Not getting any better

SS was sent home from school yesterday with a fever and TT was sent home today (and we checked her this morning and she was perfectly fine!) Turns out they have the swine flu. Seriously--I have three kids and two get the swing flu and the third gets a kidney stone ALL IN ONE WEEK?

Meanwhile I have an MSJ response due tomorrow. I just got it Monday afternoon and I have never worked on the case before. The attorney to whom the case belongs had a last-minute mediation pop up and he will be out tomorrow. Which means that I have to finish the damn thing tonight so that he can sign off on it before he heads out in the morning.

And I would already be done, but I had to take the twins to the doc. DH already missed Mon and Tue with sick kids and I couldn't dodge again.

And somewhere in the middle of all this we bought a new car today. It's nice to be rid of the clown car, but it is just one more thing that I did not have time to deal with today.

Ok, must resume work on my MSJ response--but I had to bitch a little first. Can I have a caffeine IV please? This may be a long night.

Update on Other People's Parents

I just received another comment on this post, which reminded me that I needed to update this story.

So the week after Friend spent the weekend with us, she disappeared off the face of the planet. Apparently she came to school on a Thursday, told some kids that she was packing up to move, was pulled from school early the same day, and hasn't been seen since. There is a for sale sign in front of her house.

PS is sure that Friend had no idea that she would be moving. How bizarre is this story?

Sunday's post: Blogging from the ER on my iphone

Apparently I jinxed myself with yesterday's post. There has been plenty of butt-sitting today, but it has all been at hospitals.

Turns out, PS has a kidney stone. Who the hell has ever heard of an 11-year-old kid getting a kidney stone? The poor kid spent most of her day curled into a fetal position. DH gets stones. And I've seen him writhing on the floor in a fetal position, so I can't imagine how hard thus is on a kid. The stone was causing an obstruction earlier in the day which had us concerned, but it seems to have finally moved and PS seems much better.

Now if the darn hospital will just let us go. It is insane here, right in the middle of flu season. Everyone is wearing masks. And we were sent to the children's hospital--which is supposed to be a very good hospital, but it is also a public hospital--so there were many, many people there who appear to be using the ER as their PCP. And they were not happy when we got bumped to the front of the line.

Why the hell do people feel the need to bring the whole damn family to the ER for non-life-hanging-in-the-balance treatment? And of course, being a children's hospital, there is constant crying and screaming.

There have been two cops parked outside the room across hall all night. A mother started crying hysterically when the took her baby. I knew it was coming--why else would you have cops outside the room at a children's hospital? As hardened as I am after being a GAL in the child ad clinic at school--and attending grand rounds for lectures on how to identify child abuse in this very same hospital--it was heartbreaking to see a mother lose her child. And, of course, LL's story popped into my mind. I simply can't imagine how I would function if someone took my child away.

Update:

PS was released late last night and is doing much better.

And on the 7th day, she rested

My life in chaos has continued this week. My to-do list at work was frighteningly long at the beginning of the week, but it is manageable again after I knocked out a couple of research projects that took much less time than I anticipated.

We have been car shopping for DH, so I had to rush home Monday night so that we could return a car that we had been test driving over the weekend to a dealership 20 miles away. Stopped for dinner on the way home, which took an excruciatingly long time, and finally walked through my front door at 9 pm.

Tuesday was no more than the standard chaos--well except for getting up at 5 to book reservations for breakfast with Cinderella on Christmas morning (this is supposed to be a tough chick to book with, but I was successful). Wednesday I had time to come home, have dinner with the family, and head back out to Target to pick up necessaries. Thursday was PS's birthday--and the night of 5:00 and 7:00 soccer practices. So we all went to PS's 7:00 practice and then went out for dinner--which again took an excruciatingly long time, and again we didn't get home until after 9.

Then my aunt came to visit on Friday, so we went out for dinner and drinks and headed home. Up early this morning for soccer game #1, two-hour break, soccer game #2, shower and change to go to touristy place for PS's b-day, where you are forced to eat barely mediocre food with your fingers and really bad actors on horses are kicking up dust everywhere. (Kids LOVED it, though.) Somewhere in the middle of all of this, Aunt and I went to the craft store and proceeded to make headpieces for the girls to wear to the touristy place.

Finally home and sitting on my butt for what feels like the first time this week. I hope for more butt-sitting tomorrow, although we really need to paint and install the baseboard that was removed because we just redid our dining room floor.

I feel surrounded by chaos. Work is chaotic. My house is chaotic with only the dining room floor installed and the furniture all out of place while work is in progress. Kids' school and activities is chaotic. Trying to find a new car is chaotic. (Apparently I live in fantasy-land regarding the cost of cars.) I feel much busier than I have in the past--I don't know why. I'm sure it's partly the pressure to prove myself at a new job. Maybe we're just trying to take on too much at once--but it has felt like a real challenge to juggle it all lately.

Life is still chaotic

I am somewhat freaked out by my to-do list at work. It is long, and I am already juggling more cases than I ever did at Old Firm. I have been handed a few small cases to run with, and several medium to large cases that I am second or third-chairing. And then there are the projects on cases that I am not really involved with, but the attorney's just need a little help.

And in the middle of all the business, the school called on Wednesday and insisted that TT had pink-eye and that I pick her up. It didn't matter that I know my child, know she has allergies that affect her eyes, and had seen her a mere hour and a half before when she was most assuredly pink-eye free. I had to leave work to retrieve her and then make a doctor's appointment to acquire a note stating that the kid has allergies that sometimes make her eyes look red. (DH often deals with these kid emergencies, but he was launching a new international website last week and could not get away.)

So, missing a day of work has not helped, and I really need to put in some time today so that I don't get any further behind. I also have to draft a petition for my pro bono client. The one I picked up 3 months ago, when I was unemployed and had nothing better to do. She just last week returned the documents that I need to file her petition--arghhh!

And in the middle of all this, we had two soccer games yesterday and horseback riding lessons today. And I got the smackdown from PS's Russian violin teacher last week (she is very strict and I love her!). I told her that we were considering dropping violin lessons because PS did not seem dedicated enough to continue. Violin Teacher basically told me that it was my job to push PS to practice, that PS had the talent and ability to be a very good violinist, but that PS needed discipline. Violin Teacher then basically stated that white American children are lazy and undisciplined and not living up to their potential, and that the top orchestras in this area are filled with Asian musicians because their parents push them harder and they are far more disciplined.

The thing is, I push the girls very hard at school. I have had more than one teacher tell me that I push too hard. I have on many occasions asked for more challenging work for my kids because I don't think they are being being challenged to work to their full potential at school. But I don't do this with their extra-curriculars. My mindset has been that the girls need to find their "thing"--what they are good at and what they enjoy, and that the internal drive to be the best will follow.

I am extremely competitive. When I played an instrument, I wanted to be the best, and I practiced a lot to make sure I was the best. My parents never told me to practice--and honestly, probably wished that I had practiced a little less. I guess I expected the same from my kids.

But Violin Teacher made a very good point. Teaching kids the discipline to do something, even when they don't want to, is key to making them successful adults. Acquiring the discipline to practice the violin teaches PS the discipline to study when she gets to college or graduate school. And this is especially important for a smart kid who breezes through school.

So maybe we'll stick out the violin lessons--at least through the end of the year.

I am a sucky blogger

Yes, I have been derelict in my duties to the blogosphere lately. Not so much in my own blog--although my own posting has declined lately--but in my interaction with other bloggers.

I'm still reading, ladies, even if I'm not commenting. In fact, I have about 10 posts from various MILPS starred in my reader that I intended to come back and comment on. I tend to read posts through my reader at work, but I don't want to comment from there. Because I am paranoid about my office tracking my internet usage--and some of you link back to me. But I get home at night and get busy and never get around to commenting.

Also because my reader is registered under my real name gmail account, but I comment through my LC account. For all of you who use blogger, which is tied to gmail, I can't comment unless I switch accounts. It's a pain and I am lazy--and then I never get around to commenting.

So I'll try to do better. I know it's nice to have feedback, and everybody has a lot going on lately.

I live at the circus

I really wonder if other people have to endure the craziness that we do.

On Friday, we were late getting out the door to school. Then TT knocked over her bicycle and was completely incapable of picking it up. I couldn't get to it because the car door was open and blocking the way. So I started screaming,"Get in the car! Get in the car! Get in the Car!" So that she would get in the car and close the door so that I could pick up the bicycle--because it was 5 minutes before the tardy bell rings at school. I picked up the bike, threw myself into the car and started backing out only to see the neighbor setting out the trash. I yelled back to the kids, "great, now the neighbors think I'm nuts." I am certain the neighbor heard this because he looked up and smiled at me.

On Saturday we all dragged our butts out of bed to make PS's 9:00 soccer game on a dreary rainy Saturday morning. I had received an email from the coach the night before, confirming the time, and had checked the league website about 500 times to make sure that it wasn't canceled because of the rain. We got to the soccer fields at 9:00 on the dot, only to find that the email I had received was from last season's coach (whose team we aren't on anymore) and PS's game was actually at 2:00. And of course her new friend was with us, who found it all very amusing.

On Sunday we spontaneously decided to put a new floor in the dining room. Yes, 2 weeks after I had a ginormous antique piano delivered by two burly men. DH and I are not the equivalent of 2 burly men and looked more than a little ridiculous trying to move a ginormous piano. I now have half a dining room floor and bare concrete on the other half. Hopefully I will have the other half of the floor by end of next weekend.

Tonight DH ran out to the car to get something. On his way back in, Bob rushed past him through the garage and dove under the closing garage door that was still a foot off the ground. The garage door bounced off Bob and started going back up, but it didn't stop Bob from escaping.

DH and PS then dove under the garage door after Bob. I grabbed the leash and the car keys, and also took off. We've been through this before. Bob escapes at every opportunity. Yet getting him to go to the backyard to pee is a major undertaking. Apparently we need training. Anyway, he will not return once he escapes--except to the car, because he likes to ride in the car. And he runs so far that's is nice to have someone to haul everyone back once he is captured.

So it is late dusk when Bob takes off. And by the time I got the car down the alley, I couldn't find DH, PS or Bob anywhere. I circled the neighborhood for 20 minutes with no luck. Finally headed back home in case I missed them. Nope. Grabbed my phone, and called DH who tells me that they have spotted Bob, but haven't captured him. And he is very close to the highway in a semi-wooded area.

I headed that way and hopped the curb with the Suburban. It quickly became clear that I was not going to be able to get past the trees to where DH and Bob are, so I put her in reverse. But it has been raining for 3 days and I had no traction and the suburban was stuck. 10 minutes later I managed to maneuver my way out of the grass and head the other way toward DH and Bob. Finally, DH captured Bob, but they were right in the middle of the wooded area, with a long walk back to the road.

I again hopped the curb to try to meet DH. But there was a little hill, still no traction, and I immediately started sliding backward. Which was probably a good thing, or I probably would have been stuck again. Waited for DH, PS and Bob and finally loaded up and finally made back home at 8:30.

Now, every time Bob sits still for more than 10 seconds, someone yells, "hey Bob!" Because Bob has recently had his heartworm treatment and isn't supposed to be active at all for 30 days. Hopefully, the damn dog hasn't gone and killed himself.

Other people's parents

Friday PS called me at work to ask if a new friend could come over. PS said Friends moved to her school late last year and hadn't yet made very many friends. I said ok, as long as Friend's mom knew there was only a babysitter at our house and no sleepovers because she had a 9:00 soccer game this morning.

When I got home from work I asked how long Friend is allowed to stay. PS said, "well, Friend thought it was a sleepover, so she brought her stuff."

I said, "no sleepovers because of soccer, she needs to call her mom and find out what time she needs to be home tonight."

Apparently Friend's mom disappeared for the evening, and Friend could not reach her at all. Also, Nanny told me that Friend's mom never asked for our phone number or any information about us--just dropped off Friend and didn't even come to the door.

Now, PS and her BFF have ventured into the waters of parent manipulation before and have not gone back after they got in trouble from both sides. I really don't think that PS was trying to pull one over on me. I think that Friend's mom just checked out.

This morning, I told Friend that we had a soccer game and that she needed to call her mom so that we could drop her off beforehand. Friend couldn't reach mom again. So we took Friend to soccer game (well, sort of--that's another post).

I finally decided that if Friend's parents had so little interest in her whereabouts, she might be just as well at our house. And as of 3 this afternoon, still no peep from Friend's parents. I finally told her to call home and make sure someone was there so we could drop her off. I guess we could have kept her all weekend.

I am just astonished that this child's parents let her spend the night at someone's house, having never met her parents, and left her there for a full 24 hours without ever checking in on her. She was very polite and well-behaved, but you just have to wonder what is going on on the home front.

Maybe I'm smarter than I thought

Leaving old firm may have turned out to be a better decision that I realized. As I was heading into the office Friday morning I saw one of the secretaries from old firm crossing the street. I know she takes the train to work, and she wasn't especially close to a station, so I pulled over and offered her a ride.

She let it slip that the firm's big moneymaker case had been stayed due to a bankruptcy--basically bringing all billables to a screeching halt. The firm had hired three associates and two paralegals exclusively for that matter. Everyone who was contract has been canned.

Now, I probably would have been safe, even through this. I did the initial work-up on the moneymaker case, but I was moved off of it fairly early on. Instead, I was very deeply involved with all of the other cases in my practice group. And I was hired before all of those who were working on the moneymaker case. But, still, it is possible that I could have been laid off if another big fish weren't reeled in soon.

Of course, I am "last in" at new firm. So, presumably, if things go south I will be first out. But new firm seems to take major financial decisions--like adding a new associate (I was an expansion, not a replacement)--very seriously, and I don't think they would have made that leap if they weren't confident that they had the business to keep me around. And the current economic climate is actually a bit of a boon to the industry I am working in now.

Holiday Weekend

We were all supposed to be driving to Hometown this morning. SIL turned 3o yesterday, and his family makes a big deal out of the big birthdays. MIL's b-day was also this week.

We found out a few weeks ago that MIL's cancer is inoperable and incurable. She has already undergone two rounds of chemo and one round of radiation and the tumor did not respond at all. It is pressing on the nerves at the base of her spine and causes constant pain. If it grows larger, it will compress the arteries running to her legs. She is currently undergoing a third round of chemo, just to keep it from growing any more. She'll return to the cancer treatment center next month for a fourth, experimental treatment.

Anyway, MIL was really looking forward to having all of her kids together for SIL's birthday bash. Unfortunately, two of my kids started running fevers yesterday and have nasty colds. Of course, we can't bring them anywhere near MIL right now (really, they're not fit to be anywhere in public.)

So I am home with the two sickies and DH took the third kid with him to Hometown.

It's raining men--or jobs, as the case may be

You know how when you're single it seems as though all the good guys have disappeared off the planet, but as soon as you are in a relationship again, eligible men are suddenly everywhere?

Apparently the same holds true for jobs. It took me two months to find a job. I sometimes went weeks without hearing a peep from anyone. But as soon as I am off the market, jobs start popping up everywhere. In the month I've been employed I've had at least 3 interview requests, and in the last week I have had two almost job offers. One from a firm I interviewed with letting me know that they suddenly have an opening and asking if I was still interested. The second came today from a friend at the DA's office I interned at in law school. They just received a grant for an intake attorney and he was giving me a heads up that the DA was going to call me to see if I was interested.

I somewhat reluctantly told my friend that I am off the market. I sort of feel like a sell out. Being a prosecutor was what I wanted to do more than anything coming out of law school, and if he had called 6 weeks ago I would have jumped at the offer.

But I will admit that the first thing that popped into my mind was that a move to the DA's office would require a 50% pay cut. I would have been ok with that kind of salary starting out, but it would be tough to swallow after acclimating to a higher income.

And intake attorney doesn't sound like that much fun. And they grant is only for one year. And it is in podunkville, and I'd rather practice in Big City.

But I have friends there. It is closer to home. The hours would be better.

For now I'll stay where I am. I'm not quite loving it, but I know that it will take some time to adjust. And I don't think it's fair to abandon ship without giving it a fair shake. (How many metaphors have I mixed in this post?)

When is free really free?

PS and I were playing with a keyboard at Costco the other day. She asked if I could play anything, and I responded with the truth: the only thing I can play on the piano is Silver Bells. She was quite impressed with my ability to peck out the first few bars as I sang out the notes ("C-A-G-E, C-A-G-E, E-D-C, A-A-A").

Then she said, "Oh, that's how you do it," and proceeded to play a song that she knows on her violin. The child knows nothing about the piano, but was able to play an actual tune. She also taught herself a few simple tunes by ear on her violin and the kiddie keyboard she has at home.

I played the flute for years (and was very good) and cannot play ANYTHING by ear. And I certainly could not play anything on the piano. I think my child has musical talent. (I did not have talent, Ihad work ethic. I practiced a lot.) She is doing ok, but not great, with the violin--but I think it is because she's just not that interested in it. I think she may have more interest in the piano.

So, last night on craigslist I found a free piano. There were pictures posted and it looks nice enough. The ad said it was in good shape and just needed to be tuned. I am always leary of a craigslist ad, but I think it's within the realm of possibility that someone would give away a piano just to avoid the cost of having it moved.

And of course, it will cost me a couple of hundred bucks to have the "free" piano moved and tuned. I will go see it before I start coughing up cash, but I know nothing about pianos or what to look for. I guess as long as it plays and there are no visible defects it will work well enough for a starter piano.

Cell phone demons

Would you be concerned if your lawyer whipped out this phone? I LOVE this case. It screams something, but I'm not sure it's professionalism. PS said, "it doesn't mean your not a grown up, it just means you're a grown up who likes to have fun."

Perfect Day

Left the house at 7:15 so that I could make it to the office by 8 for an 8:30 meeting with a client. Made it to work at 8:35. (Fortunately both boss and client were late as well.)

Spent all day doing off-site doc review with client.

Broke for lunch and backed into a low concrete wall that was completely invisible from the driver's seat of my ginormous SUV--with client in the car. Am sure client now thinks his lawyer is a crazy woman driver. Have a nice dent in my bumper. (Shhhh, don't tell DH.)

Finish doc review at 6:30 and my head is pounding, drop client off at office at 7:15, make it home by 7:45. Sit down for dinner and spill an entire glass of iced tea into my lap. Possibly ruined suit. (I always change clothes as soon as come home from work, but tonight I was so tired, and dinner was on the table, so I was still in my suit.)

Head still pounding, too tired to eat, go take a bath.

Headache gone, exhaustion setting in.

Last day of summer

The girlies go back to school tomorrow. DH escorted them to Meet the Teacher night on Friday. They were bouncing-off-the-walls excited. PS and TT got the teachers they wanted. SS did not, but the way it worked out is really great.

SS and TT's teachers will be team teaching this year. SS's teacher will handle math and science for both classes and TT's teacher will handle language and social studies for both classes. So they will have the same teachers for all subjects!!! This is a dream come true for a mom of twins, and will make my life much, much easier. They were not doing this when PS was in 3rd grade, so it was a very pleasant surprise.

PS is assigned to the super-cool male science teacher for homeroom. I am thrilled for her because she LOVES science. And this teacher runs the Lego Mindstorm robotics program that PS is dying to be involved with. He told her that she should be a shoo-in since she is such a science nut and was in his science clubs last year. She will also be in the same class as her BFF for the first time ever. It will be interesting to see how that works out.

All of the kids are going to be up for big changes. I think 3rd grade is a big transition year, and PS's 6th grade curriculum sounds very challenging. She is in pre-AP math--I hope that I can still help her!

Of course, the next few weeks will be insane, as we get back into the routine of getting everybody out the door in the morning, and the dinner, homework, baths before a school-night bedtime rush in the evenings. Plus their fall activities, and only having a few hours each evening to fit it all in.

And the forms, my god the forms. Every year I start cursing at the number of forms I am required to fill out. So far it is 14 per kid (42!!!). But those are just the official school district forms. There will be more from each teacher, the PTA, the specials teachers, etc. The freaking forms drive me to cursing every single year. This year I finally got smart and just left the first name blank and photocopied them all, so at least I only had to fill out one of each form.

Now I just need to iron PS's first day of school outfit (why did I let her pick out something that had to be ironed?) and I think we're all set.

Never criticize your husband's mashed potatoes

Crazy day. I had a dentist appointment that made me about an hour late for work. (I had to be fitted for a crown. I have been putting it off for, oh, 2 years, but I am losing my dental coverage at the end of the month, so it was now or never. I've been on DH's health insurance forever, which includes dental and vision. New firm covers the full cost of health insurance, but doesn't offer dental or vision, and it's not worth paying for me to stay on DH's health plan just for vision and dental.)

As soon as I got to my desk, I had messages from two of my big bosses. One of them was an emergency that I had to deal with because he had to be out of the office and the other attorney on the case is on his honeymoon. So that kept me busy all day, plus about a million other little things thrown.

I finally made it home about 7:15, as DH was just about to put dinner on the table. I helped bring everything to the table, and then started serving up the kids' plates. And I might have said, "honey, I think you added too much milk, your mashed potatoes are more like potato soup." He huffed back into the kitchen.

I finished serving the kids and we waited and waited for DH to return with the green beans. When he finally arrived I said, "the hardest part about being a cook is figuring out how to get all of the food on the table at the same time."

Apparently he considered that as an additional criticism of his cooking, and it all went downhill from there.

So, the crazy day isn't getting any better. Maybe I should just go to bed.

Reason # 5,928, 546 why I made the right decision when I left Old Firm

Friday afternoon I was talking to New Boss when Old Firm came up. New Boss said, "Boy, Partner really didn't want to talk to me when I called for references. He told me that my call should be directed to human resources, but I would talk to me because it is you."

I replied, "well, he volunteered to serve as a reference, but that doesn't really surprise me."

New Boss said, "He was very reluctant. If I asked him pointed questions he would answer truthfully, but I could tell he didn't want to."

WTF??? Partner called me and offer to serve as a reference--and yet when I use him, he acts like a total a-hole! I am so royally pissed. First, Old Firm screwed me out of a job, and then Partner could have very well cost me a second job.

Fortunately, I think New Boss does not have a very high opinion of Old Firm, and recognized that the issues are theirs, not mine. Thank god I found New Firm, because I might never had found a job with the bad mojo of Old Firm hanging around.

ihappiness

To celebrate 2 weeks of gainful employment and my first paycheck in 3 months, I finally got my iphone last night. I had been debating between the iphone and blackberry, and since my office runs macs and our calendaring email system is a mac-based system, the iphone seemed to make the most sense. And it's just cool.

I spent too much time last night loading it up with apps. Some not so useful, like the iglowstick, some moderately useful like urban spoon, the essentials like facebook and google mobile, and some that are just freakin' cool like Shazam (DH is pulling out his obscure music trying to defeat Shazam.)

Of course, there are plenty of law-related apps out there. I'm just not sure that I need the Rules of Evidence on my phone. Good to know there out there though.

iphone J.D. specializes in reviewing iphone apps for lawyers, and recently posted a list of reviews in one handy-dandy blog post.

This blog has also done a nice job reviewing quite a few apps for lawyers. The date calc app seems handy--but can it calculate the Monday following the expiration of 20 days? Oh wait--I found a legal deadline calculator specific to my state--woot!

So my phone is becoming all tricked out--now I just need to get the hang of the virtual keyboard.

The bane of youth

Today I met a client with whom I telephone conferenced earlier in the week. He asked if I had been doing this very long. My boss piped in that I had just started with the firm, but that I had been practicing for a couple of years. Client said, "well you couldn't have been practicing very long, you sure don't look very old."

Of course, as a woman, I am always pleased to hear that I look younger than I am. But I'm not sure that my allegedly youthful appearance is a virtue for my professional career. If I had gone straight through college and law school, I could have made partner by now. In fact, a couple of the partners at my firm are my age.

And this isn't the first time that others have assumed that I am a twenty-something. In law school virtually everyone assumed that I was their age. And once they learned I had kids--and how old they were--you could seem them mentally calculating whether I was a teen parent. A few were bold enough to ask my age, and were usually very surprised.

My former boss certainly had no clue how old I was until well after I was hired (and I wasn't about to disillusion him.) And my current boss actually asked how old I was in my interview, and then informed me that I did not look my age. (And yes, I did tell him that he is not supposed to ask age in interviews.)

The thing is, I don't really thing I look so much younger than I am. I don't dress "young." Today I was wearing a cardigan and slacks. I definitely don't have the figure I did at 25. And I don't really think I look younger than friends my own age.

Anyway, the point is that I don't think looking young is helpful to my career. I'm not sure the client I met today would be as comfortable with me handling his case as he would with someone who appeared older. But there is not much I can do about it. I'll just have to prove my competence to gain the confidence of my clients.

P.S. I do not know what was up with yesterday's post. It was a little umm, redundant, or something.

New job: week 2

Tomorrow marks 2 weeks at the new job. I think this week is going much better than last. Last week I was feeling pretty overwhelmed with getting up to speed on several cases at once. At old firm I was finally at the point where I had brought most of my cases up from their infancy and I was very familiar with them. Now I am having to learn a new practice area and get up to speed on 10 different cases all at once.

But I am getting a handle on things and am no longer so overwhelmed. I worked late tonight, but otherwise have been regulating my hours better.

Nothing exciting to write about.