Jury Duty part 2

Well as expected - my jury group number was called for today. I was soo upset. The thought of missing Emma's kindergarten orientation was heart breaking and DH did not understand the big deal. But she is my baby, and my only girl and I want to be there for as many of her firsts as I possibly can and this one was a biggie. First time meeting her teacher, first time in her classroom, first time meeting her new classmates. I know I should feel lucky that Mitch's job is flexible enough to allow him to take off the time to take her. I tried to make the best of a bad situation, I got the camera out, gave Mitch a list of photos he was to take, laid out her outfit to wear, put her school supplies out, gave instructions on how to get to her classroom and the time. So we were covered.

I showed up for jury duty at 9am. Signed in, and sat. About 9:15 they showed us a little video about jury duty, how you are selected, how the attorny's select you for an actual juror. They handed out our juror buttons, big red buttons with white lettering that you wear at all times - so that counselors and witnesses etc know not to try and talk to you. They also gave us our juror numbers - mine was 10. There were 20 of us, in a fairly cramped little room.

My plan was to ask to be excused by the judge - even though I felt bad about asking to be let off for that reason, but the bailiff assured me that they would want my full attention on the trial - so best to mention it. But in order to ask the judge, we had to wait until we were called up into the courtroom. At about 10:00 I called Mitch to make sure he was still on track to take Emma, since he needed to leave work at 10:30 in order to get home and get her in time to make it to the orientation. I had pretty much given up on being able to go, especially after the portion of the video that showed jurors sitting around waiting and waiting and it said that we would see first hand the slow, deliberate process of the justice system - LOL. At about 5 after 10:00 they called us up to the courtroom, and the judge greeted us and then let us know that they had no need for a jury at all that day, and we would be dismissed. I was soo happy!!! He then proceeded to tell us all about jury duty, the selection process, what types of trials we might have heard...etc. As the minutes ticked away, he kept on, and then finally closed and asked for questions - and some lame brain actually asked on!! So then off the long winded judge went again!! Finally at 10:25 we were released and I was able to get ahold of Mitch just as he was getting ready to leave his office! Whew!! I'll write about her orientation and post a picture tomorrow!!

Jury Duty

I have jury duty this week. We have to call in every evening after 6 pm to find out if we are scheduled for the following day. One small problem - I FORGOT - until Tuesday afternoon!!

I race home to find my jury duty info and call the recorded line number - whew! Off the hook for Tuesday. Then I have to call the jury clerk and find out if the sheriff's are after me for failing to report on Monday. Whew again - my number wasn't called for Monday either - so even though I forgot to call - I'm in the clear.

I remembered to call in last night - number not called again today. So I have to call again tonight. With my luck, I'll get called up on Thursday when I'm supposed to be taking Emma to her Kindergarten orientation or on Friday when I need to be at work to do payroll. Oh the joy of civic duty.

More of our vacation

Went to the Sea Lion Caves - pretty cool place - gorgeous views and some interesting history.


Here are the kiddos waiting for the elevator to take them 208 feet to the surface

A view from the observatory deck in the caves. You can see the sealions on the rocks below and in the distance you can see Heceta Head Lighthouse. If you click on the picture it will enlarge and you can then see those things :)

Next stop - Florence

From Salem we traveled to Florence Oregon to stay at the Holiday Inn Express and we went to the beach. I love the beach - and I love the Oregon beach more than anything! The first day - it was windy - so that wasn't so fun - but we still hiked out to see the ocean! We were even brave enough to go in the water a bit - but as you can see - we hurried right back out again :)




The next day we booked a Sand Dune tour at Sandland Adventures Back in 1985 we had taken Braeden here and done the tour, and we toyed with the idea of renting a sand rail and ATV and going out by ourselves. But it would have been about $400 for 2 hours, and they were also full - so we did the tour with 25 others on the Giant Dune Buggy.



The driver was so knowledgeable, funny and helpful too! He pulled a stuck truck out of the sand with the Giant Buggy - was cool! The kids really enjoyed the ride - the scenery is awesome and going up and down those dunes is fun! We did unfortunately see a dead seal on the beach, and Emma was quite upset and wanted to know why such a beautiful gentle creature like that had to die.

While we were waiting for our tour time, we played miniature golf, rode go-carts and bumper boats! Trying to take pictures while driving a bumper boat - is a true challenge!! But I did it!

Enchanted Forest

Our first stop on our vacation was The Enchanted Forest which is an amusement type park outside of Salem Oregon. We had been a couple years ago with the kiddos and Brett and Emma have talked about going back ever since -so this was the year!

Emma couldn't wait to get on the Frog Hopper again


and Brett was so ready to go to Western Town and buy the rifle he had been wanting for so long


Braeden wasn't thrilled about going - but he was a good sport and enjoyed the bumper cars although he is so long legged it wasn't a very comfortable fit.


We stayed in Salem at the Best Western - was a very nice suite - loved that - and it had a regular pool and a small kids pool and a spa pool and sauna. Emma loved having her own little pool! While we were there - my sister Vivian who I hadn't seen in almost 2 years and her daughter Debbie came over and visited and had lunch with us. Was nice to catch up!


I'm the one in the middle, with the big middle. Man I need to get out and do something about all this weight I've gained!! I've been trying to make sure there are a few more pictures of me for my scrapbooks - but it is hard when I look like this!

Anyway, I'll post some more about our vacation later :)We are off to go camping!

Ha Ha

Well, yes Jen as a matter of fact the sticky note did fall off the computer - and that is why I haven't kept up with this ;)

We just got back from a vacation. Took the kids to The Enchanted Forest in Turner, Oregon. Got to meet Carrie (from Scrap Addict) and her girls. Was great to meet, the kids got along well and we took lots of pictures!

There was a guy there that looked like Abe Lincoln and you could dress up in Civil War gear and take a picture with him. So Carrie and I did, here is the picture. And to answer some questions - yes, I am quite tall 5 ft 11 inches, and I am purposely trying to be somber looking. I figured old time photos they didn't smile much, and holding a gun didn't seem to call for a smile either :)