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Best Monday News

Your jury service is completed and you are no longer required to check this message. We appreciate your serving as a juror in the United States District Court.

thank goodness, because I hadn't even pondered packing or preparing the house to leave AGAIN.

The Best Part of Federal Jury Duty

Well, my options were exhausted and I had to go to Downtown Los Angeles on Monday evening to appear at Federal Jury Duty at 8:00 a.m., Tuesday morning. We stayed at a very pleasant hotel in Little Tokyo, the Miyako. Mr. Inky came with me too since he's on vacation this week. That evening we enjoyed a lovely walk through Olvera street down Alameda Avenue and dined at Philippe's - Home of the French Dip Sandwich. Yum Yum.

Jury duty was mostly comprised of the usual waiting and listening for your name. The person sitting next to me was a nice chatty fellow that is a production assistant on Extreme Makeover. He certainly has an interesting and fulfilling job, that's for sure! Our group was the 3rd group called to court and we got over there about 11:00 or so. LOTS OF WALKING was involved in the day, that's for sure. Walking to court from the hotel, walking from the court building across 3 blocks to another building and walking back. Thank goodness for my sensible 40's style wedgies!

I was lucky to be in the first 14 interviewed the Voir Dire process and ultimately excused, along with 3 other persons that have law enforcement contact as part of their jobs or relationships. I expected that since this was a civil case involving a police office as the defendant. I got back to the hotel around 12:30 and we headed home. Unfortunately I am on-call so I have to check back in next Monday and perhaps go back down again.

But the very best part was being in the beautiful U.S. Courthouse, built from 1937 to 1940, my favorite era. Sadly absolutely no photography is allowed inside the building, and the pictures I can find online really do no justice to the architecture, but much of it's charm and beauty remains. There were beautiful mail chutes on each floor, lovely marble and brass stair rails. Incredible lighting fixtures and the most ornate entry doors. I could have spent all day just photographing the building itself! You can find the history of this beautiful structure here.

And now it feels like Monday all over again!

I Am Nine Again

Except my saddle shoes weren't nearly this cool WAY back then.

Authentic all leather saddle shoes from Muffy's.com (highly recommended and excellent customer service).

Make Do and Mend....Yourself

Sunday was my experimental "no" day. A day to do whatever I want, when I wanted, without any technology driven assistance (as in no phone and no internet, but I did use the TV, which I simply consider entertainment). A day without worry or guilt about how I spend my time. A day without agenda or plan. A day when I said no to anyone needing my time or assistance.

It was an absolutely WONDERFUL day!

I started out early, as is my norm, because I am just not physically capable of sleeping in. I can take naps and/or go to sleep early, but after years of my banking career, getting up around 6 or 6:30 is just deeply embedded in me. I had my usual fiber cake and coffee, then set about to read for a bit (the latest Sookie Stackhouse story - Dead and Gone by Charlaine Harris).

I did some mending on a purse strap and also added an elastic strap to a vintage hat that needed some repair. By then Mr. Inky woke up and wanted to go out to breakfast, but I didn't feel the urge to dress, so I made a nice breakfast at home. He decided to vacuum. I went back to reading.

A few times during the day I thought about using the computer for something or another and walked in to my office, but remembered that the thing was turned off and I wasn't about to turn it on. I did realize it's just too easy to go to this box and look something up then the next thing you know you've been sucked into a time loss of a few hours.

I spent the rest of the day doing some laundry (because I felt like it, not because I had to) and reading and watching TV. I love television and don't feel at all guilty about it - ever.

This week I am going to do the same thing I did on Sunday but for an hour a day. An hour without technology (if you call during that time, i'll call you back!) and permission to not worry about anything or feel guilty about how I use my time.

I feel positively refreshed.

This was me on Saturday headed out to attend the grand opening of Lady Luck, one of our local rockabilly shops that recently moved to Santa Maria. Fun was had!