Jury Duty

About a month ago I received a letter informing me that I was chosen for jury duty. For those of you who are not familiar with the process, I will share my experience.

The first thing that happens is a bunch of people (probably 300) from Linn County receive questionnaires and letters informing them that they are in the jury pool. The weekend before the jury is asked to report, they are to call the courthouse and find out if they actually have to come in and answer questions. In the past, I have called the phone number and found out that my juror number didn't need to report for questioning. This time was different. My number was one of the sixty or seventy people that needed to report on Monday morning.

On Monday morning, I needed to report at the courthouse by 8:30. At that time all potential jurors watched a very boring, I mean informational video about the responsibilities of a jury. We were told that we would have our names called by the courtroom attendant and at some point during the morning. Trina told me that there would be a lot of sitting, and she was right. It wasn't until 11:30 that the first group of jurors were asked back into the courtroom. I was in that group. As for the rest of the potential jurors, they sat in the lobby for about eight hours without talking to anyone about the case before they were told they could go home. What a waste of a day.

When I was called as a potential juror for this case, I couldn't help but start to think about ways to get myself out of jury duty. I would bet that the other 35 potential jurors were thinking the same thing. Over the next 4-5 hours, the 36 people were split into groups. The first 24 were asked questions as a group and the last 12 were waiting to fill in for jurors that were taken off the case. At the end of the first day of jury selection, there were only about six people that had been dismissed. I was hopeful that I would be one of the remaining 22 people that could could go home.

Day two started with more questioning of potential jurors. I was certain that I was going home. I answered questions in a way that wasn't always the answer the attorneys were looking for. Little did I know that by voicing my difference of opinions, I was setting myself up for a week I won't soon forget. As the morning progressed, the attorneys started crossing people's names off the list. Mine wasn't one of them. From then on I was known as juror number five. There were eight of us.

The case I sat on was a civil case. The plaintiff was involved in two motor vehicle accidents that eventually caused her to have a great deal of pain and a full hip replacement. The most difficult part of this process was determining how much money both of the two defendants owed the plaintiff. We saw depositions and live testimony from doctors that didn't agree on what happened. I assume this is typical, but I have never been in a courtroom before.

After full days of questioning and answering, on Friday morning we heard the closing statements. Then we were sent to the jury room for deliberations. I was selected as the jury foreman and held he responsibilities of keeping order and making sure that everyone had their chance to be heard. I also was responsible for signing off on the jury decision and informing the judge of the decision we made. It took us about four hours to come up with a decision. We decided that the first crash owed the plaintiff $176,000 and the second crash owed the plaintiff $268,000. The plaintiff was asking for $550,000. She received about $444,000 for number of things including loss of function, pain and suffering, marital consortium and medical bills present and future.

When we were waiting to be dismissed, one of the jurors said, "If there were eight different jurors, do you think they would have came to the same conclusion?" My initial reaction was that they would probably have the same thoughts we did. As I was driving home, I changed my mind. In my opinion, five of the eight jurors in this trial would have agreed to anything the other three proposed. Of those five, three of the jurors added nothing to the jury trial. They literally said nothing important. One guy wouldn't say anything at all.

I'm glad that I was able to voice my opinion and help the plaintiff recover from her car accidents. The majority of the people in the jury made comments that they felt sick about making the defendants pay such large amounts of money to the plaintiff. I don't feel bad about it at all. I feel that based on the law and instructions the judge provided, we did our job.

And I got paid $150.

First Week Home

This summer has been great so far. I love being home with Grayson Monday through Thursday. Trina gets to join us Friday through Sunday. Rather than doing the same thing each day, Trina came up with a list of fun things we can try this summer. So far we have gone to the library for toddler time, gone on a lot of bike rides, swam in the pool, played at the splash pad, swung on the swings at four different parks as well as a picnicked at the Beaver Park Zoo. Next week we are going to see a former co-worker of mine reading at a park for story time. That's if jury duty doesn't last all week. YUCK!I know that I post a lot of pictures of Grayson swinging, but that's when we get the best smiles. He loves his swing about as much as he loves his cup of milk.

I was told to get Grayson out of the pool and ready for supper last week. Once I took of his suit, Grayson only wanted to play.Grayson is at the age where he copies everything that he sees. What do you think we were doing this day? Evan and Dakota had a birthday party last week out at their farm. Evan got two kittens and named them Buzz and Woody. Grayson had never been around kittens before. I think the only cats that Grayson knows are Autumn's. They are much bigger and don't quite have that kitten personality any longer.

Master's of Arts in Teaching: Professional Educator

About a month ago I graduated from Morningside College with my Master's of Arts in Teaching : Professional Educator. I'm pretty excited about it. I wasn't actually sure if I graduated because I didn't get my diploma or transcript until today. Here is my story.


A few years ago, the music teacher at Grant Wood got me thinking about taking some Master's classes. I talked about it with my parents and Trina, but really didn't commit to the idea of going back to school. I had told myself that when I graduated from University of Northern Iowa with my teaching degree, I was done with classes forever! Little did I know that my break from classes was about to end.

There were two instances that I remember that lead to me signing up for classes. The first one was when one of my parents said to me that "there is a big difference between talking about going back to school and actually doing it." It must have been the tone that the comment was said in, because I took it as a challenge. I'm glad that they said that, because I needed a push. I was scared, but I was also determined to prove to myself and others that I could do it. Thanks Mom and Dad for helping me realize that talking about something and doing something are two totally different things.

The other memorable conversation that got me to sign up for classes was with Trina. We had decided to expand our family and the planner that she is, had come up with a plan. She figured out that if I took some absurd number like 19 credit hours during the first summer of my program, I could get by with only taking one class at a time during the school year. This sounded very overwhelming, but she knew that when we had Grayson I wouldn't want to take time away from the two of them to sit at the computer. Her plan was terrific. I don't think I could have finished in two years if I wasn't pushed into working so had that first semester.

Trina was a huge help during the last two years. She regularly reminded me to do my homework even when I was procrastinate. She was great at proofreading and editing almost every major paper I turned in. One of the biggest challenges of this program was that all of the examples I read about were for classroom teachers, not physical education teachers. I had to come up with my own examples for way more than I anticipated. Trina regularly tried to relate the examples given to my classroom. It was a big help to have her in my corner. My classmates and teachers seldom responded to any of my message board posts. I finally decided it was because it was too hard for them to relate physical education to their classroom. I had to find that relationship with every single assignment for two years.

Here is a small list of things I'm really proud of over the past two years...

• I took 19 graduate credits in one summer (more than I ever took at UNI)


• My research paper was accepted the first time I submitted it (most have to resubmit multiple times)


• My comprehensive exams were accepted the first time I submitted them (most have to resubmit multiple times)


• I had a perfect score on the final paper of my final class (still received my only A-)


• I finished graduate school with a 3.95 GPA (High School and UNI GPA's were around 3.00)


• I graduated in two years just like I planned (easily could have done it in 3 years)


• I challenged myself with a difficult goal and reached it

A perk of being a teacher...

It's a well known fact that teachers are smart enough to have chosen a job where they can stay home for 10 weeks in the summer. Unfortunately, Tanner has never fully enjoyed this time off due to taking a summer job or doing masters classes. But not this year! Because Tanner graduated his masters program in May, he doesn't have classes to take, and will instead be a full-time stay at home dad this summer!

I was "lucky" growing up to have a teacher for one parent. It's such a wonderful thing for kids to be able to stay in the care of their parents instead of daycare or babysitter, when possible. Since having Grayson, I've realized even more the importance of this. I'm glad we have one parent as a teacher to provide additional time at home with our kid(s). I wish I could trade roles with Tanner for the summer, just to see what it's like to be a parent 24/7.

It's perfect timing because Grayson is a daddy's boy right now. Not in the sense that he doesn't like me, but more that he really especially likes Tanner.

So if you are in Cedar Rapids between now and August, give Tanner a call! I'm sure he's going to be seeking out as many free activities (including play dates and visitors) as he can for entertainment this summer!

Thanks Katie!

Grayson has gone to three different daycare providers during the past school year. The first two weren't a good fit for him, but the third was GREAT! Katie has a bunch of kids that Grayson loves to play with. Molly and Carson are just a little younger than Grayson. Ross and Mason are about 4 years old. There are a few other kids, but I don't see them very often.

When Grayson left his last daycare provider, we were told that he was very upset all day long, everyday. I sensed that things weren't going to work out, but Tammy made the decision for us before we had time to discuss it. Tammy was certain that we weren't going to find anyone that would take an infant that screamed all day long. It pissed me off a little to hear her say that, but she had a point.

After Tammy, we found Katie. She has been WONDERFUL for Grayson. It didn't take long for Grayson to change his attitude towards daycare. He would cry as soon as we got to Tammy's house and continue until I picked him up. With Katie, he would cry for about ten seconds when I dropped him off and before I had my shoes back on, he was done. That was a huge milestone for him. It didn't take long before I could drop Grayson off without him crying at all. I felt so proud to hear about his good days. It just kept getting better as he got more comfortable with Katie and his friends. Now when I drop him off, he starts playing with the boys as soon as his feet hit the floor. Even when I pick him up, Grayson looks at me and continues playing in the yard. We couldn't be more happy with the changes Grayson has made. We want to thank Katie for all of her hard work and the love she has shown our little man.

Here are two very different journal entries. The first is from his first day at Katie's house. The second is the last entry of the school year...

January 17, 2011
Hello! I had a pretty rough morning but redeemed myself this afternoon. I didn't cry until dad got to the door. I cried for ten minutes after that. I was fine if Katie held me, but as soon as she sat me down... bloody scream! It took her 4 times to lay me down, about one hour. She knew I was tired because I was yawning, yawning, yawning all morning long. I slept from 10:30 until 12:00. I would NOT eat any food - threw my sippy cup - and refused my bottle!! I finally at 6 oz. at 1:00 this afternoon. From 1:35 to 3:00 I was soooooo happy!! I played downstairs with all the toys... it was awesome! Katie did manage to get me to eat a few Cheerios. I am going to be one hungry boy tonight. I had one poopie diaper. Hope everyday gets a little bit better because when I am happy, I am really happy!! See what tomorrow brings.

Love, Grayson

June 2, 2011
Tanner and Trina-

I just want to thank you for sharing Grayson with me. He has been such a pleasure to have in my daycare! I look back to January and think about how far Grayson has come! Did I ever (after the first couple weeks) think this was possible? Maybe not, but he proved em wrong. He comes in with a beautiful smile on his face and leaves the same way! He interacts with all the kids so well! I hope you all have a wonderful summer and I am looking forward to next year.

Love, Katie
P.S. He had a great day today!

New Playground

The last few posts have had some mention of this swing set that Trina and I have decided to build. We finally finished it and are ready to show it off. We really want to thank Brad for all of his hard work taking it apart and helping us put it together. Tyler also came over and work with on on Saturday morning. I guess it's payback for the time I helped him take his down. I also want to recognize and thank Trina for working hard on this project. I had a lot of bad ideas that were quickly put to rest thanks to my better half. She always works hard on our house projects and I couldn't be happier with the outcome. Grayson watched us work and for the most part stayed out of trouble. This is what the swing set looked like in the previous owners backyard. We didn't put it back together the way we found it, but we kept most of the major parts in the same place.

Notice how the swing is attached. That is the most significant change that we made. We also put the monkey bars and the slide on the same side of the platform.This is early in the project. We spent a lot of time trying to level the platform. It wouldn't have been the big of a problem, but we cut it in half trying to take it out of the other person's backyard. Once we got the two ends put together and built the platform, the rest of the project was pretty easy. This is how we attached the swings. Notice that we have three swings rather than just two. This was the second most complicated task. We had to follow directions in order to get this set up.

This is the swing set from the front-west side of the yard.

This is the angle from the back-west side.
Here is the view from the back-east side of the yard.
Here is our finished product!We replaced a lot of wood, screws, bolts, washers and nuts. That doesn't even include the dozen or more screwdriver bits that broke while taking out the rusty screws. This project was bigger than I anticipated. Two weeks ago I would have told everyone not to buy a used play set. This week I changed my mind. We have a thousand dollar playground in our back yard and paid a very small fraction of what we would have if we bought it new. I'm proud that Trina and I were able to do this the way that we wanted it.