jury duty 101

1. dont jinx yourself by bringing a bag full of interesting books and magazines you have been waiting months to read. didnt everyone tell you that they sat for 8 hours straight with nothing to do but read (and you hid your smile as you thought about those 8 hours of uninterrupted quality reading time?) jinx!

2. when they call your name, dont answer (they say they will call your name three times, for three different cases before they actually hunt you down) when they find you, tell them you are having waves of nausea sending you to the bathroom every ten minutes. sorry you didnt hear your name called. 

3. if for some unfortunate reason you get called that 4th time and you get assigned a case, act utterly crazy when you are put in the jury box to be questioned by the attorneys. say "yes i own a gun, yes i am a member of the nra, my occupation is jailhouse cook, all my friends are cops, my dads a lawyer, my moms a judge, my brother is a priest on probation, my sister is a rapist and i hate everyone" 

4. if that doesnt work, when the judge asks you if you would take the word of a police officer on the witness stand over a gang banger, for gods sake say YES!!! 

5. if you are still in the jury box and the judge asks you if you can think of any reason why you cant serve, say "well, i am self employed and i will lose most if not all of the clients i have spent 15 years getting and trying to keep happy" oh and add that you have 4 children... you can throw in your friends kids too if you like, whatever it takes... i can tell you from experience this one doesnt work, but give it a try. 

6. so they still wont let you off? try answering any and all questions with a question (i swear some guy did this in our group) if the judge says, "can you be fair?" say, "what exactly do you mean by fair?" or "can i think about it?" this will annoy the judge and send you home (score!) 

7. still there? ok, try telling the judge you have chronic back pain, a tooth ache, hemorrhoids, brain tumor, any mental disorder will do (i met at least a dozen certified "nuts" in my jury box) 

8. didnt work? ok, make sure whatever the trial is about, you have something amazingly in common. so the case is about a milk truck driver who drunkenly crashed into an old lady at the bus stop? holy crap! the SAME thing happened to your grandma! be sure and cry, the judge will say, "i can tell from your emotional tone that your grandma was a really wonderful person" and let you off. in my jury box? i met about 20 people who have either been shot at in a drive by shooting or someone they know has been killed in one, where do these people live? but you know what? they all went home that day. 

9. so you're on the case now? no fear! keep trying! you can always try interrupting the lawyers and ask the witness the questions you REALLY want to hear the answer to... the judge will love that. 

10. if you make it all the way to deliberation, be sure and tell the rest of the jurors you will go either way as long as you can get out of there (i SERIOUSLY said this at one point) but i cant guarantee that one will work. it might upset the super patriotic folk in your group.(did i mention our defendant pleaded guilty to 3 out of the 4 charges? ahem... we only had to decide on one bloody charge out of 4, did i mention that?) 

my last bit of advice: after 7 days of jury duty and 3 days of heated deliberation resulting in a hung jury, dont yell out that you cant believe you spent all this time there for nothing. (oops!)




my new favorite movie, happy 4th of july!!!

p.s. i was going to call this post "jury doody 101" but that isnt very nice now is it?

:)

simple pleasures

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two


three

Madrona Marsh, a true oasis

even though our camp fire group is taking a break for most of the summer, i couldnt help scheduling a nature walk through madrona marsh, a locally saved wetlands reserve. i have walked through it a few times, but taking a guided tour really makes a big difference. its like going to a museum and wandering around on your own versus having someone tell you cool facts about each painting as you go, there is just no comparison.


we headed out with our guide and learned about different kinds of wetlands, native plants, animals that live here and how this particular wetlands changes with the seasons.









this little frog was sitting in the drinking fountain. i have posted before that growing up, frogs and toads were my most favorite critters and i knew when to find them (during our rainiest season)... i havent seen a frog in the wild where i live in decades. even at my parents house, there are no more frogs. it seems a symbolic creature to me, something lost that my own kids are not going to experience the way i did, something that i never knew as a child would someday be gone.



this area is full of jumping frogs, they hop like popcorn from the grass, a real joy to witness


madrona marsh has a dry, grassy outer circle with a lush wet center full of swampy frog and fish filled ponds and large trees. this area was almost developed into an apartment complex, stores and apartments surround it on all sides. why is it so hard to get people on board to save places like this?




bones are always fascinating


raccoon tracks



i am happy to say, this place is a success story, it was saved. i watched my kids and their friends pick flowers, catch frogs, hunt for bones and track wild animals right in the middle of a bustling crowded city. i cant wait for the day they can walk down the street to a wetlands preserve full of fish, birds and wildlife, just down the street and close to home.

goofballs

every summer i juggle working and being with the kids, even more so than during the school year. when we were planning a big move to colorado, i was looking forward to being able to stay home or at least taking summers off with the kids. that move didnt happen, so here we are again, another summer of fun but lots of work coming in too. elizabeth is in preschool, which runs year round. they do a daily swim and she is signed up for swim lessons, she never complains about going since there is so much going on.

 i have emily in day camp every other week, she will be with my mom the weeks in between. that is the plan and then whenever i can get a day off, i will just keep emily and get liz out of school early. something new this year is the network of moms (families) who are calling eachother to make last minute playdates. i am late to the "playdate" scene because i am honestly just too lazy and busy to make the calls and then watch the clock for drop off and pick up times, it makes me feel like i am at work for some reason. i have to admit though that yesterday a last minute playdate for emily saved the day, she was whining about this and that and a bike ride over to a friends house was just what was needed to improve her mood (and we both got some excercise). 

so, just like my camp fire group improves with time, so is my parenting... i am less worried and more open to new ideas. more willing to drop everything and just go with the flow, change the plans, be less rigid. of course i thought i was just this amazing organized person, when in reality i was (is) just a control freak who makes a plan and will go down in flames to get it completed. (oh the drama!)
heres to hoping this summer = relaxation, down time, naps, laziness, breezy beaches, long slow bike rides, wet bathing suits, weeds gone amok and lots of nothing getting done.

blue

orange

pumpkins

sunflower and corn


this corner of the garden is as wacky as it gets. i seeded carrots that never came up (until now) and leeks (one tiny leek is growing now) and california poppies (which came up late too) and several rows of beans (there are clumps of two or three bean plants that i thought were pole beans but are acting like bush beans). after all that, i have spaghetti squash coming from miles away, up and over the artichoke and fennel to this very tip of the garden. (i mentioned before several squash are going through the tomatoes here too). this is a mixed salad corner if ever there was one.

june gloom?

i thought it was cool to lose the june gloom, but after weather like this (over 100 degrees) and us without air conditioning... only a small bedroom unit... i think june gloom would be a relief! the pool is working out nicely though.

i think this weekend has been a better "fathers day weekend" than the official fathers day. much calmer with less drama and letdowns. the pool is a welcome addition, what took us so long to get one?