Wednesday, February 26, 2025

P.S. Here in CA if you are 70 you can ask to be excused from jury duty without a doctor's note. Below that you need one. Everyone gets called frequently here because lots of people just don't show up. On my last one I got excused because I don't do stairs well and dislike walking on city sidewalks with are uneven and hazardous. Plus a few other excuses. I have showed up many times in the past. I am done with it. ds

So basically the same as in Florida. Here I would probably do it if it was nearby (and scheduled while I am here) because it is a fairly easy courthouse to get in and out of.

I just got called for jury duty myself for mid-March. Interesting that had us do a questionnaire with a description of the accused, the crime, and all the witnesses. The questionnaire asked if I had family members in law enforcement (my mom was a 38 year deputy probation officer), if I've ever served on a jury (twice), and what the outcome was (both guilty). I'm hoping the defense doesn't want me due to my mom's tutelage and two guilty verdicts. Though I imagine I'm a prosecutor's dream. We'll see. I could be excused before I have to go. The county courthouse is an hour and 40 minutes from my house so with Kirby, I would rather not!

Today I have been chipping away at organizing my office files. Ugh. So much shredding. All because it looks like a paperwork tornado in here and in preparation for pulling my taxes together. I also went to the nursery to get a birthday gift for my friend. I had 7 trees planted today after losing a bunch over the last year. They are really pretty Austrian pines.

Next up, my HOA board meeting in a few minutes. I'm ready to put my feet up! Kirby is asleep under my desk. Dogs do love hidey holes, don't they?

Liz, sending good thoughts to your DD. Peps, you look FAB. I really did order weights last night with your inspiration.

Take care all!

I hope you get out of jury duty. I think serving on a jury twice fulfills your civic duty.

DH has been going through all his files too (15+ years of paper - he saved everything). He started using the home shredder but there was so much he has the rest it in a plastic bin now to take somewhere for shredding.

Liz, many good thoughts for your daughter. A repeat biopsy is no fun. Even if they numb you up appropriately, its unpleasant, but sometimes they're too cavalier about women's pain when it comes to our reproductive systems.

I'm 100% in agreement about needing a decent amount of protein. Its such a struggle when you're eating small amounts of food. I'm always sure I'll do better in the summer, but that hasn't been the case ... but I can't wait until summer, so I'm trying harder today. Target goal for the day is in sight.

Paula, it's sobering/infuriating to hear how many of your small group has been impacted by sexual abuse/assault. Sometimes it's hell to be a woman. (Not to diminish the fact that men/boys also suffer). Surviving and thriving is the best outcome. Whatever they tried to do, they couldn't put out the spark. As Miss 150 posted one time, something to the effect of get out of my way, I've got magical **** to do.

Diane keep up with your million eye drops and your protein. You've got magical **** to do too. And a new niece soon. Talk about real magic!!!

Ann your book club sounds divine. I had a group like that, our Controversy Club. I loved we had people in the group of varying viewpoints and I was proud of our discussions and ability to hear each other out. Sadly, one of our members whose intelligence and wit I so admired, even though we are on different ends of the political spectrum, has fallen down a rabbit hole since retirement. I seem to make her angry when I didn't before. I'm losing interest in trying to keep the peace with her. I was willing to try for awhile because we'd had many great years together, but I think it's run it's course.

I had a lot of fun with my new vocabulary activity. The kids were humming with energy as they got their slides together. Each student will be teaching the others their assigned word, using definitions, parts of speech, antonyms and synonyms , sample sentences and visuals for their assigned words. And I can look at each slide deck and help edit before they present, insuring they look so competent before their peers. I also presented the activity to 12 other staff this morning, and we had a great discussion about how to tweak it for different groups of students. We all gave a pretest, will do the activity, then a post test and compare data to see if any of it was effective. This is the stuff I enjoy, not those stupid reports.

It's in the 50s here today!! A taste of spring.

What a great activity! So much learning is happening in addition to just the vocabulary part. And how rewarding to energize the kids!