Christmas suprise

Christmas Eve began for Lori and me at Marion County Criminal Court 3.  We got there about 9am and waited for the hearing to begin at 10am.  We came to see the three accused of blowing up our neighborhood and represent the neighborhood. The hearings were formalities, but being able to see those three and have them see us was what drew us there.  The best part for me was that I was able to leave afterward. The three accused had to go back to jail.  They will be there until their trial which may not be for a year. Good.

Dion and Jen Longworth's families were there too.  After the hearings the media was outside the courtroom and descended upon us as we left. I saw Derrik Thomas from Channel 6 and he asked me a question. He has been at Channel 6 forever and I remember seeing him report on everything important that happened in Indianapolis and was a little starstruck. I answered his question and looked up to see about 4 cameras and microphones in my face. I was asked why I was there, what I hoped to see, my thoughts on a possible death penalty, if I was representing the Longworths, if my house was destroyed, and my thoughts on all the charges, to name a few. I wasn't looking to be on TV, I was caught up in talking to Derrik Thomas.

I was also glad to see the Deputy Prosecutor, Denise Robinson. Her demeanor and seriousness is very comforting. I know she will work as hard as necessary to get the convictions. I heard her interview and was able to chat briefly with her afterward. She told us that her office will be in touch soon to be sure they had all of our contact information correct. Lori introduced us as "Count 18" and she thought that was funny.

Christmas Eve is always fun for us.  My parents and Grandma have an open house that evening. There is always tons of great food and lots of fun people. I really look forward to it. This year it is one thing that has not changed after the explosion. The open house was great as expected.  We came back to the house and went to bed after getting ready for Christmas morning.

On Christmas morning everyone comes to our house.  This Christmas morning had different surroundings. New house, unfamiliar kitchen to cook breakfast, and  barely enough chairs to hold everyone made the morning different.  We ate and then the girls opened their presents.  The highlight came when they found out that we are going on a cruise next week. We are taking a cruise to the western Caribbean and leave on Saturday.  The girls had no idea - Lori and I were so excited to tell them and their reaction was awesome.  I told Lori that we were going on a cruise over break and she was a bit hesitant to agree. I said she should quit thinking of why we can't go and we can figure out how we are going to make it happen. Lori went to Knightstown to get our documents and as many summer clothes as she could get.  Last night we shopped online to get the clothes we could not find in Knightstown.  Overnight delivery is a good thing.  That is until I looked outside this morning and saw about 6" or more of snow.  Can the Fed Ex or UPS guy get through the snow to get our stuff here in time? Let's hope so.  To say we are excited to go on the cruise is a complete understatement.

We are snowed in today. The girls got some movies for Christmas and I think they will be watching them. I think I will shovel the driveway. Lori thought to buy me a shovel last week.  Thanks a lot, Lori. She should have brought my snowblower from Knightstown...