1/31/07
Enough Already
Stinky Food Guy now has some competition for the most irritating non-gunner. We'll call her Noisy Sandwich Girl, and she is in both my T/Th and M/W 6:00 classes. Apparently, she gets this concoction with just the guts of the sandwich and no bread. Without bread, its kinda hard to hold the damn thing together, so it is all wrapped up in paper. And as she eats she just keeps ripping and crinkling paper. I honest to god do not know how she manages to make so much freaking noise. It's like letting a puppy loose in the Sunday paper. And she is apparently oblivious to the fact that no one within a 6 seat radius can hear a damn thing while she is chowing down. Good thing I'm a 3L and don't really care what happens in class anymore. And at least her sandwich isn't stinky.
1/30/07
Tip of the Day: Don't Chew Gum in Court
I attended a motion hearing yesterday. One of the attorneys on the other side was chomping on gum the entire time. This was not a young attorney--he was probably in his late 40's. It was very unprofessional and gave the impression that he just didn't care that much about the proceeding.
The hearing was in the court that I interned in during my 1L summer. I am probably more comfortable in that courtroom than any other I have ever been in, because I had the run of the place during that summer. There was no office space for interns, so we did our research from the computer at the bench and took over counsel tables to review files. (It was kinda fun when attorneys would walk in and wonder why "some kid" was sitting at the bench--especially if they did not know the judge.)
But my judge was not re-elected, so it was strange to see someone new sitting on the bench. The bailiffs were the same and gave me big hugs, but the rest of the staff replaced by the new judge. It was kind of sad.
The hearing was in the court that I interned in during my 1L summer. I am probably more comfortable in that courtroom than any other I have ever been in, because I had the run of the place during that summer. There was no office space for interns, so we did our research from the computer at the bench and took over counsel tables to review files. (It was kinda fun when attorneys would walk in and wonder why "some kid" was sitting at the bench--especially if they did not know the judge.)
But my judge was not re-elected, so it was strange to see someone new sitting on the bench. The bailiffs were the same and gave me big hugs, but the rest of the staff replaced by the new judge. It was kind of sad.
1/24/07
They say it's your birthday...
...it's my birthday too, yeah.*
I turned 27 today. At least if you use my new style of math where you start going backward the year you are supposed to turn 30.
I worked from 8:30 until 2:00, picked the kids up at 3:00, read con law till 4:30, left to to the kid swap and have dinner w/ DH at 5:00, gulped down average BBQ from the joint across the street from school and was sitting in con law from 6:00-7:15. Back home by 8:00, where I vegged on the sofa and ate a yummy chocolate cake that DH baked. I would say the day kinda sucked, but after the last two years, it was a great.
The bad part is that the above schedule is pretty much my life now, except that most nights I don't get home till 10. Work has gotten better, but I think they want more than I can give. I don't even have time to get my reading done for classes, and I feel like I never see the kids. I feel like something needs to give, but I don't know what. I would quit my job, but right now it is my best prospect for a permanent position. I can't slack off at school because I don't have a guaranteed position, and I have to keep my grades up. My down time is the weekend, but I have to work in 30 hours of public service before I can graduate, and I need that time to catch up on reading, and oh yeah, work told me today that I am more than welcome to work from home (in addition to being in the office) to get all of my projects done. This semester is just gonna suck.
OK pity-party over. I'll try to post more frequently and less bitchily. (Bitchily! ha, I made a new word!)
*A family tradition around here is to blast the birthday song on everybody's b-day.
I turned 27 today. At least if you use my new style of math where you start going backward the year you are supposed to turn 30.
I worked from 8:30 until 2:00, picked the kids up at 3:00, read con law till 4:30, left to to the kid swap and have dinner w/ DH at 5:00, gulped down average BBQ from the joint across the street from school and was sitting in con law from 6:00-7:15. Back home by 8:00, where I vegged on the sofa and ate a yummy chocolate cake that DH baked. I would say the day kinda sucked, but after the last two years, it was a great.
The bad part is that the above schedule is pretty much my life now, except that most nights I don't get home till 10. Work has gotten better, but I think they want more than I can give. I don't even have time to get my reading done for classes, and I feel like I never see the kids. I feel like something needs to give, but I don't know what. I would quit my job, but right now it is my best prospect for a permanent position. I can't slack off at school because I don't have a guaranteed position, and I have to keep my grades up. My down time is the weekend, but I have to work in 30 hours of public service before I can graduate, and I need that time to catch up on reading, and oh yeah, work told me today that I am more than welcome to work from home (in addition to being in the office) to get all of my projects done. This semester is just gonna suck.
OK pity-party over. I'll try to post more frequently and less bitchily. (Bitchily! ha, I made a new word!)
*A family tradition around here is to blast the birthday song on everybody's b-day.
1/21/07
Funeral Songs
My family sang a certain song about a frog who's name starts with J. at the graveside rites for my grandmother.* There was sheet music and everything. It was a toss-up between "Jeremiah" and "Grandma Got Run Over By a Reindeer," but they decided the latter was inappropriate for a funeral. No, I am not kidding.
I flew in Wednesday for the funeral. My uncle's ex-wife was on the same flight. With what appeared to be her boyfriend. Because its always appropriate to take your new boyfriend to your ex-husband's mother's funeral.
I flew back home Friday morning because I had just about all of my insane family that I could take. And I was thankful that I live 400 miles away and can leave it all behind.
* This post has been edited because I was getting an insane amount of hits searching for the lyrics to the song. Who knew it was so popular?
I flew in Wednesday for the funeral. My uncle's ex-wife was on the same flight. With what appeared to be her boyfriend. Because its always appropriate to take your new boyfriend to your ex-husband's mother's funeral.
I flew back home Friday morning because I had just about all of my insane family that I could take. And I was thankful that I live 400 miles away and can leave it all behind.
* This post has been edited because I was getting an insane amount of hits searching for the lyrics to the song. Who knew it was so popular?
1/10/07
The F Word
8 y.o. DD: "Somebody wrote the "F" word on inside the playground equipment."
5 y.o. DD: "Ya mean, Fart?"
Me: (after I quit laughing at 5 y.o. and apologized for embarrassing her) "What do you know about the "F" word?"
8 y.o. DD: "I know you say it a lot to the other drivers when we're in the car."
Oops, thought I was doing a better job of censoring myself when the kids are in the car. My potty mouth really is my biggest downfall as a parent.
5 y.o. DD: "Ya mean, Fart?"
Me: (after I quit laughing at 5 y.o. and apologized for embarrassing her) "What do you know about the "F" word?"
8 y.o. DD: "I know you say it a lot to the other drivers when we're in the car."
Oops, thought I was doing a better job of censoring myself when the kids are in the car. My potty mouth really is my biggest downfall as a parent.
Book Math
Bought books today. At about $250, it was the least I have ever spent on books for a semester. This is partly because I am able to re-use the book I had for Con Law I in Con Law II, and also because one of my profs is working on the final manuscript for the newest textbook, so we will be provided with the manuscript.
So what did I do with my savings? Went shopping, of course. I needed to have the charms that DD got for Christmas put on her bracelet, so I had to go to the mall. I got 2 suits and a sweater at Ann Taylor Loft for $250. I figure that pretty much put me even with what I should have spent on books, and I got a great deal on the suits, too. I got this suit (minus the hat) which is very different than anything else in my closet, but it was a great deal and gives me the appearance of having a waist (I'm built like a boy) and its fun to do something a little trendy every now and then. (I usually stick to very classic styles.)
But wait, it gets better. Once I got home I checked out my textbook prices online. (I can't do this until after a trip to the bookstore, because the bookstore is the only place to get textbook lists.) I found one of my books $40 cheaper at Amazon! Then, I found my Wills and Trusts book on half.com for $10, brand new--I paid $78 in the bookstore. So, I have now saved another $100 on books, which actually puts me below my semester book budget by $100 even if you add in my new duds. I think that means I can go shopping again--I really think I need tall black boots to go with the new suit.
So what did I do with my savings? Went shopping, of course. I needed to have the charms that DD got for Christmas put on her bracelet, so I had to go to the mall. I got 2 suits and a sweater at Ann Taylor Loft for $250. I figure that pretty much put me even with what I should have spent on books, and I got a great deal on the suits, too. I got this suit (minus the hat) which is very different than anything else in my closet, but it was a great deal and gives me the appearance of having a waist (I'm built like a boy) and its fun to do something a little trendy every now and then. (I usually stick to very classic styles.)
But wait, it gets better. Once I got home I checked out my textbook prices online. (I can't do this until after a trip to the bookstore, because the bookstore is the only place to get textbook lists.) I found one of my books $40 cheaper at Amazon! Then, I found my Wills and Trusts book on half.com for $10, brand new--I paid $78 in the bookstore. So, I have now saved another $100 on books, which actually puts me below my semester book budget by $100 even if you add in my new duds. I think that means I can go shopping again--I really think I need tall black boots to go with the new suit.
1/8/07
Gotta go, gotta go, gotta go right now.
Oh yeah--I totally could not get in to the ladies room today. Don't know if I forgot the combination or just couldn't work the lock. It's really hard to figure out a lock when you really gotta go. For heaven's sake, I have had three children use my bladder for a trampoline (and two of them at the same time!), I can only take so much. Finally someone else came along, and I went in behind her.
Work seemed better today. I finally got to work on something not related to galvanized steel. God, I am sick of steel. I got all of my assignments turned in (two days early!), so it will be interesting to see what tomorrow brings. (Although with my luck it will probably be revisions of what I did today.)
I saw Big Boss and he was nice to me today. Also, I did not get pulled of of anything to help Grumpy Paralegal--ha!
Work seemed better today. I finally got to work on something not related to galvanized steel. God, I am sick of steel. I got all of my assignments turned in (two days early!), so it will be interesting to see what tomorrow brings. (Although with my luck it will probably be revisions of what I did today.)
I saw Big Boss and he was nice to me today. Also, I did not get pulled of of anything to help Grumpy Paralegal--ha!
1/5/07
So, I found the ladies room
For the first time at my new job I had to use the ladies room. And at that point it occurred to me that I had never seen the ladies room. Apparently because it is down the hall from our office, which takes up about half of one floor in a medium-sized office building.
The restroom had a lock on it. Not like a privacy lock for a single stall unit. A push button combination lock to keep everybody out of a multi-stall restroom. Fortunately, it was not an emergency and the receptionist provided me with this information before I traversed the building to heed nature's call.
Now why in the heck would someone put a combination lock on the restroom? My first though was perhaps to prevent crime--is the management afraid that women will be attacked in the restroom? I'm pretty sure the men's room doesn't have a lock (it's right across the hall from our office and I have seen guys come and go without fiddling with a lock). But we're not exactly in a high crime area. This firm is in the suburbs. Off a major highway--not a lot of potential walk-in traffic. And this restroom is on the 5th floor. Yeah--if I were gonna assault a woman in the restroom I would totally pick the 5th floor of a random office building all by itself in the suburbs.
Anyway, note to self--don't want til the last minute.
The restroom had a lock on it. Not like a privacy lock for a single stall unit. A push button combination lock to keep everybody out of a multi-stall restroom. Fortunately, it was not an emergency and the receptionist provided me with this information before I traversed the building to heed nature's call.
Now why in the heck would someone put a combination lock on the restroom? My first though was perhaps to prevent crime--is the management afraid that women will be attacked in the restroom? I'm pretty sure the men's room doesn't have a lock (it's right across the hall from our office and I have seen guys come and go without fiddling with a lock). But we're not exactly in a high crime area. This firm is in the suburbs. Off a major highway--not a lot of potential walk-in traffic. And this restroom is on the 5th floor. Yeah--if I were gonna assault a woman in the restroom I would totally pick the 5th floor of a random office building all by itself in the suburbs.
Anyway, note to self--don't want til the last minute.
1/3/07
Not liking my new job
I am just not crazy about the place I am working. I am left all day in my little cubicle that I share with wayward computer parts, cut off from everybody else. There are only four attorneys (all men) who all run around and do their own thing. The support staff is all women who dote on the men and seem like they don't quite know what to make of me. Being an almost-lawyer, I'm not really one of them, but I am not another man for them to dote on, either. And I don't think they trust me--even though I have tried to be really nice.
Grumpy Paralegal keeps trying to give me assignments, and I keep dodging them (because I have a full plate of stuff from the attorneys). Today he informed me that after he met with Big Boss, I would probably be pulled off my current assignment because he needed soooo much help. Bite me. The he told me that the reason he needs soooo much help is because he is leaving mid-month and needs to get stuff wrapped up. Yea! At least I won't have to deal with Grumpy Paralegal anymore.
That's actually doubly good news. (Well, it would be good news if I ever start to like it there, anyway. ) I was told when I was hired that there was a chance this position could become permanent. They had one lawyer leave recently and really need another lawyer in the firm. I thought my chances were slim since they already had a paralegal who was in law school and would presumably be up for the job, but it looks like I am back in the running.
Anyway, despite how I feel, the attorneys at least seem to like my work. I was told my first motion was fantastic and was then gifted with a brief plus the two MSJ responses I have been working on all due by next Wed. Yea me.
Grumpy Paralegal keeps trying to give me assignments, and I keep dodging them (because I have a full plate of stuff from the attorneys). Today he informed me that after he met with Big Boss, I would probably be pulled off my current assignment because he needed soooo much help. Bite me. The he told me that the reason he needs soooo much help is because he is leaving mid-month and needs to get stuff wrapped up. Yea! At least I won't have to deal with Grumpy Paralegal anymore.
That's actually doubly good news. (Well, it would be good news if I ever start to like it there, anyway. ) I was told when I was hired that there was a chance this position could become permanent. They had one lawyer leave recently and really need another lawyer in the firm. I thought my chances were slim since they already had a paralegal who was in law school and would presumably be up for the job, but it looks like I am back in the running.
Anyway, despite how I feel, the attorneys at least seem to like my work. I was told my first motion was fantastic and was then gifted with a brief plus the two MSJ responses I have been working on all due by next Wed. Yea me.
1/2/07
The door to her heart doesn't close all the way.
The girls and I spent a good part of the day in doctor's offices today. The pneumonia twins had a recheck. Apparently Twin 1 still has pneumonia and is now up for a second round of antibiotics. She has been acting fine and I thought she was all better. Good thing I went for law school instead of med school.
The same child had her annual visit with a pediatric cardiologist. There is something inherently terrifying about visiting a pediatric cardiologist. They shouldn't even exist. Kids should have perfectly functioning little hearts. But one of mine doesn't. Twin 1 has pulmonary valve stenosis. It just means that one of the valves to her heart doesn't close all the way when her heart pumps. Fortunately, this is very mild with DD and it doesn't affect her daily life in any way. She just has to get antibiotics before going to the dentist and have her heart looked at every couple of years to make sure there are no changes.
Even though I know that DD's problem is very mild and she has been showing no signs of any problems whatsoever, there is still that moment of terror when the doctor is performing the ultrasound and doing measurements. Why is he taking so long? Didn't he already do that? Why is he leaving to do his calculations instead of just telling me everything is ok?
But it was all ok. DD's heart hasn't changed since last year, and her condition is still mild. And I am a relieved mommy.
So, I know I haven't posted in a few days. We have been visiting family. A lot happened and there was much drama, but I just haven't felt like sorting it all out yet. Maybe soon.
The same child had her annual visit with a pediatric cardiologist. There is something inherently terrifying about visiting a pediatric cardiologist. They shouldn't even exist. Kids should have perfectly functioning little hearts. But one of mine doesn't. Twin 1 has pulmonary valve stenosis. It just means that one of the valves to her heart doesn't close all the way when her heart pumps. Fortunately, this is very mild with DD and it doesn't affect her daily life in any way. She just has to get antibiotics before going to the dentist and have her heart looked at every couple of years to make sure there are no changes.
Even though I know that DD's problem is very mild and she has been showing no signs of any problems whatsoever, there is still that moment of terror when the doctor is performing the ultrasound and doing measurements. Why is he taking so long? Didn't he already do that? Why is he leaving to do his calculations instead of just telling me everything is ok?
But it was all ok. DD's heart hasn't changed since last year, and her condition is still mild. And I am a relieved mommy.
So, I know I haven't posted in a few days. We have been visiting family. A lot happened and there was much drama, but I just haven't felt like sorting it all out yet. Maybe soon.
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