Now that Tim has moved his truck back into the garage, the kittens no longer have half the garage to frolic around on and keep their distance. We have a small space behind the truck. I sit on the floor and mix up their dinner, talking away to them. They really are getting bolder and bolder, and the cat treats have been quite a motivator.
Yesterday, Tiger and Sigh did not appear at all, and I was a bit worried about them, but today, they all showed up. They mill around rubbing against the stacked lumber and purring loudly while I talk to them, and usually, there are one or two darting in to grab little tastes of dinner while I'm mixing.
Their dish is probably no more than a foot and a half away from where I sit, and my proximity doesn't seem to bother them as much as it used to. Today, Tiger actually stared at me for some time, finally approaching me to sniff at my shoe, and then to 'boop' my hand with his forehead a couple of times. Sigh came over to sit by me, and almost had a heart attack when I sneezed. All of them were very interested in the treat packet in my lap.
So...that felt like progress.
My oldest grandaughter is having her first communion at the end of the month, and I was trying to find something special to commemorate the day. One night when I couldn't sleep, I got to thinking about charm bracelets and how popular they were when I was a kid. I always wanted one, but luxuries were few and far between in those days.
I got up and headed off to do some googling, and found the cutest little charm necklaces. They were not so expensive that she wouldn't be able to wear it to school if she wanted. I had a good time looking through all the charms, finally selecting an initial charm, a birthstone, a cross to mark her communion, a ballerina because she does love her ballet. and a heart with 'sister' on it.
It's always kind of dicey when you buy something like that on line, but it arrived today and I was very pleased to see that it is worth every penny. Nothing 'cheap' about it. I think that she will love it, and I plan to let her select five more charms for Christmas. I see several that are fitting.
We received a package in the mail from the local police department. It is about the broken window. The boys who broke the window have been charged. We have a chance to attend the hearing. Neither one of us see the point in that. We did ask for the decision of the court to be forwarded to us, and we did request a written apology. We don't really expect restitution. I mean these are kids that have done hundreds of dollars in damages, to multiple houses. They'll never pay it off.
I discovered that one of the boys has a facebook page. In the midst of all the crazy things that kids post, there is one post he wrote to his father who had left the family and started a new one. It seems that the young man had waited for his father to call him for his birthday, and the call never came.
That struck me as sad.
Remember the guy that ran the red light over the summer and hit my car?
Tim bought the car from the insurance company. He had to get a salvage title for it, and then he bought the parts he needed to rebuild the front end. It is done now. He will have to get an enhanced inspection to verify that it is road worthy. I think he did a good job.
He's a clever fellow.
I, at least, was clever enough to know that when I met a good mechanic, I should marry him.
Wow! Tim is indeed a very clever fellow. Hope the road-worthiness inspection goes smoothly.
ReplyDeleteIt should. The damage was superficial, for the most part. The bumper cover was torn off, the grill damaged, a headlight assembly. He had to have the paint matched. He needed to buy new hood hinges, because the hood had been pushed sideways. For the most part, the damage was to the 'pretties', not the actual car.
DeleteGreat job on the car. I wasn't smart enough to marry someone good at fixing thing, I just got lucky. I come from a family of people who can't fix anything and they all warned me that if we didn't last, they would keep him in the family instead of me.
ReplyDeleteLOL. I can see that happening! My father gave my husband a penny for luck, and another penny if he'd promise to keep me.
DeleteYour quiet presence at the court session might impress upon those kids more than any punishment. The one isn't the only one who's dad didn't call or show up when he said he would. I had to brace my own son that his dad, whom I divorced, may not appear to: football or baseball games, baptism, or when he was at the vet having his dog put to sleep. He was asked, but didn't appear for those things. The kid just learned that he could depend on mom and some other folks. I should have married a mechanical guy. I gave up 3 husbands, one way or another, but kept my prize car mechanic! Linda in Kansas
ReplyDeletePerhaps. I did not think of it that way. Tim did not want to sit in a courtroom waiting for the case.
DeleteI just felt so sad for the kid. The misspellings showed that he wasn't a scholar. The writing showed his anger. But underneath all that was a very hurt boy.
That wee headbutt...you are now his human....
ReplyDeleteA nice present for you granddaughter that she can choose how it grows.
Sad kids...hitting out at the world.
Yes, you chose well!!
It was an astonishing moment. He studied me so carefully, and I just sat still watching back. I couldn't believe it when he came to me.
DeleteHe needs to stay
DeleteThe cat lovin' gets better. In spite of being so busy, Tim fixed your car too. I'm impressed.
ReplyDeleteAt least no blood was drawn this time.
DeleteThe car was considered a total loss only because the labor charges for putting it back together would have been more than the blue book value of the car. They wrote it off as a total loss, and sent us a check. Tim bought the car back from them for about $400. He put less than $700 worth of parts on it. We came out with an extra $3200. That's pretty good pay for Tim's labor.
The charm necklace sounds like it will be a surefire hit.
ReplyDeleteLucky girl.
I think it will. She's quite a girly girl and she does love her sparkleys.
DeleteThe charm necklace is a lovey, thoughtful gift.
ReplyDeleteThe kittens are happily training you and occasionally thanking you.
I wish parents could realise the harm they can do their children when they choose to please themselves.
It was just such a sad raw post. Something that we have been seeing quite a bit of is 11 and 12 year old kids getting arrested for fighting in school. There were a group of them fighting in the playground across the river from us. So young! Where is all this coming from?
DeleteSome teachers here feel that the long-term effects of the Covid lockdown are still being felt by some children. They had their education interrupted and missed out on acquiring vital social skills. It particularly affected those who were confined in houses with problematic family relationships - they learned how to argue and fight but without the compensatory skills gained from social interaction with a wider community.
DeleteWatch out for the kitties crawling up into the engine and/or undercarriage of the truck, especially now that it's getting cooler.
ReplyDeleteBoth of the trucks in the garage are 'vintage' and not driven in the winter. We pulled a furnace from the old house that will eventually be demolished. Tim wanted to make sure that there was a warm place for the kittens this winter.
DeleteAll those leaves around the car . I would be bagging them up and storing them for a couple of years to make leaf mould.
ReplyDeleteThe city has a program. The leaves are taken to the curb, the city comes along with a large vacuum type truck and gathers the leaves. They compost them. Every spring, compost is free to city residents.
DeleteExcellent. I wish I could source free compost like that.
DeleteYou'd be quite impressed to see huge, huge piles of leaves, many of them. It always impresses me to see the heat they generate in the winter as they decompose.
DeleteOur granddaughter also did first communion but thankfully has not followed up. Grandson was never interested.
ReplyDeleteI expect that my kids and grands will approach life differently than I do. I celebrate all their 'moments'. I used to believe, and I can understand the comfort of it.
DeleteMight be a very good idea to show up in court, then they would see the faces of those whose property they damaged and know that people are aware of their actions, even when the boys can't see them. If even one of the boys had a change of heart and changed his ways, that would be a success. Your call.
ReplyDeleteYou know, Ruth, an earlier comment had me thinking about it. Perhaps it is a good thing to do. I'm going to talk to some of the other neighbors.
DeleteSounds like what these kids need is a long-term, stable relationship with a caring adult…. I’m not sure they’d be moved by a bunch of (rightfully) angry adult strangers; I’d be worried that angry kids could lash out, tbh.
DeleteWell, they've certainly done wrong, but I don't know that they would be surrounded by "angry adults". It would be more about accountability, I think. These are very young boys. I think most adults are mature enough to see this as an opportunity to put them on a different path.
DeleteI love the charm necklace idea. I need to keep that in mind for Ms. Magnolia.
ReplyDeleteI am wondering if Mr. Moon and Tim are brothers. When he asked me to marry him he said, "I can fix cars and I can fix houses. We'll never go hungry." And that has proven to be quite true.
I have e-mailed you the link, Mary. Tim can fix cars. He learned that we could fix houses from me. We have never gone hungry, although there have been those times where we were squeaking through. Ronald Reagan's NAFTA really put paid to Tim's secure machinist jobs.
DeleteI feel sorry for that boy. I thought the comments about showing up in court were good suggestions. I hope these boys turn themselves around and make better choices.
ReplyDeleteI suppose. I'll talk to Tim when he gets back tonight. I'll talk to the neighbors too.
DeleteI agree with some of the other commenters that going to court might be a good idea. Let us know what you decide!
ReplyDeleteAs for the car, I'm impressed. I never would have thought to buy a totalled car from the insurance company and salvage it. That Tim is an enterprising guy!
He is.
DeleteThere are many sad stories of what people do to each other. It's particularly sad when it involves family.
ReplyDeleteI can't understand that, but sometimes it happens that there is such animosity between the parents that the quiet parent backs away. I can't imagine leaving my children behind though.
DeleteI imagine that boy has a lot of anger in him, thanks to his dad. Throwing rocks through a window seems like an angry thing to do.
ReplyDeleteI'm amazed that Tim did such an amazing job of rebuilding your car. Wow!
I forgot to say that I always wanted a charm bracelet when I was a kid but there wasn't extra money for stuff like that.
ReplyDeleteI think that was the case for many. It is an interesting difference that I noticed between my youth and today's youth. Back in the day, we did not have the money for 'fripperies'. Today, I see a lot of kids who I know live in very precarious situations...but they carry Iphones. I wonder at that. The seeming inability to prioritize needs.
DeleteSad about the boy, though breaking windows is a costly affair. Are you going to keep all the kittens? Or are you fostering them for adoption later.
ReplyDeleteWell, the initial goal was to find them good homes, which should have been easy enough to do, really, two of them being blue eyed, obviously a Siamese mix and very beautiful cats. But at this point, I'm not sure that they will ever make good house cats. They are so very wild. If they cannot be tamed, we will do the best by them that we can, to include getting them neutered if possible, so as to halt the proliferation of garage cats.
DeleteI've always thought charms were fun, whether on a bracelet, necklace, or the type that can be clipped anywhere you want them. I bet she'll love the necklace!
ReplyDeleteOh, I do think she will. I'm so pleased with it.
DeleteI’m loving the autumn leaves in the foreground of your car picture 😂
ReplyDeleteTis the season.
DeleteOne thing you might want to do, since children’s jewelry is apparently a problematic product area for lead contamination: Get a lead test kit from your local hardware store and make sure it’s safe to give her…
ReplyDeleteI cannot find anything that links sterling silver jewelry with this problem. As I read it, it's more an issue with the inexpensive costume jewelry and old things.
Delete