Outrage still intact.

After much encouragement I forwarded my last story on to several local news agencies and received one response.

The reporter asked if I had all of the paperwork and would I be willing to appear on camera.

Me? On camera? I don't know. What would I wear?

Of course I would!

The first thing I did was look at the paperwork we were given by the court, to make sure there was no mention of a $310 application fee.

Well, there was a fee and it was due that day. Oops! I am embarrassed, but not really. Here's what it says:

"The court may require you to pay a $20 Application Fee to determine whether you are eligible for a court-appointed attorney."

Okay. $20 sounds reasonable but it is not the same as $310.

"This fee is due even if your request for appointment of counsel is denied. Payment of this fee is due in full today. This fee may, in limited circumstances, be waived."

So why did no one tell us, when we were filing the application, to pay up? One would assume from this behavior that it had been waived. By their own admission the fee may not have even been required. I can assure you it was not!

I still maintain that the wording in the letter we received 2 days ago is too strong and meant as a strong-arm tactic to intimidate people into paying money they do not owe and cannot afford to spend.

Now I wait to find out if my story is still considered news-worthy with this new evidence. Your opinions are valued.

What's eatin' you?

I am not going to go ON and ON and ON about my usual pet peeves about grammar and spelling. It is an exercise in futility at this point.

No. I have new "irks."

My squawk is something that is more than just annoying. It should be illegal. In our recent dealings with the legal system here in Clackamas County we have had to apply for a court appointed attorney, whom we have yet to meet with. We filled out the application and were told to contact the office in 3 days if we did not hear from anyone. That's all. We called back and were assigned someone. Sounds simple enough.

NOT A CHANCE!

Today I received in the mail a very strongly-worded letter stating that we owe $310. HUH?! I thought the reason people were assigned public defense is because they cannot afford an attorney. Here is exactly what the letter says:

"You requested a court appointed attorney on the above referenced case. You were informed the application fee and/or contribution amount was owed."

No, we were not!

"The application fee and contribution amount was due in full at that time. A judgment for the full amount has been entered against you. YOUR CASE IS NOW DELINQUENT."

"Up to $200.00 will be added to your unpaid balance 30 days after the conviction was entered in this case"

What conviction? There has been no conviction.

"Your unpaid balances may be referred to a collection agency for further collection action to include garnishment of your income or assets. An additional 28 percent will be added to cover collection costs."

Good luck! We have no income which is WHY we applied for public defense!!!

My feeling is that if a credit company sent a letter like that, filled with lies to induce payment, they could be held legally accountable for harassment. Why, then, is it okay for the court to send out such a letter?

Upon calling the court collections department, we were informed to ignore the letter. It's the same one they send out to everybody and it can't be changed.

WHAT?!?!?

The legal system can legally threaten with lies to exhort payment from someone who doesn't really owe anything?

This is something that needs to be changed! But maybe I should refrain from rocking the boat until after we settle things in court.

Grab a cup of coffee and settle in.....

God is good all the time!

I will be joyful in all things because to do otherwise would be ungrateful!

Matt used to work with a guy who said that there was a limited amount of wealth in the world and the only reason some people were poor was because others had too much. By that reasoning, if you believe there is a limited amount of ANYTHING then someone is going without while someone else is rolling in “it”.

Thank God He and His blessings are limitless because our family has been the recipient of such an overwhelming abundance of blessings that I fear we are “Bogarting” the blessings. (Was that an inappropriate use of Bogarting?)

May began simply enough. We celebrated my birthday with a small dinner party and me making my debut as a stand-up comedienne. And that’s when life took an interesting turn.

We were trying to figure out when we could fit in a trip to California to visit with my dad. Most people with children would say, “It’s almost summer vacation. Wait a few weeks.” Being home schoolers we know better. I was bemoaning the fact that my childcare duties made it difficult to just pick up and go. Then I received the call that my biggest client had been laid off. Prayer answered.

So we loaded up the bus and we headed south. The first two days went without incident. We camped at Mt. Shasta (tepid showers) and Los Banos (land of big wind) KOAs. Wednesday we were making good time on our way into The City so we decided to surprise the children with a stop by the Jelly Belly Factory in Fairfield. I fixed a picnic lunch and we stocked up on Belly Flops. The San Francisco stop got me my fix of Boudin’s sourdough bread. Having not written down the exact directions out of The City I followed signs that said south. We ended up driving through Gilroy and didn’t add much time to the trip at all. Thursday morning we got a late start, about 20 minutes behind my planned schedule, but we rolled with the punches. I also miscalculated how long it would take to reach Matt’s parents’ home in Bakersfield so we arrived just about the time I had wanted to be back on the road. No problem. We enjoyed a nice visit and lunch with the grandparents who showered all of us with generosity. Having been nearly 4 years since we’d seen them, they were dutifully impressed with how much the children had grown.

A quick stop for gas on our way back to the freeway turned into a Disneyland-esque line for the on ramp. There was a roadblock at the freeway where it appeared the police were looking for someone exiting the 99 South. Fifty minutes after leaving the parents’ home we were back on the road. It didn’t take long to reach the Grapevine and that’s where the fun began.

In all my years driving this route I have NEVER had any car trouble but there is, as they say, a first time for everything. The temperature gauge leapt into the red and bells and whistles started going off! I pulled over at a water stop. Matt and I started filling bottles with water while waiting for the engine to cool. After what we considered an adequate amount of time Matt removed the radiator cap. WRONG!! Boiling water and coolant sprayed us. I escaped un-harmed while Matt came away with a burn on his arm and hand. He checked the fluids and we added water to the radiator. We tried to get moving but less than a hundred yards up the road the entertaining sounds began again. So we pulled off to the side and called our road-side assistance number. It took about an hour for the tow truck - with enough room in the cab for our whole family - to arrive. Ian was very upset that the white bus wouldn’t go but he perked up when he climbed into the cab of the truck. We were towed just over the Grapevine into Lebec. Everything auto related was closed so we walked to Dennys for dinner and assessed the situation.

Hotel or no hotel? Fix it ourselves or wait for the shop to open and pay through the nose? We made a few phone calls and most people agreed that it was the thermostat. Matt finally got in touch with his Uncle Mike, THE mechanic. We walked back over to the bus and Mike played phone diagnostician while Matt described what he saw. All signs were pointing to pulling out the thermostat and continuing on our way. Then he saw the collapsed hoses, Mike told him to remove the radiator cap, and voila! We had a gunky cap and the valve inside was stuck. Matt cleaned it with his knife and Mike reprimanded him for not getting the cooling system flushed in the 3 years we have owned the bus. (We were able to purchase a new radiator cap the next day ($15), I got the oil changed and a new air filter ($51) before heading home, and the cooling system flush will happen before the end of the week.) All in all, I’d had all the excitement I wanted for the rest of the trip. We rolled into Torrance about 10:45pm, only 6 hours behind schedule.

We had a pleasant weekend. Friday I went to breakfast with my dad, we went to the newly opened Seaside Heroes Park for a picnic lunch and Matt and I walked around Del Amo Mall with the children. Aside from some antics that ended with Megan falling on the escalator and cutting her leg, it was a calm day. After returning to Dad’s place he and I went out for some pizza at my friend’s new restaurant Valentinos in Redondo Beach and back to the house to have dinner with Dad’s friends Dottie and Dieter. Auntie Karen stopped by to dote on the children and she took two of them home with her for the night. Matt and I headed out to shoot some pool and sing Karaoke at Gable House Bowl. We got to hear Morris O’Kelley sing and that was a definite treat.

Saturday was all about the fun. The children went out to eat in shifts. Auntie Karen could only take 4 at a time in her car. Then we waited for the drizzling to stop and had a picnic at El Retiro Park. Afterward Matt and I took the children to the beach to fly kites and Mary proceeded to rid the beach at Avenue G of all the shells she could carry. Back to Dad’s where Matt prepared tacos for dinner and I picked up a friend and her child to join us for dinner. Karen topped it off with my FAVORITE ice cream – I love it even more than Ben and Jerry’s Karamel Sutra – Thrifty’s Gold Medal Chocolate Malted Crunch! If nothing else this was a delicious visit home. I am baffled that I seem to have lost even more weight on this trip!

Sunday morning we headed out to the San Fernando Valley for church. It was so good to see all the familiar faces. These fine people were our church family for over 12 years! The children enjoyed Sunday School and we got to visit after worship. Then it was off to the Piatt-Scarborough home where the children played Wii and dressed up as pirates and ate all the Pez in the house. Matt and I got to visit with the grown-ups too! Looking for someplace to eat, we drove to Zankou Chicken on Sepulveda. I’m still not sure how I got the bus in and out of that parking lot. After a look at the menu and price hike we decided to eat at Mels Drive-in on Ventura instead. Our waitress Nicole made it a very pleasant dining experience. Back to the South Bay, we dropped off the children and took Dad’s Prius (I really enjoy driving that car!) to pick up Jimmy in Long Beach and take him to meet Ruthie in Redondo Beach.

With all the driving I did over the past two weeks my right calf muscle is in fantastic shape!

This trip was not just about visiting with family. Matt had left some legal loose ends when he moved up to Oregon six years ago and he wanted to get them tied up. So Monday morning we headed to the Torrance courthouse, stopped by the clerk’s office and got pink-slipped to go before the judge. Just before lunch we spoke with a public defender who told us the worst-case scenario and we prepared to face the music. After lunch we came back in, ready to surrender to whatever the judge ordered. Would it be 2 weeks in jail or community service? I was visibly upset and Matt thinks that may have helped. We were the only ones left in the courtroom so the judge couldn’t help but notice me. Matt went forward and the public defender stated that he was ready to surrender himself into custody. The judge looked at the file, asked Matt a few questions and said he could pick up where he’d left off. He had to pay the fine and he would have 5 months to finish the court-ordered classes! I was openly crying now. This was way more than we could have hoped for. We left the courthouse and headed to downtown Torrance to see about getting his classes finished. An appointment was made and we went on our way.

First thing Tuesday morning we went to the DMV to find out what Matt would have to do to get his license back. Turns out he’ll have to finish everything before they will consider talking to him. Upon arriving at Matt’s 10am appointment we found that the person setting the schedule had triple-booked and we had to come back the next day. This was very frustrating as I didn’t want to plan the return trip until we knew exactly what was going to be required of Matt. We did find out that he would have to begin the 3 months of classes from the beginning. Not what we wanted to hear but not impossible. It was hard to be ungrateful considering what could have been.

That afternoon we headed out to Buena Park to see my brother Michael and his family before meeting more family at Mrs. Knotts’ Chicken Dinner Restaurant. Good food and even better company made for a wonderful evening. At the end of the meal there was nearly a throw-down over who would pay the check. All of the left-overs made for a simple breakfast the next day; macaroni and cheese, chicken, fettuccini alfredo, turkey and stuffing and apple pie. That afternoon we headed to Fountain Valley to have lunch with Karen. After lunch we had plenty of time until Matt’s appointment so we took a detour to Downtown Disney and Mary got to wander around the biggest LEGO store she had ever seen! We also drove around the parks and the children yelled out, “That’s the back of Twilight Zone Tower of Terror! There’s the back of Space Mountain! Look at the back of the Small World clock!” Cheap thrills, gotta love ‘em.

At Matt’s appointment we got the bad news that his classes could not be moved to Oregon but the good news that he could do the 3 months of classes in 2 weeks, provided the judge would sign off on it. That meant another trip to the courthouse. I was beginning to feel like a yo-yo. We took some of the children to the beach to fly kites again and collect the remaining shells, as well as some tar on the bottom of our feet. I knew there was something I didn’t like about the beach other than the sand. I was anxious about whether Matt would be coming home with us or not. All this uncertainty was unsettling. I was really having to rely on God’s perfect timing and strength. On the one hand I didn’t want to drive home without Matt. On the other hand 2 weeks apart is preferable to 3 months.

Thursday morning I dropped Matt back at the courthouse at 7:30am. Then home to feed the children breakfast and begin packing for the return trip home. We were going to walk to the hardware store to get something to remove the tar from my feet when Matt called that he was done in court and the judge had approved the accelerated program! He was going to walk back to the office to get signed up for his classes and I would meet him there. So we piled into the bus only to find that I’d left the electric ice chest plugged in all night and the battery was dead. Yep, it was one of those kinds of trips. My dad called AAA to come give us a jump start and the children and I got to take the walk to the hardware store after all. The bus was running when we returned and I thanked the AAA guy and my dad for getting us up and running again. We drove downtown and the children and I walked around old Torrance while Matt got signed up for classes. Back to the house, more packing, children walked to the park and we followed with a picnic lunch. They went back to Dad’s and I drove Matt to Long Beach to borrow a bicycle for his 2-week adventure. Gotta have wheels! We went to Target to get a bike lock and something light-colored for him to wear when he rides at night. Then we parted ways so Matt could go to his first class. They got him started immediately and he could not miss a single one. The children and I went for a final dinner with Karen in San Pedro then back to Dad’s for sleep and packing. I was not looking forward to the next day – heading back to Oregon without my husband.

Friday morning dawned and we got the bus packed up. After a tearful good-bye we hit the road at 7:30am. Traffic wasn’t any better or worse than expected and we were through the Grapevine within 2 hours. I was carefully watching the gauges. I did NOT want to be stuck on the side of the road, just me and my 6 children. Ian kept calling for Matt and cried that, “We have to save Dad!” This didn’t make the separation any easier for me. The promise of a hotel and swimming seemed to calm him down, though.

We made it to our hotel in Stockton by 2:30 and were headed poolside to enjoy a little more California sunshine when I got a call from Matt. He was on his way to a class in Costa Mesa, a 3-and-a-half-hour bus ride, and he’d gotten on the wrong bus. This was a one-time shot. If he missed this class it would mean coming home to Oregon then going back to finish this one class. I got an idea and called someone in the area that could help redirect Matt. She got him headed in the right direction and Matt arrived in the nick of time. My brother Joe, who had just flown in from Denver that evening, drove down in dad’s Prius to pick him up when it was all over. Whew! Dodged a bullet there.

Saturday morning we enjoyed a delicious breakfast at the hotel and hit the road about 8am. We were headed for Medford and I just wanted to get there and rest. We stopped at a rest stop above Shasta Lake for lunch. It was beautiful! Lots of pictures and the children got to run around. We were back on the road and arrived at our destination by 2:00 this time. If you are ever in Medford and looking for a moderately priced hotel I recommend the Rogue Regency. They have an indoor pool and spa, a workout room and a game room with pool and shuffleboard. And on Friday and Saturday nights they have comedy and Karaoke. The children swam, I nuked them some dinner then I got to shoot some pool and hear some very funny comedians. After the show I stuck around for Karaoke and stayed up until 2am shooting pool and picking the brains of these talented yucksters. I can’t say I’d like to travel all over doing comedy. The schedule can be grueling but if you love what you’re doing it is worth it.

A little sleep-deprived I decided to hang out at the hotel until the last possible minute before checking out. The children got another chance in the pool and we hit the road. Stopping only to gas up and use the potty, we ate in the car and arrived home in under 5 hours. Home has never looked so sweet. Especially when I pulled up and saw that someone had been doing some major landscaping in our front yard! Our dear friends who had been pet-sitting also decided to give our yard a much-needed sprucing up. They brought in reinforcements and the place looks beautiful! I was in tears and called to thank them and they told me they weren’t finished yet.

Throughout this entire trip I have been praying and I have received exactly what I prayed for, and more. God may have chosen a different way to answer than I would have liked but I got it all. I was bold in praying for things I wanted that I knew I didn’t deserve. I acknowledged that my requests were selfish and that God’s will takes priority. But I also know that He can do all things and if you don’t ask you don’t get.

The list of blessings is so long that if I were doing this at the Academy Awards I would be played off the stage half-way through.

First we thank Dad, Bill and Linda and Joe and Jen for their generosity. Without your financial aid we never could have made this trip or afforded the extras that popped up.

Next I want to thank the tow truck driver who picked us up from the side of the road and carried us and our bus to safety. I’m sorry we couldn’t throw a little more business your way but we were blessed again by Mike Wood whose automotive expertise kept us from shelling out hundreds of dollars to find out all we needed was a radiator cap and to flush out the cooling system. This also saved us the expense of staying in a hotel. Mike, you rock!

Thank you to JoAnna and Jen D. for answering my calls for help. Even though you couldn’t be there for us physically it was comforting to hear familiar voices and realize that no matter how far we go we can always call on our true friends.

Thank you, Ruthie, for trying to trouble-shoot and come up with a solution when it would have been so easy to panic.

Thank you, Karen, for loving on our children and spending your HARD-earned money to make them feel like royalty.

Thank you to the fine officers of the court in Torrance, CA. The mercy that was shown is beyond our scope. Leniency was given where harshness would have been warranted.

Thank you, Linda, for getting Matt back on track in unfamiliar surroundings. You cannot know how much time, money and heartache you saved us!

Thank you, Bill and Lisa and Alex and your crew of busy elves, for caring for our pets and making our home look so beautiful and inviting. Your friendship is worth so much more than silver or gold!

Thank you to my few childcare clients for being so understanding about this last-minute trip. I hope my absence didn’t disrupt your lives too much. I really value your business but more importantly, your children are a part of our lives and bring so much joy to us.

Finally thank You, God! You have placed all of these special people in our lives to be a blessing to us. I know there are many others who were not named but You know who they are. I know we can never pay everyone back for what they have given us but You will bless them. And we will give of whatever resources we have to be a blessing to others, following the example of your Son and our Savior Jesus Christ.

All the time, He is good!

Seriously, God?!

I know that my God is loving, jealous, mighty and powerful, just, omniscient and omnipotent. No where in Scripture have I ever read that He is funny so I have to believe that He is not playing some big colossal joke on my family and me.

Not that I doubt God has a sense of humor, but I don't think it is malicious. Neither do I think He is making bad things happen to us to get us to turn to Him. That would make Him manipulative. Not His style.

So why do bad things happen to good, God-fearing folks like us? Perhaps someone else did something bad that had a ripple effect which finally reached us. Or maybe we made bad choices, the affects of which have finally caught up with us.

You mean I need to take ownership of my behaviour? No thanks!

Okay, fine. So now what?

I suppose this is just another opportunity to be reminded that God is in control and if I can be His living billboard by showing grace through adversity then I will do my best. I talk a good game of relying on Him for all my needs but that gets to be a little more difficult when the funds are running low.

Now, just because I start looking for alternative sources of income doesn't mean I'm not trusting Him. Maybe I just need to be a better steward of the funds we do have. Prioritize! Hmmm, I thought I was doing that but I suppose there's always room for improvement.

Wait. That is what I must learn to do. His timing is always perfect. I'll just hurry up and wait.