Doing the Duty

I have been tied to my telephone for the past four days, forced to make calls between "11am and 12noon" and "after 5pm." Every. Single. Day. I know the telephone number by heart. Yes, it's a jury summons making my life miserable.

First I was panicked about having to serve in San Jose. I get totally confused in that neck of the woods. Unless of course it's Valley Faire or Oakridge Mall or some such. But all that conglomeration around Hedding not to mention city government offices, state government offices, county government offices - it's just all "ick" in my book when being forced to drive and and find a spot to park my vehicle that's in the same zip code as my destination. I remember all too well the run-around I endured finding these entities when opening my business in Morgan Hill 13 years ago.

So I dutifully make my "duty call" twice per day although I did luck out in drawing a week with one government-observed holiday in it so I'm only on standby for, technically, four days this week. And yes, I know, this is one of our sacred freedoms in action - the right to a trial where we are judged by our peers. (Which begs the question: what, exactly, is a peer? Most jurors don't have a flamin' thing in common with the defendant, right? I don't care if it's Bernie Madoff or Jack the Ripper. How to you relate to THOSE people?)

The true trauma here is I am in "Group 517" and Groups 501 through 512 have to report at 1pm TODAY. YIKES! That is WAY too close, and I am SO hoping that Groups 501 through 512 are primo, cream-of-the-crop jurors who will all be picked to serve so I can dodge, er...be excused from doing the duty this year. And next year. And...

One good thing about being on jury duty's standby status? I can see a column coming out of this. Yep. That will be my True American contribution to jury duty. A piece in the Morgan Hill times. That's the kind of jury duty I can handle.

Impasses

Normally, when I haven't posted in awhile, I begin with a "Mea culpa" for ignoring my blogging for so long. After all, I DO have wonderful memories and even more wonderful pictures that I SHOULD be putting forth on a regular basis, right? Well... Woulda-Shoulda-Coulda...you know where THAT gets us!

So instead, I will say that more is on the way - for sure. More "Monday's Mimi Monologues" and more "Friday Flashbacks." More insight. More wisdom. (Well...) More laughs. It's coming. I promise.

Today I'm sharing something I stumbled onto while reading Oprah's daily e-mail. Yes, I know, she sends this to me PERSONALLY because Oprah and I are pals. The fact that we've never met and she technically doesn't know I'm alive is just a minor detail. Because Oprah does good stuff - for the world and for me. And here is today's Good Thing.

I love the writer, Anne Lamott. I particularly love her nonfiction writing. Nobody can bang a nail on the head like Miss Anne. So when I noticed on Oprah's personal e-mail to me today a piece written by Anne Lamott, I launched immediately into it.

Now I admit that when I first began the article I was a little lukewarm. "Hmmm...I thought. Looks like Annie is slipping a little." I mean, this same old talk of being who we aren't. Or not being who we are. Or something. Or - how we women should stop being such people pleasers. Who, me? Didn't I give that up eons ago?

Ok, that's when her piece hit me like a ton of bricks. Talk of finding yourself and the un-pretty process that sometimes accompanies it. What can you say about "the self that is revealed when dealing with your anger blows through all the calcification in your soul's pipes" - that's pretty heavy stuff, right? Here's where to find the complete article: http://www.oprah.com/article/omagazine/200911-omag-purpose-anne-lamott.

So maybe we do have a little dormant anger laying around right beneath the surface, just out of reach. Is that why things seem a little out of whack sometimes? Is that why I look at someone else - someone who looks perfectly normal and I think, "Hmph! How does SHE do it when I am such a mess?" I don't know; but MAYBE a little self-examination is in order. You know; when I have time and all...

And the "Impasses" mentioned in the title of this post? I found Anne Lamott's article because of a little impasse that happens at our house.

Mr. H. likes the TV on. Pretty much all day. On the news channel (CNN or sports) - and it's LOUD. So he can hear it when he's puttering about and also perhaps (this is my personal theory) because he's developed a buzzing or ringing in his ears that's pretty much constant and No, don't ask...I have already been bugging him to get to the doctor. At any rate, I would imagine TV noise would lessen that annoyance somewhat - I don't know.

The "impasse" comes because I crave quiet. Constant loud noise raises my blood pressure, makes me anxious, feels like hammers pounding in my head, calipers pressing into my temples. So this impasse is probably pretty trifling in the grand scheme of things, but still.

So when I returned from a few hours of running around downtown and found the TV blaring, I retreated to the quieter, far reaches of the house where I closed my door and read a few e-mails. Yes, I have lots to do in the main part of the house but I'll get to it. Later.

After reading Anne Lamott's article, maybe I have a lot to do here, too. The "here" inside my own head.

(Not so pretty) in yellow jacket and BIG HAIR

When writer-director John Hughes died suddenly last week, I recalled the "coming of age" movies that

became so popular with our kids. I don't know about your house, but with Ashley coming into her teens and Alyssa into her tweens - we must have watched a few of those films at least a billion times. How about "Pretty in Pink?" "Sixteen Candles?" Or Ferris Bueller? Shoot - I wanted to be Ferris Bueller!

And what is one of the defining icons of the '80's? Nope - not polyster pants or leisure suits...those fashion disasters were prevalent in the 70's when everybody had had enough of hippie attire. So in the 80's, it was....

It was...that's right! BIG HAIR! Therefore, as a tribute to John Huges, the 80's and BIG HAIR, I dragged out my 20-something year old "official" real estate photo. Yes, friends, this was on my business card. On real estate flyers. In the newspaper for pete's sake. But dang it - I had the 80's hair, all right.

Was I ever that young? Was I ever that skinny? Yep. For a little while.......

Chaos!

Did you know that there are actual symbols for "Chaos?" Neither did I! :) Well, it appears that there are, and as I am a very visual person, I decided to kick off my return to my sorely languishing blog with a visual explanation of exactly why it has been approximately 6 weeks since my last post.

Above is one of the many symbols I found online for "Chaos" - and this is one of the calmer ones!! It appealed to me because the red symbol inside - lines shooting off in numerous directions - pretty much sums things up around here for the past one-plus month. What I like about the image is that this Chaos symbol is surrounded by a group of hand-holding souls - friends and family I'm sure, which is why this suits me. Remembering that out of the madness, there is love and happiness!

This is another, more free-form symbol of Chaos with the lines shooting about here and there and some mad splotches of color - symbolizing again the harried nature of life when it careens out of control. This is a pictorial image of things going wrong, routines being carried out in a rush, special events whizzing by in a blurred image, life out of control. A reminder to - SLOW IT ALL DOWN!

But finally - let's look to the opposite images of Chaos. Of Calm. And Harmony.

It's no accident that both of these images utilized the "Yin and Yang" symbol in the Harmony and Calm depictions because without balance - there is, yep, Chaos.

So I begin my blog with a promise to myself, with you as my witness, that I'm going to calm it down, learn to harmonize my world - to live in Balance. Can I do it? Well - I certainly must hope so!

Pretty soon my blog will take on a new design...if you notice above another author is listed on my blog - Hannah of Sherbet Designs has taken me on as a project. I hope that you will soon see here her creation for my blog design. I'm looking forward to its launch. In the meantime, visit Hannah's blog. You'll be happy you did...Simply click on her name.

And the "way behind on my blogging?" Well, the best way to begin the recapture of that is to begin where it makes the most sense - at the beginning. Slowly but surely I hope to journal here the events of the past few weeks - the extraordinary, the mundane, whatever seems worthy of putting down here "on the record."

My column - way behind - missing in action, although it's been present in each issue that I'm committed to with the three local papers carrying my columns. I'll bring them back here, too.

I've missed writing the "Flashback Fridays" and the Monday "Mimi's Monologues" - I'll bring them back too. I promise!

Fat Tuesday and the Material Mutt

Ok, I'm not one to humiliate my dog - at least not much! But come on, what says "Mardi Gras" more than dressing up your dog like a crazy Mardi Gras go-er. So, even if you can't slip on down to the Big Easy to enjoy standing hip-to-hip (or belly-to-belly in some cases) with the folks during Mardi Gras time, I say let's create the mood right here at home with Fido. Or would that be "Fidette?" (If this outfit is a "must-have" for your pooch, see it here : http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20223940. ) Oh, yeah!

Bad (Foot)Wear Day Revisited

So last week when admitting to a major style faux pas and making a total fashion victim of myself, little did I know that I was closer than I thought possible to actually making a trendy "Fashion Statement." Here is what happened.

A couple of days after wearing my sandals with socks, the NBC hit "30 Rock" aired. AND, would you believe it, there was mega-Emmy-winner Tina Fey/Sarah Palin clone about to leave on her vacation to the tropics, saying she was going to be hanging out at the beach in her SANDALS and SOCKS JUST LIKE THEY DO IN PARIS!!! That's PARIS, people, as in FRANCE. The Glam Capital of the World!! And ok, Tina was saying "dark" socks and mine were, well, technically, white. But I would just like to mark that day as being "darned close" to being a major fashionista trend setter.

On a related note, I have oodles of pictures of my mother taken back in the late 30s, early 40s, and she was definitely a "babe." Let's just say Julia Louis Dreyfus is a clone of my mother. Yes, she was pretty hot. EXCEPT for (I USED to think) - her sandals and socks!!! That's right - it was an actual trend back in the day and I have pictures to prove it.

So if you want to know what's hot in the world of fashion, just give me a ring...at least if it pertains to the whole sandals and socks thing.

Bad (Foot) Wear Day

I've always equated to the "little-old-lady syndrome" (LOLS) open-toed, sling-backed shoes worn with socks of any type. That's why this startling self-portrait of my right foot is big-time scary. Now why would someone of at least average intelligence (me) make such a fashion faux pas by wearing not-so-glamorous but super-comfy SAS sandals with these ankle-high socks? It goes without saying that there were no witnesses to this travesty to trends - so why, then, would I subject myself to ridicule by exposing my tragic foot-attire error to the world at large? I dunno - go figure!

In my defense, this morning was chilly. Hence it was a sock day. BUT - we've had super high temps this week; hence the sandals. Now I was tempted to just hang out in my comfy slippers but I had to work today and by "work" I mean true manual labor: taking down the Christmas decorations - and YES, I KNOW it's January 13!!! So a long day on my feet schlepping around numerous bulky boxes required a bit of good foot support so my back didn't rebel by the end of the day. I know about arch support, I'm afraid. Too many years wearing "cute shoes" (pointy-toed high heels) to work did its damage. So - I confess to this total violation of the footwear code and may possibly suffer ticketing for same by the fashion police. Except ya know what? I'm not really caring right now. Maybe I'm a little closer to the LOLS than I thought!