Researching

So, this weekend went really well. I was very impressed with Jake's attitude and I finally had a weekend with him where I didn't spend every moment he was out of my sight thinking he was up to something.

For the first time in MONTHS I actually wanted him to stay and when he was gone I actually missed him being there. I would say that's an improvement.

Right now I'm attempting to help him establish a time line for his life story. His memory is blurry and he remembers things happening but is unsure of WHEN they happened. So, I have been on the courts online website pulling his convictions.

What's that? You didn't know that Iowa had one of those? Oh yes, for absolutely no charge at all you can become the nosey neighbor. Just go here and enter the person's first and last name. You can find everything from speeding tickets to felonies.

So I have pulled all of Jake's and the stack is about half an inch thick. Most of the things I knew about and some I've tried to forget but there wasn't anything in there too surprising. Coincidentally while I was looking I discovered there is another Jacob Alan only he spells his middle name Allan. He was born on 11/27/80 and my Jake was born on 12/27/80. How strange is that??

Unfortunately it has taken me awhile to pull all of this info so now my lunch hour is over and I'm going to have to get back to work. That means that I will probably be working on this tonight after Zack goes to bed. Woo Hoo.

Oh, one more thing to note. While I was looking for my diaries to help jog my memory for his time line I stumbled upon my diary from when I was 11. Do any of you have your old diaries? Have you ever gone back and re-read them? There was one entry that sticks in my mind. It reads:

Dear Diary,

My boyfriend is Ryan P. O.K. Well any way I told everyone my name was Heather P. So anyway people started calling me Mrs. P. Cool huh? Well anyway this is fun because I love him so much. J.T. likes me I think. If Ryan breaks up with me I would go with J.T. He even gave me a can of pop. He is a good pal! Of course all boys are!

Sounds like true love doesn't it? Coincidentally we "broke up" within a month and I was heartbroken. Cried for days convinced I couldn't live without him even though we never saw each other and only talked like once a month. Guess my backup plan wasn't so good after all.