I don’t usually write diary-entry-style blog posts. But seeing as I was forced to take last week off because of jury duty, it now feels like the right time to check in with a quick life update.
The last few weeks have been pretty unusual, and I’ve struggled to stick to a regular schedule. As a result, I’m still feeling a bit discombobulated, and I’m having a hard time focusing on one task at a time. My mind is constantly racing off in a million different directions.
This semi-unexpected break from routine started towards the end of May, when I took three days off to travel to Morocco. It was the most amazing trip, but unfortunately I caught a bug whilst we were out there, and got stick with stomach flu 12 hours after returning to London.
The next five days were a complete write-off. And I spent the week at home watching The Office and napping every four hours. I had a weekend to ease back into reality, and then headed straight into two weeks of scheduled jury service (which I finished on Friday). So it’s been a bit of a whirlwind…
Jury Duty
I’ve received quite a few DMs about jury duty, over the past two weeks. You’re not allowed to discuss the case/s that you sit on, so I can’t share any specifics about the trial/s. But what I will say is the experience wasn’t as bad as I had predicted.
There was a lot of waiting around in the juror’s room (during my first week I read an entire novel in one sitting). And the courtroom experience is actually pretty tedious and uneventful – the fictional trials on Suits and The Good Wife are 100x more engaging and dramatic.
But, thankfully, the other jurors were lovely. As were all of the court ushers and judges etc.
A few people asked me about doing jury duty when you’re self-employed. So here’s what I know… When you receive jury summons you can appeal to postpone your service, or be dismissed entirely. You’ll be summoned to do two consecutive weeks of jury duty, and if you get selected for a case that will run beyond two weeks they’ll check to see whether you can serve for the extended length of time. If you’re not able to do so (for any number of reasons – including being self-employed) they remove you from the case.
Sad News
Whilst I was in the midst of jury service, we had some sad family news. My beloved cat, Mr Twiggles, passed away. We rescued him from an animal shelter in 2002, when he was a scrappy little kitten with cat flu (and I was a gawky 12-year-old).
Twiggles was the sweetest little soul. He loved being around people, and would sit beside me all day when I worked from the home office at my parent’s house. We’re all completely heartbroken, because he was such a big part of our family. But it’s comforting to know that he died peacefully, at home, and he lived a long and very happy life.
I hope that he’s found a nice, warm patch of sunshine up in kitty heaven. Because he was always happiest when sunbathing.
Dating
As you know, I took a break from dating at the end of 2018, going into 2019. I got back on Hinge in March, and met someone who I dated for a few weeks. And then, immediately after that ended, I met another guy on Hinge who I also dated for about a month. (I never usually move that quickly, so it felt very SATC).
I’m now taking a little pause, once again. Mostly because dating is SO time consuming. And I’ve been very time-poor, lately.
The past few weeks have felt a little bit unsettling, however. Because Instagram is currently swarming with wedding season photos!
I’m genuinely SO happy for every bride coming up in my feed – and also have zero desire to plan a wedding of my own, anytime soon – but it’s impossible not to occasionally feel like the only single woman left above the age of 28. Irrational, yes. But that unspoken societal pressure definitely still exists, and I’ve been feeling it lately.
What’S Next
Now that my jury service is over, I’m hoping to get back to normality and focus on the blog and other fun projects. For a few months I’ve been thinking about hosting a few real-life Coco’s Tea Party Book Club events and meet-ups. So I’m hoping to get some plans in motion, over the coming month. (Let me know if that’s something you’d be interested in).
I also have Monica‘s Hen Weekend at the end of June, which is going to be so fun. I can’t wait!
