Dry spell

I never did manage to finish out NaBloPoMo, but I think I gave it the old college try. The end of Nov was challenging largely because I was on jury duty starting Nov 21. Tuesday before Thanksgiving, no problem, right?

Wrong. Not only did we have to fill out long questionnaires, but we also had to return the next Monday for jury selection*. And after a full day of questioning and bouncing potential jurors, the two attorneys finally accepted our full group of 12 jurors + 2 alternates. Yep, my first time in a courtroom and I got picked. Ended up being Presiding Juror (the new term for Jury Foreman).

*which is freaking fascinating, by the way. I commented to the prosecuting attorney after the trial that it seemed like a chess game at the end. He was flipping through the questionnaires of the next 2-3 potential jurors and trying to decide whether to "thank and excuse" one of us in favor of taking a chance on a new one. He agreed that it was really like a chess game. Wild.

It was a robbery--by the way, I can blog about it, because the case is over, but if you want to buy the written story, we can't negotiate for 90 days from last Friday (that cracked me up--it wasn't that interesting a case)--and I have to say, it was really interesting going over all of the evidence. We were very careful and methodical and came up with a unanimous guilty verdict. It was interesting how serious everyone took the case, when the evidence looked pretty damning as is. Come to find out, after the verdict was read, that the guy is likely eligible for Three Strikes in CA (please Google it if you aren't familiar). Whoah. In jail more than out in the past 10-15 yrs. Gives one pause.

Anyway, I thought about blogging but there was so much I couldn't say. And T'giving was good but tiring.

Anyway, I'm back. G is in his last week of school in 2006 and we are ready and rarin' to go on our Xmas vacation. K comes midweek after Christmas and I expect to have a terrific time.

As long as I can stay warm. It is freezing here these days!