On The Move

This was year of the Tiger and I told Micah that meant movement and that he would be moving this year.

About an hour ago I was feeling that Micah was on the move. I called Coconino County and sure enough they said he was no longer there. About half an hour later I got a call from a friend saying that sure enough Micah has left Coconino County and will be in processing for the next few weeks.

I am so happy for him to finally get out of Coconino County. I am so happy as only a mother can be that he will have a much better Christmas than he has had the past two. That makes my Christmas and I will sleep better knowing that he will be having a tad more freedom than he has had the past 21/2 years.

Yeah, yeah, yeah!!!!

Wonderful Wednesday

Micah asked me to pass along his gratitude this Thanksgiving. He is thankful for all of you who have hung by him through the past two and a half years of hell in Coconino County Jail. You all are awesome, especially those of you who were able to write letters, they hit the spot!

We look forward to seeing whoever can make it to the big day on Wednesday. It will be a great day to move on in this journey from hell that Micah has been on.

Again thanks for the letters and see you all Wednesday.

Sentencing

Yahoo! Finally a sentencing date! Finally gonna get out of Coconino County! As one guard said, "It's about G%$ D$%# time!" She ain't kidding! We're just not real sure who is going to be partying more, Coconino county jail or Micah?

November 16th. After two and a half years in county, justice at a crawl.

Sentencing Soon?

It is getting closer! We are a few weeks away from a sentencing hearing for Micah and boy is he excited. Surely it is not too soon to start praying for that minimum sentence.

I talked to Micah tonight and he was in very good spirits. He has been in a bit of a funk as his birthday draws nearer and it is hard to think about spending his third birthday in a row in Coconino County Jail.

He will no longer be a teenager come October 4! That is so hard to believe.

Sad Letter

Received this week from Micah:

"Man I'da gone crazy, nigga, done lost my mind if I wuz you! Twenty two GD months up in here!"

It was odd to have the drastic details of my life reiterated to me so bluntly. Many people coming and going, for domestic disputes or public intoxication, fail to recognize the actual circumstances of this hell they pass through-while they moan night after night about the thirty days they're doing in county.

But here it was, being placed directly in front of me, not intentionally, but, none the less it was there to ponder. Two years and this morning I lay holding my bladder because the restroom is the bedroom, therefore, somebody was sleeping in my restroom. Aimlessly angry, I began pondering every aspect of my dull life, soon realizing it was nearly identical to my last writing.

To be continued....

Good Question

I got a really good question from a follower of the blog on a past post. The person asked if there was anything they could do to help Micah money wise. Actually I am glad they asked.

Right now I am working on getting some of Micah's poetry put on an e-book. Once I get that done if everyone will just buy one it would keep him in the coffee for awhile.

We also appreciate all the help we have received for Micah and most of all he appreciates it!

Obviously he is very frustrated right now and sooo ready to get out of Coconino County, that is a long sit for anyone. Depending on how the election goes tomorrow it may get more crowded and miserable there.

Thanks to all and pura vida!

How to Visit

I have received a couple of emails asking me how to visit Micah. I have decided to tell you! The best way to do it is call the jail, at the number under the address on the right. Ask them if Micah has any visits left this week.

Visits begin every Sunday morning and he has two thirty minute visits a week. Not much ha? If he has any visits left they will tell you and you can go down to the jail. The Coconino County Jail is right behind New Frontier Natural foods on Sawmill Rd.

When you got you must bring an ID. They also require that you be at least 18 unless you are a family member.

If you would like to visit and are having trouble getting in email me and I will tell Micah so that he can save a visit for you. He just refuses all visitors until you come to visit at your designated time.

Easy peasy ha? Have a good visit!

Prices

In Coconino County Jail they charge $1.00 for a package of Ramen!
In Coconino County Jail they charge $4.00 for a bag of coffee (that is $1.50 a bag in prison by the way)
In Coconino County Jail they charge you for your salt packets, pepper packets and sugar packets.

Keep it Real?

In talking with Micah today he had a question. He is moving right along with his novel, but seems to be suffering from a bit of writers block. He suggested to me that maybe he should change it over to a fantasy. Like let the hero find a geeni lamp and go from there. My thought was "keep it real". He is wondering what all his fans would like, the fantasy edge or the keep it real slant?

Also Micah has no visitors so far this week and would love, love, love visitors. He informed me today that he has pretty much given up on eating. Much rather have coffee, so he trades for it. Man I can't wait until he gets out of County, not as much as him for sure, but can't wait nonethesless!

Face Book

Micah is on Facebook. You can check him out and send him a friend request. He would be thrilled to have more than his family as friends. I will be posting whatever he tells me three days a week when he calls and passing on what others say to him.

At the moment Micah is in the hole, again. He is really struggling and may be looking into transferring to a different jail in the county. He is just needing a change after one year eight months in coconino county.

If you have been thinking about writing him it would be an excellent time right now :)

I Love Letters!

Micah does not understand why I want him to write to me when we talk three times a week. The deal is I feel he expresses his feelings better in letters than on the phone. When we talk on the phone he seems a bit preoccupied with what is going on around him. He mentioned in this letter that they are short staffed at Coconino County, therefore more lockdown time for counting. That is a drag for them. Imagine having to be in your room at a certain time every day so someone can count you.
At any rate I wanted to share a line from his letter to me.

"I just have to have tunnel vision and know this will all end, because sometimes it's hard to believe that freedom is actually out there. But I keep telling myself that it is out there, and it will come sooner than later. Everytime the officers choose me to mess with, everytime we get locked down for nothing, everytime they raise the prices and press the charges and insist with an arrogant walk that they're better than me because I'm a "criminal". I have to tell myself there's a better life, because if freedom was nowhere in my future, stopping myself from doing something reeeeal stupid would be harder than it already is! I just want to get on with life, I want this whole thing done, I feel I've learned my lesson and crime is a part of my past, I don't understand how they're benefiting by keeping me in here, losing money and taking my sanity one day at a time!"

Can you see why I love his letters?

GED

So apparently the Coconino County Jail does not accomodate those who want to increase their learning. Micah has requested to continue studying for and take his GED. For crying out loud people he has been there for 18 months, he could almost have his associates by now.

He is a little bummed that he will just be an alumni of Coconino County!

Game

Good ole' Micah. Today I got to hear a play by play detail of his antics during the Cardinals game last night. Unfortunately we turned the game off at half time, thinking they had it locked up. My oldest son called us right after the game and told us we just missed the best overtime game of the year aughhhhhh! Then Micah agreed with him and told me about him dancing on the tables and screaming his lungs out. Poor Micah, and even poorer still his cell mates who as he says love him and hate him.

He was doing better this weekend. Today is his 18 month anniversary. He has been in Coconino County jail for 18 months! That is really hard to believe. He is so hoping to get out of there before his two year anniversary. And of course still hoping and praying for that minimum sentence! No word on him getting out of county any time soon.

Christmas Carolers

I wish I could give a big hug and thank you to each and every person that came in the group to Christmas carol at the Coconino County jail yesterday! If they only knew how much joy they brought to one young man there it would make them feel all warm and fuzzy all over!

In fact Micah was so beside himself with excitement over the singing, people, and hot cocoa that he accidentally spilled the cocoa of the guy next to him. Lucky for him they gave him another cup. He was just higher than a kite last night with Christmas spirit and excitement.

Also there is a rumor circulating that they are going to reduce the percentage of your sentence served from 85% to 60%. That would mean Micah is almost half way done. We can only hope that one passes. He said it was between that and raising the taxes on the good folks of Arizona, I vote for the prison reduction!

Still in the Hole

No call, means still in the Hole. Micah was really hoping to get out this week, at least that is what the guy told him. Evidently it did not happen today as he had hoped. He is hoping to hear from his attorney tomorrow and we sure to have some good news by then. In the meantime keep the letters coming, he really needs them right now and is about the lowest I have seen him since he went to Coconino County seventeen months ago.

In The Hole

Poor Micah, in the Hole again! I think that Micah may hold the record for the most time spent in Coconino County, and maybe even the record for the most time in the hole. The biggest problem is that people tend to think because he is just a kid they can just attack him, with a screw no less.

His celly came after him with a screw, which the guy has a few loose already anyway, and Micah was defending himself. What the heck? As Micah pointed out, in jail you cannot just walk away, there is no place to walk. If someone attacks you you have no choice but to let him beat you to a pulp, or defend yourself.

There will be a hearing on Wednesday to determine whose fault the fight was. There was one witness so Micah is planning on being out of the hole on Wed. The bad news is if he is found guilty he will be there 30 days, which will be until Dec. 26th. And the really bad news? This time in the hole he is not allowed anything. No writing stuff, no reading material, nada!

After we talked this morning when he called me for my birthday he said he was going to go back to sleep. I guess he will be sleeping from now until Wed. Let's all pray he gets out of the hole on Wed. I can't imagine him spending Christmas there, no good for him. He already said he feels like he's going a little crazy there after just four days. Yes it happened on Thanksgiving!

Best Day Yet

Today Micah had his best day ever in Coconino County. Actually it wasn't exactly in the jail, but at the police station so maybe it does not count. At any rate they came to get him in the morning and took him outside. Yes you heard that right, outside. He got to walk all the 30 ft. to the police station.

When he got inside they had menus on the table! I am surprised he did not break down and cry, but he was manly about it and just giggled. The biggest problem was he could not decide what to order. His lawyer had to order his grilled chicken pita wrap for him.

The whole six hours he was being cross examined he was able to sit in a chair with a back! Yes even a back on it. He sat comfortably in a chair. And the bathrooms. Now there was true luxury for Micah, a full length mirror. He said he kept taking peeks at his abs the whole time he was in there.

After eating one of the lawyers asked for some of the shitty coffee. Micah piped up and asked if he could have some of the shitty coffee also. He took one drink and said that was the best shitty coffee he had ever tasted.

The frosting on the cake for the day came as they led him back to jail. They exited the police station right as the sun was setting. He said the sky was all pink and purple over the pine trees and he walked as slowly as he possibly could to take it in for a longer time. I thank God for the good day he gave Micah today, he deserved a nice day after 16 months!

Finally

I finally heard from Micah yesterday. I was so relieved to talk to him. He is still in lock down, which I was not happy to hear. That is surely the punishment of choice at Coconino county.

Birthday Cards

I am sorry to announce that Micah did not receive most of his birthday cards. I finally got to talk to Sgt. Wildermuth at Coconino County and he said he would find out what had happened to the cards. Micah was in lock down today so when he finally called he said he had just gotten five of his fifteen cards.

The reason he will not get the rest of his cards? They were too big!

He is in lockdown because some kid was threatening him, so they put him in lockdown. Go figure. As far as I can tell jail does not make sense, and if you figure out the system please clue me in!

THANKS

Micah wanted me to thank everyone who thought of and sent cards and wishes for his birthday. He saved up all his goodies and enjoyed them yesterday. We talked twice to celebrate the day and it was great. It is like we can have him sitting here with us hanging out when we get to talk for a longer time.

I was thinking last night how thankful I am that Micah is being so good humored about this whole thing. How difficult this would be for his family if he was whining and crying the whole time. I would feel so helpless and sad if he was crying and depressed when we talked. He has never, not holidays or any other day showed any sign of being sad or down.

Last year on his birthday they woke him up at midnight to have him change into big boy scrubs and move him into the big boy pod. That was a difficult time for him and I am still thankful we were able to visit him in that time. Unfortunately he has adapted to the sick and twisted environment he is living in and is just doing his time first in coconino county and then onto who knows where.