speedy and public

I’ve been on call for jury duty the whole month of August (it’s been a crazy month), but made it until last Monday to actually get called in. I didn’t really want to do it, but it’s not a real big inconvenience since I’m a government employee and they (obviously) encourage participation… and they give jury leave. :)

First I forgot to fill my car with gas so it was blinking at me by the time I got there. And then I drove past the poorly marked parking deck and the street turned into a one way and I had a little trouble finding it again. Hooray for starting off the morning flustered!

It was kind of cool to be there… they were selecting a jury for a criminal trial and the judge talked about how great it is that we have the right to a trial by a jury of our peers… lots of “all rise” and gavel pounding…administered the oath… introduced the lawyers, and the defendant… and then told us it was a child porn case. *gulp* um… yikes!? Yeah. So then they called out 14 names at random, I was the second one called. We had to go sit in the jury box and the judge asked us all kinds of questions about being fair and impartial, and about computers and digital cameras. Then he went through each of the questionnaires we had already filled out with more questions. Apparently he didn’t like something I had written on mine, so they called me to the side and ended up excusing me for the rest of the month. *phew*

As much as I appreciate that we have the privilege of jury trials, and the privilege of having to be proven guilty, I was not sad to leave that courtroom. The case has been in the newspaper the last few days (you can find it under police and courts on pjstar.com)… yeah, I’m glad I’m not there. My personal, gut reaction to it all is that if there’s enough evidence to indict for those charges they should be shot on the spot. I guess I wouldn’t be a very impartial juror. :)

Anyway, that’s how my week started. Blessings.

the dear departed

So we said farewell to yet another rodent friend Wednesday night. Somehow it managed to push it's way through all the steel wool that was plugging the hole around the radiator pipe.... and it was making itself at home in my kitchen while we were in the Ozarks. So my brand new loaf of bread that was sitting on the counter was ruined. *sigh* Anyway, I stopped at Farm and Fleet and bought all sorts of things to destroy mice- traps, glue boards, d-con.... it was going to be all out war. I set the glue traps right by the hole... minding my own business... putting dishes away... and I heard scurrying. And squeaking. The mouse was extremely stuck. Hooray! So Bob disposed of it for me and I've been disinfecting the kitchen. woot. Just what I wanted to come back from vacation to do.

The Ozarks was good. A little bit rainy, but sunny enough that I'm not pasty white any more. Bob and I got to share a cabin with cool people... even though they made us sleep in the smallest bedroom... haha... or cell... My little cousins like Bob a lot, it was pretty amusing. Rae: "I'm glad Jenny married Bob." (after he let her 'play' the Wii) Cailer: "But I never get to see Bob." (we were trying to convince him that he needed to spend time with his grandpa that he doesn't get to see very often; he wanted to play wii with Bob.)

I'm really not excited to be back at work... it's too bad vacations can't last all year. It's rough getting up early after a week and a half of sleeping in. *sigh* O well.

Blessings.

mono

so I really haven't got much to blog about... I've spent most of the last week laying in bed or sitting on the couch.... *sigh* It bugs me to be home and have stuff that needs doing, but I just don't have the strength. :) haha. I'm actually feeling a lot better today. More awake. I don't have to sit down to rest after washing the dishes... hooray.

Although, I probably would feel even better if I had not waited a table last night at the conference. Probably doesn't count as taking it easy for the next few weeks... O well. I survived. And I only felt like falling over once. :) I managed to not spill coffee on anyone, which is always a small miracle. I did crash pretty hard when I got home.... yikes... my head hurt bad.

Tonight we're hopefully going to leave to spend the weekend on the Wyss vacation. Woot woot. :) Should be good times, as always!

Blessings.

o me...

I got stung by a bee. :) This morning while I was out in the yard string trimming. I was minding my own business, and WHAM, my foot was on fire. *sigh* I haven't gotten stung in years, haven't missed it either. Definitely let out a yelp... haha... yeah, I was maybe a little bit dramatic....

and then later this afternoon my throat was hurting (it's been sore for a few days) so I grabbed a flashlight and looked at it in the mirror... yeah.... it looked rather nasty. I was afraid it was strep or something, but I wasn't sure. So I asked Bob to come look at it... he was slightly weirded out and made me go to prompt care to figure out what is wrong with me. They did the Strep test... negative... yeah, the doctor thinks it's mono. Hooray. Not sure where I picked it up since Bob's never had it. I'm starting to feel tired now. *sigh*

such a month- two funerals in Washington, one crazy cancer diagnosis.... eeesh. I'm counting my blessings I just have mono.

A Midsummer Night's Dream

For aught that I could ever read, Could ever hear by tale or history, The course of true love never did run smooth.

Last night Bob and I met Shelly, Sarah, Gab and B.J. in Bloomington for supper and then we went to the Illinois Shakespeare Festival to watch A Midsummer Night's Dream. It was great. I love watching Shakespeare live, it's just so fun and timeless. I'm pretty sure that this is my new favorite Shakespeare play, maybe because no one dies and there are fairies... and Puck!

Lord, what fools these mortals be!

It was raining all morning and I was a little worried that it would get rained out (it's an outdoor theater). The weather forecasts for the evening were all really bad. But it cleared off, and it was such a beautiful night to sit outside!

If we shadows have offended, Think but this, --and all is mended, --That you have but slumber'd here While these visions did appear.

My favorite part of Shakespeare is all the random phrases in our vernacular that originated from his plays. I love the insults; 'cankerblossom', 'thou painted maypole', so great. And all the jokes that are still funny after 400 years. :)

So, good night unto you all. Give me your hands, if we be friends, And Robin shall restore amends.

Blessings.

Pictures and Kids day

So here's pretty much the only picture I took last weekend.... Grace splashing in the jacuzzi.

These are my mystery flowers.... probably a lily? They're cool and they last pretty long in a vase too.
My tomato plants have some buds, no fruit yet.

And the rest of my flowers. I have pansies now that the rabbits quit eating them.

So we had another busy weekend. I spent Friday evening helping my mom do green beans and corn... Saturday we helped the yg with Kids day. We were in the 7th and 8th grade group... which ended up being five 7th grade girls, who probably entertained us more than we entertained them. :) They decided they didn't want to wait to go swimming and jumped in Nicole's pool with their clothes on... yeah, they had to put on their swimsuits to get dry. Us "adults" played badminton and got a little damp in the rain while they were in the pool. After lunch we baked cookies to give to people. It was a good day and it was fun to get to know them, but I was reminded why I don't do girls camp- that age group can drive me crazy. (nothing new, 7th and 8th grade girls irritated me when I was in middle school) :)

Sunday we went to Dolly's visitation and then met my family at Eureka lake for supper. Steve and Renee's kids wanted to roll down the dam.... so we watched them get really dizzy, and then we all took a walk around the lake. Good times.

Blessings.