Wednesday, May 18, 2005

Birthdays

Well, my birthday came and went the weekend without too much fanfare. Spent the day with my family...took the kids to the park, had cake and ice cream, ran around the apartment, then went to dinner at IHOP. The kids were little monsters, acted like we never let them in public. Oh well. On the bright side, it's still my birthday month, so I will keep celebrating it until May is over. I love my birthday, even with my little monsters.

I love birthdays in general. I much prefer them to regular holidays. It's so much easier to focus on one person at a time and make them feel special than a whole crowd. As much as I love the family time and general spirit of Christmas and other holidays, I'd still rather celebrate someone's birthday. I don't understand people who don't like to admit to their birthdays. It's not about getting older, it's about beginning another year of life (even if this year's is my fourth try at 29).

So celebrate your birthday...it's all about you!

Monday, May 09, 2005

Define Normal

How Normal Are You?
You Are 45% Normal(Somewhat Normal)
While some of your behavior is quite normal...Other things you do are downright strangeYou've got a little of your freak going onBut you mostly keep your weirdness to yourself

Friday, May 06, 2005

Jury Duty

I had jury duty this week. I didn't realize how much it affected me until yesterday evening on my way home from a meeting. For some reason, I just burst into tears. It suddenly struck me that I and eleven other people just sentenced a man to die in jail. We basically said that he wasn't going to be reformed at 50 years old, and we gave him 60 years for robbery (downgraded from aggravated robbery because there was not enough proof to say that he had a gun in his towel wrapped hand).

Although we only knew of the specific incident during the trial, we found out during sentencing that he had held up the same Subway two weeks before that--with the same person at the cash register, and another Subway two weeks before that where he had threatened to kill a family if they didn't sit back down. (The father had seen the defendant come into the store with a bag over his hand and act suspiciously. When he gathered his wife and two kids to immediately leave, that's when the defendant ordered them to sit back down.)

I'm trying to figure out what made this man turn out this way. He had a clean record until his 40s, when he had 5 felony cocaine possession charges against him. What happened before that. No one stood up on his behalf during the sentencing phase. Not a neighbor or friend or relative. Now that I'm removed from the situation of deciding the sentence, I'm realize just how terribly tragic that is. No mother, no wife, no children to stand up for him. What if that were my son or brother in the defendent's seat (heaven forbid!). I'm sure jail will do nothing for his apparent drug addiction. How many bridges did he burn to end up this way?

I know I should be focusing on the victims to his crimes: the employee who was held up twice and so shooken up that he couldn't even dial 911 because his hands were shaking too hard, and the other employee who the defendent told he would kill if she looked at him (she was a hard working woman with 6 children and was near tears when she looked at the defendent to identify him). And the man and his wife and kids from his first robbery who couldn't even go out in public for several months without fear, with the wife still being nervous 8 months later. Not to mention the other employees from his first robbery whom we didn't hear from. I'm sure none of them are the same either. What if it were my mom whom he pointed his towel wrapped hand at and threatened? What if it were my children in the store while he was robbing it, threatening their lives and the life of my husband?

I wish I could shake the bit of sadness I feel from telling someone that their life is worthless and that they will never be able to make good for what he has done. Something is just not resting with me well. I don't want to have jury duty again.

Monday, May 02, 2005

And so it begins

Well, here I go and add my two bits to the ever-changing digital world. Sometimes I cannot fathom how we even get around without computers. Even if you shut yourself off in your house in the dark can you be away from computers, then? What if the phone rings? What if your car alarm goes off? Everything is controlled by the computer.

Not that I'm against them. To the contrary, I enjoy working with them. They do tend to make my typing easier (thank goodness for spellcheck), which makes my job easier. I hated using the typewriter. I remember having to hand-type some checks a few years back for a job. What a miserable experience. Made me realize what a horrid typist I really am. And I love playing with digital photographs and creating newsletters and internet shopping.

I'm not sure what my purpose is in setting up this site. Who knows who will find it. But I would love to hear any who stumble my way.