Happy Fourth.

I am so slacking on the Blog lately! An quick update on the weightloss:

Nate is maintaining his 175 lbs. I haven't lost any more, but I haven't gained any more either. My goal is to lose about 20 more. I am going to be in two weddings next summer, so I'd like to be smaller by then. End of weight loss update.

Today's the fourth of July. Happy fourth. Anyway, I used to love fireworks, but ever since having a dog who is PETRIFIED of them, I don't so much anymore. He cowers and hides and his little heart beats so hard I'm afraid it's going to come right out of his chest! Hopefully he'll get over it someday.

And I shall leave you with this:

Bad idea for your Fourth of July event: "Come Dressed As Your Favorite Redcoat".

Bahahahaha.

Potato Salad Recipe

Potluck Potato Salad

from Better Homes and Gardens: New Cookbook

1/4 cup clear French salad dressing with spices and herbs (recipe to follow)

4 to 5 medium potatoes, cook in jackets, peeled, and cubed (4 cups)

1 cup chopped celery

1/4 cup chopped onion

4 hard-cooked eggs, sliced

1 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup mayonnaise

Pour French dressing over warm potatoes; chill 2 hours. Add celery, onion, eggs, and salt. Add mayonnaise and mix carefully. Add 1 teaspoon celery seed, if desired. Chill 4 hours. Makes 8 servings.

French Dressing (not the same as creamy French)

1/2 cup salad oil

2 tablespoons vinegar

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 teaspoon sugar

3/4 teaspoon dry mustard

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/8 teaspoon paprika

Dash cayenne

Combine ingredients in jar (I use a Tupperware dressing shaker); cover and shake well before using. Makes 3/4 cup.

Jury Duty

I've had a crazy last few weeks. I do not have the time nor the energy to write about everything here, but I definitely want to record what has transpired since the last week of March hopefully sometime soon. Did I already say it's been crazy? Well, it's been KA-RA-ZEE! Ugh, I rarely intentionally spell things wrong, and it kind of pains me to do that. Sorry. As usual, I digress. Moving on...

Just pretend that you already know that I've had two unusual and highly stressful weeks prior to yesterday. Fast forward to yesterday: so, I'm sitting at work, enjoying dragging through the second 12 hour work day of the week, when I get a call on my cell phone. It's an unknown name and number, so as usual, I let it go to voicemail, especially since I'm at work. The little voicemail icon appears, and I promptly check it.

"Laura Piatt, we need you for jury duty tomorrow morning, Wednesday, April 14. Please report to the District Court Room by 8:15 AM..." CRAP.

I knew that there was a chance I would be called that day because I had received a letter in early March about the dates I would tentatively be needed. I had even frantically mailed off a letter that I would be unavailable on the first date, April 7 because I'd be in Florida. However, in the aforementioned "unusual and highly stressful" weeks, I had forgotten all about it. It's a good thing the lady called because I would probably have forgotten to call that night to find out if I was needed. It would really put a damper on my plans to work 12-14 hour days every day this week if I had to take 4-8 hours to serve on a jury panel.

New situations like this make me extremely nervous, oftentimes irrationally so. If you knew me on my first day of 9th grade, you might have been surprised to know that at the previous night's freshman orientation, my dad and I walked the halls of my high school mapping out where classrooms were and when I'd have time to go to my locker. It was drawn out so I could have it with me for my first few days of school. That's a little embarrassing to admit, but that is how irrationally nervous I get in new situations. Granted, it helps to know that I'd been in very small private schools up until high school. I mean, I was going from being in a class of 30 to a class of 900. The nervousness I felt when I walked into high school on my first day of 9th grade is EXACTLY how nervous I felt when I walked into the courthouse this morning, only I felt less prepared.

I made my way to the second floor, but upon seeing seemingly other jurors waiting in the hallway, I just sat and waited. WRONG. They weren't jurors, and I was supposed to have reported to the COURTROOM (as you can see in the above voicemail), but I had neglected to make a note of that. I eventually asked someone and made my way into the court room 20 minutes late (though I had been in the building all along). The orientation was already over, but they were very polite to me and gave me my juror handbook and signed me in. Since I had missed the orientation, I was even more nervous. I sat with about 24-30 other random people and waited for things to begin.

They explained the case to us, swore us in, and then proceeded to ask us questions about whether or not we felt fit to serve in this particular case. They randomly selected and called 6 (I always thought it was 12, but then I've only had a semester of Michigan Government) jurors to go sit on the panel. They asked more questions and excused jurors (for one reason or another). I was the second to last one called. As I walked up to sit in CHAIR 1 of the panel, I thought and almost smiled to myself, This WOULD happen. They asked me a few questions, like how to pronounce my last name and whether or not I had ever been involved with or had known anyone involved in an assault and battery case. Um, no. It was a definite no, but I didn't want to be over-dramatic. Apparently they liked me because they didn't dismiss me. Great. Just great.

The trial actually started at about 10:00, which means it took them almost two hours to give an orientation, select a jury, and explain the case. That seemed a bit ridiculous to me, but whatever. We are allowed to discuss the case (now that the verdict has been decided) so it is legally okay for me to blog about this, but don't worry, I'll spare you the details. This is how it went:

Basically, the case was the State of Michigan vs. the Defendant. This is because no one charged the Defendant with committing a crime. A police report had been filed the day of the incident, so they essentially had to bring it before a court of law to decide if what happened was really assault/battery or purely self-defense. The Defendant had hit his sister (actually half-sister who is 20 years older than he is) when she was in a vehicle and then had allegedly broken her car window (which was the second charge: malicious destruction of property under $200).

The trial continued, just like on Judge Judy with witnesses and evidence presented. They presented some pretty undeniable facts but there were A LOT of gray areas. He did punch her in the face. She was intoxicated. He was not intoxicated. All of those were facts agreed on by both parties. The last two were a huge deal (to us jurors)! I have never been drunk or ever been around anyone who I knew was drunk, but I've heard that people rarely can remember what they did while they were drunk. Her memory of the incident was probably pretty tainted, which left a whole lot of questions unanswered. They agreed that he hit her, though she said it was assault and he said it was self-defense (that she had him in a headlock).

There were two or three breaks during the proceedings, and we were always excused to the jury room to sit at a table, munch on doughnuts, and awkwardly stare at each other. We weren't allowed to talk about the case until we were sent to deliberate, and no one really had anything else to talk about. Twenty-five minutes sitting at a table with 5 complete strangers is worse than going to the dentist. Ugh.

They finally sent us to deliberate. We had to pick a foreperson, and thankfully that was not me. We picked a young married guy, probably 28 years old, who was in the Air Force Reserves. We talked for about 20 minutes, and it was pretty easy to see we all agreed. There were a lot of gray areas, stories untold, and details unknown. Sure he hit her and yes, he broke the window, but we were there to decide if he assaulted her with intent to inflict bodily harm. We came to the decision that there was just not enough evidence to prove that it was. As everyone knows, people are always innocent until proven guilty in the US, and there just wasn't enough proof.

We left the jury room, and the foreperson announced the famous words, "We the Jury find the Defendant not guilty..." The look of relief on the face of the Defendant and his buddy sitting behind him in the audience was unforgettable. He almost mouthed the words, "thank you," to me as I walked out of the court room. We had just decided his fate, though the potential punishment for his crime is still unknown to me. After I saw him, part of me wondered if maybe he really was guilty. But, I knew there hadn't been enough evidence to convict him, so I was confident in my - our - decision.

The overall experience was pretty fascinating. I left feeling pretty good about it all and proud that I had been involved in the execution of justice in our judicial system. I knew it would be a good learning experience, and it was, but why, oh why, did it have to be THIS WEEK?!?!

Finally Flop Weather

* This post was written late March. I'm just a bit behind in posting. *

It’s flop weather. Finally.

Now that it’s finally pleasant outside during the day, I enjoy walking down to the park in the village where I work for my lunch break. It’s even better now that I can wear flip-flops. A week or so ago, I walked by a bookstore downtown, as I do nearly every day. On this particular day, they had a large sign out front saying, “Fill a brown bag for $5.” I figured it was just as good a time as any to actually stop in. I’d been meaning to drop in there since they opened last spring. I went to their “bargain basement” of sorts, and they had tables and tables of books in used, as-is condition organized and categorized. I was just going to nose around for a minute, but I ended up discovering the home décor and cooking books.

I should add that I have about a million cookbooks. I exaggerate, but for someone who has been married not even two years and hasn’t been really cooking much longer than that, I have a huge amount. Ask Nate. I get them for gifts, for cheap, or for free, and I figure I’ll probably find something in them that I’ll use “someday.” Oh dear, I hope I’m not becoming a packrat. That would be bad. I digress.

Anyway I made the wise decision to overlook the cookbooks and found some decorating books. If I’d had more time and if they’d had a more coffee-shop-esque atmosphere, I would have found a corner to curl up in and look through these books. I love books! I’m not much of a novel-reader, but I adore getting lost in non-fiction books. I know that makes me a huge nerd. But I’m okay with that.

Some of the books I found were dated, of course, but others looked like they were published yesterday. I’m not much of a fad-follower, so classic design appeals to me. Decorating books of classic design = huge score for me. I never used to care about decorating. At all. If you’d seen my walls in college and high school, they were wall-to-wall posters. That was a bit embarrassing to reveal. I feel exposed. Ok, I’m over it. :o) As someone with an art background, I love and appreciate good design, so looking at some of the rooms these interior decorators have designed is sort of dreamy for me. Ok, I’ve officially established my nerdy-ness. There is no way to hide or deny it now.

Needless to say, I tried to fill a brown bag but it was only about half full by the time I had to leave. I took it to the desk anyway, content with the quality of the books I’d found and knowing I wasn’t bringing home a bunch of books that I didn’t “need.” The lady at the desk, who I know to be the owner, told me she didn’t want to see me paying $5 for only half a bag of books. (I might add that I had about 8-10 books in there – and no, they were not all about home décor. :o) I knew I was paying about 20¢ a book and wasn’t worried.) She discovered my topic of interest and directed me to the section of the store (where the books were not on sale) and told me to get 2 or 3 books from there to add to my bag. I happily obliged, and I found the above Laura Ashley book, “Color.” I got a few other books that are really cool too. I sure got a workout lugging that huge HEAVY brown bag down the street and back to work.

On my next day off, I made myself breakfast in bed and spent the morning relaxing and looking through my new books. But you can read about that in my next post. I’m fully inspired - now I just need a house to decorate. Our teeny little 4-room cottage limits my creativity a bit in that aspect. :o)

Week 12 :: Have you seen my husband?

Great news!

Nate reached his weight loss goal yesterday!

We were kind of lax in our workout routine last week. We spent a few evenings doing yard work instead of doing our usual cardio/weight exercises, which granted, still counts as exercise, but it isn't the rigorous type we're used to. It didn't seem to matter though! I lost two more pounds and Nate lost enough to reach his goal.

I don't think Nate would mind if I announce his results. His current weight is 175. He lost 32 pounds in 11 weeks! He is a lot more muscular (though I thought he was pretty muscular to begin with). His goal now is to build his muscle up a bit more and maintain his weight. It is going to be a huge change for him to go from a 1,600 calorie diet to a 2,600 calorie diet!

I am so proud of him, if you can't tell. :o)

Have you seen him yet?

Nate's reward to himself for reaching his goal was to shave his beard. I normally would attempt to coax him to leave at least the goatee, but this time I let him do it. He shaved his whole face for the first time since some time in 2006. His mom, grandpa and I agreed that he looks about 17. I'll try to post some pictures at some point.

Here's to hoping I reach my goals. At this point, I am set to reach my goal in early July!

:: Laura

Sprouting Plants and St. Patrick

Sprouting Plants

Isn't the beginning of spring grand? See, I told you I love the beginning of every season! I discovered these tulips (and I believe there are also daffodils in there) last spring. They had been planted in front of our house by a previous renter, so I was really excited when I saw the sprouts last spring. I've actually never been into flowers all that much, but being married and having our own home has changed all that.

St. Patrick's Day

Last year, I was too late getting on making a special St. Patrick's Day meal. This year, I researched recipes a week or two prior, and I wasn't impressed. All of the recipes I found were not all that healthy. They were pretty horrible, as far as nutrition facts. I was disappointed. The "traditional" meal is mostly an American custom anyway, and not truly Irish. I do have Irish heritage; however, my father taught me at a young age about Irish history so that I would know about my Irish ancestors.

Most people know the Irish flag looks like this. The green essentially represents the Catholics and the orange stands for the Protestants. To put it briefly in my own words, they fought a lot and eventually found peace, which is seen in the white center of their flag. That's pretty great symbolism for a flag.

The American tradition of wearing "green" and doing everything "green" would be to support the Catholic patron Saint Patrick. I know very little about him, but as I'm not Catholic, it seems sort of silly to me. I like to celebrate holidays, however, even the commercialized versions of holidays, and so I kind of enjoy wearing green on this day. But, my father taught me that our ancestors came from present-day Northern Ireland and were very definitely Protestant Irish. So, he always wore orange on St. Patrick's Day – not out of spite, but since it is an Irish American holiday, it's fun to show that orange also represents Ireland. So, I wore a green t-shirt and an orange sweatshirt. :o) I think it would be even better to wear white some year, though I'm not sure that would help me avoid getting pinched.

So, since Nate had to work late anyway, I decided to forego the unhealthy meal. Instead, we stopped at McDonald's to pick up Shamrock shakes. The employee took our order wrong, and only rang up one shake. The employee who handed us our order gave us a second shake for FREE. That's two shakes for exactly $2, my friends. I love a good bargain, though the 500 calories weren't such a bargain for my diet!

Those who follow me on Twitter/Facebook will probably know that I was not impressed with the cookie (as seen above). It looks so delish in the pictures, but alas, it was not. It was so nice of my coworker to bring in cookies for us all. I generally say no to that sort of thing, but seeing as it was a holiday, I accepted. Ugh. I wouldn't say it was gross, but it was definitely in the "wouldn't eat again" category. They were from a bakery! I was super disappointed. I think next year, I'm making these instead. Maybe that will make up for it.

Job Interview Update

I haven't felt like updating about this because I really have so many things to say about it and don't really know where to begin to say it. I'll put it briefly and maybe I'll update more about it later. First, the interview went well. Second, I don't think I'm going to get the job. Third, I'm totally okay with that. Really and truly fine with it. I don't handle rejection well, which is proof that God's hand is in this. It was a marketing position at the hospital in Coldwater. Basically the job is about 90% stuff I'd need to learn how to do and 10% stuff I already know how to do. Not that I couldn't learn it. It's just so not up my alley. Even if I got a call for a second interview, I would probably turn it down. I still need out of my present position, and deciding exactly how and when that is going to happen is the difficult part. That's all I'll say on it for now.

:: Laura

In Need of Prayer, part 2

Update

I received an invitation to set up an interview. The interview is scheduled for 1 pm tomorrow (Saturday). I would appreciate continued prayer for calm nerves, that God would guide my responses to the interviewer's questions, and for a peace if this is indeed a position he wants me to fill. I am terrible about getting my hopes up about things, especially since I really need to get out of my current position.