Playing Catch-up (3/8/26, 3/17/26, 3/23/26)

I swear, all I have to do is blink and I get behind on posting. The truth is, though, that I hate opening my laptop at home. It's so old and slow that I get frustrated waiting for it to wake up and get moving, so I just wait until I've got extra time at work to post (shhhh, don't tell anyone).

Anyway, the Bionic Cowgirl comes down for Sunday dinner each week, then stays at Nebalee's so she can spend some time with her, too. And, as I've mentioned, I always have a project for us to do. One of Mom's friends said that Mom's love language is "acts of service", and they're so right. We all benefit from it, but I've been extra lucky for the past few years, with her help building Whimsy and helping out with Maggie. So far this year, the focus has been on getting the garden started. Later in the spring, we'll go back to working on Whimsy, who needs a new coat of paint and I've got to frame in a few of her windows that I'd left hinged to be able to open them. In two years, the only time they've been opened is when the wind does it, so it's time to just frame them in.

Sorry, I'll get back on track. I built Maggie as a potting shed, to house the amazing potting bench that L.E. gifted me. At the beginning of March, the Bionic Cowgirl and I put that potting bench to work starting seeds. Last year, and the year before, our seed starting didn't go very well, so I was determined to be successful this year. I bought trays with domes, fancy organic starting soil, and grow lights. I plugged in an oil heater and put it on a timer, so the temps wouldn't drop overnight. Our seeds are more spoiled than any other being on our place, they'd better grow!

Leeks and bell peppers

Once the seeds were nestled in their boxes under their grow lights, we put up a utility shelf. I have lots of cool things in the Magical Potting Shed, but most of the actual business of potting is hidden away in the potting bench. Having a utility shelf within easy reach to hold everything we use every day was a no-brainer, so Mom helped me get it put up.

With the seeds planted, and the shelf up, I put Mom to work spray painting the cinder blocks I chose to use for flower boxes. She painted them a metallic silver, then we filled them with potting soil. Now, we just have to wait a couple more weeks to plant the sweet peas in them.

The book nook was meant for living in Maggie, but she gets so dusty that I knew I needed to protect the nook in some way. Jay suggested an acrylic display box, which was brilliant! Unfortunately, I could not find one that was only the size of the book nook, but book nooks are designed to live on bookshelves between books, so I went to 2nd and Charles and found a set of Harry Potter books to live in the display case along with the little nook.

At first, I was a little surprised with myself that I'd go buy books just for display - books are for reading! - then, I justified it by reminding myself I could read the books. It's possible to just open the door of the display case and just pull a book out to read. Eventually, the Gremlin will be old enough that I can start reading these to him.

Mom and I had a good day's work that afternoon. The following Sunday, we headed to Moab for the sentencing, so Sunday dinner looked a little different. It was late when I got home on Monday, so I waited until Tuesday morning to go check on our seeds. The leeks were supposed to emerge at about ten days, and they did!

Look at my babies!

I've watched them pretty carefully over the last week or so, and only about half have come up. It's a good thing I use "black thumb math" when planting, and plant double what I think I need, just in case this happens. Yesterday, I moved the leeks out from under the dome, because they were almost getting tall enough to touch it. Now, they're in a different window, still under grow lights, and they'd better keep growing!

I need to thin them, but I don't wanna.

L.E. and I started our tomato seeds a few days ago, so now it's their turn to get to growing. 

The Sentencing (3/16/26)

This is the mugshot from when our fine,
upstanding citizen was picked up for burglary,
which then revealed his warrant for the accident.

If you've been following along from the beginning (there's a summary in the Plea Deal post), you know what an absolute cluster of fucks working with the State of Utah has been, so I don't know why I was surprised to find out that the dumbfuckery continued the morning of sentencing.

On January 5th, at the pre-trial hearing, when Mr. Graska (aka Sincere Deviolencia. Yes, I'm deadnaming him, and that's intentional) was offered and accepted the plea deal, we were told that the sentencing would occur in Moab, UT, because the courthouse in Monticello was under construction. No problem, we could find a place in Moab to stay. It was re-iterated a couple of times that the sentencing would be in Moab.

Come February, I decide to reach out to our victim's advocate to see if they had any agreements with hotels in Moab, noting that we didn't want to risk running into him. She let me know that they did not, and that our best bet would be to find an AirBnB if we wanted to be certain we wouldn't run into Mr. Graska. So that's what we did. I found one, sent it to Mom, and she booked it. It was perfect for housing the six of us for one night, and it was only about ten minutes from the courthouse.

Morning of the sentencing, we pack up and head out. We get to the courthouse and can't find the courtroom. We follow the signs upstairs to the District Courts, only to be told that the courtroom was downstairs. No problem. The six of us trudge back down the stairs, but don't see a courtroom. We go into a reception area to ask for directions to the judge's courtroom, only to be told that he's in Monticello.

Um, no.

We were clearly told, repeatedly, that the courthouse in Monticello was under constructions and that court would be held in Moab. I had confirmed with the victim's advocate when I was looking for lodging that the sentencing was going to be held in Moab.

At this point, it was seven minutes before court time, and Monticello is an hour south of Moab. There was no way we were going to be able to make it. The lovely ladies at the Moab courthouse were kind enough to offer a couple of solutions: 1) make room for us to log in and attend it remotely, or 2) call the judge and ask him to delay until we got there.

The clerks actually chose option two for us. They took my number, and said they'd call once they got ahold of the judge. We hustled back to the cars and headed south to Monticello. Just a couple of minutes after we got on the highway, the clerk called and let me know that the judge had a very full docket that day and that it wasn't a problem for him to push back the sentencing until we arrived.

I suppose this is the time to say that every person we've encountered throughout this journey has been amazing: kind, thoughtful, and helpful. Some of them (cough-cough-victim's advocate) just aren't very good at their jobs.

It was jolting to file into the courtroom and see Mr. Graska, just right there. Right in front of us. I don't know where else I expected him to be, but sitting in the pew a few rows ahead of us was not it. The judge allowed a few victim impact statements to be read, and allowed statements from each attorney. The defense attorney was clearly trying to argue for time served and wanted jail, rather than prison for his client. Also, the defense attorney said that it was only fair for us to hear what kind of person his client was and read a rambling statement about his client's life, pausing to choke up and cry at what he thought were key points, but mostly were just awkward. Mr. Graska was allowed to make a statement, which he did, but it was also just narcissistic drivel, and he wouldn't even turn to address us (the family). He managed to dredge up some tears, too, but I'm fairly certain that was just because he was feeling remorse about going to prison, not about what he did to our family. He'd shown zero remorse at all throughout this long process.

The judge didn't buy any of the theatrics and gave him the full sentence, after a brief lecture about how this wasn't an accident, but an inevitability for someone driving under the influence and distracted. Have I mentioned, I really like our judge?

Sadly, the full sentence is 5 years in Utah State Prison, 6 months in county jail to run concurrently. He'll be out in two. 

Did I also mention that sentencing happened to fall on Mom's 77th birthday? I guess, happy birthday Mom, your gift is that most of the court crap is over.

I want to share an impactful statement from Mrs. Deejo that resonated with everyone who heard it:

Bill was a force of nature: warm, steady, and deeply good.  His loss left a hole in our family that cannot be filled.  Life moves forward because it must, but it will never again be whole. 

Family Trip (3/15/26)

On Sunday, the Bionic Cowgirl, Nebalee, Junior, and I loaded up and headed to Moab to attend the sentencing for Daniel Graska. The weather was cold and snowy, but the trip went very smoothly. There's something to be said for having a brother who spent his career as a professional driver.

We arrived in Moab and checked into our Airbnb mid-afternoon. Nebalee and I had planned on taking a hike while we waited for Deejo and Mrs Deejo to join us in Moab. Mom and Junior opted to join us, and we set out on an adventure.

Initially, we wanted to hike in Arches National Park, but when we go there, the entrance line was an hour, so Nebalee found us an incredible hike outside of the park just a few minutes away.

Not being from Utah, and rarely hiking out there, I'd never heard of Grandstaff Canyon, but it was listed as one of the top seven or eight best hikes outside of the park. AllTrails had it listed as an "easy, flat" out and back trail of about five miles with only a 300 foot elevation gain. I know it might come as a surprise, but AllTrails lied. It was about five miles, yes, but I wouldn't have called it "flat". It wasn't overly difficult, but there were lots of water crossings and a few small scrambles, and the overall elevation gain was more than double the stated 300 feet.

Despite being lied to by AllTrails, it was an absolutely gorgeous hike that felt amazing after a full day in the car.

The beginning of the trail did start off well-groomed
and flat. Super easy.

So many water crossings, which I love!
I am breaking in some waterproof hiking boots for our trip
to Scotland in April, so I was thrilled to get to test them.

This is one of my favorite pictures from the hike.

I couldn't take a picture that does this landbridge justice.
It's an almost 300 foot span across an arch.

My amazing sister, Nebalee, with her summit pose.

Tired puppies for the first hike of the year,
still had to hike out.

My beautiful mother, the Bionic Cowgirl, 
at the end of the hike. Not bad for one day shy
of 77 years old.

The hike was just the distraction we needed, given the reason we had this road trip to Moab. It tired all of us out sufficiently that we were able to get some sleep prior to the sentencing.

Book Nook - A Lesson in Patience (2/21/26 - 2/28/26)

For Christmas 2024, Junior and Mrs Junior got me a book nook for the Magical Potting Shed. At the time, Maggie wasn't ready for decorating. She had external walls, but no interior walls or space for me to display a book nook, so my Christmas gift sat and sat.

A little Magic House book nook for the Magical Potting Shed.

Once Maggie's interior walls were finished and I started decorating, I finally bit the bullet and pulled out the project. They always look so cool when I see pictures of them, and I didn't think they could be that complicated. Boy, was I wrong.

I unpacked everything, looked at the instructions, and almost put it all away. 

I was intimidated and overwhelmed by the project. But you know the only way to eat an elephant, right? One bite at a time. So I took my first bite. I'd put on the TV for some background noise, and it took me:

• An episode of Eric Dane's "My Last Words"
• The movie "Bohemian Rhapsody"
• s1e1 of The Walking Dead
• 3/4 of s1e2 of The Walking Dead

to get one wall done.

It is cute, but so labor intensive.

One wall complete, and time to call it a night.

I put it away to work on the following weekend, in which I stayed up entirely too late to finish, but finish I did!

Mr. Boomerang giving my wiring work
a bit of a cat scan.

Finishing the project took a few hours, but went faster than the first weekend I worked on it. The wiring of the lights needed the most focus, but I managed to get it completed. And, honestly? Once I figured out how to interpret the Chinese-to-English instructions and pictographs, it was smooth sailing.

As overwhelmed and frustrated as I was to start eating this elephant, it was worth it in the end and it will look amazing in Maggie.

Pre-Spring Readiness (2/28/26 - 3/1/26)

The last few days of February were so lovely, and, as you know, I'm definitely feeling the spring bug. There were a couple of things that I wanted to get done while I had time and the weather was nice. With plans to start our seeds tomorrow, I had to get the pass-thru drilled for the extension cord. Additionally, I wanted to finish building and installing my flower boxes.

I've never drilled a big hole in a wall before, so it took me some time and research to figure out what I needed and gather it all. I bought the hole borer/cup-thingy, but didn't realize I needed the guide drill as well. Then, I realized that the wall that I needed to cut through was thicker than my drilly-hole-makey thing, so I decided to get a long drill bit to drill a pilot hole all the way through so I could make sure that the holes I drilled from each side would line up.

In theory, it was a good idea. In practice, well, it would have been a great idea if I'd drilled my pilot hole exactly parallel to the ground, but I failed to do so. I drilled the first hole from the outside of the building to the inside, as far as I could, then I handed off the drill to Jay to drill from the inside to the outside.

I'd managed to drill my pilot hole straight through at enough of an angle that the holes were off by ... a bit. Jay took after it again, and was able to connect the two holes. The result was that the outside hole was bigger than the inside one. Oops. Never fear! GunDiva is a do-er, as we well know, so I found the little crescent moon shaped piece of wall and wood glued it back into place, making the holes mostly match in size.

Then, I took a bit of PVC pipe and threaded it through the hole, creating the pass-thru. Jay caulked around the pipe on both sizes to keep it in place.

Inside Maggie.

Outside. You can see where I glued the piece
in place. I'll hit it with some more paint, and
it'll be less noticeable.

Now, when we need power to the Magical Potting Shed, we can remove the caps and run an extension hose through to provide power.

With that done, I set about building the flower boxes out of scrap wood we had laying around. Using scrap wood means that the flower boxes won't be identical, but they'll be close enough. Really, once the flowers are in and growing, it won't matter if the boxes match or not. They're approximately 40"x40" each, and I'm already panicking that they won't be big enough to grow all the flowers I bought. lol.

I also 'planted' my birdcage trellises, and secured them to Maggie's outer wall, in an effort to keep the winds from relocating them to the corn field south of us.

I laid a couple layers of cardboard down as weed barrier, and will fill the boxes with fertilizer and garden soil in the next couple of weeks. The school desk will get refinished and painted shimmery black to match the plant stands on the left, but I'll paint the metal legs silver, so it won't be quite such a black hole. L.E. likes to sit on that chair, so I'll put a flagstone stepping stone in there as a step/foot rest between the flowers.

I had intended to build smaller flower boxes out of old pallets around the base of the archway for the sweet peas, but saw a better (read: easier/lazier) idea online to use cinderblocks turned so that the holes are facing upward. Just fill the holes with soil and plant. We just happen to have a few old cinderblocks laying around the property that I can use for the project.

~~~~~

Last weekend, I feel like I got a lot accomplished, but I still wasn't quite ready to start seeds tomorrow. Last night, after circus, I headed out to Maggie to get the radiant heater and timer set up. The pass-thru worked perfectly! Tonight, after work, I'll go mount the surge protector outlet on the wall, so that we'll have a secure place to plug in our supplemental grow lights. There's also a bit of rearranging that needs to be done, but that will take 30 seconds to do.

The solar light chandelier that I made last summer lit up the space beautifully, and the radiant heater made it so cozy in there. I had to get some soil packed up for my sister, and as I was doing so, I was reflecting on how lovely, and, yes, magical, Maggie is.

Tomorrow afternoon, L.E. and I are going to get some seeds started and I can't wait to work in this cozy little spot.