Lily’s Team Won! I’m a Free Woman!

Well, what a week!

It started off with me hangin’ on the the foot of the throne, sick as a dog. Two days of being out of it, aching and exhausted.

Then, lobbying on behalf of TCADP for House Bill 682, written by Rep. Jessica Ferrar to abolish the death penalty in the state of Texas.
That meant wearing hose, heels and a suit. Oh, and pearls. I started feeling like, hmm, yea, I could dig this networking, this lobbying.
I get why people get into it! It was fun talking to represenatives, visiting their offices, having a power lunch with fellow lobbyists.

Then, today, after gluing 17 tiny handmade chairs to different homemade stands—created by io’s 3rd grade class from the class
I taught last week in conjunction with the Chair Project—I delivered the art to the school library for a SHOW! That was fun!
Practiced 2 songs for church on Sunday, figured out set lists for Eanes Elementary school on Friday (K-3 and then a show for 4-5th grade),
and then slapped on more make-up and BACK INTO THE SUIT for the court case tonight.

Drove over to the school, picked up the one 6th grader (mine–big smile here!) and several 7th graders. On the way to the
courthouse, broke out into rap songs about every person in the car. The kids were laughing so hard, I had to concentrate
really hard on the driving. Cuz Miss Sara was driving them crazy! Ha ha ha! It was a car full of suits! The kids looked
stylin’, I must say!

Lily’s team was really well prepared. When I took the witness stand, my defense team questioned me perfectly—and then the defense
got up to cross-examine, and I just didn’t feel the need to share more than a “No, I did not” or a “Yes.” I was short and kept it to the point.
Lily’s team, though, I had memorized all the info they needed for the case, so I really enjoyed being my part. I even got weepy when describing
how the “last few months had been very stressful for me, plus with giving up smoking, the rally, and all the hostility from the Believers, I just
needed a break, some time away in the mountains.” I was up against, I think, the acting teacher, so I had to give my all, you see!

And…so…our team won! I don’t have to go to imaginary jail! I don’t collect $200, but, thankfully, I don’t have to pay any, either!
Play acting court for a junior high class RULES!

By the way, Lily won one of only two awards given by the judge for best court appearance. She was very convincing in her cross-examination
of one of the witnesses, and her closing statement was MAGNIFICENT! I was choked up just listening to her sew up why I was an innocent
woman, and then she had the tenacity and smooth maneuvering to throw in the statement, “And, members of the court, you’ll note
the prosecution couldn’t even get the gender of my client correct, so you are supposed to believe that they have their facts straight in this
case???”

In the case the kids had studied, Terry Bell, my character, was a MAN. So, you can see…there were many blunders of “he” instead of “she” when
referring to me. Ah, clever, Miss Lily! Veddy clevah!