Category Archives for Uncategorized

Couscous!

Auntie Aiesha made couscous last night and Ben invited most of the neighborhood over for dinner. I wasn’t sure how the “everyone eats out of the same dish” would go over, but we all stayed within our imaginary lines except when Aliya spun the dish at the girls’ table. Oh well…we’re now bonded by our cooties. It’s all good.


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Jury Duty

Here’s a little piece of advice…when you get the letter saying that your time is up and you have to report for jury duty, check the letter to see if they give you the option to go to a different courthouse. I was called to Cambridge, and I asked to switch to Concord. I also asked to reschedule because the original date was during our vacation. The rescheduled date was today. There was no traffic between here and Concord, and the courthouse actually has a parking lot! There were only 20 potential jurors. The judge spent a lot of time with us early in the morning to explain what was required of us and the types of cases we might hear (DUI, possession of small amounts of drugs, possibly battery – Concord is a real hotbed of criminal activity). When we were finally called to the courtroom around 11, the judge explained that there would be no jury cases today…that all but one of the cases had been settled or dismissed. The one remaining case would be decided by the judge without a jury. He repeated several times that it wasn’t a waste of our time to sit in the jury pool room and wait, because without the pressure of the jury in the next room the cases would not have been settled or dismissed.

I was actually a little disappointed that there were no jury trials after sitting around for 3 hours, but the more I think about it, the more I wonder why anyone would think I’d be better at deciding guilt or innocence than a judge. I don’t think I’m much different from the rest of the potential “peers” but I had already convicted the defendants that I saw waiting around the courthouse before I even got to the jury room. It was obvious who the defendants were because they were in such contrast with the attorneys. The attorneys all wore suits and had combed their hair this morning. The defendants were wearing their best t-shirts and mostly-clean jeans. I guess it’s lucky for them that I won’t be back for 3 years.

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Hamster Face

It’s just a matter of time until DSS shows up at our door. In addition to Norah’s black eye and dislocated elbow, Adlani has a bug bite on his face that swelled up so it looks like he’s storing nuts for the winter. What’s next? I don’t want to know.


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Spray-n-Wash

This is what happens when you have 3 kids…they divide and conquer. While Ben and I were both busy, I heard a strange splashing noise and a lot of giggling…almost always a bad sign when it comes from inside the house and outside of the bathtub. When I walked into the kitchen I saw Adlani sitting on the counter beside the sink with a full gallon of chocolate milk. He was holding the sprayer from the sink, and gleefully spraying water EVERYWHERE. Every cabinet and countertop, the entire floor, and everything stuck to the fridge was soaked. He was incredulous when he was sent to Time Out.
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You Wanna Piece-A Me?!

Norah ran face-first into the leg of a bar stool in our room at the Residence Inn last weekend…hence the shiner. Her doo-rag is actually a butterfly net from the Elefun game. Overall, it’s a look that says, “Don’t mess with me if you ever want to see your Hannah Montana doll again.”


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