She was 12.

I arrived for court a few minutes early the other day, and ended up catching the end of arraignments for juvenile delinquency cases. Towards the end, they brought in the smallest, most petite little girl. She walked in wearing shackles on her hands and feet, looked up, and smiled at her parents. She looked all of 12. I figured that she had probably been lodged overnight for something like harassment or theft--shoplifting or maybe getting into a fight at school. Sometimes they'll lodge first time offenders to "scare them straight". The judge asked her whether she planned to admit or deny, and she responded that she was ready to admit. The judge asked what she had done, and I was SHOCKED to hear "possession and use of heroin." Turns out they had already tried to release her to her parents once, and on the first day, she snuck out and used again. This time, she was in detention until a residential treatment facility opened up. Ugh. I'm totally desensitized to accounts of abuse and neglect, but watching those juvenile arraignments still really get at me.

Tonight at training, I had to come in and read a bunch of case files. We do this to give new workers a real-life idea about what they'll be dealing with. J and I are still sharing a car, so I asked the lead trainer if he could come sit in the lounge. He's already had to sign confidentiality agreements since he helped drywall the office, so the trainer suggested that he just sit in on the training. It was kind of nice, because I was leading the training, so J actually got to see me in action. Also, I usually can't go into any case detail with him at all, but this time he heard all the actual case info, but just with last names removed...it's nice for him to hear some real examples of the stuff that I have to read and deal with every day.

I gave J part of his Valentine's Day present early (Season 2 of Bones), and so he decided to give me part of mine early as well. Lisa, you'll appreciate these:
Y'all may all recall the giraffe/ryno/hippo story. It's also this reason that Ethan's log in name is Baloo. Anyway, I mentioned to Justin that I've almost purchased these mugs a couple of times, but always ended up putting them back on the shelf...I don't NEED another coffee mug (though I DO need one that doesn't burn the heck out of me when it's microwaved). Sweet hubby got a set for me and delivered it up with some nice hot chocolate tonight. Major points for hubby....but I'm still hoping for a kitten!