The Jury’s Out

A few years ago I was called to jury duty. It was not a fun experience. I had to make arrangements for my kids early in the morning because to get all the way downtown in rush hour traffic meant leaving before school started. I had to find a parking garage and walk to the courthouse. I had to fill out forms and sit for hours. I had to stand up in a courtroom and divulge personal information. I was not home when my kids got out of school. I could not drive to activities. Dinner was late. Very late. I had to be available to do these things, including in a snowstorm, for a two week period. My life was turned upside down and I got off easy, I didn’t end up on a jury.

 I can’t even imagine the disruption to someone’s life if they do get chosen to serve. Especially in a high profile case.

Following an emotionally charged, well publicized case there will be public discourse. I think that’s inevitable, healthy even. We do and should be discussing law, rules of evidence, courtroom strategies, conviction options. But there will also be public anger and criticism and disagreement with the verdict.

What I’m asking you to consider is this: when we disagree with a verdict, who is it that we’re criticizing?

What we’re saying is this: you, juror, who have given up your time, who have made other arrangements for your life and your obligations, you who have been present through the arguments and evidence and contradictions, you who have given your thought and consideration and your energy, your head and your heart, you who have sat for hours and days through every minute of the evidence allowed to be presented to you by our legal system, you who have been given explicit instructions as to what you may and may not consider in your deliberations, you who have discussed and debated in a closed room negotiating and collaborating with strangers, you who have put your personal feelings aside in deference to the rules. You are wrong.

When we disagree with a verdict, what we're doing is second guessing and disrespecting, not the outcome of the case, but the people who reconciled it. We’re saying that their time and their commitment and their sacrifices have no value.

I’ve deliberately avoided a discussion of what I think happened to Nicole Brown, Caylee Anthony or Trayvon Martin here. It isn’t salient to this particular discussion. My point is that we have a system, including other avenues for both sides; appeals, civil cases, federal cases, new attorneys. If we feel that the system isn’t working, let’s discuss those components.

But as far as the initial court cases go, all I want to say is this: I believe those jurors acted with integrity, both individually and as a unit, given the constraints of the situation. 

Over the years, many jurors in high profile cases have talked openly about the dilemma they faced due to those constraints. Many have been emotionally scarred by the experience both of having served and by the fallout that ensued.

So no matter what my opinion of the tragic circumstances that result in any given trial, what I do want to say in reference to the human beings who made up the fabric of those juries is that I will not stand in judgment of their work and their service. I offer only my respect.

Anatomy of a Teen

No, this is not a post about body parts. I may enjoy embarrassing my kids, but that’s one thing I won’t be talking about publicly, so if you googled something funky and ended up here you may as well “X” out now.

What this is about is teens. There are all kinds of stereotypes and cliches about teenage behavior. And I’m sorry to tell you that they’re all true; the snarky attitude, the eye-rolling, the sudden inability to talk to parents. True, true and true.

But, all my friends with younger kids, there’s so much more you need to know. And since I’m a sharer, I’m going to clue you in to a few additional things you need to be prepared for. For instance:

Did you know that you’ll be asking “are you wearing underwear” whenever your child walks out the door? Or that even if the answer is “yes” you may actually need to check? And although they’ll leave your house half naked, they’ll insist you can’t come into their room when they’re changing . . . their socks.

Did you know that they will NEVER have any homework or that there will be nothing to study because all they did in class that day is watch a movie? You can put money on the fact that the next day you’ll be treated to a big red “Missing Assignment” in their online grade book. When you require them to stay after school and talk to the teacher about making up assignments they’ll come right home because the teacher wasn’t there that day. And they’ll never be able to explain how they can get bad grades when their teacher is never there and all they do is watch movies every day in every class.

When you go to bed at night and your nocturnal child is still up, saying “please go to bed at a decent hour” is a rookie mistake.

You probably know that teens can eat twice their weight in any given sitting. Especially if they decide that something is their favorite food. And they will continue to consume that food in astounding budget-busting quantities until it goes on sale and you stock up. They they’ll roll their eyes, tell you that they never liked it and refuse to eat it ever again.

Spicy Pasta Salad

You know how, when they’re young they often refuse to nap and are always so full of energy? Well now all they seem to do is nap. And it’s hopeless to insist that they do some physical exercise. If you tell them to go out and walk or run a mile they’ll turn the corner, sit in the park for 15 minutes and come back home.

You probably already know that as the parent of a teen there is nothing you can do that is right. No matter what you try, no matter what your intent, you will always be wrong. But did you know that your teen can do no wrong? Nothing is their fault. Ever. And “how dare you” blame them (insert glaring look here).

And did you know that their room is no longer a part of your home? It is a sovereign nation. And it’s run by a dictator. Do not enter uninvited, and you will never be invited unless the dictator is sick or needs something. And if you are allowed into the holy inner sanctum, whatever you do, don’t touch anything. Or you WILL be punished.

Did you know that teenagers can sleep through the ringing phone, the clothes dryer beeping, your calling to them, their alarm and even through tornado sirens? But if you turn on the mixer two floors below them they’ll be out of bed and yelling indignantly that you woke them up.

NOW you’ve been warned. Still wonder why I bake? And blog? And don’t sleep?

 

            

Spicy Pasta Salad  

                                               
©www.BakingInATornado.com

 

Printable Recipe

 
Ingredients:
Angel Hair pasta, cooked al dente and cooled
½ red pepper, chopped
2 green onions, sliced
4 TBSP soy sauce
3 TBSP Sesame oil
2 TBSP balsamic vinegar
2 TBSP brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp HOT chili sauce
Toasted sesame seeds
 
Directions:
*Mix together the cold pasta, red pepper and green onions.
*Mix together the soy sauce, sesame oil, balsamic vinegar, brown sugar and hot chili sauce. Pour over pasta and mix well.
*Refrigerate 4 hours, mixing at least once an hour.
*When serving, sprinkle each portion with toasted sesame seeds.

Take 1 – July Secret Subject Swap

Welcome to Take One of July’s Secret Subject Swaps. This week, 12 brave bloggers picked a secret subject for someone else and were assigned a secret subject to interpret in their own style. Today we are all simultaneously divulging our topics and submitting our posts.

Here are links to all the sites now featuring Secret Subject Swap posts. Sit back, grab a cup and check them all out. See you there:

Baking In A Tornado
The Momisodes
Just A Little Nutty
Follow me home . . .
Moore Organized Mayhem
Stacy Sews and Schools
The Sadder But Wiser Girl
Menopausal Mother
Dinosaur Superhero Mommy
The Insomniac's Dream
Searching For Sanity
Evil Joy Speaks

My subject is: What do you like best about your home and what do you wish you could change the most? It was submitted by  Stacy Sews and Schools. Here goes:

 I have to say that deciding what I like best about my home is the hardest part of this prompt. After all, you buy a house because the vast majority of the features are ones you like and you can “see” yourself living there.  *Note: pictures of some of the rooms in my house were used in this post: Take 1 - December Secret Subject Swap

I love the size of my house; the fact that we have 2 guest bedrooms and as many bathrooms as people. I love the man-cave in the basement, where the kids can hang out with their friends. It has a pool table, large TV, poker nook, fridge, microwave and its own full bath.
 
I love the laundry chute from upstairs down to the laundry/mud room. And I especially love the built-in wooden lockers in there, perfect for shoes and coats and backpacks. All the boys’ friends walk into the house, straight into the laundry room and leave their shoes there, out of everyone’s way.
 
Of course, as a mom who bakes a lot I have to give a shout-out to double ovens.
 

Triple Layer Cupcakes

 

I love that the man who purchased our last house also bought all of the ratty old furnishings we’d had for years. I got to furnish this house from scratch; pick out things that felt right and fit right and looked just how I wanted them to in this home.
 
But what I love the most about my home is the Art Gallery.  The walls of the stairway to the basement are covered with framed artwork my kids brought home from school over the years. The window sill holds some of their crafts. I smile. Every time. Never gets old. At this point these juvenile pieces are sort of embarrassing to the boys. Added bonus in my book.
 
One of the deciding factors in the purchase of this house is that we back up to woods. But it’s in the back that we find the easy part of this prompt, what I’d change.
 
We have 2 sliders to the back yard. The lower one leads out to a patio from the basement and faces the woods. We have sky chairs that hang from the deck above and it’s the most serene place to take a book or a cocktail. The upper sliders, off of the kitchen, lead out to a deck right above the patio. The view is beautiful and we’re treated to wildlife as well.
 
 

Does behind the house

 

 

A pair of Hawks on the back deck

 

And when the kids were little, I could go out onto the back deck and hear recess at the school on the other side of the woods. Or I could watch the kids on the swingset or playing in the yard with the neighborhood kids. I’d smile and think to myself “this is what it’s all about”.
 
But here’s the problem. There are no stairs off of the back deck.
  
When the kids were little, on a hot summer day I’d bring out a bunch of those Flavor Ice tubes for a snack. The entire neighborhood would gather below the deck, calling out the color they wanted and I’d throw them down one by one to the kids as they called out their favorite color.  Then I’d have to throw a pair of kids’ scissors out onto the lawn so they could get them open. Not really ideal.
 
Most important though is that you can’t get to the kids if you need to. If someone were hurt or upset I’d have to yell “hold on, I’ll be there soon” then run in, through the house, out the front door and around the side to the back. Or I had the option of running into the garage and out the door at the back of the garage or all the way down to the basement and out the slider. Know how much blood a kid can lose while you’re running around the house trying to get to them? I do.
 
I don’t know what the family who built this house was thinking, but convenience wasn’t it.
 
And the day that my older son and his friend blew up the house for a school extra credit project? Luckily they were older (and agile), they had to jump off the deck. But all’s well that ends well, they got an “A”.
 

 

Triple Layer Cupcakes

                                         ©www.BakingInATornado.com                                                                                                            

Printable Recipe
 
Ingredients, 18 Cupcakes:
2 cups flour
2 ½ tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 ¼ cups sugar
½ stick butter, softened
¾ cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
3 egg whites
Food coloring of your choice
 
Ingredients, Frosting:
½ cup stick, melted
1/3 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
¾ cup baking cocoa powder
Approximately 3 cups powdered sugar
Multicolored jimmies (sprinkles)
 
Directions, Cupcakes:
*Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour three 9 X 13 pans.
*Mix the flour, baking powder, salt and sugar. Mix in the butter, milk, vanilla and egg whites. Beat for 2 minutes.
*Place 1/3 of the batter in a small bowl and add food coloring of your choice.
*Spread the colored batter into one of the 3 pans. Spread half of the white batter into each of the other pans.
*Bake until the center springs back to the touch. Start checking at about 15 minutes.
*Cool completely.
 
Directions, Frosting:
*Mix the butter, milk and vanilla. Carefully beat in the cocoa powder and 2 cups of the powdered sugar. Continue to beat in as much of the powdered sugar as is necessary until the frosting is of spreadable consistency.


Directions, Assembly:
*Line cupcake tins with cupcake papers (it’s easier to assemble in the tins).
*With a cookie cutter or the mouth of a glass approximately the same size as the bottom of your cupcake tin, cut 18 circles out of each cake layer.
*Place a white round into each tin. Cover with a dollop of frosting and spread to cover the top.
*Place a colored round on top and frost, then do the same with the final white layer. Sprinkle with multicolored jimmies.