Civic Duty

So guess where I have been ALL week? Can anyone say JURY DUTY!? Come on, say it. Oh! Yeah, juggle the kids around and find someone to take them to school...great! found my good ol' brother...oh, wait. Logan doesn't feel good..."what's wrong buddy?" "My tummy hurts." "You don't want to go to school with your cousins today" "No."


Ummm, for those of you that don't know.....he BEGS me almost daily to go play with them. So this is unheard of for him to say no.....



Great, lets call Grandma. Grandma could be classified as a saint...for real...she cancelled her appointments with her clients to come and sit with Logan AND she played about 8 games of Candyland with him...sainthood her she comes.




So I was finally off to the courthouse. If you ever think about going downtown...don't. The only reason I EVER go downtown anymore is for baseball games....Go Grizzlies!.....anyhoo. I get parked in the underground parking....my claustrophobia sets in....run up the stairs....ahhhh daylight....see homeless guy playing the flute and the poor guy is awful, so sad...go to the jury room...."Um am I in the right place?" "No, go get your car, park in the FREE juror parking lot six blocks the other direction, get on the trolley, get off at the second stop. You need to be in civil court."



Now, at this point all I want to do is go back to bed and try to start my day again. Anyway, I go back to the underground parking....the homeless, awful flute player is still playing and note collecting any tips....the claustrophobia sets in...I speed out of there (thank goodness I was parked less than fifteen minutes or I would have had to pay $3. Yeah, $3 for anything over fifteen minutes, $9 if you stay longer than 2 hours, ridiculous!) I make it over to the FREE parking lot and I make it to the trolley. I get on the trolley with a guy who thinks he needs to educate me about the swine flu. Really. Then there was a lady who drove all the way from Reedley and said she was going to get in trouble with the judge cause she is late. Here I am almost 45 minutes late and I am thinking, uh oh. Well, thankfully the bird flu guy got off on the first stop (remember I am getting off on stop #2). Myself and the Reedley gal got off the trolley at our designated stop #2 and proceed to walk across the street and into the court where of course there is a metal detector. Do I make it through? Fat chance. "Mam do you have any belts on?" "No" "We are going to have use the wand on you" "Excuse me?" "To see if you are wearing any weapons"



Now if you had seen what I was wearing you would have thought "no way." But they get out the wand. Apparently my bracelet is made of stainless steel. Who knew?



I made it to the jury room. Late. Orientation is over. All orientations are the same. No big deal right? Orientation is important later....stay tuned....Anyway, I text a few people who are going to help pick up Grace from school. I text the husband and let him know what's going on with Logan and then the Judge comes in.




He explains something about a questionnaire...blah, blah, blah....the clerk passes them out and we are supposed to fill them out....who you know, how you feel about the judicial system, basic stuff....after you turn it in you are free to go for the day, but be back at 9am SHARP. Wonder if he has ever road the trolley system? I digress....I fill out the questionnaire, trying not to laugh at some of the questions. Finally get to the last page and woohoo....I am done. Out the door I go and back to the trolley stop, get picked up, get dropped off....In the car, making phone calls and checking on Logan with Grandma..."he's fine," she says. Parking attendant asks for my jury pass, don't have one, get lectured about how I should know that's how they validate parking for jurors and that's why I should pay attention during the "ORIENTATION!" So, instead of barking back at him about how I am just trying to do my "civic duty," I stay tight lipped and try not to blow a gasket.




Home at last, I pick up Logan and take him to work....he seems fine....work was C.R.A.Z.Y. busy. Although, it's like that a lot! Which is a good thing, I know.





Back at court the next day: I loathe the trolley. That's all I am gonna say about that. I wore pants. The day before I wore capri pants and a blouse, oh yeah, and the stainless steel bracelet. Anyway, I don't make it through the metal detector again. Seriously. Then they make me lift my pant legs to make sure I don't have a knife or ankle gun. Really. I am wearing sandals. (Good ol' Cali weather) You can laugh here, but as I walk through the detector and pull up my pant leg the other officers are laughing at me. Apparently they thought it was funny that the "new" guy thought I was suspicious looking enough to warrant a pant leg check. Ha Ha very funny guys.





Back in the jury room. Roll call. Please rise. Enter: the Judge. He proceeds to have everyone sit and then asks if there is anyone who wants to be excused for a hardship. Hardship...does not having a babysitter qualify? Can't hurt to ask, right? So I raise my hand along with about 20 other people. He takes us into the jury deliberation room and one by one we get to lay out our excuses for him....luckily, I was the second wanna ditch jury duty loser person. I plead my case and felt kinda weird cause I felt like he was gonna yell at me that I was a liar and trying to avoid my civic duty. But, he was calm cool and collected and appreciated my situation and told me that I would be dismissed but would like me on one of his summer jury's.....So line up the babysitter. Wow! Can he do that....time will tell....



So for the record, uhemmmm......this is how my plea went...."Judge. You said yourself that this if going to be somewhat of a lengthy trial and probably 6 weeks or so long. I could probably juggle my kids for about 2 weeks to different friends and family members, but not for 6 weeks. My husband works out of town A LOT."



His response that I mentioned earlier was not what I was expecting, but YAYHOO! I got dismissed.



So off to work I went. Not paying attention to what day of the week it is. THIS PART EITHER WILL MAKE YOU LAUGH OR GASP.....maybe both....I had told my kids that if I got out of court early I would be picking them up from school, if I didn't I would have either Grandma, Auntie Meg, Kristin or Laurie pick them up. So again remember I forgot what day of the week it was and mind you Wednesdays are early release day at their school. (I have a total beef with early release days, but I will save that for some other time.) Sooooooo you can probably guess what happened....yep! I forgot to pick up my kids early! I was truly working along, getting a ton of stuff done and my cell phone rings and it's my dear, sweet friend Laurie....."Ummm is everything ok? Your daughters teacher called me and asked where you were and if I am picking up your kids!"



I DIED!!! What a great loser mom moment I had.....correction loser mom week!



Needless to say she was kind enough to take my kids to her house and I picked them up from there. But my day was far from over. Baseball and Soccer all in one night coming up.



Now, remember I said Logan had an upset tummy on Tuesday. Baseball is Wednesday (note to self: Wednesday is also early release from school) and he said he wasn't sure he wanted to go....here I go, workin' on "mom of the year"....I load him up with some Pepto and tell him he has to go to either to baseball or go sit with me out at his sisters soccer practice.....nice, huh? Anyway....off to baseball he went and I told his coach (who also happens to be a family friend) that he wasn't feeling well and that if he doesn't want to play for him to call me and I would come pick him up. He had the best game ever.....and, I missed it. Karma? Maybe, if I believed in it. Long story short, I took him to the doc on Thursday, just to be sure his cough and tummy ache wasn't too concerning.....Doc said he needs an inhaler. Hmm. Short term. Hmm. Just until he gets over his BRONCHIAL IRRITATION. Hmm. Mom of the Century....here I come.



Did I mention that I forgot to go to my daughters Honor Roll award ceremony on Monday?........How about how my friends find it hilarious to tease me, relentlessly I might add, about me forgetting to pick up my kids?......they knocked on my car door window this morning and said, " hey don't forget what time the kids get out of school today, looks like rain." Roaring laughter. Nice. They love me. I think.

All of this chaos ensued over my schedule being disrupted because of my Civic Duty......

It's Friday, and I have never been one to celebrate TGIF....but, seriously.......T.G.I.F.

Grace

Cheer tryouts were today for my 9, almost 10 year old daughter. Didn't go well according to her. All her friends made the squad she wanted to be on. She has spent the better part of the evening in tears. She is finally asleep. Not so sure that the pressure that she puts on herself is altogether healthy for her. I don't think I really understood how bad she really wanted to make the competition squad. She did make game squad, but she is feeling completely left behind. Tough life lesson here. Life is full of disappointments, but it's how you deal with them and then move on that helps to shape your character. Pretty difficult for a 9, almost 10 year old to comprehend. *sniff, sniff*

On a side note: I did tell her that I would be willing to pay for private lessons (dance, gymnastics or whatever) to help with her skills so that she could gain some confidence for next year. Her response; As long as it doesn't interfere with Vacation Bible School......I just love my little Grace....That was not the answer I was expecting, but it was the right answer.

Stepford Moment

Ok, so. Have you ever done something and then 2 or 3 days later realize that what you had done could fall under the "stepford clause?" Well, yeah, I had one of those. I recently went to a Pampered Chef party (yep, love PC and will go to everyone that I am invited to. Hint, hint.) But the afternoon before I was to go, I chipped my toenail polish. Yes. You read that correctly. A toenail. They are painted purple right now and I l.o.v.e. them.

So I went searching around my office for a purple sharpie. You know the permanent markers. Anyway, I found my assistant to have one and I was so excited and then filled in the toenail where the paint had chipped.

Ummm, anyone laughing at me here?

She (my assistant) couldn't believe what I had done. I proceeded to tell her that when you live in Stepford chipped polish is not acceptable. And then I thought about that and was like yeah, this marker worked great! And it totally did the trick.....and now I am thinking.....how shallow am I? I mean really I am worried about my toenail appearance? Do we or do we not have more serious issues to consider in this world.

It totally took a "Stepford Moment" to put my perspective back in check.

Determined

Well I am not sure if I have ever been described as having determination. I know that is not a quality that we all strive for. We often overlook it for other descriptive things like, honesty, compassionate and trustworthy, and the countless other words that are constantly used to describe the people in my world. And I use the term "my world" pretty loosely considering that my world really only revolves around my kids. Anyway. I digress. I guess I should explain.

I have read countless blogs, emails, text messages and first had accounts of how sooooo many people went to see NKOTB. Now I tried to get my "old" posse together to go see them, but I don't think anyone took me seriously. I truly love to go to a good concert and they were the first concert that I ever saw. Incredible, not floor seats, but we made our way to the floor and seriously, we could have tasted the sweat that was pouring off of their foreheads. Do you get my vibe? It was truly great. Loved it. Wanted to go see them again. Didn't want to go alone though. But I tell you I will have the utmost determination to get to the next concert that I am even remotely interested in going to. I mean when is Rob Thomas coming back? I have got to see him. Or Casting Crowns, Matthew West, Nickelback.....and ok I admit it, I probably would even take Grace to see Miley Cyrus. I know, question my parenting here, but my love for music is genetic and both of my kids are music freaks! Love it!

So needless to say, I am annoyed with myself for not taking the opportunity to see NKOTB more serious. Determination. That's whats going to get me to the next concert that comes my way. (of course it has to be someone that I want to see!)

A Mommy's Great Sadness

***SIGH*** Ok so this really broke my heart today. It was definitely tough to take.

Here goes. We had just gotten home from school and had not even closed the garage door, had not even piled out of the car yet when I hear the familiar voice of one of the neighborhood boys calling for Logan. We'll call him Kid1. He wanted to come in and play with Logan. I was in a pretty good mood (read: was) so I said sure. Now this happens with Kid1 alot. He comes over helps Logan eat the house out of all the snacks and usually stays for dinner. I don't really have a problem with this, I remember being a latch key kid. But maybe a visual aide will help you all realize the kind of person I am dealing with. How does Eddie Haskell help? Well, I am no June Cleaver, but I try. Anyway, I digress.

They play the Wii, Kid1 gets bored; they play guitars, Kid1 gets bored; they play in the backyard and I have them let the dogs out of the dog run so they could play and guess what? Kid1 decides he doesn't want to play outside anymore. They come in and start chasing, teasing and generally irritating my puppy. Well, she is naturally going to nip at their heals when they are running around my house wanting her to chase them. Kid1 decides my puppy is mean and starts yelling at her to stop biting him, all the while he is laughing and still running from her. Hmmm. Que mom. "Leave my dog alone. Now."

So the boys decide they want to go play in the front yard. Sure, no problem. I tell Logan to stay out front and not to go into Kid1's house. His parents were not home. "Yes, mom."

Enter Kid2, another neighborhood kid from the cul de sac. He knocks on the door and in the most polite manner (Eddie Haskell #2) asks for Kid1. I said both the boys were headed out the garage and he said "Cool, thank you."

Ahhhh, Grace and I have peace......2 minutes that's all I needed. The garage door opens, Logan comes back in and closes the door very quietly. I think he was trying to sneak back in so I wouldn't notice. But of course, with my keen sense of hearing there was no sneaking. So I asked him what was wrong and he said they were going into Kid2's house and that he wasn't invited.

***sniff**

This is not the first time that they have done this to Logan. He is always so eager to play with them and sometimes he will even risk getting in trouble to play with them. If they want a snack they send him home to get one or he can't play with them. He gives them sodas when Greg and I aren't looking or they won't play with him. When he starts beating them at basketball....they decide that he isn't good enough to play and make him sit out. And he takes it. He just wants to play and if that means being patient with them and waiting until they are ready for him, that's what he does. Totally pisses me off.

I want to go down to the cul de sac and rip their moms out of their e z chairs and say "what the heck" "pay attention" " your boys are tyrants" "do they get treated that way" So I thell Logan that it will be a long while before they are welcome at our house. All I got from him was and downward glance and a "yes, mom." Broke my heart. Hugged him and told him I was not mad at him and that he has a lot of friends that aren't mean to him and that we will have some other friends come and play this weekend. Another "yes, mom" is all I got. *sniff*

I mean come on, they are learning this somewhere. I called a friend who lives down in the cul de sac and she said Kid2 used to do the same thing to Kid1. So what gives? Logan does not deserve it.

Makes me crazy and fills my heart with sadness for my sweet, trusting, has his own faults, little man. ***sniff***

Focus, Focus, Focus

So I am having trouble focusing so I thought I would take a trek around some unfamiliar blogs....ok, so I have seen a couple of them before and have added them to my "peeps in review" but I most importantly need to say what I have learned from them. People are obsessive! I thought I was bad? Come on people! Without throwing anyone under the bus.....Blogging (with instructions on the "how to") about organizing your pantry? Labeling your laundry room? Really? I barely have time to do the stinkin' laundry and most of the time the husband gets to it first! Then I saw the finished products of the "how to" section and now I am infinitely jealous of her pantry, her play room and yes, her laundry room. Wow! I guess I need to find a way to focus and get my work done so that I can find the time to blog a "how to" on getting it all done and then some. :)

What now?

Ok so, I havn't posted in a while and right now I am feeling like I need to. I had my feelings hurt and I don't think I handled it well. I lashed out and now I feel even worse. I feel like I need to sit back and put myself "in check." It was wrong to do what I did and without naming names or throwing anyone else under the bus, I think I have caused a rift. Making amends is not something I do easily. Ask me to hold a grudge, no probelm. Ask me to apologize, who me? Yeah, do you see where I am going with this. Guilt and shame.