9 Months

I feel like a pregnant mom! In nine months from today my baby boy will be a free man after 4 years and three months in prison.

Wow talk about excited!!!

Micah has asked me to thank all of you that have purchased his awesome book. He feels honored that so many people have shown so much support for him.

We have been enjoying talking unlimited. Also since Micah has "leveled up" he has unlimited visit time on Sat and Sun as well as unlimited phone time. It is so nice to be able to re-connect with him and prepare for the big day.

Happy 21!!!

Waiting, waiting, waiting for Micah's birthday call. I wish it was his last b-day in prison, but next year it will be celebrated the week before he gets out.

As a mother celebrating the birth of a child it is always a mixed emotional bag. When that child happens to be growing into a man in prison the emotional bag gets a bit more emo.

I just try not to focus on the last three birthdays and try to think about how much fun it will be to make up for all those missed birthday parties.

The good thing is his grandma got to get out to visit him over the weekend. No one that has never had a loved one incarcerated nor been locked up themself can imagine the lift that comes with the visits. They are looked forward and much appreciated, especially if the visitor has quarters :)

Happy Birthday to Micah and next week will begin the countdown for the last year, thank God!

A Minute of Fun

Now that we are back home and settled in I can actually write about our experiences visiting. When you are in the middle of some things it is just too hard to write about them without adding a bunch of emotion or something!

We got to visit Micah for about 12 hours every weekend for four weekends. It was glorious to see him, and feel him and talk to him. I was so amazed at how we just fell right into family roles as soon as we were together. One of the worries when Micah went to prison so young was that he would grow up too soon.

Well no worries about that one! I am very happy to report he is still the same joky jokster and big teddy bear Micah! From throwing a fit while we played Trouble to chasing his little sister around the visitor yard to being able to finish off $30.00 worth of vending machine junk food he was 100% himself.

He is open to visits now, you can all cut loose. He has eight hours one day on the weekends and four hours on one other day. It is so great to see him and enjoy his sense of humor for awhile. Sure makes you grateful for your life however awful it may seem at the moment. There is nothing like visiting an inmate to put your problems in perspective.

When we went on the last day to visit I planned to take a few pictures of the prison to post here. By the time I tore myself away from him, knowing I would not see him for another 13 months and hating that place more than anything in the world I told hubby, "put that camera away, I don't ever want to see this place again in my life".

In a short 13 months Micah will be saying the same thing!

Excellent Article

In talking with a visitor and Micah this past weekend I was made aware that I had not shared the following link. This is an article Micah has written telling just a little about his experience. Hopefully it will convince others to make good choices.

Next week I will be posting pictures and stories about our experiences visiting Micah. Our last visit will be Saturday morning :(. It has been awesome to visit with him every weekend and get to know our son again. The best part is we still love him a ton and think he is awesome!

Enjoy this article.

http://www.askthejudge.info/lessons-from-a-teen-prison-inmate/10424/

New Address Earned

Sorry I did not post immediately after our weekend visit with Micah, too many emotions to deal with.

It was the best feeling in the world to have my baby boy grab me up in his humonous arms and give me the biggest hug ever! He is guapo as always and looking so healthy and ready to get out.

A few notes for those planning to visit. The first and most important thing is to call and make sure you are on his visitor list. We were sure everything was good on this point and thank goodness I called a couple of days before to double check. Sure enough baby was not on his list. That all translated to many phone calls and visits from him to his councilor to get a "special" visit for baby to come for the next three weekends.

The next note is you cannot wear anything sleeveless to visit. My blouse was not really a tank top or thin strap but it was sleeveless enough that I ended up wearing a really hot sweatshirt of hubby's that was thank goodness in the car for the entire eight hour visit. That meant when we went outside so he could smoke the cigars his dad brought him and it was 104 I was extremely hot!

Next note is do not wear an underwire bra! If you beep you will not be allowed to pass and you cannot just go out and take off the bra, you must keep on your undergarments at all times? Not sure if they would check on this one or not but I would surely not want to risk it.

And the $30.00 worth of quarters for the vending machine, yes he used every last one of them. It was actually a bit gross but he managed to eat so much grossness I actually felt a little sick just watching him :)

You can note the new address to the right. He is now in Eagle Point rather than Barchey, thank God. He is also working for Rio Salada college as the clerk there at Eagle Point. He actually earned his way to Eagle Point with good boy points and it is the best place for him. You must have less than five years on your sentence and they are all preparing to leave, so they are super chill.

It is so exciting to think that next year when we come to visit we will be taking Micah home!

Letters Rock

At this time and point LETTERS ROCK! I got to talk to Micah today and he was in a much better mood than last week. he said the weather had cooled off somewhat because the humidity had dropped.

I cannot even imagine only being able to talk to one person a week, and only for fifteen minutes. I cannot wait until next week, we get to see Micah!

He is begging for letters, without t.v., music, or other people there is not much to keep him entertained.

So if you are a little bored with summer and all, go to "amazing mail" and send him a post card, I can guarantee you he will love it!

Three Weeks in the Hole/Three Years in Hell

Micah has been in the hole for three weeks now. We were planning a trip to visit him, but it looks like we will be visiting him through glass once again. What a bummer!

He was taken into protective detention three weeks ago. It would not be so bad if it weren't over 90 degrees in his cell. The walls are so hot he has to sleep on the concrete floor. He is allowed out once a week to call us for 15 minutes and one half hour a day to walk around the cube.

I don't know how long he will be here, could be the next 15 months. In that case he could sure use lots of uplifting letters of encouragement and love. He is more discouraged than I have ever seen him in the last three years.

Three years ago today Micah was incarcerated. I know he is counting the days, hours and minutes until this hell is over for him.

We were on the phone all day with Warden, Deputy Warden as well as councelor. Our one request, please try to make him a little more comfortable. It is inhumane to keep a person in that kind of heat in any situation.

I don't know how many are following the happenings in Calif. at Pelican Bay prison. That is a solitary prison. There are inmates, people there that have been in solitary over 25 years! What kind of people are we that we could allow that kind of torture to go on among us? How can we stand silent while people are being held in cages with no human contact?

I remember when my kids were young they would do volunteer hours at the pound and no kill shelter. They would go to "walk the dogs and socialize the cats".

Graduation

This is a call out to anyone that is on Micah's visitor list and would like to see him graduate tomorrow. He will be having his cap and gown GED graduation at 10:00 if you would have time and means to get there.

Also we just found out that he has received another, that makes three, scholarship through Rio Salada community college. Way to go and man that is one smart cookie!!!!

Six Month Mark

Another six month mark on the horizon. Micah has been in Lewis almost six months and is looking forward to bumping up a level. I guess in gamer words, "leveling up" would be the term. That means more visiting time, more phone time and the best part a cell instead of communal living.

Now the game to see if it really happens. Our experience has been things don't happen quite like they are supposed to in prison.

Micah starts his school work officially on Monday and it will be fun to watch him progress through that. He is taking one class that is the same as two of his brothers, they will all be enrolled at the same time, that makes us feel pretty close to him right now.

He did say on the phone that he appreciates all the letters and support, you may not think it helps but it really does.

College Student

Micah received his books from Rio Salada last week and is ready to get started on his classes. He got the scholarship from Rio for two classes, just because he is so darn smart! He is figuring that he will be able to complete his associates degree by the time he gets out in one year and five months.

He had a great visit this weekend and wants to thank everyone who takes the time to visit and write to him. As I have mentioned the time goes by so much faster and he feels so much better when he has lots of contact with the real world.

The prison world is just that- a prison world, and sometimes it is easy to forget there is a real world out there. A world where you can stay up until you want to go to sleep, where you can eat when you are ready to eat and a world where you can eat whatever you want to eat.

It is kind of like when you are really sick and you cannot remember what it feels like to feel good.

And the more we talk to him and remind him of all the good out here the more he looks forward and prepares for his life outside of the prison walls!

Still Here

Talking to Micah this morning and it was early. I can't believe that guy gets up at 5:30 in the morning to talk to his old mama. It is so nice to talk to him everyday and just gets my day going in the right direction.

In June he will move to level 2. That means more phone time. He will also go to B. That means moving across the street into a cell instead of dorm living.

He is still teaching a few hours a day and working out lots. He is waiting impatiently for things to get going with his schooling through Rio Salada college. I think he is going to do awesome and he is excited to get things going so he will be ready to join his brothers for University when he finishes.

The weather is heating up on Phoenix and he mentioned today that his visits will be increased in June. If anyone would like to visit and they are on his list just leave a message and I will get you there to visit. It really helps the weekend go faster as they only have two meals a day on the weekends, call breakfast and lunch brunch. Good ole' boys that own the prisons in Phoenix trying to cut corners how ever they can ha?

Six Months Later

Finally!!! Got to talk to Micah tonight. It has been six months since I have gotten to speak with him and it was glorious. It was just so good to hear his voice and that he was indeed doing o.k. and looking very forward to being able to talk regularly.

He was in ok spirits. He got two scholarships and will be taking two courses from Rio Salada. He is also teaching the GED prep classes still for 20 hrs. a week and loving that job.

It sounded like he was still working out lots and I will get to talk to him again tonight. I will have a lot more posts now that we can communicate. Just to let you all know he has had somme mail confiscated so if he did not write back that may be why.

Also his visitor list is now approved, little glitch on that one that we got fixed. I believe is you are on his approved visitor list you can google "securit" the phone service they use at the prison. There you set up an account so he will be able to call you.

I can't even describe how wrong they are about Friday the 13th :)

Mr Smart

I always knew Micah was pretty darn smart. Now it is a proven fact evidently. While he was in Alhambra he took an equivalency test and aced it. Now he got a job teaching the GED prep classes for the other inmates trying to pass it. The funniest part is he has not even taken it yet, just helping them study for it and scheduled to take it on the 23rd. No doubt he will ace that test all over the place.

The funny part is three guys got mad at them because they have been trying to get this job for years and he just jumped right in there. The really cool news is he gets, are you ready for this? 15 cents an hour! Boo yeah!

To his credit he did say he would try not to get too flashy and rub the super high income in my face :)

grrrrrr

That is the angry mother growl! I just called the prison today to see why I have not been approved on Micah's visitor list yet. The guy that seriously sounds short of a few brain cells tells me that they did not even submit my application until March 2nd.

I asked him why it was not submitted until then considering the fact I turned it in online a month before that. He said "duh, uh, because we had to wait until we got the list from Micah".

Keep in mind he was in the process of being shipped all over Arizona at the time, so how in the heck was he supposed to submit his list to them? I think that he submitted a list when he was in Florence and they did not file it. Therefore he had to turn in another list when he got to Lewis.

I am convinced that not one of the people I have talked to at that prison complex could run anything. It is just freakin amazing to me that they are responsible for other people. People they obviously don't give a flip about.

I tried to explain to the nice rather not all checked out guy on the other end of the phone that we were traveling from out of country and really needed to know if we were going to be approved before we purchased tickets.

"Duh, well it never takes the whole two months but I can't really make any guarantees to you uh".

Time to just breath and know that it will be cleared and work out well when we get there so that we can visit Micah.

Good News

I was finally able to speak with Micah's councilor as well as his lawyer. It looks like Micah is getting settled in at Florence and things are going much better for him. At the moment he is waiting for his permanent status and where exactly he will be housed for the next year and a half.

We are already looking forward to our visit with him this year and planning on when to visit the states. It is difficult to time our visit when we really do not want to visit Phoenix in the heat of summer but have classes until then.

Micah will be letting people know if they are on his visitor list so that you can go online and fill out the application. Keep in mind that it takes at least two months for it to be cleared so it is best to fill it out early rather than later.

I would love to be able to speak with him but again that has to wait until we are approved on his visitor list. In fact they won't even give any information over the phone if you are not approved on the visitor list. It is very important to me to keep updated on Micah and if anyone hears anything good we would love to hear it.

Micah wanted to thank all of you who have purchased books as well as helped out with money on his books, it is much appreciated.

To put money on his books you have to send a cashiers check or money order to the address on the side bar. The money order or cashiers check has to be made out to
The dept.of corrections for the account of Micah Neumann #259241

Again thanks to all for the continued love, prayers, thoughts and support, we are on the downhill slope now.

Florence

Florence, are you friggin kidding me, Florence? Could he be any further away from friends and family? That really bums me out as I was really hoping for Bukeye, I just have to know that God knows what is best for Micah right now, and Florence it is.

You can write him there, I will include a good address tomorrow I hope. I just found him on prisoner search tonight. He has lost weight and is down to 150. I would not have recognized him right off he is so thin. Also he shaved his head so that did not help.

He looks so grown up and that was the part that made me cry when this whole nightmare began. Knowing that my teenager would grow up in prison. Well he grew up before he got to prison in County Jail. Not a whole lot better for sure.

Now I have filled out the paperwork and should be able to talk to him on the phone in the next few weeks, woot woo !

The Book is Here

For those of you sitting on the edge of your seats all these months, breath abated, you can finally rest well. The book is here and ready for you to purchase, kick back and read.

The only catch is you better hurry because the next book is in the process of getting out there.

I have a feeling that Micah will be moved into his next "home" soon. Somehow I seem to have the gut feeling, or maybe the mom feeling when things are happening to him. I have been feeling that and sure hope that it is soon.

If anyone else has any information please share it with us and I will surely keep you all posted as soon as we hear some news.

Peace and pura vida!

Messages

Someone very cool sent me a message today! She finally heard from Baby Boy and evidently as of Christmas he was still in "processing". I believe they send them there to make them really appreciate prison, can't really think of any other reason to stick people there for weeks at a time.

Micah said that they have to take turns getting up because there is not enough room for all of them to get up at the same time. Friggin ridiculous.

He did say that he was still singing and working out and could not wait to finally get out of there. They actually make dice out of toilet paper and dominoes out of milk cartons, gimme a break at least give them something to do to occupy their brains.

At least I can hope that he will be gone from there soon, keep ya posted.

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!!!!

Minimum Sentence

Here you can read all the news about the hearing yesterday. Micah has received the minimum sentence, 5 years. He is over half way done and is very thankful for everyone who made it possible for him to receive this minimum sentence.

Micah did an awesome job of conveying his sorrow and remorse and all the feelings he has experienced about this whole tragedy.

Micah wishes to convey his thanks and love to all the "supposed family and friends" that attended yesterday. It was awesome to feel the love and I will be posting his new address here soon we hope.

Peace and Blessings to all.