It's party time...

The kid is back in school, the kid is back in school.

Hi-ho the dairy-o, the kid is back in school    

 

Wooo Hoooo-- two hours of 'me' time!  I almost forgot about free time just from the short break over Christmas....  

How the heck am I going to make it through summer?!  I wonder if preschool holds summer sessions?  

Now, what do I do first?  Uh.... yeah..... catch up email, make phone calls I can't when she's around, watch an adult movie....... oh, the possibilities  :)  

Hey, by the way... I need to know where the verse in the Bible is when Jesus is telling a story about being hungry, and tired.  The verse says something like 'I was hungry, you nourished me, etc.....'  I know some of you know, help a sista out........  

Have a great one.....  

Cat  

Horoscope confusions.....

Here is your horoscope for January 5, 2005--

You might just miss something good if you rush through this moment. Your style is established, and they won't soon forget your contributions. Savor your position of strength while you still occupy it so easily.  

I'm reading this and trying to figure out to what it infers, since I have no life away from my house, family, or computer, it must mean one of those....... wouldn't you think?   

Now, if you believe these are true, you'll know it could be something in the recent past, present, or future.  If you don't believe, I'm surprised you've made it this far.   

Breaking it down....  

About savoring the position of strength, I certainly don't understand what the heck that is all about.  Mentally, I am no stronger or weaker than any other person, I just know where I stand in life, what I give it and what I get from it.  Don't we all?   

 As for the style--well, I go through phases.... like the moon.  :::winks:::  I do change a lot about myself--hair and eye color, clothes styles, book and music styles...  Maybe, to some, that sounds like I don't know who I am.  To others it may seem like I'm not comfortable with myself.   

The truth is simple... I get bored with the outside, including influences.  My reaction is to change before I get stuck in a rut, and that applies to everything about me.  But, that picture over there to the right (um.. not 'Kitty") is who I proudly wear forever....... on the inside.....  

Rushing is not part of my vocabulary....  

I still don't get what it is referring to... yet.  

Cat

Brainstorming....

Man arrested in 12-year-old's disappearance
Sheriff says murder charges are warranted; suspect says he knew girl, denies hurting her.

Authorities Wednesday (Last) linked a 39-year-old Indianapolis man to an Eastside girl who vanished on Christmas Eve, arresting him on preliminary charges of kidnapping and murder. Jeffrey A. Voss, of Indianapolis, was held in the disappearance of 12-year-old Christina Tedder, Marion County Sheriff Frank Anderson said. Christina vanished Friday evening after she left her apartment in the 7000 block of East 10th Street to walk to a nearby Shell gas station.

The Sheriff's Department offered few details Wednesday evening as to why Voss was arrested, what connection he might have had to Christina, where Christina's body might be or whether she might still be alive.

But Anderson said he was "confident" that Voss was responsible for Christina's disappearance and that murder charges are warranted.

"With the vast amount of probable cause that our detectives have brought forth, I'm confident that we have the right person," Anderson said at a hastily called news conference at the sheriff's office in Downtown Indianapolis.

Deputy Chief Herman Humbles said the evidence suggests that Christina was killed, but he declined to elaborate.

Anderson said, "Let's not forget for one moment the tragedy this arrest suggests."

He and other officials said more details would be made public as authorities sift through clues and evidence.

Authorities said Voss was not cooperative. On Wednesday evening, Voss told reporters he knew Christina and her family but denied any involvement in her disappearance.

As several deputies escorted Voss in handcuffs out of the Sheriff's Department, he said: "I did not hurt that little girl. I did not do anything to her."

Voss was arrested at the sheriff's office after questioning Wednesday afternoon, authorities said. Records reveal he has a criminal history: He was released from prison in November 2002 after serving sentences in several Indiana counties, including Marion County, for armed robbery and criminal confinement.

Formal charges and an initial hearing are pending.

Christina's mother, Michelle Tedder, and father, Guillermo Mendoza, have slept or eaten little since the girl's disappearance and have appeared drained by anxiety.

Tedder spent the evening in her apartment on East 10th Street. She refused to speak to reporters, at one point calling police to order the media away.

Mendoza, who doesn't live with Christina and her mother, expressed profound grief at the news.

"It was like somebody pulled my heart out of the chest," he said. "It's a terrible feeling -- there's a part of me missing. Right now, I'm very empty inside. I've got my son holding me together, but my little girl, she was my life."

Christina's disappearance set off a frenzied search in the neighborhoods surrounding her Eastgate Terrace apartment complex and left her family to contemplate the worst. In the first days, searchers battled bitter temperatures and the remnants of last week's snowstorm.

The case also sparked a public debate over the decision by authorities not to issue an Amber Alert after Christina was reported missing.

The alert system, implemented in Indiana in 2002, is activated only when evidence exists that a child younger than 18 might have been abducted or might be in peril. When she first disappeared, there was no evidence that Christina had been kidnapped or was in danger, police said.

Police on Sunday arrested another Indianapolis man, 42-year-old Vince Cooley, a convicted child molester and neighbor of Christina's, for failing to report a change of address to his probation officer. Authorities named Cooley a "suspect" in the case earlier this week but backed off Tuesday. Cooley was sent to prison Tuesday for violating his probation.

________________________________________________

"I often say and tell people that children are our flowers. And there are a lot of weeds out there that want to snuff them out. So today my heart goes out to the family and the friends.''  Sheriff Frank Anderson, announcing that the body of 12-year-old Christina Tedder,  missing since Christmas Eve, had been found.

Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi said today (1/4/05) the man accused of the Christmas Eve slaying of a 12-year-old girl is eligible for the death penalty.

Jeffrey Voss, 39, was on probation for armed robbery in Putnam County when police say he strangled Christina Tedder to death at a home in the 10500 block of Folsom Drive. Committing a murder while on probation is an aggravating circumstance that makes the crime eligible for the death penalty.

"Capital punishment ought to be reserved for the worst of the worst and he is a prime candidate," Brizzi said. "He's a sociopath."

Voss was charged with murder, three counts of criminal confinement and obstruction of justice.  Prosecutors currently want to have Voss imprisoned for life without parole.  Brizzi said he will make a decision on seeking the death penalty after speaking with the victim's family.

Ok, this sadistic SOB just gave me a great idea to save taxpayers a bunch of money (and go towards paying off this outrageous national debt).

In my plan, if one confesses (please note Shana) and there is hard evidence to prove that fact, it is an immediate waive of any appeals and that person is given one week to tend to finalization of personal affairs.  Then an artery is injected with a syringe full of air (causes the heart to stop), end of story. 

Hey.. since one is going to die.. we don't even need to swap needles after use (think of how long one needle would last, too).

I'd vote for it...

Cat

 

I like, I love it, I want some more of it....

For all my fellow non-Bush loyalists, click here.....

Before I forget....

So, I'd better write up New Years Day's happenings before a week goes by and it slips my mind.  

My brother and two of his friends, my parents, me and Gracie, and my parents friend's--Dick and Dixie (married), and Karen, were here for the traditional Corned Beef and Cabbage dinner.  To accompany it were black-eyed peas, turnips, collard and mustard greens (cooked with ham hocks, of course), and new (red) potatoes.  Dad is a most excellent chef.... that's where I get it from.  That story (Under Construction, part 1) in Cat House about Sami cooking the first time .....is actually about me  :::winks:::   We ate our fill, chatted for awhile, and everyone went home. 

Holidays at 'The Hildebrand Haus' are officially over!   

I, for one, am overjoyed (yeah, right) because my kid is now extremely insistent that someone play with her ALL THE TIME!  In two weeks time, she's become accustom to a friend or relative entertaining her every second.  Uh.... Mommy is having none of that.  The 10 hours a day (out of the 12-14 hours she's up) I spend catering to her whims and teaching her, are more than enough.  

She got a rude awakening today when, after working on tracing letters and making playdoh animals for three hours, I told her to go play in the playroom for little while.  "Who's gonna come play with me?"  she asked her best whiny voice.  I told her no one right now, she can go play with her toys or watch TV until I get lunch done.  "But I neeeeeeed someone," she whimpered, protruding her bottom lip out in full pout and stomping her foot.  Oh, yeah.. that's her latest thing-- stomping her foot at me, something I did to get her attention when I had laryngitis and couldn't muster up a whisper. :::sheesh:::    

Well, you know.. one of my other personalities comes out at this point and insists she go play NOW!  She ughs and humphs a little more and militant mom starts counting loudly (luckily, that still works) ONE, TWO... Grace high tails it into the other room, wailing all the way.  I was happy she went, even if it was screaming.  I tend to lunch and she continues screaming she needs someone to play with.  And then, it came out of her mouth, the words every mother dreads to hear....  

Her:  Mommy, I want a sister!

Me:   What...... what did you say?

Her:  I want a sister.

Me:  No way, kiddo.

Her:  But how? (meaning why, would give anything for this child to ask WHY--its always how this and how that...:)

Me:  Because you are enough.

Her:  I'm not enough, Caf-a-wee (she also calls me by my first name when she's mad at me), there's only one of me.

Me:  That's my point.  One is plenty.

Her:  Mom?

Me:  Yes, Grace.

Her:  Can I get a brother?

Me:  Aren't you supposed to be in the playroom?  

God, its starting already...  

She goes back to classes starting Wednesday, so hopefully she'll get her fill of playing with other kids and forgetting the brother/sister thing.  :::fingers crossed:::  

I'm hoping to hear from some places this week about the jobs I applied for... they said they would hire after the holidays, and well... they're over now (did I say YIPPEEE?!).  They have this week to ring me or I'm off looking elsewhere.  I have just got to get out of the house!  Soon!! 

I've even been hinting to my buddy (just plain buddy, Nae), Johnny, that he needs a maid.  He's actually thinking about it, too.  It's making money and time away from home, so it works for me  :)  

Hey, while I'm here thinking of things to write...... I need a new way to fix Gracie's hair.  I have naturally curly hair and with her being biracial, well.... even her curls have curls.  I use 'The Conditioner'  because I'm told its the best, and I love her hair after a bath when its long and wavy and freshly braided.  When wet, it is to almost to her waist.  When dry, its up above her shoulders.  Really!  I have tried a straightening iron on her twice, but after a few hours, she ends up with a horizontal afro.  If I had the money, I'd take her to someone (would love her hair in corn-rowed braids!).  So any of you who know anything about hair, or just think you do,.... HELP, I'm a 'product' virgin!  

That about wraps up my ramblings for the night...  

Cat            

Aww, thanks guys....

I'm glad that 'The Cat House' is going over so well.   

For those who have read it, you now see my hesitation to the idea.  

For those who enjoy it, there are hundreds more stories.. as long as you want them, I'll write them.  Am toying with the idea of reader input stories (because I know there are some smoking J-Land fantasies out there....ahem, Nae, Stacy, Amy... oh, and Brian, well you could have a novel all your own).  Basically, you give me the characters and I'll write the stories.  Let me know what you think.  

For those who received access, but changed their minds after reading... please let me know and I'll remove your name.  It is not meant to be offensive (if I needed to make that clear).  

For those who lurk, cough once in a while so I know you're still breathing.  

For those who left comments, I am not surprised at all.  I knew you guys rocked! 

Thanks for the support and enjoyment...  

Cat

A reminder...

Six months from now, when life has moved us on, and we have all but forgotten the tsunami victims because images are no longer blasted all over the tele.... the smallest, most helpless survivors will still be struggling.  

Reports state children make up 1/3 of the casualties.  The surviving kids most likely lost some or their entire families.  Red Cross and Save the Children are making every effort to find shelter and relatives of these children, but the amount of damage is making things more difficult.   

When the air time of this disaster runs out, I hope our memories don't go with it.  Sri Lanka, Indonesia, and India will be in need of assistance for a very long time.....   

Think of the children.

Cat