Guilty Plea and Fried Squash

Whew, that's over for now! We got to court and at the last minute the defendant decided to plead guilty. He pleaded guilty (um, yes Jason and I googled the past tense of plead!). There will be a sentencing hearing on January 5th. During that hearing, the judge, not a jury will decide his sentence. I have to share a victim statement with the court. The prosecution will be attempting a maximum sentence with prison time while the defense will be attempting to get the lightest sentence and maybe just time in county rather than prison. I think it will also be an emotional day, especially as I will be reading a prepared "victim statement" discussing how this event has impacted Freddie, our family, etc. As if any of that could be summed up into some kind of written statement. I'll give it a shot though. So, thank you for your prayers, and I'll be sure and ask again come January! The prosecution felt this was a very good thing, because they feared going to trial that he may only get a 2nd degree battery charge, but this ensures 1st degree domestic battery. I told them how strange it is to have something like this summed up by domestic battery. The words don't fit the crime at all.

So, to end my evening I went to the store with my kids who were tired and cranky from daycare all day. I had to fill a few WIC checks, I ain't scared to admit that we receive WIC benefits. However, my kids acted up so badly that I got those pity looks from everyone. Addie was the worst. It was like a different child! She pulled my hair in the parking lot and laughed about it. She screamed "potty, poop in it, potty!!!" She tried to escape the cart, jumped up and down, got out of the cart, ran down the front aisle, and garnered much attention from other shoppers. The cashier was very kind but of course there was a problem with my WIC check, I forgot a quart of milk and then they were arguing about some brand of whole wheat tortillas. It never fails. So, as I was dragging Addie and attempting to keep Freddie in his seat I felt a hand on my arm. The woman behind me in line grabbed by arm and leaned in very close to whisper. "If you need help with food, Zion Lutheran Church has a food pantry and I can give you the number. They are just wonderful and you could get some really good things especially for the kids." I was too dumbfounded to refuse and would have felt rude to have refused, so I stayed and let her dig for a card in her purse and write the number on it as the cashier commented on how Addie's terrible two's must have started early and how I had my hands full. I so badly wanted to say, "Oh, just wait about 7 1/2 more months!" Wouldn't they have died? :) I was so close to tears by the time I left that store, but a talk with my mom had me laughing about it pretty soon. Needless to say, I needed some comfort food when I got home. I made baked pork chops and homemade fried squash that was DELICIOUS!