The Sixth Week (April 20-26): Jury Duty, Protestors, Sea Lions, Heat
Monday, April 20-Wednesday, April 22
Despite the fact that the courts are closed for trials, I still had to call in for my Jury Duty status since I had been summoned for this week. Last Friday, my group number was instructed to check again on Monday, and my group number wasn't officially released until Tuesday afternoon. Sort of amusing that folks couldn't just all be excused at once given that there's clearly no need for jurors at the moment!
We had our first instance of protestors against the COVID-19 shutdowns at the Capitol on Monday at mid-day. Mr. E saw them during his walkabout, and I heard the helicopters circling while I listened to the Gavinor's daily update. I then saw some of them for myself during my evening walk & talk with Mom, as about five of them were doing a sidewalk tailgate just a block from our house. I completely understand the frustration (I am So. Done. With. This.), but I know that these protests are not true grassroots reactions but rather are politically motivated and organized to just further segment and split our communities. Such a sad reality that a moment such as this, which calls for unity and mutual support to move forward, simply presents an opportunity for some folks to stir up unrest and use the crisis for their own purposes.
I took Monday afternoon off to help recover from a mini-migraine and was able to do several errands, including a trip to the bank to deposit a check, a stop at Orchid Thai for takeout lunch, and a visit to Parkside Pharmacy for a kitty medication refill.
On Tuesday evening, I enjoyed a virtual Happy Hour with EH. She cut her hair! The new bob style looks great on her, and of course I'm always a fan of short hair. My own is getting way too long right now, although most people would probably still think it's short. I'm tempted to try to spike it up one day to surprise my colleagues during a Zoom meeting!
The highlight of Wednesday was seeing one jackrabbit and six sea lions during my morning run to West Sac and along the Riverfront. I heard what I thought were sea lions last week but never caught sight of them, but this week the sound was unmistakable, and sure enough, a trio was sitting on the docks by the Embassy Suites and another trio was paddling around nearby in the Sacramento River. One of my Book Club buddies saw them later as well, so I'm poaching her photos for my blog since I didn't have a camera with me during my run:
My Spanish class started up again on Wednesday. I'm taking Avanzado III (grammar course), and the class is delivered via Zoom. I was pleasantly surprised by how effective and engaging the experience was, particularly thanks to use of the breakout room feature to facilitate pair work throughout the 100 minutes of class time. And I was also pleased to recognize three of the five other students from previous classes. I had a wee bit o' trouble with Zoom when I tried to connect on Big Purple, but all was resolved when I switched to a different laptop. Having a glass of wine nearby during the class was pretty nice, too.
Thursday, April 23-Sunday, April 26
Not too much to report for the last couple of days of the work week. I chatted with A on Thursday night since we'd skipped Tuesday so that the boys could talk with her mom on her birthday. The biggest news here was the rising temperature, getting into the 80s on Thursday and hitting the low 90s on Friday. Yikes! A/C is ON!
We joined a late-ish virtual Happy Hour with B&B and E&C on Friday night at 9pm to accommodate little Master M's bedtime. Being able to chat with B&B without a toddler running around was lovely, as it's been awhile since we've had a chance to really catch up. E&C were both worn out from the week so left the call a bit early. We're hoping there could be an opportunity for an in-person gathering of our group in B&B's back yard , which is certainly expansive enough for us all to maintain appropriate physical distancing. Fingers crossed we can make that happen soon...
Saturday should have been the SSPCA Doggy Dash fundraiser, where Mr. E and I were signed up for a 10am-1pm volunteer shift to sell merchandise. Instead, we did errands, worked on some projects, and welcomed E&C to our place for another Patio Party. We actually had to start inside this time because it was still too warm to sit on the patio when they arrived with takeout from Orchid Thai around 6:30pm. Luckily, after about an hour, the temps had dropped enough to transition outdoors, where we soon embarked on a session of their game Word Play. Very fun. And quite challenging! We weren't able to finish even though they didn't head home until close to 11:30pm. But we marked all of our spots so that we can resume next weekend when they come over again.
On Sunday morning, Mr. E made a run to Noah's to stock up on bagels and procure breakfast sandwiches (too bad he forgot the coupon... next time...). We should have been attending our Raku Glass class at the Crocker this afternoon, followed by a massage for Mr. E. *sigh* I focused on a bunch of meal prep for the week and a few items for dinner, and Mr. E tackled the drip-line watering project for the fruit tree area at the garden. I made more progress on my grant consultation project and also enjoyed some quality reading time with the kitties. A trip to Target provided more reading material for this week, as I finished up the books from the Little Free Library and didn't want to walk there to do another exchange during the hot afternoon. We had a yummy salmon nicoise salad for dinner, which we were able to eat out on the patio since the temperature hadn't gone as high today as it did yesterday.
The solar-powered dragonfly in one of our patio pots has decided to start working sporadically, usually earlier in the evening, and then the pineapple joins in later and stays on much longer. Too bad the hummingbird seems to be dormant.
The forecast shows continued warm temperatures through the end of the week, but next weekend should be back into the high 70s, which will be lovely. More tennis!
Despite the fact that the courts are closed for trials, I still had to call in for my Jury Duty status since I had been summoned for this week. Last Friday, my group number was instructed to check again on Monday, and my group number wasn't officially released until Tuesday afternoon. Sort of amusing that folks couldn't just all be excused at once given that there's clearly no need for jurors at the moment!
We had our first instance of protestors against the COVID-19 shutdowns at the Capitol on Monday at mid-day. Mr. E saw them during his walkabout, and I heard the helicopters circling while I listened to the Gavinor's daily update. I then saw some of them for myself during my evening walk & talk with Mom, as about five of them were doing a sidewalk tailgate just a block from our house. I completely understand the frustration (I am So. Done. With. This.), but I know that these protests are not true grassroots reactions but rather are politically motivated and organized to just further segment and split our communities. Such a sad reality that a moment such as this, which calls for unity and mutual support to move forward, simply presents an opportunity for some folks to stir up unrest and use the crisis for their own purposes.
I took Monday afternoon off to help recover from a mini-migraine and was able to do several errands, including a trip to the bank to deposit a check, a stop at Orchid Thai for takeout lunch, and a visit to Parkside Pharmacy for a kitty medication refill.
On Tuesday evening, I enjoyed a virtual Happy Hour with EH. She cut her hair! The new bob style looks great on her, and of course I'm always a fan of short hair. My own is getting way too long right now, although most people would probably still think it's short. I'm tempted to try to spike it up one day to surprise my colleagues during a Zoom meeting!
The highlight of Wednesday was seeing one jackrabbit and six sea lions during my morning run to West Sac and along the Riverfront. I heard what I thought were sea lions last week but never caught sight of them, but this week the sound was unmistakable, and sure enough, a trio was sitting on the docks by the Embassy Suites and another trio was paddling around nearby in the Sacramento River. One of my Book Club buddies saw them later as well, so I'm poaching her photos for my blog since I didn't have a camera with me during my run:
Thursday, April 23-Sunday, April 26
Not too much to report for the last couple of days of the work week. I chatted with A on Thursday night since we'd skipped Tuesday so that the boys could talk with her mom on her birthday. The biggest news here was the rising temperature, getting into the 80s on Thursday and hitting the low 90s on Friday. Yikes! A/C is ON!
We joined a late-ish virtual Happy Hour with B&B and E&C on Friday night at 9pm to accommodate little Master M's bedtime. Being able to chat with B&B without a toddler running around was lovely, as it's been awhile since we've had a chance to really catch up. E&C were both worn out from the week so left the call a bit early. We're hoping there could be an opportunity for an in-person gathering of our group in B&B's back yard , which is certainly expansive enough for us all to maintain appropriate physical distancing. Fingers crossed we can make that happen soon...
Saturday should have been the SSPCA Doggy Dash fundraiser, where Mr. E and I were signed up for a 10am-1pm volunteer shift to sell merchandise. Instead, we did errands, worked on some projects, and welcomed E&C to our place for another Patio Party. We actually had to start inside this time because it was still too warm to sit on the patio when they arrived with takeout from Orchid Thai around 6:30pm. Luckily, after about an hour, the temps had dropped enough to transition outdoors, where we soon embarked on a session of their game Word Play. Very fun. And quite challenging! We weren't able to finish even though they didn't head home until close to 11:30pm. But we marked all of our spots so that we can resume next weekend when they come over again.
On Sunday morning, Mr. E made a run to Noah's to stock up on bagels and procure breakfast sandwiches (too bad he forgot the coupon... next time...). We should have been attending our Raku Glass class at the Crocker this afternoon, followed by a massage for Mr. E. *sigh* I focused on a bunch of meal prep for the week and a few items for dinner, and Mr. E tackled the drip-line watering project for the fruit tree area at the garden. I made more progress on my grant consultation project and also enjoyed some quality reading time with the kitties. A trip to Target provided more reading material for this week, as I finished up the books from the Little Free Library and didn't want to walk there to do another exchange during the hot afternoon. We had a yummy salmon nicoise salad for dinner, which we were able to eat out on the patio since the temperature hadn't gone as high today as it did yesterday.
The solar-powered dragonfly in one of our patio pots has decided to start working sporadically, usually earlier in the evening, and then the pineapple joins in later and stays on much longer. Too bad the hummingbird seems to be dormant.
The forecast shows continued warm temperatures through the end of the week, but next weekend should be back into the high 70s, which will be lovely. More tennis!
posted by jms | 2:16 PM
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