My husband keeps his uniform and work boots out in the garage. We decided years ago that it was best to keep his work clothes and shoes, often exposed to some pretty dirty places and well, some pretty dirty people, away from our living space. So we set up a nice little changing area and work space for him in the garage. On a few occasions when he has spent time at a particularly gory crime scene or even a natural death, I have been glad for his foresight to avoid bringing any "evidence" into the house.
One of the "joys" of being a police family is always expecting the unexpected and not being shocked by it. Like the time I was drying a load of clothes and heard something banging around in the dryer. Expecting to find a matchbox car or a rock, I was amazed to find that it was a .45 caliber bullet that somehow missed the pocket check after a day at the range. I set the bullet on my kitchen windowsill where it still stands today as a reminder of just how different our life is. I smile even now when I think about it- it's a trophy of sorts, representative of the great thing he does each night just by going to work and the great things the boys and I do just by being supportive of such an important job.
Anyway, last night, just before he left for work, my husband comes into the kitchen to grab his keys and he's walking sort of funny with an even funnier look on his face. He tapped the toe of his boot a couple of times and then said "Man I hope there isn't a spider in my shoe." Taking his boot off he tapped it over the sink a couple of times.
Out came a cricket that started jumping wildly in the stainless steel sink!
Shoe crickets- the necessary accessory for any well dressed cop!
Another important accessory? Handcuffs of course.
Even better when they are spray painted neon pink!!!
Cops have a hard time keeping track of their stuff- one guy (or gal) cuffs a suspect, another transports him to the magistrates office, a third might escort them to the holding cells. By then no one remembers who the handcuffs actually belonged to. Police supply companies started producing them in colors to help keep track several years ago. So, my husband decides to spray paint his red. A tactically sound color that wouldn't attract attention but would identify them as his, right?
So, he pulls out all of his cuffs and hangs them like Christmas ornaments in a crepe myrtle tree on the side of the driveway. A can of red spray paint later, they hang drying in the summer sun.
Skip to six hours later. My friend Sherry pulls into the driveway for an evening of scrapbooking and stands on the door step a shocked look on her face. The first words of greeting? "Why are there handcuffs hanging from your tree?" Of course, we never gave it much thought and they had actually gone forgotten for most of the day but I can imagine the surprise a lay person might feel at seeing such yard decor!
Believe it or not, the red handcuffs have all gone missing. So we are on to bigger and better colors. This weekend the boys will help Dad spray paint the new sets a brilliant neon pink.
Again, there is no life quite like that of the police family. We are quirky, slightly more "cautious"- OK paranoid- than the average citizen and know how to expect the unexpected.
Even our pets are quirky- the dog prefers to push her mat away and sleep on the bare floor. One declawed cat scratches tirelessly against everything to no avail and another one of our rescued cats will only drink water from one bowl in one spot in the entire house. Our oldest cat likes to go outside in the morning and sit under one of the trees where a family of blue jays has made their home. Each day the parent blue jays scream and yell at her yet she just sits there, testing their tolerance. Yesterday I watched one of the blue jays swoop down and peck the cat ont he hind quarters with its beak a couple of times. The cat just sat there looking at the bird with an expression that said, "Seriously? Is that all you've got?" It was down right comical.
As life continues on each day, I read the paper and watch the news about the debt talks going on in Washington. When I think about how I manage to balance a budget of two miniscule civil service paychecks that haven't increased since the economy dropped into the toilet and the cost of everything has shot through the roof; I watch the floundering and the ego contests going on between the parties and just want to laugh.
The standoff between cuts and tax hikes, partisan arguements as old as time, is going to be the downfall of this country. We've got the president issuing threats and the house leader calling dares. And this is how they are managing our money?
I mean, seriously guys? Is that all you've got?
Why not do what the rest of us do? Stop eating at restaurants and cook a few meals at home. Try a coupon or some bargain shopping. Maybe just stop spending indiscriminantly and stop trying to outdo each other with your great ideas. Or how about live the next three years in an ecomy of constantly increasing health care costs, higher food and gas prices and no increase in wages? Make do with less. Stop bickering over details and start looking at real solutions.
Right now I am going to go and make my boys some breakfast with yogurt I got with a coupon, milk I got for free and cereal I managed to purchase on sale AND with a coupon. Later, I might take them to the park where they can have a good time for absolutely no expenditure on my part and then we will eat cheesburgers on the grill and vegetables from the garden for dinner. While I wash the dishes I will look at my little .45 caliber trophy on the window sill, smile and thank the good Lord that both my husband and I are still employed and pray that those in Washington will finally figure out that there is more to life than having your own way all the time.
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