Ithaca Mafia.

The Wife and I headed down to Ocean City to spend the day with Keith and Jamie, who happened to be back east with his family for a little vacationtime.  Though it rained, we had great fun laughing and eating and catching up.  

Keith also got to ride a mini X-Wing.

Shots from around Journal Square on my day of Jury Service.  I lucked out, in that today was “Juror Appreciation Day”, which was part of “Law Day” across Hudson County.  This meant that I was met with a continental breakfast (complimentary) when I arrived this morning.  I also got to hear from three judges and an administrator, welcoming and thanking us for being part of the Judicial process.  I saw an interactive presentation on “Law in the 21st Century: Enduring Traditions, Emerging Challenges”.  I played Judicial Bingo, but did not win.  I heard the Hudson County “Judiciary Voices In Unity Choir” absolutely crush “I Believe I Can Fly”.  I listened to a juror sleep and snore exactly like a pigeon (loudly).  I had to a court administrator talk about the dangers of “sexting”.  The gentleman in front of me returned from the bathroom with a large length of toilet paper caught to the back of his belt.  I didn’t have the heart to warn him.  I also lost approximately 35 raffle drawings.  The conspiracy theory guy across the aisle from me asked the presenters if he had to swear on the bible, and if they were aware that copy machines in public libraries were storing our data on their hard drives and is there anything we can do about it (there isn’t).  

Oh, and I got called to a judge’s courtroom as a prospective juror and must return there tomorrow at 9am.

Justice!

A delightful Sunday of chillaxin’ in the ‘Boken.  The gorgeous weather was taken in by The Wife and I, who went for a leisurely stroll to our northern neighborhood — and ended up being treated to brunch (along with Matty and Liz) at the Goldies.  A veritable Jersey love-fest.  I whipped up some Bloody Marys according to family tradition to go with Sethmonster’s Challah!! French Toast.  Eventually, Molls had to head off to work, so we wrestled with Addie, collapsed on the floor and watched Weird Science.

Later in the afternoon (not pictured), everyone rallied when Diesel and Jess dropped in.  Bloodys became brews, the grill was fired up, and a Crumbs run was enjoyed.  This was topped off by a heated game of Balderdash, where we all learned the difference between our Pooks and Calks.

A great, relaxing day, thanks to Seth and Molly, our Hoboken Hosts.  (Somehow, I’m utterly exhausted this morning — I guess drinking and laughing can take a lot out of you.)