My heart is aching

 Law enforcement is a family! And one of mine has been killed. She was more than a just a cop, she was a Mom, a wife, a grand-mother and a good person.

I had taken today off, so I could go with my youngest on his school's field trip to the zoo. My cell phone started go crazy, missed calls, text messages and emails. Friends and family frantic to find out if I was ok. The news was reporting a female officer was shot in the north end of the city that I patrol.

I called my Husband, a detective in the neighboring jurisdiction, trying to find out what had happened. He told me it was a Deputy from the Sheriff's Department and that it was most likely Barbara or another friend of ours, Dani. He wasn't sure but he would call me back soon. 

I called everyone to let them know I was fine, but I wasn't. I don't remember the rest of the field trip or coming home. I remember finding out for sure, that it was Barbara. 

My squad had captured the suspects, doing their jobs with precision and perfection, even though they were angry and grieving. I am so proud of them.

I am sad, angry, and numb all at the same time. Below are the details of the incident.

Deputy Sheriff Barbara Pill was shot and killed after stopping a vehicle near the intersection of John Rodes Boulevard and Elena Way, in Melbourne, shortly before 11:15 am. 

The vehicle was wanted in connection with a stolen property call from a local motel. As Deputy Pill made contact with the driver and ordered him out of the vehicle he opened fire on her, striking her multiple times. Responding deputies, Melbourne police officers, and Florida troopers chased the vehicle a short distance until it crashed on Turtlemound Road. A male and female subject in the vehicle were taken into custody and face charges in connection with Deputy Pill's murder.

Deputy Pill was transported to the Holmes Regional Medical Center where she succumbed to the gunshot wound.

Deputy Pill had been in law enforcement for 30 years and served with the Brevard County Sheriff's Office for 15 years and had served in law enforcement for 30 years. She is survived by her husband, two sons who also serve in law enforcement, and a grandchild. 

R.I.P and may the Gods sing songs of your valor!

‎''Hel, great goddess,
Guard of the spirits of the dead
Our friend Barbara has come to you now
As Barbara kneels before you, hel
know how much she was loved in this life
And how many she loved in return
Before she crossed over she was an honorable soul
A soaring spirit, a brave warrior
Watch over her, hel as she crosses the bridge
From this life to the next
And welcome her with honor and glory
So that she may live on forever
In our hearts and memories.''

 

A Not So Lazy Saturday!

So far, the March photo challenge has been pretty easy. I have been posting the pictures on Facebook. I will post them here at the end of every week, like a week in review.

This challenge got me thinking that I may start one of my own in April. A Pagan one! I have to give it some more thought, and today there is no time for that.

I have to take the 6 year old to his baseball game, hit the store, drop by The Herb Corner for a chair massage and grab a few stones and herbs for a Mojo bag, then off to the Central Florida Pagan Association office.

Tonight is our general meeting and I could not be more excited! I will be meeting some new people who are interested in joining! We have a great year of events planned already! The first one is a Past Life Regression class, then we are having our Auras photographed. If you live in the local area and are interested look for us on Facebook under Moon Path Pagans or our Website.

Work was not so good this week, as we had a small plane crash and all aboard were killed. My department did all it could but the damage was catastrophic. This is the first crash I have ever had to deal with as an officer. Hopefully, never again. I can't explain how it feels when we don't save someone. Even if we never had a chance, it still leaves a strange hole in your heart. Hug your loved ones close and send healing energy to the family of the victims.

March Photo Challenge

I saw a few people do this in February and thought it was a great idea. Here is the list for March... Join me!

What is a Pagan?

A hippie? A nature lover? A devil worshiper? A person who has a loose grip on the "real world" and likes to dress up and play witch? People have different opinions as to what a pagan is...

I have an opinion as well. I'm a Pagan!

Am I a hippie? No, but I like to wear tye dye t-shirts. Not really a pacifist either.

A nature lover? Yes, I like to hike and be anywhere outside.

A devil worshiper? Nope, sorry. I don't believe in the devil. Evil is inside everyone. I prefer to take responsibility for any evil I may do and not blame it on some cloven foot dude.

 My reality... I am a mother of three, married, own a home, have a dog, work as a police officer and a graphic designer. I attend my son's baseball and soccer games, act as a chaperone on field trips, and donate my time to worthy causes like Habitat for Humanity, my local animal shelter and food pantry.  So, I think I have a good grip on what is real. And I am really more of a jeans sort of girl. I've never worn ritual robes. 

When I turned 39 last June, I decided to make, sort of a bucket list. 40 things I would do before I turn 40. One of them was, I would write something, anything. So, I chose to write a blog about having one foot in the magic world and one in the mundane.

There is no set plan for the content. I may talk about work one day and my obsession with raising chickens when I retire, the next, who knows. One thing I will do, is photo challenges, every day in the month of March, so be prepared!

I'm a Pagan. Maybe I will start a campaign like the Mormons. Let me know if you would like to be featured on the blog's, I'm a Pagan section! :-)

Amber

Fumbling Towards Forty!

Today, I turned 39 years old. I have been raising children for almost 18 years and still have 12 years to go. Because of my "Mommy" status, I don't always have time to drop whatever I am doing and do what I want to do. Sometimes, it takes making plans months in advance and juggling four other lives to find time to celebrate the things I like...

So, having said that I have decided to make my last year in my 30's something to remember. I have a list of 40 things, I will either do or see in the next 365 days! Here they are in no particular order, except for the last, which is my 40th birthday party.

If there is something on this list that you want to do, let me know, the more travelers on a journey, the more fun the adventure.There is nothing on this list earth shattering or life changing really, but it will force me to set aside time for me to focus on me. The things on this list should be easy enough to complete, if I allow myself to make ME a priority.

Thanks for all the birthday wishes...love you all!

    Do a girls only trip
    Buy a pair of cowboy boots
    Go to the rodeo
    Get a tattoo
    Go see Alex's graduation in Montana
    Have a garage sale and empty the garage
    Loss 10 lbs
    Go to Sanibel Island
    Run a 5K
    Grow a coffee plant
    Take a belly dancing class
    Go rafting or tubing
    Find 50 geo-caches
    Go back to College
    Read all of Shakespeare's plays - even the sad ones.
    Make my garden pretty, not just useful
    Loss 20 lbs
    Get a Reiki attunement level 1
    Watch the AFI's top 100 movies of all time
    Make a message in a bottle
    Go to a Sci Fi or Fantasy Convention
    Go see The Molly Roger Roller Girls
    Pay off the car
    Make mosaic stepping stones for my garden
    Visit Mt Dora
    Go see Classic Albums Live
    Play Texas Hold 'Em at a real casino
    Have a family photo taken
    Visit the Dali Museum  in St. Pete
    Go to another Renaissance Faire or Highland Games
    Finally watch "A Christmas Story" (LOL)
    Go to The Wizarding World Of Harry Potter
    Teach Jack to Drive
    Learn to play racquetball
    Save seeds from my garden to re-plant
    Practice at the range more
    Place a Geo-Cache
    Have foot reflexology done
    Write anything, a story, a blog, a novel...just write.
    Throw myself a Welcome to 40 Birthday party in June 2012

Footprints and a New Fence!

I went out to the garden yesterday and noticed some strange foot prints in the carrot bed. So, "Super Hubby" and I decided it's time for a real garden fence. We worked most of today and now it's up. Not pretty to look at but it should keep the critters out.

Here's the old fence!                                                                                  And the new one!

We are going to be getting some cold nights here, down to the 30's so I will be covering the garden for sure.

I was on the way to the store and I saw my neighbor had torn down his wood fence and put up a new one. I checked out the pile of wood on the curb and then stuffed it all in to my Xterra!

 I can make a bunch more raised beds with them! I am so excited! I also plan on making a raised bed with the concrete blocks from my original garden fence. I want to plant peppers inside the space and lots of basil in the holes on the sides.

Here is the garden covered last year. Not sure how I will cover it with this new fence.

Valentine's Day Gift from "Super Hubby"

Today is Valentine's Day. "Super Hubby" is usually so good to me all year round that I don't get excited about this holiday.

I went to work and when I came home I had a super cool seed starting rack in my dining room! It's a wire shelf with a grow light! Now I can start seeds all year long. I had been mulling over ideas for a seed starting area and I know S.H. was going to help me by building it, but I never thought of this! I put all my basil seeds that I started outside two weeks ago under the lights! So exciting!