So my second week of Jury Duty begins today. As usual, I'm already up in the 5th floor Jury Assembly Room, waiting for 9:00 AM to roll around. I have no idea if they'll even call me this week. At this point my odds are slightly lower than they were last week, depending on how many things go to trial. Whatever, I've actually somewhat enjoyed my time here. It's been great creatively, and while I miss the family I don't mind the break in scenery (if Lisa reads this her jaw is probably on the floor and she's likely thinking "then why don't we go somewhere and get out of the house!").
The weekend was, overall, a good one. It started on Friday for me since I didn't need to report to the court house. Lisa's mother and grandmother (the Marys) came to stay the night Friday, so the kids were really excited. Lisa's mother (we'll call her "young Mary") bought the kids a small swimming pool, and they loved it. It looks like a whale and can spray them as they're in it if the water is hooked up. Lex loved it too, walking around like he owned the thing, trying to swim, etc. It was a good visit. They left at about 5:00 PM Sunday, and we were kind of at a loss for what to do next. We had planned ribs for dinner, but both Lisa and myself had forgotten to get them out of the freezer, so there wasn't an opportunity to thaw them and let the rub get in. Slight change of plans, and dinner was leftovers, which were still good since Lisa had made a double batch of her awesome Kicking Cajun Alfredo (courtesy of Guy Fieri) Friday night, plus some homemade garlic bread that was just as good cold as it was warm (despite what Cassandra thought).
Sunday was Father's Day, and it was a little bittersweet. I met my parents at their house and went to see my grandfather. After a couple of strokes right after each other at the end of February/beginning of March his mind has finally gone. Some days are good, some... well, some aren't. I hadn't been over to see him since getting the news. I've gone through one family member not knowing who I am, I don't long to experience it again. But this might have been the last Father's Day, and I know it was important to Dad even if he didn't say so (important to me too). My Aunt Sally and Uncle John were there, so we got to see them. Grandpa wasn't really with things however. They've upped his dosage on one medication and he fell asleep. I suppose that's ok... it avoided a potentially difficult situation. It was good to see him.
By the time I got home I was feeling ill. I don't know if it was from the visit, the heat, a drop in my blood sugar, or what. All I know is I was naseus and not feeling good in general. Lisa wasn't feeling well either. The kids made me Father's Day cards while I was gone, so that was a welcome treat (I had prepared my self for the Marys' visit to overshadow Father's Day). Lisa had helped Lex make me a card that had his very first hand prints on it, so that was great (not to take away from Cassandra & Caleb's cards... I just wasn't expecting one from Lex). Apparently Lisa had to stop him from trying to stick paint-covered hands in his mouth! That boy wants to eat everything in sight! What do they say about Cancers, they're ruled by their stomachs? Lex proves that one!
We were supposed to go to a Summer Solstice ceremony my friend Joe's Druid Grove was putting on. It started at 3 and by 2 I was still feeling ill. I looked at the temperature and realized it was supposed to reach 85 with a 52% humidity, and we decided that it just wasn't a good idea to go. Even if I handled the heat ok, Lex probably wouldn't, and the ceremony would take place right during his feeding time when he'd be guaranteed to be cranky. I was disappointed, but I think it was the right decision. Of course our dinner plans had been the potluck after the ceremony so we kind of messed up with that... but fortunately Pizza Hut is very forgiving. Lisa was thrilled when I suggested we order mediums instead of our usual larges... hey, every little bit to help lose weight, right?
I got a present for Father's Day. Sims 3, something I'd been looking forward to but Lisa was iffy about it. I had reservations about whether it would even run on the laptop (the processer isn't technically up to specs), but my fears were unfounded. The only issue I had was that my video driver was VERY out of date (it was an '05 driver!) so I had some .dll issues that forced me to restart the laptop a couple of times. Fortunately Intel had an updated '07 driver on their website that fixed the issues, and the game runs quite nicely now. I'll review it sometime after I've played some more, but in short I like it better than Sims 2 (which is Lisa's baby). It fixes a lot of the things that made me get bored with the previous versions... plus my first Sim is an Evil Insane Bookworm who is trying to become a professional author and now has 3 books to his name while he works part time at a bookstore!
(No, I didn't pattern him after myself... I just wanted to try the traits out and I had enjoyed writing books in Sims 2 instead of getting a career.)
I also got in touch with an old buddy from college through Facebook. I haven't seen him in years; he joined the Army as a Combat Documentation and Production Specialist, and he lives in Bavaria now (he says it makes Athens, OH look like LA). He's here for the week to attend Origins, so I think I'll try to find a time to go to dinner with him or have him over or something, depending on what his schedule will allow.
End of Demented Rambling.
