Bits and Pieces

So I've almost caught up to the present with my posting on this blog. Here are a few last bits and pieces about events from the past month or so:

I had jury duty on August 14th and 17th. It really, really stunk. I don't think many people enjoy jury duty, but I was especially downhearted about it as I had to go to a courthouse in downtown Los Angeles on the Friday that was supposed to be my last day of work and then the following Monday that was supposed to be my first day as a stay-at-home mom. I had actually been called over a year ago but had postponed it twice as I was nursing (an acceptable excuse for the Los Angeles County Superior Court). Unfortunately, I was later informed that I could only postpone twice - and would have to report in August 2009 (regardless of the fact that I was/am still nursing - sorry if TMI).

In LA you are supposed to call in every night for a week to see if you have to report the next day. I got called in on the very last day - which, as I mentioned, was a Friday, and supposed to be my last day as a full-time librarian. I was bummed because it prevented me from cleaning out my desk and finishing off several projects - plus I had been planning to bring in cupcakes and enjoy a small sense of closure as I said goodbye to the working-full-time part of my life (for at least awhile). As it was, I went and spent the morning in the jury waiting room - then was called for a panel sometime in the middle of the afternoon. (I was the very last of about 60 people called - so close!) The interview process ended up taking two full days - so I had to come back in on Monday to see if I would actually be placed on a trial. In addition to just not wanting to be there for obvious reasons, it was painfully boring to listen to 60 people answer the same questions over and over and over again. Finally, at the very end of the second day, they called me up to be interviewed. (I was also the very last person again.) They were hoping to make me an alternate, but when they found out I was a stay-at-home mom to a one-year-old, they dismissed me, saying that caring for a child under the age of 5 was a valid excuse. (Why oh why they couldn't have said that before I spent 2 days on jury duty, I'm not sure.)

In the end, I was very glad to not be selected as it was for a murder trial that would probably have lasted for a week or more. I am a terrible decision-maker - I can't even imagine trying to decide the guilt or innocence of someone accused of murder. It makes me shudder to even think about it. Plus, since becoming a stay-at-home mom, our budget has obviously shrunk considerably, and it would have been difficult to afford child care and transportation for all those days. As it was, my two days of jury service cost our family an unbudgeted $80. Los Angeles County sent me a check for $18. Better than nothing, I suppose.

I understand the "civic duty" idea and believe juries perform an essential function. However, my experience definitely led me to believe the whole jury system needs some serious reform. I very much felt like a prisoner while I was there - largely because of the way the court staff behaved, including the very condescending judge. Believe me, I understand the difficulties of working with the general public, but still, considering the cost jurors are paying (I'm sure our $80 was nothing compared to what others had to bear), and the value/nature of the juror role, a little more respect and professionalism would have been nice. Anyway, I'm glad to be done with it for what I hope is a very long time. Ironically, Pete had jury duty yesterday and will find out next week if he has to go back in for what may end up being a 20+ day trial. I don't think he would mind so much since he's always had an interest in government-related things. We found out he should get paid for his time, providing he works from home in the evenings. That kind of stinks but is much better than trying to make up for the loss of his salary. Anyway, there's still a chance he won't get selected.

Wow - I just meant to mention the jury duty thing but apparently the memory still rankles a bit... Anyway, here are the other bits and pieces that I wanted to note:

Eden went in for her one-year-old appointment on August 26th (so a bit closer to the 13th month mark). She weighed 17 pounds, 11 ounces and was 29 and 3/4 inches tall. That puts her at about the 3rd percentile for weight and 60th percentile for height. The pediatrician said he still isn't worried about her weight, and I'm not either - too much, anyway. I try to get her to eat as much as she'll take, but I figure if she's turning food down, she can't be too hungry - and I don't want to teach her to ignore her sense of being full. Peter thinks her non-stop activity might also contribute to her smaller weight and our pediatrician seemed to agree. That seems like a good thing overall, and since she doesn't look too skinny to me (although definitely petite), I'm not that worried about it at the moment. I do look forward to her being big enough to go in the front-facing car seat soon though! It will be so nice to turn around and see her face.

To wrap up this post, I thought I'd share a little video I took from our living room window a few weeks ago. More and more I've been missing the country lately, so this was a nice little reminder that we are not completely removed from nature, even here in Los Angeles: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jia4IKQ1SuM. If you listen, you'll hear Eden playing in the background. (She actually took advantage of my distraction to dump the cats' water bowl on herself.) I'm very glad that humans generally have one baby at a time.