July 3, 2005

Hello everyone, I am back to work for the Holiday weekend. This past week while I was off was a busy one. We had a lot of stuff going on, mostly helping Marianne's sister get moved into her new place. We had a bit of a scare on Thurs. night. Marianne's mom had asked us to come help them move Maura (Marianne's sister) so we met over at her moms house. I rode my motorcycle and the kids rode in the truck with Marianne. When we got there we sat around and figured out a game plan on how we were going to do the move. It was already getting late. We didn't get started till about 7 p.m. Will wanted to ride with Grandma to Maura's cabin so we had Hailey go also to help out if Will dropped his cup or a toy on the ride out. Everyone drove in seperate vehicles so we could get everything in one trip. Maura pulled out of the driveway followed by me on the Motorcycle ( I just felt like riding that night). Shortly after I left Misti (Marianne's other sis) pulled out then Marianne and finally Marianne's mom. I went to the gas station and Marianne pulled in behind me to fill up. While we were there Marianne's mom pulled in so we could follow her out. We left North Pole and drove out to Maura's cabin on Farmers Loop, about 35 miles away. When we all got there we started to pack and load stuff up. Marianne's mom asked me to go to the truck and get some tape for the boxes. Will was still in the truck playing so he could stay away from all the mosquitos (it was rainy most of the day so they were pretty bad). I asked where Hailey ran off to and Martha (Marianne's mom) said she went right to sleep. When I went inside I did not see her and Marianne asked where she was. Martha said when she got in the truck she fell right to sleep. I ran back outside and looked in the truck. I pulled up the blanket that was in the back seat and Hailey was not in there. Marianne started freaking out. We looked all over and did not see her. Finally we realized she never made it out with us so Marianne and I jumped into my truck and raced back to North Pole. I don't know how fast we were going because I did not want to take my eyes off the road and look down. I do know we were going VERY fast. My truck is governed at 130 mph and we hit that point a few times. While I was driving Marianne called everyone we knew to go over to her moms and look for her. About 10 minutes later we were told that a friend of Maura's had gone over and got her, and she was ok. So I slowed down a bit. We drove to Mike's house where she was and picked her up. Mike must have thought I was part of the fetish community the way I was dressed, I still had all of my leathers on from the ride out there.

When we got Hailey she was alright. We asked what had happened and she said she was never put in the truck. With all of the people getting ready everyone assumed someone else had put her in. She said when I left and then evryone else pulled out she went inside to find Grandma. When she came back outside the garage door was closing and Grandma was pulling out of the driveway. She said she then went inside to wait and started to get scared so she went outside to see if anyone came back. When she saw the neighbors outside she went over there and started crying. She told them who she was and asked if they knew when we would be back. The neighbors have lived next to Martha since Marianne was in school and we went to school with their son so they new the family well. They told her they didn't know but they were sure someone would be right back. They took her inside and gave her popcicles. When they saw Mike pull in they went over to see him. Mike explained to them what had happened so they let Mike take her to his place till we picked her up. There she ate more popcicles and watched cartoons till we got there.

Obviously Martha feels horrible about the whole ordeal, she thought somebody had put her in the truck before we all left. We are just happy she was ok. We were very worried on the drive out to get her. It had begun to rain very hard and I was afraid she was stuck out in it, or worse she had been struck by one of the 4 trucks pulling out. Hailey doesn't seem to affected by what happened. She told us she tried to call someone but didn't know the numbers. We are now making cards to put around the house and for her to put in her little purse that has Names and phone numbers on it. That way if something happens to one of us at home she can call for help or if God forbid something like this happens again she can call someone.

Other than that same old stuff going on. I am going to put some Alaska Pics in my next post. I have been gathering photos of my drive to work and from motorcycle rides with friends to share with you all. Hope everyone has a happy 4th of July weekend. Be safe and have fun. I will be at work but won't be "working". We have our annual 4th of July softball tournament tomorrow and the fire dept. is going to win for the 3rd year in a row. Take care all.