P. K.

I received 2 Jury Summons in the mail.

1 is for County (1 week service)

and 1 is for Federal (1 year service)

I can't legally answer, today, that I've served on a jury in the last year.

And I don't qualify for any other exemptions (medical, etc..)

Both of them obviously overlap.

If I have to appear to both on the same day, then one of the judges will have to issue a warrant for my arrest (can't be in 2 places at the same time!)

this feels like entrapment!

Aside from testing my odds even more by buying a lottery ticket & plan a move to another country - how do I get out of one of them?

Reality first: Last weekend we took our dogs to the city dog park. In the car was my 2 kids, our 3 dogs, and of course me. I was driving. We drove past a homeless looking man walking on the side of the road. His clothes were ragged, he was super skinny, and his backpack looked too big - too heavy. He stopped once, seemingly to take a breath & figure out where he was headed. For some reason his image really stuck in my brain, I even asked my kids if we should turn around & see if he needed help. (they both said NO WAY, IT’S NOT SAFE!)

Every night since then, I’ve dreamt that HE was the one driving my car, with my kids & dogs, headed to the dog park – and I was the raggedy one on the side of the road, burdened with an enormous backpack, begging my family to come back & get me.

Is this my conscience eating at me while I sleep? Or is there something more... something I’m missing?

Took my dog (35 pound Brittany Spaniel) for a walk tonight. She walked around neighbors mailbox, pulled on leash & mailbox fell over.

My dog is 11 years old, so she’s not on the energetic side at all. We walk her to keep arthritis at bay.

The metal posts on the mailbox we’re quite rusted, and rust dust kind of poofed out of it where it broke

All excuses aside, I still feel responsible that the mailbox fell over, but I don’t know what to do about it. Neighbor isn’t home, so I just kind of propped it on the curb & continued our walk.

Do I have to replace the mounts & poles because it was my dog that bumped it over? Can I get in trouble for “vandalism” because I didn’t report it to police when it happened?

Follow up question to bonding with an older rescue...

10yr old Brittany (spaniel) rescue, we've had her 2 weeks.

My kids would like to change her name a little bit.

Her kennel name is Chanel, my kids would like to call her Nell (or Nellie)

Any experience changing a 10 yr old dog's name?

***And thank you to everyone who has commented on my other question about bonding. So much wisdom here, I've learned A LOT today :)

Got our rescue 2 weeks ago.

In short, she's a 10 yr old Brittany (spaniel) rescued from a puppy mill that has since been shut down. She spent all 10 yrs kenneled & either pregnant, or nursing puppies.

We've had her 2 weeks now, and she still seems very lost. She has spent the majority of her time sleeping on a small love seat in our living room. Has very little energy or ambition to move or go for walks.

We have a pair of 4 yr old Brittanies (both neutered males), and they have seemed to accept her existence. But that's really all it is right now is just .... existence.

Any advice would be appreciated.

What's the most etiquette response to new neighbor bringing cookies & introducing themselves, but your family can't eat the cookies?

Husband & kids have Celiac, so they have a terrible autoimmune reaction to wheat/gluten.

--I accepted cookies without going into family medical history, then my son was invited to play with her son. Boys are same age, they hit it off quite well, so he was invited to eat dinner with them. When I gently explained the Celiac dilemma to the mom, she got defensive about the cookies she gave us just hours before.

Talk about awkward.

But I don't know how I could have handled the cookie introduction differently, without spilling medical problems to a new neighbor. That just seems tacky to me.

My son (8), daughter (12), and I are all standing on a large concrete platform with metal roof overhead, but walls are all open. We smell fire, and notice a large plume of smoke rising out of mountains in the distance. It is far away, so we are not worried at all; we just stand there watching the smoke billow up. Then we hear a loud thunder clap, and notice the mountains are crumbling & falling. Again too far away, not worried. But the mountain debris & rocks tumble onto our concrete slab & we realize it is closer than we thought. We run to the other side of the concrete slab, near a gravel road. The gravel road rises up like a giant wave in the ocean, and the 3 of us start scrambling to find a safe place to go, but we never leave the concrete slab. My kids disappear in the chaos. The gravel road recedes back, like waves of an ocean, and I see my daughter. She starts running towards me and I turn my attention to looking for my son, who is nowhere to be found. I panic & wake up.

My heart frantically beating out of my chest probably pulled me out of the dream.

Meanwhile my son (in reality) had crawled into bed with us & wedged himself between my husband and I. So when I woke up, he was nose-nose with me. Yes I hugged him, and this time he didn’t get in trouble for climbing up on our bed. I just snuggled him the rest of the night unable to go back to sleep.

My husband & I live a state away from any family (work relocation). So we don't get to visit family very often, and when we do - it always digs in to our vacation time off. Rarely do we use time off for anything else.

We love seeing family, our kids adore their cousins & aunts/uncles, grandparents...

I'd like to think we've maintained close family ties.

However, the dilemma kicks in when we turn into babysitters on our own time off.

Our siblings seem to have the idea that if we're in town, then we are free sitters for their kids "so cousins can play".

Siblings always figure out a way ditch out - they go shopping, movies, out to dinner (without us!).

Don't get me wrong, I adore my nieces & nephews, but their ages are 2-8, so they're not exactly self-sufficient.

I earn my time off work - only to use it working. And I'm beginning to despise the idea of visiting.

We've tried talking to the siblings adult-adult, which resulted in them only being more calculated in ditching. "Just need to run to the store for milk", "friend ran out of gas", "need to step out & make a phone call" (and disappear for hours).

We are heading over next week, when kids get out of school for summer. We haven't visited since before holidays, and parents have all but begged us to come.

Advice??

My husband & I live a state away from any family (work relocation). So we don't get to visit family very often, and when we do - it always digs in to our vacation time off. Rarely do we use time off for anything else.

We love seeing family, our kids adore their cousins & aunts/uncles, grandparents...

I'd like to think we've maintained close family ties.

However, the dilemma kicks in when we turn into babysitters on our own time off. Cousins are always ditched on us, our car can't hold more than our own little family, so essentially we get stuck at someone else's house with a bunch of kids on our "vacation".

We have tried speaking to our brothers & sisters about it, but they've only gotten more calculated in dropping off their kids. They interrogate in advance when we're leaving, where we'll be staying (usually mom & dad's house)... - and usually have their kids dropped off early so they don't have to talk to us. Basically ditching them with grandma until we arrive.

My nieces and nephews are no longer enjoyable to be around, because we've turned into the disciplinarians. We rarely see our siblings anymore because it seems they are avoiding the very conflict they have created.

We have the oldest child in the group (11), and ages af all the kids range down to 2 years old. These are not self-sufficient children here. They take a lot of work & I loathe the idea of working on the vacation that I've already worked to earn.

We are heading over next week, any advice out there?

Tech said modem probably went bad, so we got a new modem & it's doing the same thing. Green DSL, no internet.

Internet provider is CenturyLink, account has always been current (as far as payments go).

Any suggestions out there?

From my standpoint, we just spent $100+ on a new modem for nothing.

We recently traded in our old car & upgraded/upsized to fit our growing family.

But ever since purchase, I’ve had a nightly recurring dream…

Our family is squished inside a super compact car, driving down the freeway. We are so squished that our shoulders are scrunched together & there’s no possible room for another person.

There is traffic congestion ahead of us, so I hit the brakes, but we don’t slow down.

We bump the car in front of us, which bumps a police car in front of them. The police car spins into the concrete barrier to the right, bumping into yet more cars.

We ping off the first car like an air hockey puck, and sorta float around this multi-car accident, watching it unfold in slow motion. We finally slow down & stop in front of the whole thing, completely unscathed, but in absolute dismay that we caused so much chaos.

…then I wake up.

What could this possibly mean?

I've got a coworker who has depression.

She has cycles where she functions fairly normal at work, and the flip side is crying all day at work.

We are not "friends", but work in a group in close proximity; and this affects our whole group. The rest of us pick up the slack when she's not 100%, and have indulged her pity parties to the point that if we don't pity her, then we are hateful people who just don't understand the debilitating effects if depression.

She goes through self-induced financial troubles (like buying a whole new wardrobe, or going on a tattoo binge- and NOT paying rent or car payment. And when theses financial woes hit (every month!) she cries about losing her 2 cats, losing her car, going to a homeless shelter..... You get the idea.

She's never had to give up her cats, she's never lost her car, and has only had to move once in the last year - because she eventually comes out of the cycle & figures it out.

I honestly don't care about her pity-seeking tears at work anymore. I don't care if she SAYS she's losing her car, I don't care if she SAYS she has to go to a homeless shelter, I really just don't care anymore. I go to work to work. I didn't accept this job to emotionally indulge a basket case.

Does anyone out there have advice on dealing with this type of personality?

I just don't get it.

For starters, we are Christian & regularly attend church, just to get that out of the way.

For the last week, my 7 yr old son claims to have encounters with God.

In the car, he could hear God whistle a "happy song", and was genuinely confused that no one else could hear it. We turned off all noise- radio, heater, etc. he could still hear it, we couldn't.

Then he said that God poked him in the side of the head in class, like God was trying to play with him or get his attention.

Then today, God poked him in the leg as if to say "let's run!" (My son's interpretation)

We are honestly scratching our heads on this one. Is this normal 7 yr old hyper-creativity in action, or should we take these encounters more serious?

My husband & I have never personally encountered God in a physical nature before.

Scenario: My 6 yr old son was issued a POD Patriot Bond by great grandma.

Great grandma died this year, we have a certified copy of her death certificate.

Bond is only 6 years mature.

Question: does the bond maturity date end at her date of death, or will it continue to mature even though she's passed?

I'm interpreting 'payable on death' as: death = maturity date.

My husband interprets it as: death = soonest date it can be redeemed, but will still gain value.

Which one of us is right?

Scenario: My 6 yr old son was issued a POD Patriot Bond by great grandma.

Great grandma died this year, we have a certified copy of her death certificate.

Bond is only 6 years mature.

Question: does the bond maturity date end at her date of death, or will it continue to mature even though she's passed?

I'm interpreting 'payable on death' as ultimate maturity date. My husband interprets it as the soonest date it can be redeemed, but will still gain value.

Which one of us is right?

We need ideas to name 2 Brittany pups (both male).

Their common names will be Chase & Baxter

But we want something a little more elaborate to put on their AKC registry.

Our previous/passed dogs had military influenced 'helper' names (Sargent, Major, General, & Chief)

We don't have to stick with that trend, but it's a starting point.

Help???

If someone has lost a significant amount of weight, is it ok to flower them with comments on how good they look?

My daughter's teacher - best teacher ever! - has lost more than 50 pounds.

I told her that she looked great, and that I almost didn't recognize her (which was completely true!)

She gave me almost a pained look, and abruptly changed the topic. I didn't get a chance to ask what her trick was.

I was trying to flatter the most amazing person in my daughter's life, but instead I think I insulted her.

Why is 'glass half empty' considered negative?

And 'glass half full' considered positive?

To me, it should be the other way around!

Half full implies it was empty to begin with.

Half empty implies it was full...

If a waitress handed me a glass, half full, immediate negative feelings arise.

If a waitress handed me a full glass & I drank half, then I'm satisfied & don't need more yet.

Where did this backwards thinking come from?

And why do employers routinely use this question in an interview?

Are they looking for people who will be perfectly happy with half full?

Why is 'glass half empty' considered negative?

And 'glass half full' considered positive?

To me, it should be the other way around!

Half full implies it was empty to begin with.

Half empty implies it was full...

If a waitress handed me a glass, half full, immediate negative feelings arise.

If a waitress handed me a full glass & I drank half, then I'm satisfied & don't need more yet.

Where did this backwards thinking come from?

And why do employers routinely use this question in an interview?

Are they looking for people who will be perfectly happy with half full?

Our 14 yr old lab needs to have a tumor in his belly removed.

Vet Doc said it wasn't that invasive and quoted just under $1000.

Can't tell if vet is trying to squeeze out as much $$ as he can from us, or if he truly cares about our dog & wants to help.

Surgery or euthanize?

What would you do??