Check in #1

Because the second time, I'll bring you the latest in the Battle of the Bulge.

Oh, thank God, the trial is over! After three half-days of testimony (starting after lunch on Monday, just before lunch on Tuesday, and ending just before lunch yesterday) the jury was handed the case at 1:40 p.m. yesterday.

At 2:25 p.m., they had a verdict for Bailiff Bob.

And yes, even the judge calls him that.

Guilty of capital murder. Life in prison, with no possibilty of parole.

(Did you know that in Mississippi at least, it doesn't matter if you robbed the person before or after they died, it's still capital murder? I didn't.)

(There was no death penalty on the table. I think because he's a citizen of our neighbor to the south, and he's not exactly supposed to be here, and they don't exactly like the death penalty down there.)

(Something like that.)

No big show of emotion from the family - I think they're just glad to be done with this.

This has been a very topsy-turvy week. When I got downstairs to my car to check my phone for messages on Tuesday (because I couldn't take it or my purse into the courtroom) there was a missed call from work. The weather was getting bad, Travis said, and school had let out early.

Great. I'm in court, can't be reached, can't leave. Jason's in Memphis. Along with my mom and Amanda.

No worries - Travis said Ms. Faye had already gone to the school to pick her up.

I was a bit concerned that the school had let my daughter go with someone that I hadn't told them would be coming, but Faye had talked to the teacher when she called and let her know the situation. When Faye finally got to where AM was (poor thing had no idea where to go, and the whole setup is pretty complicated) they asked AM if she knew the lady in the white truck.

She said she did, and the folks said, "You must be her grandmother!"

(Faye was not offended - she does have red hair, and she is old enough to be AM's grandmother.)

The two red-heads pulled up at the courthouse about the time I got off the phone with Jason. I was going to take the kid home while I had my lunch break and leave her at the paper with Faye, but then I remembered my dad hadn't gone back to work yet so I took her over there until Jason could get home.

Problem solved.

(By the way, AM did know that I was in court, and Ms. Shirley was supposed to get her from choir practice after school, but she was at the doctor with her husband when the teacher called. So I guess she figured Ms. Faye was a stand-in for Ms. Shirley.)

I am typing this on our new - I mean, Jason's new laptop. It also came in Tuesday whilst I was in court. It's an Acer, and I'm not thrilled with the keyboard. For some reason, every few keystrokes, the cursor jumps back a few spaces and starts typing in the middle of another word. My mom has an Acer, and it does the same thing. If anyone out there has had this problem, and knows what I'm doing wrong, I'd appreciate some tips.

The jury, while dismissed in the murder trial, is still out on Vista.

And now, gentle reader, I must go finally start my day. I'm thankful we're all safe after Tuesday's storms, that I didn't have to see any crime-scene photos this week, and that the trial is over and justice, hopefully, is served.

And that I work with such a great group of folks that they're willing to all pull together to help me be a mom so I can do what I do.