farmers branch added a day to my life!

well. i hope ms. arther had a decent day in my classroom and that my instructions were clear enough. i work so hard to leave good lesson plans for my subs! i want the day to go as smoothly as possible; this stems from the time when i subbed in wylie, tx-i only did it once because it was that bad.

anyhoo. today was the day i was to appear for jury duty. selection. so i was able to sleep in for about an hour and a half, then i took the boys for a short walk before getting ready to go. fortunately it was right here in farmers branch, just around the corner. so i drove on up and then i turned and went through a little 'emergency vehicles only' cut through...it was too late by the time i saw the sign to stop, so i booked it and kept going hoping no cps were around (which i was pretty certain there were not because my radar-detector didn't go off).i got across, no lights, no alarms, safe.

farmers branch police and courts.

when i walked in, there was a roomful of people to my left, so i looked to the right, and there was the office clerk behind her little window and the line i had to wait in was short enough. so i went up and gave the lady my paper. i was a little surprised that they didn't ask for identification or anything to make sure it was me and not a paid substitute sitting in for me. so then i went to sit and read for a bit. i chose to take the book GUILTY by ann coulter with me to read, in hopes that it would send off subliminal messages to the counsel as they were making selections...and as i sat there for about 15-20 minutes, just getting settled into my book, another lady came out and addressed us all.

"unfortunately we are having some technical difficulties in the courtroom, and the judge is going to have to reset his docket. you are all free to go, and this will still count as a jury appearance." people almost shot out of their seats! so as i was exiting and giving her the card about the rules that they had given us earlier for our reading pleasure, i asked her, "so, we won't be asked to come back in for this jury selection?" "no, and if you are summoned by any of the county courts, you are exempt because you were here today-for the next 24 months." wow!

farmers branch courts just added a day to my life! it was 9:37 as i drove back home. i really felt like i had won the lottery! forget the powerball, i had a complete day of freedom! nothing hanging over my head! the worst part is that in the back of my mind, i was actually contemplating coming in to school. then i decided that no, i deserved this. i have not taken a day to myself, and today, it felt so good! i walked in, cleaned all the laundry and organized the closet. then i finished some painting i'd been putting off. i went to the post office to drop off some cards that my kids had made for our jr achievement person. then i stopped at walmart for some Christmas supplies.

this year's tree

got some Christmas cheer up around the apartment

then when i got home, i walked in and took the boys on another walk. it was great because it was early enough that everyone else was still at work, so i had them off leash and they loved it! when we got down to the open field-ish area out back, they played a bit, then they wanted some pics, so i gave in.

chaco

bruno

smelling the fall grass and flowers

just looking off into the distance-serious senior pic-look

when we got home, i looked down and saw a dark clump on my pant-leg. i didn't notice it until chaco came up and started sniffing. and my first thought was,"CRAP" literally. gross...another dog's poop on my pants. it's one thing if it's my dogs, but quite another if it's someone else's pup! so i looked at it, wiped it with a piece of toilet paper, trying not to smear it into the fabric, and then...yep, i smelled it. had to make sure. to my relief, it did not smell. it was just dirt i knelt in when i was taking pictures. i think...because just a few minutes later while i was sitting at the couch, bruno was walking by when his nose started sniffing at my pant legs...hmm..oh well.

now we're just settling in for the night and very satisfied..i may have to do this more often!
julie