"What a long strange trip it has been"

That is a wonderful quote attributed to the late, great Jerry Bear, Jerry Garcia, and I can think of no other quote to describe this year as a whole. I feel overly lazy about not writing, not posting not anything but when life has you, not only by the short and curlies but in a choke hold as well you kind of take a break from it all.

In May of this year...
The lovely couple who introduced me to my husband, had their children removed from their custody and were arrested on false charges. They were released and the charges were "put on hold" until the case could be investigated fully.
My father was rushed to the hospital with chest pain. This is not all that uncommon as he has COPD, Congestive Heart Failure, a pace maker and is 74 this year.

In June of this year...
The couple who had their kids stolen moved in with us. Merging two households is not easy. They also had to use our computers, because theirs were "evidence". We were spending a lot of time researching the history of the types of crimes my friends were being charged with and how easy it was to find proof where none existed.
My mother was in the hospital for various reasons. She suffered from, Fibromyalga, Dermo-myocitus (which is something akin to a combo of Fribro and Lupis on steroids). On the 10th my mom turned 64.

In July of this year...
Early in the month we crammed 3 families, and 7 cats in a 3 bedroom 1400 sq ft house, headaches abound.
My friends were advised by their CPS lawyers that if they "cherished their freedom" they should get out of the state. Staying and protesting the CPS's placement of their children with the woman who was accusing them of these crimes was only fulling the "witch hunt" and would cause the ADA to pursue the criminal charges again. Also, actively assisting in their own defense was making them look as guilty as not doing anything. They left for locals unknown.
Both of my parents were in the hospital, this time for pneumonia. My dad when in first and second and my mom went in. She passed away, in hospice, at 9:15 AM AST on July 26. She was surrounded by family.

In August of this year...
My husband turned 34, and in a much needed shot of levity, we celebrated it at a local water park. We also hosted a memorial service for my mother at the retirement park my dad lives at. It was attend by a host of family, friends and neighbors and a bunch of men in plaid skirts. Both of my parents were very proud of our Scots heritage and my dad, being a member of the Scottish-American Military Society , hired a piper to send mom off in style. SAMS members also acted as ushers.
While placing my mothers ashes into a urn suitable for the service, the twist tie holding the bag closed came loose and some of the ashes "poofed" out of the urn onto the counter of my dad's kitchen. We still laugh about that.

In September of this year...
Round about the 16th, we received a call from the Hillbourough County Jail, in New Hampshire. Our friends that had their children stolen by CPS had gotten arrested again. They were in a park, after hours, and when they police checked their ID's, a Governors warrant popped. Our local ADA had re-issued the charges against them and wanted them back ASAP. They were fighting extradition and the soonest the New Hampshire courts could set a date was in October.
On the 22nd, I turned 34. It's occurred to me on several occasions that I haven't had a decent birthday, a birthday without strife or turmoil since 2000.

Well it's October; when it was explained to my friends that all our stated need as proof that extradition was necessary was to state that there was an open case against them here, they waved their fight. New Hampshire gave our county 10 business days to retrieve them. If they have not been removed from New Hampshire by the 25th, the New Hampshire judge can either release them (hope and pray) or grant our state an extension. They may be closer, close enough to visit at least, by next week.
My dad is back in the hospital, as of yesterday. Our local hospital SUCKS!!!!! They claim poverty and have to close down two wings, then spend millions of dollars on new paint and never have enough beds when the Snow Birds arrive.


And yes, this post has nothing to do with cooking....