to show up for a meeting - she spotted this man parked in a parking lot across the street from her job - watching her. As soon as he realized she had spotted him and began running for the inside of the building where she has worked - he started his car and drove away. I was absolutely horrified when my daughter informed me that she had WALKED HOME after seeing that man parked and watching her at her job!!! I don't know what in the hell she was thinking. His defense to my daughter's roommate was that he was there to pay his water bill. Until two angels stepped into the picture late last night and decided they would go get my daughter and bring her to a safer place to live - I was waiting for my car to get out of the shop - so I could go sit - and watch HIM. Law Enforcement was contacted. Jen followed my instructions immediately, as soon as she informed me about the text messages. She called and a county Sheriff's Deputy came to the house. With all the documentation she had - including entries in her diary regarding events - he could still do NOTHING. Why? Because this man had been invited into the house by her roommate. Because her roommate was returning communications with this man on her cellphone. Because her roommate refused to do anything to stop this man from coming to her house. Because this man had not used physical violence on my daughter - yet. After talking with my daughter on the phone yesterday - I made a phone call to the Detective's Division of the Knox County Sheriff's Office, myself - and spoke with a female detective. She gave me sound advice and instructions to pass to Jennifer - including NO MORE walking anywhere around town during the day or night. Jennifer was waiting for a return-phone call from the Deputy that had come to the house, originally, at the end of the day. I cannot take anymore of this. I am so glad she is now going to be living in a safe place. But despite this relief - we will be following through with enrolling her into gun safety classes and having her fitted for a gun. I can't handle knowing this girl cannot protect herself. Our friends that she will be living with are - both - registered gun owners. They completely understand and agree with my feelings about setting Jen up with personal protection. I will be going to class with her. It's time for me to get my own license to carry and conceal. I do not understand - I cannot comprehend - the mindset of this roommate my daughter has been living with. She is assuming this man's jail time was for assault with some woman she knows about from his past. She is assuming this man is the same man he was DECADES ago. What I see is a mindset that my own common sense tells me fits the kind of women who end up raped and dead by men they knew and assumed would never hurt them. I hold no anger towards this woman near as much as I hold concern. Obviously - this woman is confused and needs help. And I will do the only thing I can do for her. I will pray for her. And I will also pray for her two grandsons. At the rate things are progressing with this man's game plan - it's only a matter of time until the moment arrives when those two little boys end up in the same room with this man. The boldness of this sick man grows stronger and stronger - each day that this woman continues to allow him into her house. And with each day that he becomes bolder - the viciousness spills from his mouth even worse if he doesn't get his way with the slightest whim. Having all the belts achieved in martial arts - I worry that his desperation will begin to look toward those two children - not to even mention their mothers. Please pray for these people. Please join me by handing this man over to God. Since no man in the proper place of authority in this country is man enough to step past an unseen fence that pastures laws that only wake up after a beating, rape or death - ask for THE ONE WHO WILL to do so. As for my daughter - I hope and pray that - the adult she is today - will use her mind and common sense - and call me MUCH SOONER if anything like this ever happens again. On a much lighter note - our dog, Zucker, is trained to come and sit when he hears and sees a vehicle. I just went out on the porch to let him out into the yard to do his business. A small single-engine plane flew over our house. Zucker stopped dead in his tracks - sat way out in the middle of the yard - stared up at the plane - and would not even budge on command to come to me until the plane was far enough away. What would I do without my four-legged 'empty nest' medicine?! I guess God knew I needed that laugh!

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Thursday, July 9, 2009

Carrots Coming Out Our Ears!

Have I mentioned that we grew a LOT of carrots this year? LOL I managed to get photos taken - yesterday - and got them scrapped into a layout this morning for posting. Take a look at this. And then - I have some pretty serious news to share. Don't forget to click on the photo to see a larger view! Journaling Reads - "One package of carrots was planted mid-April and on-time, just as they recommend for our area. We dealt with non-stop rains that began two days later and lasted long enough to wash out the seed. A second planting went in a couple weeks later. Only this time - we planted carrots EVERYWHERE! Three rows instead of two - and even under the tomatoes! As you can see - we're not short of carrots this year! I picked and cleaned. Dwayne sliced. We blanched and bagged together!" Kit - Garden of Weedin' by Kimberly Stewart at www.scrapbook-elements.com Okay - now for the news. My daughter, Jennifer, has been living with a roommate that is a few years older than me. This woman has been absolutely wonderful and the two have gotten along together really great. Jen has been going through a lot - lately - after losing her job. She's been fortunate to find another job about three miles from the house where they live. She started working at Sonic. As some of you may know - she totaled out her car in an accident not too long ago. Getting around has been a little difficult. But she has managed. I don't know which route she was taking. But I do know she tends to drive slowly. And it was taking her about an hour and a half to drive to our house from where she's been living. Very recently - my daughter decided it was time to come to me about a situation going on in the house. Her roommate had begun to involve herself with a man she had been previously married to - some time before marrying her last husband that passed away. This man is the same age as my mother. He began coming to spend the night with her roommate. Out of courtesy and respect - Jen chose to sleep in the living room when this man would come to spend the night with her roommate - because her bedroom was right next to her roommate's bedroom. From what I understand - events began unfolding at the point where this man was at the house during one day while Jen was at home and her roommate was at work. This man asked Jen if she wanted to ride to the store with him to get cigarettes. She thought absolutely nothing of it at the time - she needed cigarettes, herself. But the hair came up on her back when on the way back to the house - this man commented, "We don't need to tell _____ about this." Fortunately - Jen had enough snap to inform her roommate. Within one week's time - my daughter began unloading details of events on me that had been going on. I have been absolutely horrified. I have probably aged another ten years over this. Even worse - my car has been broken down for the past four months. I've had no way to get to her at a moment's notice. We've had to stand our ground about not bailing her out of situations in life. However - this was an entirely different situation. Yet - to bring her here would even be more difficult for her. She no longer has transportation. We live way out in the country. She would have no way to go find a job and get to and from work. I could only give her tools of advice and instruction for handling details and protecting herself. The situation reached a point yesterday that Dwayne and I agreed on one plan of action. Since we could not afford to help her with buying another car - we would pay the cost for attending gun safety classes and having her fitted for a gun that we would also pay for. At the same time - we were able to put my car into the shop this week. I had decided that - as soon as I get my car back - I was going to turn the cards on this man. At this moment - I can tell you that Jen has angels surrounding her and working diligently. I was on the phone last night with - a friend. She and her husband are very dear friends of ours - and they know Jen very well. I began filling her in on all that has been going on. Without a second thought - she informed me that she wasn't having any of it. She called her husband. They both have different work schedules. They both agreed on meeting up this evening and going to get Jennifer. They are bringing her to their home to live. She will be in a much safer place. She will be in a more fruitful area for being able to find a job. And she won't have to worry or be afraid - any longer. There are no words to describe how thankful and grateful we feel towards these friends of ours. They have become two of the angels in Jen's life that are there to help in this situation. Now I will give you certain details. I will not divulge certain details. It is imperative at this time that Jennifer's safety be protected. This man's name is John L. Mullins. His birthday is June 23, 1945. He did time in jail and State of Tennessee Felony records show a TOMIS ID 00004958 case number with parole/probation ending 02/14/1998. His last-recorded address is 5135 Gray Rd, Knoxville, TN 37938-2512. His last-recorded phone number is (865) 922-9661. I was able to find this much out on the Internet. This man is 64 years old and has a full set of martial arts belts. He is wiped out on OxyContin. My daughter is 22 years old and is only 4' 9" in height. That's how bad some of the details are that I'm not mentioning. But let me make clear - he has never managed to get a hand on her, as of yesterday. Once this man got her to ride with him to a convenience store - next move was verbal communication towards both - my daughter and her roommate - consisting of verbal attacks and accusations with a level of vulgarity that no other man would even tolerate - had he been standing in the same room at the time. His next move was making noise in the kitchen area in the middle of one night enough to wake up Jennifer so she could see him sitting and eating something while butt - naked. This event occurred several times. The man was merely reprimanded by the roommate each time and told not to do it again. Next move - this man began asking my daughter specific questions such as what her work schedule was - how she was getting to and from work - who was giving her rides home from work, etc. His next move - my daughter worked the closing shift at her job one night. Upon arriving home at 1am and opening the front door to the house - she was met by this man. He was standing butt-naked in the entry way waiting for her. This time - my daughter opened her mouth and began raising hell until her roommate woke up. Words were exchanged between her roommate and this man. He became angry. He picked up his belongings and left the house. The very next morning - he began texting messages to my daughter's roommate while she was at her job. Her roommate came home that evening and connected her cellphone to her computer. She transferred the text messages and printed each and every single one out on paper - which she handed over to my daughter. Those text messages from this man specified things he wanted to do to my daughter - with the use of the most vile - sickening - disgusting - derogatory vulgarity possible. I turn 50 years old this year. There are men I have known in my life that would not even be fit for living in a barn with pigs. But NEVER - have I had one single man EVER speak to me in such manner. Yesterday - my daughter called me - upset - after returning home from her place of employment. While standing outside smoking a cigarette as she waited for her manager to show up for a meeting - she spotted this man parked in a parking lot across the street from her job - watching her. As soon as he realized she had spotted him and began running for the inside of the building where she has worked - he started his car and drove away. I was absolutely horrified when my daughter informed me that she had WALKED HOME after seeing that man parked and watching her at her job!!! I don't know what in the hell she was thinking. His defense to my daughter's roommate was that he was there to pay his water bill. Until two angels stepped into the picture late last night and decided they would go get my daughter and bring her to a safer place to live - I was waiting for my car to get out of the shop - so I could go sit - and watch HIM. Law Enforcement was contacted. Jen followed my instructions immediately, as soon as she informed me about the text messages. She called and a county Sheriff's Deputy came to the house. With all the documentation she had - including entries in her diary regarding events - he could still do NOTHING. Why? Because this man had been invited into the house by her roommate. Because her roommate was returning communications with this man on her cellphone. Because her roommate refused to do anything to stop this man from coming to her house. Because this man had not used physical violence on my daughter - yet. After talking with my daughter on the phone yesterday - I made a phone call to the Detective's Division of the Knox County Sheriff's Office, myself - and spoke with a female detective. She gave me sound advice and instructions to pass to Jennifer - including NO MORE walking anywhere around town during the day or night. Jennifer was waiting for a return-phone call from the Deputy that had come to the house, originally, at the end of the day. I cannot take anymore of this. I am so glad she is now going to be living in a safe place. But despite this relief - we will be following through with enrolling her into gun safety classes and having her fitted for a gun. I can't handle knowing this girl cannot protect herself. Our friends that she will be living with are - both - registered gun owners. They completely understand and agree with my feelings about setting Jen up with personal protection. I will be going to class with her. It's time for me to get my own license to carry and conceal. I do not understand - I cannot comprehend - the mindset of this roommate my daughter has been living with. She is assuming this man's jail time was for assault with some woman she knows about from his past. She is assuming this man is the same man he was DECADES ago. What I see is a mindset that my own common sense tells me fits the kind of women who end up raped and dead by men they knew and assumed would never hurt them. I hold no anger towards this woman near as much as I hold concern. Obviously - this woman is confused and needs help. And I will do the only thing I can do for her. I will pray for her. And I will also pray for her two grandsons. At the rate things are progressing with this man's game plan - it's only a matter of time until the moment arrives when those two little boys end up in the same room with this man. The boldness of this sick man grows stronger and stronger - each day that this woman continues to allow him into her house. And with each day that he becomes bolder - the viciousness spills from his mouth even worse if he doesn't get his way with the slightest whim. Having all the belts achieved in martial arts - I worry that his desperation will begin to look toward those two children - not to even mention their mothers. Please pray for these people. Please join me by handing this man over to God. Since no man in the proper place of authority in this country is man enough to step past an unseen fence that pastures laws that only wake up after a beating, rape or death - ask for THE ONE WHO WILL to do so. As for my daughter - I hope and pray that - the adult she is today - will use her mind and common sense - and call me MUCH SOONER if anything like this ever happens again. On a much lighter note - our dog, Zucker, is trained to come and sit when he hears and sees a vehicle. I just went out on the porch to let him out into the yard to do his business. A small single-engine plane flew over our house. Zucker stopped dead in his tracks - sat way out in the middle of the yard - stared up at the plane - and would not even budge on command to come to me until the plane was far enough away. What would I do without my four-legged 'empty nest' medicine?! I guess God knew I needed that laugh!

No comments: