JURY DUTY

I was summoned for jury duty back in March, but managed to push back my service until today. I tried to get out of serving all together. I explained I was a full-time student who couldn't miss a day of classes. When that didn't work, I lied about my due date and said I was due in May in an attempt to get out it. The pregnancy card didn't work for me either. So today I showed up at the courthouse bright and early; all the while praying that I wouldn't be selected. The thought of spending my two weeks between spring and summer semesters on a jury made me sick to my stomach.

After checking in at the courthouse, I was directed to the juror's lounge - a huge room full of chairs placed too close together where sounds just echo off the walls. Among the annoying noises I had to endure while sitting in the jury room were: the crunches of the woman sitting in front of me chowing down on the ice from her iced coffee, the woman behind me who texted nonstop during the morning with her keypad beeping with every entry, the snoring of a man two rows in front of me, and the humming of the TVs (they were showing Flightplan - a bad Jodie Foster movie). The TV noises were especially annoying because the sunlight streaming in from the windows reflected off the monitors and prevented anyone from actually watching the movie.

I sat in the juror's lounge from 8:30am until about 2:30pm (minus an hour for lunch) before being dismissed. It was a long six hours, but it could have been worse. And now I don't have to worry about jury duty for another two years.

I now have two weeks ahead of me without school and without jury duty. I am so excited!

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Purchase of the weekend: David and I bought a crib and changing table off of craigslist. We were hoping to find baby furniture second-hand and we were SO successful.

Annoyance of the day/week: Our loud neighbors have been SO loud lately. Saturday afternoon they washed their car with the stereo blazing (an event that took more than an hour). Their kids (who are also VERY loud) have taken to playing (read: yelling at each other and fighting) in the street until well after 11pm every night of the week. Last night it was so loud around 10:30pm that I had to shut our bedroom windows in order to get some peace and quiet. I'm on the verge of calling the police to complain... (That's how we handle loud neighbors in this city)

Events to look forward to: Thursday we're going to see Hamlet performed outside at the Carter Barron and Friday we have tickets to see A Prairie Home Companion with Garrison Keiller at Wolf Trap.