Lessons from my stint on jury duty

1. I should not be allowed downtown by myself. EVER. I get lost every single time. And I am so busy trying to figure out where I am and where I think I need to be that I drive really, really poorly. Which leads to:

2. You can't make a left turn from the right hand lane going the wrong way on a one way street. Especially not when there is a car in the left hand lane.

3. There are some really kind people out there! The gentleman whose mirror I knocked loose (see #2) told me not to worry about it. Whew!

4. If you want to get out of jury duty, declaring to the judge and the lawyer, "I shouldn't even be here. I don't know nothin' about nothin' you all are talking about!" will definitely work. And no, it wasn't me that said that.

5. If you park in a parking garage and get the early bird $4 special (for arriving before 9am and leaving before 7 am) for the love of Pete DON'T leave said garage for your lunch break. You then will have to get a whole new ticket and won't be eligible for the early bird special, thereby potentially costing yourself an additional $12.*

6. It actually is kind of fun spending an entire day not dealing with bathroom messes, refereeing arguments between kids, cooking, cleaning, fetching drinks and snacks and tripping over toys.

7. It was also kind of fun to spend the day with adults, talking about grown up things.

8. But it was even nicer to come home and have four kids coming running at me with hugs, telling me they missed me.



* In another of a long line of many things that make me go "huh"-that whole parking situation was mystifying. So I leave the parking lot, and when I get back I park in a different lot, which was closer to the courthouse. The sign said it would cost me $12. I get my ticket and go along my merry way. At 7pm I go to leave and when I hand the attendant my ticket and try to pay her, she just waves me on. So it cost nothing? Huh. So I only paid $4 for parking all day. Plus I made $6 for doing 11 hours of jury duty, netting myself $2. Sweet!

Ian, the reading wizard

As I mentioned before, Ian has been really interested in letters and sounding them out. He walks around saying 'key starts with 'k'' and "Mommy, why is the word 'on' in the middle of the word 'snowman'?" Today he was in my room as I was trying to calm Elizabeth. He said "I want the light off. Off. O-f-f"
So now he knows how to spell the words 'off, on, Ian and stop'. He loves for me to give him words and then he thinks up rhyming ones.

All this pre-reading activity has prompted Alexandria to say "Well Ian is just the little reading wizard today isn't he?"

My goals:

1. Reading the New Testament in 30 days. Check out the program here:
http://www.newthru30.com/resources

2. Running a 5K in March

3. Doubling up on my course load so I can finally graduate already.


So there you have it. I figure if I put it on here maybe I will feel pressured to accomplish these things.

My sister gave me:

this sign for Christmas^^

Ha! I love it.

Catching up

With this post I will be caught up with writing all the happenings (such as they are) at the Dains household. It is easier for me to write a little bit every day and when I get behind then I have to think of everything I missed, which makes me tired.

Elizabeth has been sick all week so we stayed home for New Years Eve instead of going to church like we originally planned. We had fun though. We made cookies, painted nails, played games, made kettle corn and played the Wii. Alex and Annika managed to stay up until midnight to watch the ball drop. Ian crashed out on the couch at about 11:00. Elizabeth of course went to bed much earlier. Ian beat me at baseball on the Wii and I was actually trying my hardest. He gets aggravated when he is batting though and gripes at me for 'pitching him foul balls.'

Elizabeth is doing really well with her potty training. We pretty much haven't left the house with her being sick so that has helped keep the momentum going. She has been so easy to potty train, compared to someone else who shall remain nameless. (She has had a fever and a runny nose, but is otherwise running around playing. Just had to add that in lest you think I was torturing a poor sickly baby with the potty chair.)

Well that is all that is new here. Huh. There isn't much to talk about when you haven't left the house in almost a week. Not that I am complaining, it is far too cold for me to be out traipsing around. Too bad all this staying warm at home is about to come to a screeching halt. Monday I have jury duty, Tuesday the kids go back to school and Annika has a Challenge project on Wednesday night. But for now? I am enjoying sitting around in my sweats.

Shopping

Alexandria and Annika both got money for Christmas that they couldn't wait to spend. They got matching shirts. Can you read what they say? 'When all else fails, I blame my sister.' They think it is funny to wear them at the same time. Annika got some moccasins, then both girls went to Build a Bear. They each made a bear- Annika named hers 'Katie' and Alexandria named hers 'Ali'. Which also happen to be the names of their cousins. Coincidence?

Christmas, Part 2

Sunday we had our final Christmas celebration. My sister and her kids were in town so we got to have a big get together at Ethan and Tricia's house with them. We had our 2nd annual gift exchange which is Yankee Swap or dirty Santa, or whatever you want to call it. And guess what? I managed to avoid getting Uncle James' stamp collection, whew! I got a wet/dry vac that you can plug into the cigarette lighter of the car. It makes me happy. I can't wait to try it out. And Karl? He stole the Hickory Farms gift box that we ourselves brought.

I love it when Chandra is in town, she is so much fun. Also? She is who I want to be when I grow up (although I guess it is a little late now.) She knows directions! And she doesn't lose things! And she is really good at organizing and figuring things out! While she was here we went to the movies, went shopping, went out to eat and played games. Also while she was here she fixed my ipod and brought me two huge bags of clothes that are so cute. I was really excited by this, considering my wardrobe mostly consists of yoga pants and t-shirts.

So, anyway, we were all so glad Chandra and the kids were able to make it for Christmas. It was so great being able to celebrate with her, Mom, Barry, Aunt Tommie, Sue Ann, Ethan, Tricia, Amanda, Leandra, Kara, Katie, Bethany, Ella, Micah, Ali, Devin, Eli, Malcolm and Zach. I love my family!