Dance Teacher Lady

Day 2.

I arrive with seven other jurors and am proud that I am doing my civic duty and will be getting paid $40.00 a day to do so. It’s hard to get the sarcastic feel across on a computer screen- as a result of this newly bestowed job from hell I have canceled a private coaching and am unable to go to yoga class. Yes. I. am. cranky.

We sit around from 9:30am-12noon-ish and we are released for the day. A total waste of time. Something about one of the lawyers being ill. Did he just get sick? Was he suddenly struck with a bad case of encephalitis? WHY have we sat around for an entire morning and nothing got done? Yeah, this is the part where I realize that I don’t like my time being wasted.

Right. Retail therapy! I head to Macy’s.

Why Macy’s? That’s where we (Bryan and myself) are registered for our Wedding! Yay, something positive! I need to add gifts to our registry, and the best kind of retail therapy is the kind where you don’t actually buy anything, but zap anything your heart desires with this cool price gun that magically puts it all on your registry for people to buy for you! Fantastic!

The zapping got out all of my aggression with the court system and I ended up sitting with a cappucino in “The Cellar” portion of Macy’s.

Even if you’re not getting married, I highly recommend the price gun. Excellent for anger management!

A great ending to a wasted day…

Stay tuned.

Yes, I have been on jury duty for what felt like an eternity, and now that it’s over I can share…

Day 1-

I report to the courthouse at 8:45am to sit in a room with equally cranky people who’s lives are disrupted. We sit for an hour before a judge comes in to welcome us and explains how important our role as jurors is, blah blah blah… He then asks if there is anyone who is happy to be here today and this woman raises her hand and says “I’m happy to be here!”. She’s the only one. Mind you, when this woman walked in the room, I thought to myself- ‘Oh god, I’m going to be put on a case with her’- she was clearly out of her head and wearing a fantastic caftan sort of thing with a giant hat and a ridiculous amount of make-up for Wednesday morning. She was a cross between Auntie Mame and Dolly Levi on a lot of medication. I then dubbed her “Crazy Lady”.

We finally turn in our juror cards and the selection process begins. At 11:00 or so, I get called in to a room with 19 other people. We get handed a form to fill out asking all kinds of questions: name, age, education, occupation… then as you get further it asks if you or a close friend or relative has ever been convicted of a crime, witnessed a crime, committed a crime, etc, etc, and I was able to honestly answer yes to ALL. I thought for sure that I would be excused for that. What I forgot was that this is New York City- EVERYONE has had these experiences.

Then the lawyers have their turn asking us questions. Can you be fair and impartial, what our opinions are on certain issues, especially pertaining to doctors and hospitals. Oh boy- a malpractice suit? No- it’s not malpractice… but they can’t really say much, of course.

Now it’s my turn. ‘Ms. Murray- your form says that you have many jobs. You are a dancer, teacher, choreographer, you own your own business, and you are still able to serve on jury duty’? To which I responded: ‘Apparently so’.

That was it.

Lawyer #2 then goes around the room and asks if any of us has had an issue with a doctor, hospital, or anything medical. I said no- which I realized in that moment was stupid. Now, Crazy Lady was one of the people in the room and after the lawyer asked the question, she raised her hand and said:’I forgot to mention that when I was in the hospital and had (some procedure that I don’t remember) taken out, I asked the doctor if I could eat seeds. The doctor said that yes, I could eat seeds if I wanted to. Well, when I went home and ate seeds, my colon exploded’.

HER COLON EXPLODED? Well, I was the only one in the room who thought that statement was funny and I started laughing. Everyone else was silent which made it funnier to me.

Once I calmed down, the lawyers left the room and a while later the clerk came in and said that if our name was called we have been selected for this jury. My name was called. Crazy Lady’s was not. Hmmm, I wonder why?

And then there were eight.

Stay tuned for the next installment of “Jury Duty- the saga”

I wake up early this morning and make coffee and breakfast. Today it’s vanilla yogurt with fruit and granola. Yum. I take the almost empty container of yogurt and dump it in the bowl. Next, I open the new one and add to it. I noticed that the color of the new yogurt was different- more yellow. Hmmm, I wondered, is it a new formula? What? Upon closer inspection, I read that the lid does not read “Vanilla” it reads “Banilla”. What the hell is Banilla? Banilla is banana and vanilla flavored yogurt mixed together. What?! Why would anyone think that was a good idea- and furthermore, banilla isn’t even a word in the English language!

Okay, it tasted fine, but I’m not sure that was because there was some left-over vanilla in the bottom of the bowl. We will see tomorrow…

The moral of this story? READ the label before you buy- you may be going home with a container of banilla something.

So I have been on jury duty for what seems like an eternity, and (I can’t get into the details because it’s illegal to talk about the case) my Mom has gotten a play by play of the fact that my entire life has been on hold due to my “civic duty”. My Mom loves to send snail mail and I love getting it. I got a card today with a couple of coupons for hair color inside. The note read: “Can you use these? Especially after jury duty! HA! Love, Mom”. I laughed out loud because she’s right- and it was funny!

Now, I’m not going to reveal if I use hair color or not- there are some things a woman should never share…

You know those moments on the train when you are clearly running late and are stuck in a tunnel due to “signal problems” when you know full-well that some worker fell asleep while driving the train? Yes, that was my morning as I looked at my watch at least one-hundred times in a five minute span to check how late I was going to be. I know, it’s not an original story- it’s happened to everyone in NYC. It was even better for my blood pressure when the homeless advocate started screaming “I used to be on crack! I used to be on crack! But now I’ve found Jesus and I love each and every one of you!” Really? It’s silly-o-clock in the morning and you are screaming in my ear about your crack habit! And by the way, what does that have to do with Jesus?

What seemed to be years later, the train finally pulled into my station and I was let out into the world of my fellow heathens and on my way through the day. When I look back on how inconvenient my morning was, I realized that it really wasn’t that bad. I have never been on crack and I’m guessing that Jesus was probably a good guy.

Happy Friday and may your day be crack-free!

I know, readers, it’s been a while, but Dance Teacher Lady has been bogged down with things that can’t be discussed at this time. But don’t worry, all will be revealed in time. So, my very good friend Cecilia- we all call her “Cheech” just left my apartment and I gotta say, this chick is way cool! (I’m from L.A. originally, so cool is just part of my vocabulary) After too much wine and a great salad with all sorts of yummy things we got on the subject of weddings and our dear friends Naomi and Gregory. They have just moved to the other side of the world and we miss them both terribly! Naomi and Gregory are tying the knot in September, and my wedding to Mr. Dance Teacher Lady is soon to follow in October. Yes, everyone we know is getting married and isn’t it wonderful!? I am still trying to convince Cheech to fly to these weddings as opposed to driving cross-country in a motorcycle- yes, that’s Cheech. You know those friends that are there for you no matter what? The ones you can always count on? Yep, that’s Cecilia. Motorcycle or not- she’s there for us- and we’re so grateful.

So I am addicted to bikram yoga. I took class today at 8am- yes, I’m a little crazy, to make sure I did something for me before tapping the day away with my students. Although I am tired now, at the time, it felt great! If you can handle lots of heat and humidity, it’s a great way to gain strength and flexibility and drop a few pounds… It’s just what I need to get me in shape for my wedding. Which reminds me- I still don’t have a dress yet- ahhhh! The clock is ticking! Anyone out there have any ideas? I need a designer!

Sunday is always cleaning day for Dance Teacher Lady and today is no exception. Of course, my cat wants to help- and by help, I mean she runs all over the wet kitchen floor and tries to play with the mop and bucket! Even though I want to make her into a “kitty pie” as Bryan says from time to time, I still love her and wish I could get her a playmate. I fear that she may go postal on any other kitty, so instead I found  a wonderful site that helps animals in need and it’s no cost to you. Each time you visit you can help feed animals just by one simple click. There are other links on the site for the protection of the rain forest, feeding children, etc. It takes no time at all and you are helping others in the process!

Happy Sunday!

I never get sick- that is, until last Thursday. I am finally feeling better after a love-affair with Theraflu Warming Liquid. Great stuff- I highly recommend it. And I am not a fan of medicine, I prefer preventative measures. So, I was able to get through an entire day of teaching Ballet today without coughing up a lung. Believe me, it was quite a feat! Tomorrow it’s back to yoga and chasing my cat up and down the halls. (Yes, I found her!)

So, I have sent Bryan off back to the UK (boo)… while he has been here he has managed to update my computer, cut music for me for a choreography workshop, GIVE me an IPod touch AND make dinner twice in three days. Now, I can’t find the cat- I fear she may have packed herself in his luggage for a holiday abroad…