Our Week - The One with Jury Duty, Poker Night, Wicked: For Good, and Crossing Off Tons of Things on My List

Last week started out rough, but after Monday was over, things started looking up, and it ended up being a pretty darn good week!

Monday, November 17

Monday morning, I dropped the kids at school and then I had to report for jury duty.  I’d seen that a trial for a horrible case that had been all over the local media was supposed to be starting Monday and I was terrified that I’d be selected for it.  The trial involved all kinds of gruesome, violent details of which I won’t get into here, but the whole drive there, I prayed that I would be able to leave since they have always accepted hardships if you are the sole driver of kids who are minors with no transportation (our kids have no option to ride the bus, so I am their only option). 

When I arrived, the jury manager was telling everyone that the judge had already announced that she would not be excusing anyone, but they did, indeed, still let us submit our hardships, so I was hopeful.  This was my third time doing jury duty… the first time, I had no kids and no hardships, but I was released because they didn’t need anyone, and the second time, they accepted my hardship so I was able to leave really early, so I assumed the same thing would happen Monday.

WRONG.

Before everyone was even checked in, the judge announced that she needed a jury pool immediately, so they started selecting 100 people to be in the jury pool.  There were probably 250-300 people there in total, so I knew my odds were decent to not be selected, and even so, I figured the judge would see our hardships and dismiss those who needed to go.

WRONG.

I ended up being selected as juror number 24, and as we all entered the courtroom my heart sank because I recognized the defendant immediately from the case that I had feared.  I immediately broke down in tears and, unfortunately, my anxiety started getting the best of me, but I knew that I had to suppress it because it’s my civic duty and I’m an adult and I needed to be strong, blah blah blah.

The next two hours were BRUTAL because I was fighting off a panic attack the whole time, they wouldn’t let anyone go to the bathroom or take a break, and I had to hear a few horrible details about the case.  They also made each one of us get up in front of the judge, the lawyers, and the defendant and give our full name, where we live, our occupations, our marital status, and our partners’ occupations.  And he was allowed to take notes.  Why, though?!

Now I completely understand that every single person deserves a fair trial, but what I don’t understand is why on earth they would make the jurors get up in front of an alleged violent criminal and give him our personal information.  I was absolutely beside myself, y’all.

The judge had us take our oaths as jurors and then we had to answer a series of questions so the judge could assess our fairness and impartiality.  Thankfully, I already knew a lot of details about the case because it has been in the news for so long, so when they asked if anyone had already had any prior knowledge about the case, I was able to raise my hand, and then when the judge asked if anyone had any biases, I was able to raise my hand again because I had already formed an opinion. 

Sometime after noon, the judge dismissed the entire jury pool for a very short break, but she told us that we couldn’t leave the building, we couldn’t research the case, we couldn’t check social media for news, we couldn’t talk to anyone in the jury pool about the case, and we couldn’t talk to anyone outside the building about the case. 

When we came out of the courtroom, we saw that the other 150-200 people who hadn’t been selected were gone, and I was devastated that I’d been selected and not released with the rest of them.  Or so I thought.  It turns out that they’d had to go to another location to be selected for another trial that was another bad one, although, not quite as brutal as the one I had been selected for.  (And the only reason I knew this was because one of my friends was also there that morning, so I texted him and asked him if they’d gotten to leave.)

I was incredibly grateful for the break because I had to go to the bathroom soooo bad (seriously, we had all been there for over four hours at that point) and I was starving because it was well past my lunchtime.  Thankfully, I’d had the forethought to bring snacks, so I was able to take a quick bathroom break and then shovel in some Cheez-its before the jury manager came out to announce to all of us that everyone who had raised their hands to any of the questions were going to be called in one-by-one.

I thought for sure that meant that they were going to release us one-by-one, but…

WRONG.

When they called me into the room, I seriously thought I was going to faint, y’all.  I do not handle stuff like this well, and I am a very emotional person – I cry about everything, plus I was still in the midst of a panic attack, so it was not ideal.  (Normally, I can diffuse a panic attack pretty quickly nowadays because I can lay down and meditate or whatever, but I obviously couldn’t do that in the middle of jury duty.)  I was a MESS, y’all.  And although I’m usually somewhat good about hiding it if I need to, I know they could tell I was upset.  I know some people are able to disassociate or do whatever else they need to do to get through stuff like that and not get themselves in a tizzy, but I have never been able to do that.

When they called me in, I had to stand in front of everyone and speak into a microphone and answer more questions from the judge.  She asked me if I knew details about the case that would prevent me from being impartial, and I told her yes.  Then, the defense attorney asked for more details about me being a blogger since I’d had to tell everyone my occupation at the beginning.  She wanted to know if I’d ever blogged about the case, to which I told her no as I don’t blog about those kinds of things (until now, I suppose… haha).  They asked me a couple more questions and then told me to go back out to my seat in the main room.  I thought for sure they were going to dismiss me, so I was beside myself that they didn’t. 

After a few more excruciating minutes, the jury manager told all of us that the judge wanted us to take a lunch break and then come back by 1:45 PM.  Sigh.

I cried all the way home, ate a quick lunch, composed myself (kind of), and then headed back to the government building. 

When I got back, I had to wait another 20 minutes or so before anything happened, and then the judge called seven people into the courtroom, one of them being me.  She told us that we were dismissed, PRAISE GOD, and then she apologized for not having that decision ready before she dismissed us for lunch. 

Y’all, I have never been so relieved.  I had been stressing out over jury duty for weeks, and then when I found out that particular trial was going to be starting the week I had to be there, I was really stressing.  When I tell you that the details are awful, I am not kidding.  I have been following the trial since I was dismissed, and I couldn’t even read some parts of the articles because the details were so horrible.  I cannot imagine having to sit in that courtroom and see the things those jurors had to see.  I pray that the government offers them some kind of counseling when they are done.

Anyway, I called Brian the second I left the courtroom to tell him that I could go pick up Olivia because I knew he was just about to leave to grab her.  All I wanted to do was go sit in the car line, close my eyes and decompress, call Brian and my parents to hear their voices, and then see my babies. 

When we got home, I made a cup of hot tea and read my book, and I tried to settle down a bit more.  I was nauseated all morning after being selected, and I still wasn’t feeling well.  It actually ended up taking most of the rest of the week for my body to get back to normal after being so panicky all morning, but that’s typical after a bad panic attack.

When Olivia finished her homework, I asked her if she wanted to take a walk with me, and that’s just what the doctor ordered – fresh air, sunshine, and time spent with my girl is always good for my soul.  I felt so much better when I got home.

Brian and Jacob pulled up just as we were finishing up with our walk (he had been at e-sports), and then Brian made mini pizzas for dinner because I didn’t have anything else to cook since I hadn’t had the chance to go grocery shopping.

While he made pizzas, I turned on all the Christmas lights and some Christmas music, and I made a meal plan and grocery list.  I needed all the happy and cozy things desperately Monday evening.

After we cleaned up the kitchen I felt mentally, emotionally, and physically drained, so I collapsed on the couch, and we watched the trailers for several new movies that are coming out soon – Moana (live action), Toy Story 5, Zootopia 2, and The Super Mario Galaxy Movie.  After that, the kids got showered, and I lay on the couch and zoned out while Brian worked out.

When the kids were ready for bed, we watched some more of the making of Avatar and then after they went to bed, Brian made Manhattans for us and we watched some of a new episode of Saturday Night Live since I needed something light and funny.   

Tuesday, November 18

Tuesday morning, I woke up feeling better (although not totally), and I was grateful to drive the kids to school, go to Walmart and Publix to pick up groceries (even though I usually hate grocery shopping), and put the groceries away.  I was just SO happy to have been dismissed and be doing normal things.

Once the cold groceries were put away, I grabbed some hot tea and a slice of brown sugar poundcake that my Momma had made, and I settled in to work.  Organizing all my pictures from our exciting weekend and recapping all of it on the blog ended up taking up my entire day and I still didn’t get the blog post finished. 

I picked up the kids from school and then we headed immediately to the dermatologist for Jacob’s checkup.  We were 30 minutes early, but they were able to get us right in and we were done before his appointment time even technically started.

He’s been dealing with red, rashy, swollen skin around his eyes for months now, and while the prescription cream keeps it at bay, it comes right back if we stop using the cream.  The dermatologist told us Tuesday that she wants him to be skin tested at the allergist to see if something specific is causing it and then we’ll go from there. 

However, as we were getting in the car, it hit me – he changed shampoos this summer right before all this started.  Prior to this, he had used a very clean shampoo that had no artificial colors or scents, and it was hypoallergenic.  I have been racking my brain for months trying to think of what could be causing this and I am kicking myself for not thinking about the shampoo!!  We even switched to Dreft detergent just in case he’d suddenly developed an allergy to our other detergent, but that didn’t help either.  I just cannot believe we didn’t think about the shampoo!!  We ended up switching his shampoo back to the other stuff, so I’m hoping that solves this months-long problem that he’s been dealing with.  Fingers crossed!

While we were at the dermatologist, Olivia changed for dance and finished her homework because we thought that she’d have to be dropped off at dance immediately following the appointment, but we ended up having plenty of time to go home first. 

When we got home, I texted my friend who had jury duty and he told me that he’d been dismissed, too, thank goodness, although he did have to go again on Tuesday morning.  After that, I did my quiet time.

I drove Olivia to dance and then when I got home, I went for a full walk for the first time in weeks.  I was losing daylight quickly at that point, so it ended up being more of a jog than a walk, but it felt great to get in a complete workout. 

When I got home, I watered all the plants inside and outdoors, and then I put up an “oops” blog post quickly since I hadn’t been able to finish my scheduled post.  Then, it was time to shower and get into PJs and finish putting the rest of the groceries away.  I also took the time to clean out the pantry and the refrigerator because that hadn’t been done in far too long. 

I made stir fry with chicken, rice, and veggies for dinner, and I also made cinnamon muffins for us to snack on all week.  When Brian and Olivia got home from dance, we all sat down to eat together, and while I was helping B clean the kitchen afterward, I started feeling overwhelmingly exhausted and very unsteady again.  Since my body always takes a few days to come down after a bad panic attack, I had probably overdone it on my jog.  I ended up laying on the couch for a bit while the unsteadiness subsided, and then we got the kids in bed.  Brian and I watched a few more minutes of The Perfect Neighbor after that, and then we went to bed. 

 

Wednesday, November 19

Wednesday, I dropped the kids at school, and then I headed to Target to find a few items that we needed.  They were playing Christmas music, and they had all their Christmas stuff out, so I ended up staying much longer than usual as one does.

I ended up getting a few stocking stuffers for the kids, too, so that was awesome to knock out some shopping. 

While I was at Target, Brian texted me to let me know that Teddy Swims had announced a random one-time Christmas concert in Atlanta and tickets were just about to go on sale.  He’s playing at a tiny venue – my favorite one in Atlanta! – and all proceeds to go charity – one of Atlanta’s foodbanks.  And y’all, the concert is a CHRISTMAS CONCERT.  AND HE’S ONLY DOING ONE OF THEM.  Aaaaahhhh.  Our whole family loves Teddy Swims and I’ve been dying to see a Christmas concert this year, so I couldn’t believe that one of our favorite artists was doing a one-time concert so close to us.  (He’s from Atlanta, so that’s why he’s doing it there.)

Anyway, I got home, after tickets had already gone on sale, and Brian hadn’t had any luck because he was stuck in a queue with 30,000+ people in front of him.  And the venue only holds 3,000.  Sigh.  Plus, the floor is standing room only, and we wanted to be in the seats on the balcony of which there are very few.  Double sigh. 

I joined the queue with 38,000 people in front of me, and I thought for sure I was doing it in vain as the tickets had already been on sale for 10 minutes, so I assumed it was sold out.  Sure enough, Brian got in before me, and he said that there was literally nothing.  ZERO tickets. 

Well, we’ve been getting concert tickets multiple times per year for our entire adult lives, and we know that ticketing systems are super weird, so both of us kept staring at the screen.  Finally, 40 minutes after the sales started, like, 12 seats popped up in the balcony, and I was able to snag four of them.  They’re in the second row near the center, and I absolutely cannot believe my luck, y’all!!  Since I was able to get four, we get to take the kids, too, and I cannot wait!!

Once the tickets were secured, I threw some towels in the washer, I finished my blog post for Thursday, and then I threw another load of laundry in because my laundry basket was overflowing.  After that, I knocked out all my emails, I started my blog post for Friday, I got everything put away that I’d purchased at Target, I got organized for Thanksgiving week, I went through all Christmas gifts purchased so far and I updated my spreadsheet, I lay out the laundry, and then I swung by the library to pick up and return a couple of books.

I was soooo excited to finally have a new book to read as I’ve been without one for a few days, and when I got in the car line, I cracked it open and started reading only to find out… I’ve already read this book.  Lol.  Y’all.  I guess that’s what happens when you read a ton of books in one year by the same author.  Next time, I’ll be sure to doublecheck my Goodreads account before putting one on hold.  Lol.

When we got home, I made some tea and did my Bible study while the kids studied, and then I tidied up a few things around the house.  It was warm on Wednesday, so Olivia and I opened the sunroof and blasted Taylor Swift all the way to dance (can’t stop, won’t stop) and then I headed home to cook dinner. 

Olivia has her late dance night Wednesday, so it was just the boys and me, so I turned on the Folklore Long Pond Sessions while I cooked, and then we sat down to fettucine alfredo with chicken, steamed broccoli, and garlic cheese bread.

After dinner, Brian got all the Christmas boxes put away and I pulled out the finishing touches of my Christmas décor – the Christmas soaps, Christmas straws for our bar cart, and I hung our Christmas card holder.  We are officially completely decorated inside… now we just have to decorate outside! 

While I did that, the boys watched Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, and I did a stair stepper workout in the living room and watched with them.  After my workout, I got the towels folded and put away, I put the laundry away, and then I got ready for bed.

Brian headed out to pick up Olivia, and Jacob got in the shower, and I spent the next little bit catching up on updating my planner in my office.  I looooveeee my office, but I couldn’t possibly love it more than I do at Christmastime at night when I work in the glow of my twinkle lights and my Christmas tree!

When Brian and Olivia got home, she got showered, both kids got in bed, and then Brian and I finished The Perfect Neighbor (WOW is all I have to say about that one), and then we watched some more of Saturday Night Live to lighten the mood after that heavy documentary.

 

Thursday, November 20

Thursday morning, I dropped the kids at school and then I headed home to work all day.  I got my blog post done for Friday, I started and finished my blog post for the following Thursday, I started this post, I started and finished my blog post for the following Friday, and then I started catching up on blog reading… and I was over a week behind on that, so I didn’t get very far.  Haha.  I ended up tackling a couple of annoying little tasks that I’ve been putting off after that, and then it was time to get in the car line.  Needless to say, it was a VERY productive day.  I don’t want to spend much time at my computer during Thanksgiving break, so it felt good to knock out so many blog posts for this week!

In the car line, I started addressing Christmas cards, and then the kids and I headed to music lessons.  Jacob’s teacher was out Thursday, so he didn’t have his lesson, so Jacob and I sat in with Olivia.  She practiced her song from Interstellar over and over since that’s what she’s planning to do for the recital, and then we headed home.

I made some tea and did my Bible study, and then I headed out for a walk before it got dark.  The fall foliage is nearing the end of its peak, so I soaked it all up since pretty soon everything is going to be grey and dreary.  The sunset was also GORGEOUS, but it was gone before I could get a good picture of it.

When I got home, I showered and got into PJs and then Brian and I made breakfast for dinner.  After dinner, we all just hung around, I whittled away at a couple more items on my to do list, and then I got my to do list ready for Friday since it was the last day before the kids got out for the break.

Once the kids were ready for bed, we finished the making of Avatar, the kids got into bed, and then Brian and I finished Saturday Night Live and then started the new season of A Man on the Inside. 

 

Friday, November 21

Friday morning, I dropped the kids at school and then I dropped my car at the dealership for its regularly scheduled service.  Brian met me there and drove me home, and then I got to work paying bills, responding to blog comments, and updating a spreadsheet that I was terribly behind on, and then I tackled more tiny, annoying tasks that have been sitting on my list forever.  It feels so good to be that deep into the to-do list and getting things crossed off that aren’t urgent.  It seems these days that I basically only have time each day to tackle the urgent things, so the non-urgent things sit there on the list for weeks (or months), so it’s been nice to have the time this week to get things done.

Brian and I spent some time discussing Christmas gifts for the kids on Friday, too, and we purchased a couple of things. 

I worked on this post some more after lunch, and then I tackled lots of other tiny annoying tasks I’ve been putting off.  Brian and I left a few minutes earlier than usual for the car line since he had to take me to get my car, and then I picked the kids up.  While I waited in the car line, I started working on organizing all of my holiday lists in my phone.  I have kept them in an Excel spreadsheet forever, but I am finally migrating them to my List Master app, and that’s going to take some time.

When we got home, it was drizzly outside, so we all settled in for a cozy afternoon.  A Friday afternoon with a stretch of nine days off ahead for Thanksgiving week is PEAK adulthood, y’all.  Hahahaha.

I got my Bible study and quiet time done, the kids tidied what little there was to tidy around the house, and then they zoned out on video games for a while, and then I turned on all my Christmas lights and watched Serendipity while tackling more tasks on my list.  I also cleaned off my desk, cleaned off my computer desktop, finished catching up on blog reading, and I got some important papers sent for Jacob’s Confirmation.  Aaaand I also got another load of laundry done… had to get those Christmas PJs clean for Thanksgiving week!  Haha.

We had poker night with friends Friday evening, so we headed there around 6 PM and we spent the evening doing just as much chatting and laughing as we did actual card-playing.  It’s always one of my favorite nights of the whole month.  We have such a great group, and I’m so grateful that we’ve kept up these monthly nights for THREE YEARS now.  Just crazy.

We got home around 9:30, and after the kids got into bed, Brian and I watched 1.5 episodes of A Man on the Inside because I fell asleep halfway through the second one.  Haha.

 

Saturday, November 22

Saturday morning, we slept until 8:45 and then I made waffles for breakfast.  I rotted on the couch all morning watching ESPN College GameDay and it was the best thing ever.  I also saw an interview with Matthew McConaughey about his first experience in Athens at the Georgia vs. Texas game, and I was excited to see how impressed he was. There’s nothing like Sanford Stadium at night, y’all!  Just look at the picture (second one below) that showed up in my feed from the game!  Isn’t it awesome?!  I’m actually in the picture right in front of the 10-yard line, but you can’t tell it’s me.  Haha.

Around 11:45, I finally got off my butt, and I did a stair stepper workout while I watched football. 

We made lunch after that, and then watched the Georgia game, which was an easy win since we played a smaller team.  While we watched, I finished prepping my new 2026 planner, and I also worked some more on addressing Christmas cards.  Brian also got my old video camera listed on eBay since all the young kids are using them again (WILD), and he also got the information written up for me to post and sell my old DSLR camera on Facebook. 

I showered and got ready after the game, and then we went to 5:30 Mass.  The Bishop happened to be in town, so he said Mass, and then the four of us ate dinner with my parents at the pub down the street from church that we’ve been frequenting my whole life.

After dinner, we drove to a local hobby shop near downtown because Jacob wanted to get a Pokemon set that his friend, Mack, had Friday night at poker night.  He was dying to get his hands on it after he played with Mack’s, and thankfully, they had two left.  Those Pokemon items fly off the shelves, so you just never know what they’re going to have and how long they’ll have it!

When we got home, the kids had a Pokemon battle with their cards and Brian and I watched football.  After the kids went to bed, Brian and I watched another episode of A Man on the Inside, and then he started the new Frankenstein movie because I fell asleep again.  Hahahaha.

Sunday, November 23

Sunday morning, we had cinnamon rolls for breakfast after sleeping in again, and then I knocked out a couple of things in my office since I hadn’t spent any time in there on Saturday.  We went to see Wicked: For Good at the movie theater at noon, and on the way, I wanted to stop by Starbucks to grab my first Peppermint Mocha of the season.  The drive-thru line was insanely slow, so after waiting a few minutes without moving, I ran inside to grab my coffee instead.  There were only two people in front of me, and I was ordering within 30 seconds of going inside. 

However, it ended up being a big mistake going inside!  I ended up standing there for almost 30 minutes waiting for my coffee… all the baristas were making drive-thru drinks and pickup orders, I guess, because they were steadily making drinks, but the three of us who had ordered at the counter waited foreverrrr.  They ended up having an issue with a water line and water sprayed everywhere, so then they had to clean that up, and it was just a big cluster. 

We’d arrived at 11:20 thinking it was plenty of time to get to the theater by 11:45 since the theater was just right down the street from us, but we ended up arriving at 12:02 PM because of dang Starbucks taking so long.  I’ve never had an experience that bad before, but the barista was super apologetic when he finally got my coffee.  And honestly, when I took that first sip of my first peppermint mocha of the season, it was kind of worth the wait.  Hahahaha.

My mom and my sister-in-law were meeting us there, so I did feel bad that we held them up because we had their tickets, so we flew into the theater when we arrived, and then we got seated just in time for trailers to start.  I got some chicken fingers for the kids since they hadn’t had lunch yet, and then the next two hours and 45 minutes were spent watching the movie… and y’all, it was amaziiiingggg!!!!  I loved it SO MUCH, even more than the first one!  I cried a bucket of tears, and it was just phenomenal.  I think everyone in our group agreed that this one was better.

 

We went home after the movie and had a few hours to get some things done around the house.  I did my usual Sunday tasks like transferring photos from my phone to my computer and getting those organized, working on blog posts for the week ahead, looking at my planner for the week ahead, etc.  And I started watching The Holiday while I worked.  Happy Jude Law season to all who celebrate!  ;o)

We headed to my parents’ house for dinner, and my mom made slow cooker ravioli lasagna that’s soooo delicious, and then after dinner, we all took pictures for their family Christmas card.

When we got home, we started watching Meet Me Next Christmas with the kids.  We watched it last Christmas Eve morning with them and we all loved it, so they asked to watch it again.  Pentatonix is in it and we all love them, so I wasn’t going to say no to that!

Then after they went to bed, Brian and I watched A Man on the Inside followed by an old episode of Songs & Stories with Kelly Clarkson that we’d saved because it had Teddy Swims on it.  It was so good!  I loved it. 

And that was our week!

And now for some current things…

Currently Reading

I ended up reading Do Not Disturb (4 stars) and also The Housemaid’s Secret (5 stars) by Freida McFadden at the end of October after I’d already finished this section in my post, so I’m including them this month instead.  Then, in November I read The Coffee Bean: A Simple Lesson to Create Positive Change by Jon Gordon (4 stars) and then I read The Housemaid is Watching by Freida McFadden (3 stars). 

I’m also still reading my devotional for 2025 – Everyday Gospel by Paul David Tripp.  And I’m reading my Bible along with The Bible in a Year with Father Mike Schmitz. 

 

Currently Watching

With B: In November, Brian and I finished season two of Nobody Wants This, we started and finished Wayward, we started and finished The Perfect Neighbor, we watched Songs & Stories with Kelly Clarkson (the one with Teddy Swims), we started season two of A Man on the Inside, and we continued Saturday Night Live.  We also watched a ton of college football.

With the Kids: In November, we watched Late Night with Jimmy Fallon with Taylor Swift, Wicked: One Wonderful Night, Olaf’s Frozen Adventure, Meet Me Next Christmas, lots of Jeopardy and Wheel of Fortune, we started and finished the making of Avatar, and we finished Lego Masters Junior.  We also saw Wicked: For Good at the movie theater and Brian and Jacob watched Transformers 2 at home.

Alone: I watched Serendipity a few times and I also watched The Holiday a couple of times.

 

Currently Listening To

We are listening to a ton of Christmas music.  We’re still listening to The Life of a Showgirl by Taylor Swift, and we’ve also started throwing the Wicked: For Good soundtrack in the mix.  So good.

Happy Tuesday, y’all!