Yeah, yeah, I know

It’s been way too long since I updated last.  I’ve been juggling work, real life, work, real life, work, real life blah blah blah.

Work is busy, which is good.

Real life has been filled with a lot of catch-up.  I decided I needed some balance so I started forcing myself NOT to work on the weekends which resulted in much-needed yard work.  Entry into one my front perennial bed has long been forbidden to anyone but me.  As a result, three years of overgrowth had to be removed (I got stalled by the whole finish law school, take the bar exam, start a law practice thing).  Then I decided to be a sport and help J with the vegetable garden for the first time in years.

So the yard is somewhat under control.  Wish I could say the same for the laundry.

Today I refused to go anywhere (namely the office) until I imported two Michael Jackson CDs into my iPod.  Priorities.  I never would have guessed that his sudden death would hit me so hard (as in you’d think I knew him kind of hard).  It’s very similar to the shock I felt when Diana died.  Very, very strange and call me a sage, but I’m guessing the autopsy results when they are released will be pretty tragic.

So there. I made a newsly little post finally.  It took a major bout of insomnia to do it, but done and done.

Pop Culture Thoughts

I’ve been somewhat following the news on this octuplet situation and Michael Phelps happily smoking weed.

My initial reaction to the criticism of the mother was that hey, it’s a free country, leave her alone.  But then I start seeing the reports that she’s single, she already has six kids, she’s been living off of disability, and she has no real means to support six kids, let alone fourteen.  THEN I got an opinion.  Her irresponsible behavior is unacceptable, but unfortunately, not a damn thing can be done about it unless we all want to head down the slipperly slope of violating privacy rights.  So I guess the only way to attack a problem such as this is to build in more onerous requirements on the medical end.  Unfortunately, this will create more hoops for couples who are already going through hell trying to conceive.  They can thank octuplet mom and her oblivious doctor for the hoops.

Now onto Michael.  Leave the guy alone.  Yeah, it was incredibly dumb to put himself in the position of being photographed with a bong shoved in his face.  But it’s not like he’s savvy about being a celebrity – he’s a newbie.  And I’m not going to get on my soapbox about his lapse in judgment because he’s lived a much more rigorous, disciplined life than the majority of human beings can claim.  I didn’t buy the “I’m just 23 years old” excuse, because 23 is old enough to know better.  But, really, is smoking some pot really all that awful?  Yes, it is illegal and it isn’t good to shove all that smoke into one’s lungs.  However, it ain’t the end of the world and I think Michael should get a little slack. He’s paying his dues now with his suspension and his endorsement losses, so I’m pretty sure he’s not going to put himself in this position again.

Oh yeah, Christian Bale.  I heard his rant (wowza) and I heard his apology.  Mr. Bale, you are forgiven.  Carry on.

Do These Make Me Look Fat?

Wakonda’s slippage on the laminate floors is a constant issue.  So we tried the booties above and hilarity ensued.  The booties are too much trouble.  Imagine wrestling a 100 pound malamute into booties every single day.  Not happening.

Now I’m trying paw wax.  Malamute (100 pounds of which) is not allowing me to apply the paw wax without a wrestling match.  We’ve moved onto scattered throw rugs.  I’m eyeing some of these for the future.  Right now it’s whatever I can find at Walmart that looks decent.

My office decor is complete for the moment.  I went for “Zen”.  I have paper lamps and a tinkling table fountain.  Another attorney walked in and said “this looks like a spa” – perfect!

Today we can see the sky for the first time in days.  We’ve been under a solid grey inversion layer.  Everyone I talk to is wandering around depressed from the endless grey, grey, grey.  The bright day should help us all recover from S.A.D.

I’m heading back to the office today.  It’s been a long weekend of working.  But it’s either sit around and stress about the work I have piled up, or simply go in and start working on it.

Weekend. Please. Now.

Okay, I’m tired.   Really, really tired.  Undereye concealer is mandatory.

The new office digs are awesome.  I can walk to court.  Court is across the street.  This is good.

I can’t construct a paragraph longer than nine words.  Again…tired!

Whining aside, this is a good tired.  This is a “I’m really busy” sort of tired.  Being a sole practitioner, “really busy” is good.

Which brings me to an important announcement – this week marks my year anniversary as a solo practitioner.  Do I like being my own boss?  The answer pretty much fluctuates, but when all is said and done, the pros outweigh the cons.

Some cons:

• Financial worries.  I only get paid if I’m my own rainmaker.  No pay check.
• Finding time to do the administrative end of practice, like making bills and paying bills.  Important stuff.
• There’s nowhere to pass the buck – it starts and ends with moi.

Some pros:

• I get to decide which cases I take.
• Sometimes I can take the afternoon off, just because.
• If I want to take a couple days off, I don’t have to ask permission. I just find a way to schedule the time off around deadlines.
• I get to decide which cases I take.  (Yes, I know I already said that, but it’s a biggie.)
• No office politics.
• No interoffice meetings.
• No Court appearance = Instant Casual Day.

Cranky Grump

My office move on Friday took awhile, but I’m moved. I’m having frustrating computer-connection-to-the-internet issues that nearly caused me to grind my teeth off a the root. The issues remain, but I solved the problem by … leaving the office.

I had a hair appointment for the works and two hours in the chair helped me decompress.

All the time lost Friday with move and today with the stubborn computer means I have to work on cases tomorrow. No day off this week.

Making It Harder Than It Needs To Be

I kept wanting to add a post, but I wanted to upload some photos, then I wanted to upload a new photo for a header.  Then it became a hassle with all the pre-requirements I was putting on myself.  I really am a head case.  Upload the photos later, change the header later for Chrissakes!

The holidays were great, with our weather being the only exception.  The recordbreaking, over 5′ of snow in a couple of weeks, caused a lot of problems with getting to work.  Now, I don’t necessarily feel incomplete if I can’t work, however, deadlines march on whether I can get to work or not.  It was a stressful couple of weeks.  We’re in a “tropical” phase right now with no snow, but rain.  Rain is fine.  Of course, we have flood warnings, but I can live with that.  I don’t live anywhere that will flood so the solution is simple – avoid places that will flood!

During the holiday stretch I decided to indulge myself in taking the guitar up again.  I played when I was a kid and then abandoned it as other things became more important (cars, boys, being stupid).  Then I took up piano in young adulthood and really liked it.  However, I don’t own a piano and to have the type of electronic piano I want, I’d have to come up with a pretty hefty chunk of change.

So to get back in touch with the side of my brain devoted to less serious things, I decided to try out the guitar again.  I made the fatal mistake (and I suspected it was a mistake when I did it) of buying a really cheap starter guitar.  Well, that lasted about a week.  I now have a lower-end, but awesome Martin DXM which is so much easier to play I find myself playing for hours non-stop and I have to literally force myself to put my toy down.

And finally, I’ve decided to move my physical office.  I found a great location walking distance from the courthouse.  I’ll be roomies with another attorney who shares my practice area.  I wanted to move into an office sharing arrangement where I had other attorneys nearby with which to commisserate.  I’m excited and nervous at the same time because I’ve raised my overhead.  But it’s been a year (gasp) of running my own practice so it’s a good time to upgrade.

Snowbound

Last weekend there was much ado made over a storm that was supposed to dump 11 inches of snow, be very cold, and very windy.  We got a dusting of snow, but we did get cold and wind.

This week we had a storm which was casually mentioned as “snow showers” which actually ended up dumping over 2 feet of snow.  Getting home Wednesday afternoon was an adventure.  After I got home, I never left.  As of yesterday the snow on my suburban street was high-centering everything but the heftiest of SUV’s and pickups.

I had overly optimistic thoughts of going into the office.  However, the office couldn’t open because the building was inaccessible (unless I wanted to hike in from somewhere other than the parking lot).  In any event, I couldn’t leave my garage so it didn’t matter if Point B was hosed because I couldn’t leave Point A.

J and I suited up and began snow blowing and shoveling.  I had to tunnel into the backyard.  Then I had to hook into a dog-made tunnel to get from the gate to the patio stairs.  It was insane.  Unfortunately my camera needed recharged so I couldn’t get pretty pics, but my trusty Blackberry captured a couple of canine moments.

Pants Catastrophe

One of the odd things about losing weight is the decreasing wardrobe.   The decreasing wardrobe phenomenon happens suddenly – one day things are a smidge to big and the next day your wearing your blue jeans around your ankles unexpectedly.

The other morning I was running late (per usual) and grabbed one of my many pairs of black slacks.

Oh, as a quick aside, attorneys can never have too many pairs of black slacks.

Anyway, so I grabbed a pair of black slacks, threw them on, and realized they were so baggy there was no way I could pull off wearing them anymore.  In fact, they were in danger of simply sliding off.  In disgust, I tossed them into a heap, and desperately searched for black slacks that fit…somewhat.

Today, I had to take a quick department store trip to replace some slacks (grey and black).  It’s a happy problem to have, but for some reason it wasn’t one I predicted.    Of course, a new wardrobe was in the forefront of my mind when I began dieting, but it was the “end result wardrobe” I visualized, not the “in between” wardrobe.

The Current Header Star

This post will make no sense in a few months.  So if you look up at the top and what I’m saying is there isn’t really there, you aren’t crazy.  It means that by the time this is read, I’ve changed what’s up there.

So what is up there? It’s a Pouting Papillion named Patch who owns my parents.  Patch is a habitual pouter.  However, in the photo he is pushing the Pouting envelope because he is wearing a festive necklace for the holidays and it’s pissing him off.  It’s one of the joys of the holidays – draping canines in embarassing accessories and documenting it for posterity.

Ridiculous Busy

It’s been crazy.  I have more work than I can handle.  I looked over my client list and realized I’ve more than doubled the list in a year.  I started out with a couple of pro bono clients and some lower-income/low-fee clients last year.  Now I have one low-fee client, 1 pro bono client, and a ton of work on other cases.  I also have some clients appointed by the court and I’m working part time for the government.

In spite of myself, I think I’m well on my way to having an established solo practice.  The problem now is having “me” time carved out.  I’m starting this weekend by refusing to work.  I really should work, but I also really should take some time off.

The Jenny Craig thing is still motoring along.  I took time off over Thanksgiving.  The real go-getters stick to the plan over the holidays.  Me, not so much a go-getter.

This isn’t much of a blog post, but I had to write something to get myself going again.  It’s been so long since I posted that I had self-imposed pressure to publish a brilliant post.  Then I didn’t post because I wasn’t feeling brilliant or witty or at all newsy.

Oh wait, I have gotten hooked on a couple of series thanks to DVD releases:

• Dexter is incredible.  How did I go so long without watching Dexter? We blazed through the DVDs just in time to bring us to the new season.  Now the new season only has two episodes left and we’re starting to panic.
• Lost.  I ignored Lost for the longest time just because it was popular.  (See how I am?)  During a dearth of decent new DVD releases we decided to give it a shot.  We are now hooked.  I think we are just about done with Season 2.  We’ll sit and watch about 3 or 4 episodes at a time.   I’ve actually stayed past up past my bed time because I had to watch one more episode to see what happened.
• Loved, loved, loved True Blood.  The first season was over way too soon.