May 2005 Journal Entries

May 1 - 7

I thought I had better get this journal up to date. I will be posting a week at a time from now on. There is much going on with Monica's case right now. No new leads have developed. We have been spending a lot of time with the Foundation events planning. We have an office now thanks to First Landmark Realty. Our phones are in and the internet has been provided by Centramedia of Pampa. We have sent out packets to local business's an law enforcement agencies about the Child ID program. We will be doing follow-ups soon.

May 8 - 14

We have been getting ready for the Self Defense Classes. We have 33 kids signed up. We still have 12 slots open. Sunday (8th) was a bad day. I couldn't hard get around. My back has started acting up. I have been off work since Tuesday (May 10th) due to it. The doctor took me off work until we figure out what is wrong. The pain has been just unbearable at times. I finally go in to see the doctor on the 18th. He wants me to have an MRI done. I will have to wait though and go through the original surgeon due to worker's compensation rules. I called the original surgeon and his office will set up the MRI and contact me with a time and date. We have updated the Foundation Web Site and Forums. Today (14th) I went to the post office to check the mail and found that Texas Attorney General had sent us a signed proclamation naming May 25th as Texas missing Children's Day. I had contacted his office back in March asking him to proclaim that day and asked to have a ceremony on the State Capitol lawn. A few days later I got a call from his office advising that he would not be able to attend the ceremony. So I took that to mean he would not be able to do anything so i decided to just focus on the Self Defense Classes. I was shocked when I got the proclamation in the mail. Now to meet with the board to see what to do. We are planning an Open House at the new Foundation Office in Coronado Center for May 21st at 6:00 P.M.. We are preparing a press release to go out next week.

May 15 - 21

On Sunday afternoon we called an emergency board meeting to discuss the proclamation and what to do. We decided to contact the County Judge (Richard Peet) and ask to have a ceremony on the north side of the courthouse and asked if he would not mind . We sent a letter to Judge Peet and he ok 'd the use of the lawn and to see if he would not mind reading the proclamation on behalf of Governor Perry. We were just not going to be able to get everything ready to go to Austin this year in such a short period of time. We will try and do that next year. The board was really excited about all of what is coming up this week and next. Our fundraising chairperson is very active and has a lot of great ideas. We hope to be ordering the DNA kits soon. once they are in we will go ahead and begin the Child ID program with hopes of getting the rest of the funding soon to get the software needed. We will get where we want to go with this project it is just going to take a little longer than expected. I went for my MRI on Tuesday (17th) and will go to the surgeons office on Thursday (19th) to see what is going on and what can be done about my back.We have sent out press releases for the events this weekend and next week. We have also invited several families from across the state to attend. We are posting a lot of the Press Release information and event information on the forums now. On Thursday I went to the doctors office. In the short of it. It seems that the nerve endings in my lower back are swollen and that is what is causing the pain. He gave me a prescription to help in correcting this. Friday I got a call from the Mayor. He said that he was not going to be able to attend the ceremony on the 25th but would be more than happy to show his support for this project and sign a proclamation for Pampa as well. By Saturday I wasn't hurting as bad. Saturday morning Connie and I met with Gary and his helpers at the T&W Martial Arts Studio to begin the Self Defense classes. We held two classes and had about 15 participants all together with a few parents watching. Gary is an excellent self defense instructor and did a great job with the kids. That evening we held the Open house at the office. We didn't have the crowd we had hoped for but all in all it was pretty good. I think some were surprised at just what we do and what we are planning to do. Some of the people I had expected to be there were not. I will be posting pictures on the Foundation web site. The board members did an excellent job of handing out information and going over the different projects and events. It was still a difficult day due to it being Monica's birthday. I wish she could have been there to see just how much support and love everyone has for her. The family and friends have pulled together to make this all work. I am proud of them. Now to pull the community together to help protect our children.

May 22 - May 28th

Wednesday was a busy day. We all met at the Courthouse for the ceremony. It turned out well. We had the self defense awareness class after that. It also had a good turnou. We are going to be setting up the classes for next month. On Friday Connie and I went to Ft. Worth for our youngest son's graduation. It was nice to get away. My back didn't bother me too much most of the way up or back home. It is nice to no be in so much pain anymore.