CHRISTMAS AND AN UPDATE

Hiya!

Checking in after a long and relaxing Christmas weekend chock full of family and friends. 

We had Matt's dad and his girlfriend, two sisters, and a 60 pound German Shepard named Elsa under our 1,800 square foot roof.

It was cozy and chaotic, name because TJ spent the better part of those 48 hours terrorizing and beating on Elsa to the point that the dog was keeping a 2 foot wide berth away from TJ. Hilarious. 

Elsa opened her own gifts, which was equal parts adorable and messy. 

I didn't spend a lot of time taking photos, in fact beyond the usual snaps of TJ, these two were all I got. 

In other news, an update on my hit and run drama. 

I'm knocking on wood as I share this because it hasn't been wrapped up in totality, but I have a good feeling about where it's headed (barring a battle with the insurance company). 

Last I shared, I wasn't hopeful anything would come from it because MPD seemed to indicate that a no-injury hit and run wouldn't be pursued in the same manner as an injury one. Shortly after that call I got a letter from MPD saying they sent a certified letter to the vehicle owner asking them to identify insurance within 15 days or they would flag his car, impound it if the saw it, and revoke his license. 

Shortly after receiving the letter, I was contacted by an officer. He asked me again for a brief narrative of the situation and a physical description of the driver. I gave it to him and he asked if I thought I could identify him if I saw him again. I said yes, I most likely could: I've always prided myself on my memory, so I was feeling pretty confident. He then told me he'd put together a photo lineup for me to look at. O_O. 

Last Monday I was contacted by the officer saying he'd assembled the photos and asking if I could come in. It's not at all how it goes in the movies- I was only allowed to look at one photo at a time, which was printed on an 8x11 (not that 6-photos-per-page stuff you see on TV) but I could go through the order as many times as I wanted and spend as long as I needed with each photo. There were 6 photos that he shuffled into a random order. I remember getting through a few photos and then getting to one and instantly thinking, "YEP, that's him." ... I set that photo apart a little and continued through the rest. I went through them again rather quickly, and was even more confident he was the right guy. The whole thing took me about 2 minutes. 

The officer never indicated clearly whether I had gotten it right but say immediately after he had a feeling the city attorney would be bringing misdemeanor leaving-the-scene charges, and that he'd be supplementing the report with insurance information-- turns out the guy had called and provided his info between receiving the letter and the lineup. 

We got the updated information yesterday and are sending it through my insurance. The irony is we both have the same provider, so.. it remains to be seen whether that complicates or helps the process. Ha! 

The moral of the story is, don't hit someone and drive away. Especially after they tell you they're a lawyer.