New Accessories

RAF Reciever Anklet

     On Leap Day, February 29, 2012, exactly one year from dropping him off at FPC Pensacola, Michael was allowed to be on home confinement for the rest of his sentence!  Along with this priviledge came a fancy, new accessory: his anklet. It is actually not that fancy since it is just a receiver and not a GPS unit. We are babysitting a medium sized black box that renders our answering machine useless.  It has been freeing to not have any messages for a month; except when you miss appointment reminder messages.  We are old school now!  Like the rest of this adventure, not much information on the receiver. When it was set up, Michael was told that they weren't exactly sure the range - probably 150 feet.  And that it would make noises sometimes but not to worry about that.  OK... Whatever happened to instruction manuals and definitive rules? Oh, that's right! That's just on TV and in the movies!  This is REAL life! Or at least our real life!  We are so thankful that he will only have to wear it for a month because he has learned it is not fun when the temperature gets hot and it gets sweaty! We are taking bets on how much hair he will have left on his lower leg after 30 days of anklet.  30 days, you say? Is the math correct? YES! Michael's sentence is officially over April 1, 2012, but as this falls on a Sunday and the fine folks at Dismas dislike working on weekends, he is done Friday morning, March 30, 2012, at 8 am! (In BOP speak, just X amount of days and a wake-up count! This is how we are counting it down.)  We are so blessed that they did not try to push it to Monday, April 2 and know this is by God's grace.  God is amazingly faithful!

It has been great having Michael home, but still a transition. He is getting in sync with us 3 girls (Heidi, Madison & Emma the cat), and girls have their own way of doing things!  We are getting used to another person's schedule and having fun learing new things about each other.  One important things besides thanking God for His provision, is treating each day as if we will not have another one. This has helped shape our priorities and become better parents. We do not want to miss an opportunity to tell each other of our love and appreciation and want this to be part of Madison's every day normal.  There are still frustrations, but we are learning better ways to communicate and resolve. Sixty seconds of being upset is a minute of happiness we will never get back!

One of the funniest things for me is Michael relearning Atlanta traffic patterns and shortcuts. I take for granted that I have been driving when he has not for a year. Very eye opening on just how much craziness is out on the highways when it has become commonplace! Michael was very blessed to have rides to and from Dismas to work and he particularly misses his conversations with Brian Denman and Gerald Craig. Car pool: it's the way to go!

Have a great March! Check back to see our celebration post at the end of March and our new family picture! We've come a long way, baby! 

Heidi