December Recap

WARNING:  LOOOOOONG POST!!
I know my postings have been few and far between this month.  It has been a busy/strange month.  I wasn't feeling well before Thanksgiving and ended up with sinus infection over Thanksgiving break.  Then I had to report for jury duty.  November 30th and December 1st we spent selecting a jury, and sure enough I was chosen along with two of my colleagues and a secretary in our district.  We started the trial Wednesday afternoon. The trial was for a woman charged with involuntary manslaughter and five other counts of theft, adult abuse, neglect, etc. (To read a little about the trial go here.)Thursday was a hard day, but I felt like I was taking things in stride and looking at things scientifically without getting too emotional.  Friday morning I woke up an emotional wreck and had a tough day.  Each day we were in court left me exhausted!  By the time I went to school to do lesson plans after being at the courthouse all day I was wiped out.  That didn't get me very far along in making any Christmas gifts or cookies!  Saturday I got a call that my uncle had passed away. (more on this later)

Saturday, December 4th we were busy moving Trina, Tanner, and Grayson to their new home.  We put in a long day and went home exhausted.  The next day I was able to do a little Christmas decorating that I hadn't finished.

Monday, December 5th we were back in court and I was still an emotional mess.  At break I answered a call from my brother who wanted us to go to California to my uncle's funeral.  So, I asked the judge to release me and he did.  ( It was really a blessing in disguise for me emotionally.)  This allowed me to be in school Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.

We left for Los Angeles Thursday afternoon meeting up with my brother and sister-in-law in Dallas.  I was glad to get the chance to go to LA as I was born there, but had never been back since my parents and I moved to Iowa when I was two.  We were able to do a little sightseeing Friday  before we had to be at visitation.  We went down to Rodeo Drive.

Then we headed to Hollywood.

We did some "touristy" things like a tour of stars' homes.  Which by the way, was kind of a joke.  We didn't really get very close to many of the homes, but we did see a lot of stars' bushes!!  We had lunch at the Hollywood Hard Rock Cafe and looked at some of the stars in the sidewalks.

Do you recognize this building???  

This is where Richard Gere drives up in his limo to pick up Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman.  We then went back to the hotel to change and went to visitation.  I spent the night coughing and coughing, so we headed to find some OTC meds for me the next day.

My uncle was my dad's twin.  Dad passed away in 1987 at the young age of 52, so my uncle had 23 more years.  His funeral was December 11th which was their birthday.  Saturday we spent the majority of our day at the funeral and then at my uncle's home.  We spent some time taking pictures and visiting.  We were very glad we went as we were the only relatives who could make it from our side of the family.

After we left there we drove along the ocean and then toured the Queen Mary in Long Beach.  

We then headed over the bridge back to Long Beach to each supper at a great seafood restaurant on the water.  I had lobster for the first time.  It was fantastic!!

Sunday morning we left after breakfast and headed to the airport.  When we left LA they were having highs of 85 degrees.  When we landed in Moline it was -20 wind chill.  What a shock to our systems!!

This gets me to December 13th--at school exhausted and not feeling great, but I knew I couldn't miss school because we had already scheduled to be gone the next weekend.  The week was full of meetings and appointments after school, so again I didn't get anything cook, baked, or made for Christmas.  We left Friday afternoon for Texas.

I think that's enough for now.  More about Texas tomorrow!