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Glad it missed your eye, Don. Still not fun that it happened.

Update on the child abuse situation: I talked to the girl today & she said her brother has been putting his hands on her face to smother her & has been covering her mouth to keep her quiet while he "hurts" her (she did not elaborate on what he did to hurt her). She said that she's been telling him "no" and slapping his hands when he tries to touch her but that he's still been sexually abusing her against her will. She told her mother (who now knows it's true) & her mother spanked her for it. She's been stressed out & upset because her brother keeps hurting her & her mother won't do anything to make him stop & then she gets punished for being abused.

So, tomorrow morning we are going to take her to her psychologist to ask for an evaluation & report the abuse (they were closed on the weekend) & we're going to the courthouse to talk to a judge to report the abuse & my friend is going to request a temporary custody order to protect his daughter from further abuse. Personally I think another call should be made to DCFS to tell them that not only is the abuse ongoing, but the mother is negligent in allowing it to continue. I'm also hoping she can get a referral to a doctor who can examine her & try to determine if the UTIs she's been getting are caused by the abuse or if there are any signs of damage/injury.

Today we got up early & went to Lake Charles to get the countertops for my friend's cabinets. They were on clearance for half price but they weren't at the nearest store so we went down there instead. Also got some end caps on clearance. One of the countertops will have to be cut down to fit (they didn't have the shorter ones available) but we can use my tablesaw for that. Tuesday we'll be going to get the cabinets. I found out that the surplus place does military discount so that should help.
 
We went to the DA's office today & my friend talked to several people who connected him with someone from the sheriff's department & then we went to the sheriff's department for an in-person interview. The first visit took about 30 min & it was over an hour at the sheriff's taking down info. The guy from the DA's office has daughters so he was motivated to protect the little girl.

I learned more details-- such as, her brother has been sneaking into her room at night after their mother goes to bed. He then abuses her & when she tried to run out of the room to get help, her brother grabbed her & covered her mouth and then dragged her back into the room to abuse her. The mother refused to get either one of them counseling because she said it's pointless. She promised my friend she would keep an eye on the kids and not leave them alone together, but she didn't-- she leaves them alone together during the daytime while she plays on her computer or phone. And now the daughter is afraid to tell on her brother (at least to her mother) because she gets punished for it. My friend also messaged his daughter's principal to give him a heads up about what is going on bc she has an appointment tomorrow to be interviewed. There are multiple people who will testify to the neglect & mistreatment we've witnessed. At least they are taking things seriously now & hopefully my friend can get custody & both kids can get counseling.

Since we have to go somewhere tomorrow we decided to get the cabinets today. My friend will work Thursday to make up for the lost hours. Got them home & realized the corner cabinet fit differently than we realized so we had to switch things around a bit. We had to swap a 12" cabinet with an 18" cabinet & it fits nicely. Later on my friend plans to get some upper cabinets but for now having counter space & new cabinets will help. My friend jokingly said "Hey, what are you doing the rest of the week?" Then reminded me that I like painting/staining cabinets. I was already planning to get some new brushes to tackle that.

I'm glad the appointment is in the afternoon though, bc I'm going to get some sleep in. I helped move the cabinets in, cleaned the floor, & helped move stuff out of the way. One of the cabinets wouldn't fit so I told my friend to take the hinge pins out & move the door so we could get it in. Got it through, and then I put the pins back in while he held the door. We got a lot accomplished thus far. I think Wednesday I might work on staining the cabinets if I'm not too exhausted.
 
Z atrick for hanging a door back up it to get the bottom hing in first and put the pin in and that acts as a fulcrum for tipping the door up and getting the pin in. Worls for me even on solid commercial door. Usually one man job.
Thanks, Daris. I'll have to remember that tip.

Right now the kitchen looks like this:
Mitchkitchennewcabs2.jpg

My friend like his toast on the Dark Side. :p

Litterbox obviously won't stay there. I brought the Skil saw home bc he decided he's not going to have time to go do the flooring at his late uncle's house. He's going to get something to put over the gaps in the toekicks & once the flooring is in there will be shoe molding underneath. The overhang in front of the doorway is going to be trimmed off & hopefully there will be some use found for the scrap piece. Eventually, he plans to get upper cabinets & a tall cabinet on the side where the trash can is sitting.

These cabinets are much better made than the ones from Lowes. They have sturdy plywood instead of the particle board crap.
 
I'm up & waiting to head over to my friend's house to take him & his daughter to LC. I ordered some stuff for pickup at Lowes-- most of it is for staining the cabinets (new brushes, wiping cloths, sandpaper, etc) but I also got some insulation tape for my outdoor pipes.
I didn't want to have to run all over the store looking for stuff bc I have to cook dinner tonight. My brother ate all of the leftover stroganoff & put the empty container back in the fridge. Good thing I looked bc I wouldn't have known & was planning to just heat that up tonight. But I'm going to have to spend more time on dinner now.
 
Yeah, I miss Randy's posting. It's been too quiet.

Things went OK at DCFS but it turns out there was some confusion with what the girl said to us vs what she said to the interviewer. She indicated that the main sexual abuse hasn't been recurring but that the hitting, restraining, & unwanted touching (that is not considered fully sexual) is ongoing. She's afraid of her brother & doesn't want to go home because she knows he's going to continue. The expert interviewer said she did very well in the interview & that it isn't cause for immediate removal but it is cause for both kids to get counseling. I think the mother needs counseling too-- some anger management as well as learning how to deal with kids instead of just hitting them, screaming & swearing at them, or just ignoring them. If she fails to comply or follow-through with the counseling for her son, she will lose custody of both kids. But for now they said the little girl can choose which parent she wants to stay with-- and she's been adamant she wants to stay with her father, but there is no official court order & the court date for custody is still pending. There are multiple people who can testify on my friend's behalf though. My friend's mother is going to go over to check up on the little girl after she gets home from school to make sure her brother is leaving her alone.

I got a call this morning from my friend's fiance bc an outdoor cat ran in & went into labor. No word yet on whether or not the kittens have been born yet. I hope the poor kitty is doing ok.

Meanwhile, my sister is trying to buy a new house. The one she's in is too small & she's going to use it as a rental property. She found a really nice house that has plenty of space. 3 car garage & a nice backyard. The HOA fees are lower than they are in her current neighborhood. I'm hoping she'll be able to get it as I see that there is already a pending offer on it.
 
Someone broke into our other house and just trashed it. A neighbor told me that it was a Mexican hiding from ICE. If I catch him, well, he does not want me to catch him. This is a stand your ground state and we have open/concealed without a permit.
4 of the 5 Mexican restaurants in the area closed after a raid.
 
Rusty, that really sucks! I wonder if your neighbor was correct.

I went over & put the first coat of stain on my friend's new cabinets. I was doing well, not dripping or getting anything on myself or the floor. Then my foot bumped the little bucket & knocked it over & spilled half of it out. Fortunately it's just plywood floor right now so it doesn't matter too much. I cleaned it up as best as I could but they don't have paper towels. There were some shop towels, but not much so I used them. I ended up just dipping the brush in the spill so I wouldn't waste what was left in the bucket. I'm going to stain the sides after the countertops are trimmed & secured. The toekicks will be done after they are covered with some sort of trim to hide the gaps.
Mitchkitchennewcabs3stain1.jpg
 

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