Chiquita on Gene Kehoe's Request

I was watching the news the other night with my mom, and there was an update on the Michelle Kehoe trial. Basically what happened was this woman killed her son Seth, 2, and attempted to kill her other son, Sean, who was seven at the time of the attack. She cut both of their throats. Sean survived the attack, but Seth didn't. The attack happened in October 2008. Her trial started in October of this year, and she was found guilty on November 5th of several charges including: First Degree Murder, Attempted Murder, and Child Endangerment Causing Serious Injury.
Earlier this week, Kehoe was sentenced to life in prison for the murder charge, 25 years for the attempted murder charge, and ten years on the child endangerment causing serious injury charge. The attempted murder charge and the child endangerment causing serious injury charge will be served concurrently, which means at the same time. These sentences will be served consecutivly to the first degree murder charge. Basically, all this means that there is no chance in hell of Kehoe ever seeing the light of day outside the prison walls ever again.
Along with all this legal stuff, there is a no contact order in place between Kehoe and any member of her family, including her husband. This no contact order was not requested by the family. On the day of sentencing, Gene Kehoe, the father of the children and Kehoe's husband, asked that the no contact order be lifted so that Gene could speak with his wife, and that their son may some day be able to visit his mother in prison, if he wished. The judge said for now, no. When Mr. Kehoe was getting off the stand, he asked if he could hug his wife. Because of the no contact order, the judge said no.
I understand that Michelle Kehoe doesn't have any rights anymore because she is a murderer and prisoner. What I do not understand however is how the court got the right to restrict Gene Kehoe's freedoms. He is being punished because of his wife's crime. Mr. Kehoe believes his wife to be mentally ill, and he said he will eventually forgive her for her actions because of that. I think that is only healthy of him to do, and I think it is wrong of the court to disallow him the right to see his wife. I think this because he's free, so he should be able to do what he wants with the situation.
There may be more updates on the Kehoe trial, and if there are I will keep you updated. You may find the details of the trial here.

Chiquita on Snow Day Number One

Mr. Evan's "seriously doubted" we'd have a snow day on Tuesday... and the students win again! Yes! I love it when that happens.

Day One of Three Snow Days was great! I woke up begrudgingly, as I do every morning that I have to get up early and go to school. Right above my headboard is a window that looks out onto the street. Rubbing the sleep out of my eyes, I raised the blinds. There was no street to be seen. There was just snow. It was level with the curb, and then some! Apparently the wind was blowing in the direction of my neighbor across the street's house because a drift had formed along the side of their house. It was at least four feet high. Liking my chances, I went into the living room and turned on the television. I waited for my que, and when it rolled across the screen, I fist pumped (yes, I actually fist pumped. Don't laugh) and at the same time my mom walked in the front door. (She works nights.)

"No school I take it?" she said.

"Nope! Woo hoo!" I cheered. Then I went back to bed. It's an unwritten rule in my household that I do not get up before noon on snow days, simply out of principal. Later in the day, Cory came over to get me (he only lives like two blocks away, so it wasn't a bad drive or anything). We hung out at his house and watched the Breakfast Club. I hadn't seen it in a long time, and it was a good pick for a day where we were stuck at home with not much to do. That night I got the best sleep I've had in a long time. It was the best snow day ever.

Chiquita on Christmas Time

I love Christmas time. My family gets to get together and eat a bunch of good food, exchange a few Christmas presents, and just hang out watching videos of when my brothers and I were younger. It's always a nice reminder of how blessed I am to have my family.

To me, Christmas really isn't about getting exactly what I want or cooking the perfect meal. Sure, I like to get expensive things for Christmas that I wouldn't normally be able to convince my mom to buy for me, but if I don't get it, I'm not disappointed. I like to buy small gifts for my family, and I know they like them just because I thought of them. It's not like I have to spend a million dollars on everyone at Christmas. And I don't want them to spend a ton of money on me either. I would much rather have them bake me some cookies and come over and eat them and spend time with me. I guess I'm simple like that.

I hate what Christmas has become. All the shopping and fighting and people DYING trying to find the perfect gift. I mean, the lines on "Black Friday" are ridiculous, all for a sale. Why buy the expensive gift in the first place? Where are the gifts from the heart? Sometimes, it makes me sick. I want anyone who reads this to take a step back from all this holiday rushing and just be thankful for what you have for a moment. Sheesh.

Chiquita on Fern Gully

I was alone at my house the other night. Ok, I wasn’t actually alone, Duncan was there, but he’s a cat and he never goes anywhere, so he doesn’t really count. My mom was over at my brother’s house babysitting my nephews, and I just happened to have nothing to do. I’d spent most of the day on Facebook, catching up on the latest gossip and making plans for my 18th birthday on New Year’s Eve (eek! So excited!). After I’d done that for a good five hours, I’d gotten pretty bored.
I was looking around my living room for something to do, when I noticed a large cardboard box sitting in the corner behind the lazy boy. I wondered what it could be. I thought maybe it was a Christmas present. Curious, I went over to look inside. The top was folded closed, but not taped. I opened it up, only to discover it was a box full of my old kids’ movies on VHS. I was about to shut the box and move on to something else when something caught my eye. She was a girl with black hair and light blue eyes. She wore a shirt with one shoulder that showed her belly, and a frayed skirt. Her wings poked out over her head. Her name was Crysta, and she was the main character in Fern Gully, my favorite movie of all time.
I looked over my shoulder, making sure no one was around. The cat stared at me accusingly, but I ignored him. I took the VHS from the box and went over to the TV. I turned the VCR on, and I was actually pretty surprised it worked. I popped the tape in. I fast forwarded through the previews, and then settled in on the couch and watched the movie. This was probably the best idea I’ve ever had. The movie was just as amazing as I remembered it. The harrowing tale of a little fairy and her new friend the shrunken construction working was nothing short of heartwarming Best day ever, but don’t tell anyone. My favorite part in the movie is when Goanna (Tone Loc) sings to Zak (Johnathan Ward), the shrunken construction worker. Here's the video of it.

Chiquita on Failing to Switch Gears

I suck at Math. I always have, and I probably always will. I suck so terribly at it that this term I was put into a class called “Applied Math. I had no idea what to expect when I showed up at class first hour on Monday. (Sociology was dropped to make room for this class. Boo.) I came in and the teacher told me to have a seat. I sat in the third row. The class is made up entirely of acquaintances and not a single person that I ever really talk to. With that being the case, it was easy for me to focus on what the teacher was talking about.
As I listened to the lesson, I became increasingly irritated. The students in the class mocked the teacher as he tried to do his job. They are the type with little or no respect for any kind of authority. The type who will not attend any kind of school (be it a two-year, four-year, or trade school) after graduation from high school. The type who have millions of better things to do during this time, like sell drugs or break into cars. I don’t mean to stereotype, but do you blame me? At one point during the hour, one of the guys in the class commented on how all the administrators supposedly thought he was a drug dealer because he was always on his phone. To this the teacher replied, “Is it true?” and the kid replied, “No! I didn’t sell any drugs this year!” Obviously, he meant to imply that he had previously sold drugs. Apparently, he thinks selling drugs is cool. Yea, pretty cool dude. So is working at Mickey D’s until you overdose at age 40, actually.
The class continued like this for the entirety of the period. As I listened to the conversations around me, I actually felt myself becoming less intelligent. My brain slowed down for a moment and I feared it might stop functioning completely and I would forget how to breathe and they’d have to drag my lifeless body off to the nurse’s office and I’d never make it to AP Lang.
Thankfully I managed to make it to the ring of the bell and wander mindlessly to AP Lang. When I sat down in my seat, I was feeling rather sluggish. Mr. Ayers started speaking and I found myself struggling to keep up with him. Frantic, I pulled out an essay and began to quickly read through it. Thankfully this worked and I began thinking like a normal person again. It was really weird feeling so sluggish in AP. I think it’s because my brain doesn’t have to work as hard in Applied Math as it does in AP and it just hadn’t realized it was time to wake up and get moving. The whole time I was in that class I had that song “Fly Away” by Lenny Kravitz playing in my head. “I want to get away; I want to get away….”

Chiquita on Senior Year

And the school year drags on. I’d say I’m running a fever of about 106.8. What illness am I suffering from you ask? Well, none other than the infamous Senioritis. Seriously, I go to class every day, and the whole time I sit, I count the minutes until the final bell rings. Several of my friends are in college, and I’m really the only one who was left behind to continue wandering the halls of our not-so-beloved high school. I humor the teachers, answering and asking a few questions here and there. I tolerate the other students, seemingly working well with others when really I’m only thinking about how the more I speed this along, the sooner it will be over and then I’m that many minutes closer to graduating and getting the hell out of here. I know of a country song by Trace Adkins called “You’re Gonna Miss This”. At one point in the song, he sings in his twangy voice

You’re gonna miss this, you’re gonna want this back, you’re gonna wish these
days hadn't gone by so fast. These are some good times, so take a good look
around.You may not know it now, but you’re gonna miss this.

When applied to my current high school situation, that’s the biggest load of crap I’ve ever heard. I’ve done my time in high school. I was never very involved but never overly isolated either. I’m just not that into the whole “school activities” thing. I just really want to finish everything I need to get done and move on with my life. I’m sure when I’m a grown adult and have teenagers of my own, I’ll probably regret not taking more of an advantage of my high school years. But right now, I just want this to be over already. It’s been a long 13 years, and I’m really ready to just be out on my own. I’ve already started making plans as to where I’m going to be living after I graduate. If things work out as planned, I’ll be moving to Iowa City to live in a house with two of my good friends, Erin Van Kirk and Brooke Harlander, as well as a couple other girls. As far as schooling, I’m going to Kirkwood for two years before pursuing my dream of being an elementary school teacher. That being the case, I have some options as far as my first year as a college student. Hopefully, I’ll be able to take my general classes at the Iowa City campus. If not, I’ll have to take them at the Cedar Rapids location. Depending on whether or not I have a well-paying job in Iowa City I may have to move back to Cedar Rapids at the end of the summer to an apartment closer to the Cedar Rapids campus. If that ends up being the case, I already have another girl I could room with.
When I think about all of this, I just see these last several months at Kennedy as a waste of my time. I’m sitting here at this school, being told when I may eat my lunch, when its “appropriate” for me to go to the bathroom, and all the other rules, when in a few months I’m going to be supporting myself, making my own way in the world. I’m just too excited for it!