Jury Duty, Wally and the Toy

Jared is engaged! It’s been a not-so secret, secret for a couple of weeks. Jared met Whynky on a dating site a 5-6 weeks ago. The Lord bonked him on the head when he started wondering about the swiftness and circumstances, sometimes the Lord gives you a gift and you take it. Whynky is from the Philippines, she around 32 years old, studying to be an analyst (?), and is a very smart lady. Jared proposed last night, guessing she said yes since the ring is on the correct finger. Hooray for weddings. 

Amelia accompanied me to a fun gala at CHS honoring parent and community volunteers. I went as a choir volunteer for helping out with alterations and serving on the booster club. We had a yummy salad and chocolate cake for dessert. Oscar sang us some songs for entertainment and we heard from a couple speakers. I almost felt energized to go out and volunteer some more. 

I was called to serve on a jury panel this week. That was an intriguing experience! I’ve had to call in to the jury office for a week but have not ever gone to the courthouse. There were 65 potential jurors on the panel. We had a laminated number card (mine was 21 if you need to know) assigned to our name. When the judge was ready we assembled in the court room to meet the judge, the lawyers, and the guy charged. The charges were named: rape of 2 minors and another 20 year old girl while intoxicated. The prosecuting side asked numerous questions where jurors lifted their numbers to answer the questions. Some questions were: if you were the defendant would you want yourself as a juror, have you ever been black-out drunk, do you know anyone in the courtroom, have you heard of the case, can you put aside your opinions and judge only the facts, and etc. I ended up going into the courtroom as a solo juror to explain why I would not be suitable for the jury based on my childhood experiences. It wasn’t that I could not put aside my opinions I was certain my brain would freeze as evidence and testimony was presented and miss valuable information due to trauma responses. The judge had more than a few people excused but they had to wait in the jury office for the rest of the day. One guy the judge called out for lying and trying to get out of serving. It was an interesting experience. 

During all of this Amelia was having quite a stressful time dealing with Wally. He started throwing up on Sunday, ended up ejecting part of a toy. He was not improving so she took him to the vet where it was determined Wally had something blocking his intestines. The clinic couldn’t accommodate him so Amelia had to call around getting estimates ranging from $8,000 to $1,500. I would’ve opted to put him down but my phone was off per Jury duty. A different vet extracted the toy and sewed him back up. Wally wore a cone of shame until a dog body suit came in the mail to cover up the incision. We now have pet insurance. Hooray. 

Amelia and I met up at the Chef’s Store to get some flavors for drinks and other items for her farewell party on the 31st of May. We also went to Target to get the remaining items on her packing list. Poor kid was emotionally drained after dealing with Wally, interrupted sleep, and being halfway in and out of the house. It’s a strange sort of limbo! Later that evening we looked at my mission photo books, had a lovely laugh and lots of stories. My sweet students, Eevie and Levi, left me a plate of chocolate chip cookies with a cute card! They were trying to hide but didn’t quite make it. I loved their excited giggles and hugs. The gang worked on thinning peaches down the orchard rows assigned to our ward. Everett got a little defiant when Justin asked him to stop throwing peaches. We sorted through the situation between the three of us, it’s good to talk things through so everyone is on the same page. Justin is exceptional at making course corrections and apologizing. 

Phillip pulled off a miracle! He earned the Academic Student of the Year for ENGLISH?! I was stunned. He was stunned. With all the struggles he has writing getting top student was not even on my radar. I completely underestimated that kid. Way to freaking GO Phillip! Everett earned top student for Social Dancing. He is amazing at dancing and acting. Evelyn earned a golden ticket, that means she gets the last 3 days off from school because she scored well on her iSATS (and/or improved her academic standing). 

I decided life would be empty without tomatoes in my garden this year. Dusty helped rototill the big garden box on Thursday. I added some soil and purchased three gallon-sized plants hoping they would actually produce fruit this year. Wilbur has no peaches this year. I planted some herbs and then scattered a bag of dahlias in the other boxes. Guess we’re having tomatoes and flowers in the garden. I had several photo sessions scattered over the weekend, a kinder graduate, 2 sister ballerinas, Amelia with her stuffies, Dahlia’s 3 year, Dariana’s 1 year, and Eliza’s mission photos. Crazy. The older kids had a temple trip with ice cream and swimming afterwards. They stayed at the pool until 8 pm! Amelia and Josie came with me to the Boise temple. We went to Hobby Lobby first, I NEEDED some more patriotic decor to complete the front room decorations. There was a literal rainbow in the sky over the temple at one point, like how can you even plan that? Eliza is so delightful, she’s silly and smart. We grabbed some frozen yogurt after photos with Eliza and Emma.