Tuesday, January 31, 2012

Spring!?!?!

Guess what I saw on the way home today?







Can you belive it? It seems so early! (This is not a picture of the actual flowers. I didn't want to be that weird person and we don't have daffodils in our yard.)

Is it spring where you are?

Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Law and Order**

Last week I had jury duty (or as it was called in the letter jury service). Even though I read the letter (several times!!!); I really wasn’t prepared for it to last all week. We showed up the first day and waited in a room. There were about 60 people. We watched a video about what everyone does in the court room, got sworn in (all at the same time) and then went to the courtroom.

from google images


They had everyone’s name in a jar and drew them out. Mine was drawn out. I sat in a juror seat and answered the questions. The lawyers didn’t like me and I had to sit in the rejected juror section. Eventually, the lawyers had a group of jurors they all liked and we were allowed to leave. We all raced for the door. Just as we got to the elevator, we were called back. Turns out, we had to come back the next day! The first case wasn’t going to last too long so, we had to we had to come back for the next case.  

We showed up the next day and we waited. . . and waited. (Turned out the first case took longer than expected.) Finally, we went into the courtroom. This time we didn’t get a jury the lawyers liked before 5:00 so we had to come back THE NEXT DAY!!! (Most of us would have been willing to stay a little longer if it meant we could avoid coming back!) We all showed up the third day and I got to sit in a juror seat again. They still didn’t like me (not that I was disappointed in ANY WAY!!) and I had to go sit with the other rejected jurors. Finally they had a jury all the lawyers liked and we were let go. This time everyone RAN for the exits. Most did not wait for the elevator and took the stairs. We didn’t want to take a chance of getting called back.

not our judge picture from google.com


The main thing that surprised me was how slow everything went. There was lots of waiting and wondering what was going on and how long things would take. I was also surprised at how I felt being there. It felt very uncomfortable and disconcerting. Very surprising!

**Disclaimer-reading back over this it sounds negative. . .I tried to make an uncomfortable situation funny. Please take it that way!

Sunday, January 22, 2012

Wednesday, January 18, 2012

An Interesting Pattern. . .

I was looking through one of my Pinterest boards the other day. (Are you on Pinterest? It is so much fun. Just like getting a new magazine in the mail everyday!) I check to see if I have many copies of the same picture pinned.  I have lots of boards and these are on the Great Pictures board.
I saw this picture.

from pinterest.com




Then this one.
from Pinterest.com




Then this one.

from pinterest.com


Then this one. Seeing a pattern yet?

from pinterest.com




Then this one.

from pinterest.com




I really like the beach and the ocean. I would love to live near the beach- except for the huge number of people, the expense and the hurricanes (in the East) and the earthquakes (in the West).



My favorite vacation involves the beach in some way. Jake and I honeymooned in Hawaii and it was wonderful. We stayed at a hotel right on the beach and were able to swim in the ocean every day. We could hear the ocean in our hotel room and would have slept with the door open but it was just too humid. I hope we can go back someday.



We went to Charleston, South Carolina. It was so much fun. We found a little place to walk on the beach. Very few people were there since it was March. We went sightseeing and saw The USS Yorktown (great self guided tour) and went through a submarine (how did they ever live on those? It was so tiny and closed in. People really did sleep in hammocks over the bombs!!). We were only there few a few days but had so much fun.

Hopefully we get to go to Myrtle Beach or the Outer Banks this year!

Monday, January 16, 2012

National Delurking Day

Well, I just found out that yesterday January 15 was National Delurking Day in the Blog world (who knew there even was such a thing- well I guess someone and I just didn’t get the email….)

And what kind of picture goes with that? A cat burglar type person sneaking about reading blogs? He doesn't seem quite right.
from google images


People with their faces blurred out? Also just not quite right.
from google images



Neither are that appealing...Maybe someone needs to do a button for it. . . any takers?

I know commenting is hard- I lurk LOTS of places. I don’t comment because . . . well usually, I don’t know what to say. (It is a sad excuse I know and I thought if it was smaller it would be less sad but it  isn't.)
I worry I will be misunderstood (since there are just words on a screen). I know what I meant but if someone doesn’t know me; something I say could be misunderstood and then there could be hurt feelings (not at all my intent). Or sometimes I don’t comment because “Great idea”  or "I feel the same way" just doesn’t seem like it says what I want said. But I LOVE getting comments- long ones, short ones, any kind. I bet most people are like me.  



So in honor of National Delurking Day (a bit late) I am going to make more of an effort to make a comment.  I’m thinking it might be a great way to get to know more blogging people and for them to get to know me! I'll add another goal to my list and start commenting!



Happy National Delurking Day!

Monday, January 9, 2012

Miracle Plants

I was watering our plants the other day and look what I found!


My dad rescued this Christmas Cactus and gave it to me this summer. They had it in a cup with water by their kitchen sink. My dad put it in the pot with dirt and wished us luck. It looked so pitiful when I got it that I didn’t think it would live.



I have it in a North facing window (hoping that it would slowly recover and get a bit stronger) and don’t spend a huge amount of time in that room. It is supposed to be a dining room but we use it as an office.

Hopefully, this means the plant is healthy and will live! The leaves look very healthy in the picture and there are many other tiny buds. I think it is a good sing the plant is doing well.

In other plant news, we are thinking of having a small garden this year. If we do things right we can grow several spring veggies and then fall veggies. I found a book at the library that says we can plant peas and spinach in late February and early March. Wish us luck!