Jury Duty and The Cat in the Hat

Last Sunday was Easter.  It seems like from the time I was woken up by Colin to start the Easter basket hunt, until this very moment, I have been going at full steam ahead.  It was a bumpy ride along the way, but I made it.

My normal week usually involves a full slate of kids, school, house stuff, cooking, cleaning, and oh, by the way, I do have a job.  This week we added in Jury Duty, two doctors appointments, a volunteer meeting, several conference calls, two funerals and oh yeah, the kids were off school on Monday. 

I had to report for Jury Duty at the the courthouse on Monday.  I have been called several times before and have never made it out of the basement waiting room.  I usually end up sitting next to someone that wants to sell me Mary Kay or Pampered Chef.  This time I was prepared with a fully charged Kindle with several books loaded that I have been wanting to read.  Let me tell you what happens when you want to sit in the basement waiting room.  You get called to sit on a homicide trial, that is what. 

I was in the first group of people to be called.  I hadn't even read two pages of my book when they called my name.  I was juror # 19 so I was feeling pretty confident that I would not be picked until they told us what the case was about.  It was aggravated vehicular homicide.  I will spare you the details because it was pretty gruesome and really complicated.  If you want to see the specifics, you can check it out here. They start by asking each person about educational background, current job and if you have ever had any experience with court.  Out of 31 people, there were only about 4 that had not been to traffic court.  We finished that after about 90 minutes, and then each side got to talk about the jury selection process and ask additional questions. 

Let me say that the courtroom was about 90 degrees, and that is no exaggeration.  I was starting to sweat after about five minutes, and by the time they started asking more direct questions I was starting to experience deodorant fade-out.  The more I worried about that, the more I thought I was starting to smell.  It was a vicious circle.  I was sitting in the front row of the gallery and they kept asking me direct questions.  There were 30 other people and they called on me so many times that the other jurors knew my name.  The more questions they asked, the more I was sweating.  By the time I was dismissed, I felt like I had a dirt cloud around me like Pigpen in the Peanuts cartoons.  Thank the good Lord that I was dismissed, because that trial would have scarred me for life.  I have been following it in the paper and I think I might still be scarred for life. 

The week ended last night with 12 of my family members going to a high school production of "Seussical the Musical".  When my mom called and asked me if I wanted to go I said yes thinking that it would be like any other week when I am looking for any reason to get out of my house.  Also, Laura was in town, and when she is here I like to spend as much time with her as possible, not to mention with my lovely nieces, Erin and Cara and my nephew Andrew.  They are growing up so fast.   This was not the case this week as I would have rather been watching TV from my bed.  The kids did a great job, but I was reminded once again how much I dislike The Cat in the Hat.  I was also suffering from some intestinal distress, so it was a long couple of hours. 

Today has been a lovely day to rejuvenate me and get me ready to start it all over again.  It is great weather outside and Ryan and I are going to take Max to the dog park.  I will be ready to start all over again for next week.  It is Dessert Extravaganza week and there are still tickets available if you are interested and local.  We would love to see you there!