Summer and Fall 2011

Hey Y'all.  I guess it is time for something to be put down on this blog.  I guess you must all be wondering what happened to me.  Life just isn't the same since moving to Alaska.  I don't have any of the same habits as I used to.  I guess working 50 hours a week will do that to me.

I had a nice summer.  We went to Illinois and Missouri at the end of July/beginning of August and saw most of both sides of our families.  We also got to spend a day at Silver Dollar City.  I love that place and was so happy to be able to bring my family there.

In August I went on a long trip with my 14 year old daughter to Dawson City, canoed 3 days on the Yukon and thoroughly enjoyed camping and hanging out with her and the other junior high and 9th grade students and many parents.

In September my life started getting a little rocky and unpredictable.  I was subpoena'd to go to Denver at the beginning of October to be questioned before a grand jury in a case against my friend and former employer from Colorado.  It was very scary to be questioned before a lawyer and a detective and a DEA special agent for 4.5 hours.  I only spent about 20 minutes before the grand jury, but they also questioned the detective and the DEA agent separately after that and kept me in a witness room for an hour until it was over.  I've never had to do anything like that before. 

About the same time of my subpoena, the my former employer tried to contact me through the YWAM base in Colorado.  I asked the lady who was setting up my travels if it was okay for me to talk to him.  This was a big mistake.  She told the prosecuting lawyer that he tried to contact me and she called me and told me that he broke the terms of his bond by doing that.  Then she said that he said some really negative things about me (his lawyer told me that he didn't say them about me but about another employee who started all his trouble).  Anyway, they tried to send him to jail over it and this week he went back to court and it was all resolved nicely without him having to pay more bond or go to jail.  It is a big relief to me.  I did not have to go back to Colorado for this, and I am thankful for that too.  My name was on TV and in the newspapers in Colorado because of this and that wasn't very cool.

The whole thing, sadly, isn't over yet.  Next summer or fall the big case should go to court and I will likely have to go back for a week or more to testify again.  So far I haven't been charged with anything, but it is really scary and I often can't sleep because my mind is trying to resolve all of my unaswered questions.  Several people have encouraged me to get legal help, but I'm not sure I can afford it.  I'm not sure I can afford not to either.  I keep having to trust God in all of this.

I think this whole thing has turned my world upside down at work also.  I feel quite isolated and don't know who to trust.  It makes me sad when I hear negative things being said about me behind my back, and yet none of them comes to me and asks what has been going on or shows concern.  I used to love my job and felt like I was on good terms with everyone.  Now I feel like I only have a few friends in the clinic.  My best friend in the area works at the clinic and my MA has shown to be a good friend and I am thankful that they are there.  I do have a couple of other friends there too, but like I said above, it is really hard to know who to trust, and at times I get paranoid wondering if all this is going to be a threat to my job.

In October my best friend and I went to a conference on pain management in Seattle.  It was really good, and I appreciated learning all of the stuff on pain management outside of using narcotics. We enjoyed seeing Pikes Market, eating good food at a Nepali/Tibetan/Indian authentic restaurant, and doing some shopping too.

The snow has started since October 31, and we have about a foot on the ground.   Tim bought a snowblower today, and that will be a great blessing for him.

I guess that is about all my news for now.

Carol