4/28/11

Well, that was really unexpected

So, I got a call today from my contact at Legal Aid. She informed me that I am being presented with an award tomorrow for performing the most pro bono hours in a certain county. How is that possible? It's not in Big City where I practice, or in the suburb where I live. It is one county over from where I live, and I did pick up a pro bono case there last year. One. And it was not a complex or particularly time-consuming case.

The first thing I asked her, was "are you sure?" And she assured me that she was. Apparently nobody steps up for pro bono work in that county, and it is one where there really is a great deal of need. I interned in the district attorney's office there when I was in law school. As a second year law student I got to work on two capital murder cases (one was a death penalty case, and yes, the D was sentenced to death), a first degree murder, an aggravated kidnapping by a meth dealer (I think I know how to build a meth lab now) and plenty of other drug and child molestation cases. No chance in heck I would have been able to work on those kinds of cases in Big City--their interns worked on DUI cases. But this county is rural and poor and overrun with drug problems--and there were only 4 ADAs

Anyway, I really do not feel like I deserve any kind of award. But the legal aid contact was pushing hard for me to attend. She said that that they already had the plaque engraved and that they had already paid for me to attend the bench/bar conference tomorrow where the awards are being presented. And so I guess I will go and graciously accept an award I don't deserve (and pick up some free CLE credit!).

But I had to reschedule a meeting with a current pro bono client to attend. Can you say irony?

4/24/11

Nice break

Happy Easter to all who celebrate.

We spent our weekend in a little cabin on the edge of a river with the most fantastic multi-level deck that leads town to a fishing dock. Despite predictions, the weather remained clear, and we had a great time.

DH and the kids caught lots of fish while I sat on the deck watching a reading, frosty beverage in hand. I decided to re-read the Harry Potter series. I have only been through the series once, and I started when I was pregnant with the twins--so about 10 years ago. The last book came out the week before I took the bar exam--can you imagine what torture that was? It is fascinating to re-read Book 1 and pick up on all of the hints and bits of foreshadowing. And it is so amazing to realize how carefully J.K. Rowling must have planned to be able to tie it all together. I very rarely re-read book (because there is always something new and unknown that I want to read!), but I'm so glad to have picked this series up again. My goal is to get through it before the last movie come out.

Anyway, we also fit in a short canoe trip and about 5 miles of hiking. We tried to stick with the easy hiking trails because of TT's arm, but at one point she decided to take off running at top speed. The kids were about 20 yards ahead of us, and I heard PS yell "don't run!" and then I heard TT crying. She had tripped and landed face-down, right on top of her splinted arm. She was covered in mud, scraped up her uninjured arm, and had a big gash on her knee. But the splint seems to have protected the broken arm. Lesson learned: don't take kids with broken arms on any trails--or even let them outside--until they are completely healed.

I wish the weekend were longer. I'm not ready to start another week.

4/20/11

At least tomorrow is a fake Friday

Well, yesterday sucked and today wasn't much better.

I spent my morning in a settlement meeting. We were so close, I really thought it was a done deal. And then opposing counsel demanded a term that we just couldn't agree to. Everything fell apart from there. Argh.

Headed back to the office for 2 hours, which was just enough time to resolve another case. At least I accomplished something today.

But bitchy secretary just had to stop by my office and start prodding me: "So, you kid's arm really was hurt, huh? I guess you were wrong about it not being broken. I bet you feel really bad about not taking her to the doctor." I just gave her the evil eye, because all of the responses I was thinking in my head (like "fuck off, bitch") would have been inappropriate from an HR standpoint. (And the only reason she knows any of this is because she eavesdrops on my telephone conversations.)

Left the office at 2:15 to pick TT up at 3 for our 3:45 appointment. Somewhere in there we had just enough time for ice cream. Yay! Waited for 30 minutes to see a doctor for 2 minutes who decided that we only needed a splint, not a cast. That was good news. Casts are itchy and can't get wet. At least TT can take the splint off to bathe...and scratch.

Came home, played a raucous game of Boggle (we're all about the scatological humor) and sent the girls off to pack for our trip this weekend. Then I checked the weather, and it is supposed to storm all weekend. Fantastic. So much for hiking and canoeing. Hopefully we can still squeeze in some fishing (fortunately TT casts with her right hand--it's the left that is broken--because she has been begging to go fishing). And I guess we'll be packing up the Boggle.

After this week I am REALLY looking forward to a weekend in a cabin with a bottle of wine and trashy magazines.

4/19/11

Major Mommy Fail

Over a week ago my nanny called to tell me that TT had fallen at school and hurt her arm. The school nurse thought she was fine, but Nanny thought it looked swollen and said that TT was complaining about it a lot. So I left work early so that I could take a look and determine if she needed to go to an urgent care center (of course, it was 4:00 on a Friday afternoon and I wasn't getting in with my doc.) And because I have broken half the bones in my body and nobody (including the school nurse) ever believed I had a break--except my mom. ( And every time she said it was broken it really was.)

But when I got home it didn't look very bad. So I just hung out with her and watched to see if she was using or favoring her arm. I started tossing toys at her to see if she would catch them. And she really seemed fine. So I did not take her in.

Sometime last week, she fell at school (again) and hurt her arm (again). She has been falling a lot and has been getting big ugly bruises, so I called the doc to make an appointment. And they couldn't get me in until this Monday. Yeah, I was annoyed, but she still wasn't acting particularly hurt, so I didn't push it. Meanwhile, over the weekend, TT fell (again) while riding her bicycle and hurt her arm a third time

So Monday she finally got to see the doc, who took five vials of blood (for the clumsiness and unexplained bruising) and ordered an X-ray because she though TT's arm was pretty swollen (but not bruised, despite the giant bruises she has been getting everywhere else).

Today I got the results of both. TT's wrist is fractured and we have an appointment with an orthopedist tomorrow to have a cast put on. Yeah, totally missed that one. Apparently I did not inherit my mother's ability to diagnose broken bones. (I went more than two weeks with two broken feet last summer before I saw a doc, so I really should have know this.) God, I feel terrible. I felt like a mommy failure when PS first had to get glasses because I hadn't noticed sooner that she couldn't read anything. This is about a million times worse.

And while her bloodwork ruled out most blood disorders, her ANA count was very high, which can be indicative of an autoimmune disorder. We have been referred to a pediatric rheumatologist, but apparently, there is only one pediatric rheumatologist in all of Big City. (How is that possible?) So who knows how long it will take to actually get an appointment with this doctor. Meanwhile I am trying not to freak out. WedMD is not helping. But I did get some comfort from reading actual medical journals that seem to indicate a fairly high number of false-positives with this test.

Of course, adding to my worry is the fact that this child is an identical twin. Which means that if she does have something serious, there's a good possibility that her twin could have the same thing. Ugh. It sucks when you can't protect your kids from crap like this.

4/14/11

Cranky

I hate Word 2007. Hate, hate, hate it. I have had it on my machine for years, and i have never figured out the stupid ribbon menu. I can't freaking figure out how to do anything.

I have to file a brief with the state supreme court tomorrow. It's done--I just need to do the table of contents and table of authorities. I don't do these very often, and it is always a PITA. And for some inexplicable reason, I am far more tech savvy than my staff, so if I can't figure it out, it ain't gonna happen.

I started playing around with in in Word 2008 for Mac, and it worked ok, but the TOC wasn't picking up all of my tagged titled. And it kept changing the font--which is bad because the rules contain very specific font requirements.

So I thought I would just bring it home and work out the kinks on my PC, because I'm a PC girl and generally blame the stupid mac for all of my problems. But the Word '08 of Mac is about a million times more user friendly that the '07 on my PC.

But I'm about to throw my laptop out a window, so I guess I will have to figure it all out on my mac tomorrow.

It doesn't help that I am seriously hurting right now. I was rear-ended on my way to work on Tuesday. It didn't seem too bad--his car looks a whole lot worse than mine. But I was pretty sore, and by the end of the day, I made an appt with my doc. She gave me some scrips, but I didn't fill them, because I'm not big on taking drugs, and the pain was not unbearable. And then today I woke up and couldn't turn my neck. Now I have shooting pain in my neck and shoulders. I really want to take a muscle relaxer, but I was trying to finish formatting my stupid brief first.

And I had a hearing on a pro bono matter that left me fuming. The prosecutor flat-out refused to consider any evidence that was favorable to my client. Then she said, "my job is to decide guilt or innocence." Hmmm, I thought that was the jury's job. I'm pretty sure the prosecutor's job is to ensure justice is had. To me that means considering all of the evidence--not just the state's version of events. She also said (this is a juvenile truancy case), "I don't consider it bullying when it is many different kids doing it over a period of time. It's only bullying when it is one kid who repeatedly harasses another." WTF? She also refused to voluntarily turn over any discovery because "it's sounds like you are on a fishing expedition so that you can build a lawsuit against the school district." Again, WTF? When I worked in the DA's office we always turned over the entire file upon request. I think she is a bully, and most of the kids she deals with don't have the benefit of a lawyer.

4/10/11

Weekend Ramblings

PS and I had matinee tickets to a local theater production, so we made a day of it and headed to the mall for lunch and a bit of shopping. It was a nice mom/daughter day.

Afterward we headed to a nearby running store that I have been meaning to visit ever since I broke my feet. $125 later and I was fitted with a sparkly new pair of Asics Gel Nimbus 12. (Doesn't that sounds like something Harry Potter would wear?) I have definitely never paid that much for a pair of running shoes, but it is much cheaper than a pair of robot boots. Interestingly, I was sized at 7.5. Every pair of shoes in my closet is a 9. Apparently I'm not a 9, I just have super-wide Barney Rubble feet and have been ordering up to compensate for them.

Then we decided to make a quick run into Central Market to grab a particular sauce that I use as a base in DH's favorite dish. Ha! That place is freaking nuts on a Sunday afternoon--comparable to Disneyland on a Saturday in June. There were people every where, and they weren't especially polite. And it's a maze like Ikea--once you're in, there's no leaving unless you find one of their super-secret exit passageways. And the trip was futile, because they no longer carried the sauce that I went in for (although a very helpful employee did help me locate a couple of similar products to experiment with). I definitely won't be visiting Central Market on a weekend again any time soon.

Finally made it home in time for dinner and to help TT out with her research project. Her topic is "volcanoes." Her teacher told me last week that TT was having trouble focusing her research. Ummm, ya think it's because her topic is "volcanoes."? That's pretty dang broad. I told TT that we needed to start an outline of what we are trying to learn about volcanoes. I also insisted that we research with books instead of doing broad internet searches. Stunningly, her research is suddenly more focused.

Meanwhile, I am becoming an expert on volcanoes when I need to be drafting a response to a petition for writ of mandamus that was requested by our state supreme court and is due in a week. I was making good headway on Friday until I got a call from our nanny telling me that TT had hurt her harm and that she thought it might be broken. I rushed home (and after observing TT for half an hour determined that her arm was definitely not broken), and intended to return to my writ response this weekend. But the weekend is almost over and I've made no more progress on my response. I see a late night in my near future.

4/8/11

Sum-sum-summertime

It seems like spring has just started, but summer is already moving toward us, full steam ahead. I've signed all three girls up for summer camp--in the same week!!! What are DH and I going to do with a week without kids? We could go for dinner or drinks every night. We could go to the theater, or the comedy club we've been meaning to try, or a baseball game. And we won't have to worry about rushing home to relieve the sitter. It will be like we get our own grown-up camp. And the kids will be having a blast.

I've also reserved a condo on the beach for a week at the end of the summer. We had tossed around a couple of ideas for a summer vacation, but this is the most economical. (I'm trying to reserve vacation funds so that we can take the kids on a cruise within the next year. Unfortunately, a trial just got set on the week I was shooting for, so we'll have to see how that plays out.) I'm so looking forward to a week on the beach--although August seems like a really long way off right now.

And by the end of summer I've got to make some major decisions about what I am going to do with the kids next year. My nanny is going off to college, and I just don't know if we still need a nanny starting next year. The twins will be in the 5th grade. PS will be in 8th--and 13. PS is super responsible and definitely doesn't need a babysitter. I have a little less faith in the twins, but they get home from school only about an hour before PS.

Also, our nanny helps out with the housekeeping and the kids laundry. That is huge. And she's available to run the kids around when they have after-school activities. Maybe I can just replace her with a housekeeper with light child care responsibilities, although in my experience it is tough to find someone who does both. At least I have a few months to figure this out.

4/6/11

Adventures in Babysitting

I answered the call of a friend who desperately needed a babysitter so that they could go visit her DH's mom in the ICU,where babies aren't allowed. It was well timed because I was already taking off early to pick my girls up from school because my nanny needed the day off because her mother was having surgery. And since so many people jumped in to help us out when MIL was sick, we appreciate the opportunity to pay it forward.

So I got to spend the evening with a 10-month-old bundle of adorableness, and my girls got a little babysitter training. They have never spent much time around babies, and none of them ever really played with baby dolls or shown any interest in babies. They still didn't show much interest in this baby. But I made PS feed him and change his diaper and I have a hilarious video of her trying to wrestle him into his pajamas. He was a really good sport during all of this.

I ordered a pizza for dinner, which was an experience in itself because Pizza Hut has the suckiest mobile app ever and would only let me have a pizza delivered to my home address. (I was babysitting at the baby's house.) I couldn't even fix it by logging in directly to their website on my phone, because they have an equally sucky mobile web page that also would not let me change my delivery address. Get with it Pizza Hut--surely you can find better programmers that this. I finally got a pizza ordered by, gasp!, using my phone and calling (although even that took two phone calls).

So the pizza guy rang the door bell and the dog started barking ferociously and the baby started fussing. I handed the baby to PS and squeezed out the front door to keep the dog from eating the pizza guy. Who was a 30-something white guy with a jeri curl and a KISS necklace. Who proceeded to tell me all about his own dog, and then run back to his car to grab his cell phone so that he could show me pictures of his own dog.

Finally got rid of the pizza guy, gave my kids pizza, and fed the baby some baby-cookies that he seemed to really like.

Despite the fact that he refused to go to bed when his mom said he would, he was a really good baby and so very cute. It was nice to spend an evening with a little one, but I'm pooped and so darn glad that my girls are big now. I truly have no desire to go back to having babies. They're just so much work--although it is a heck of a lot easier to chase after one than two.

4/2/11

The craziest thing I heard all week

"I'm sorry, but my expert is not available on the day you noticed his deposition because he is going to Mount Ararat to help find Noah's Ark."

Seriously.

Another week, another weekend

It feels a little like I am living for the weekends lately. Not because I don't like my work, but because I am so busy during the week between work and the kids that I don't feel like there is any down time until the weekend.

I'm still busy at work, but not insanely busy like I was a month ago. I haven't eaten dinner at work lately, and that's a good thing.

But Thursday I was in depos in podunkville that lasted until 5:30, and then we had dinner at this fantastic little steak place.* I left my house at 7:30 Thursday morning and didn't start my drive home until 7:00 Thursday night. And I needed to pick up craft supplies for SS and TT to take to a SWAP meet for girl scouts on Friday. So I found a Hobby Lobby along the way, and popped in 20 minutes before they closed to gather supplies.

I got home at 9:00 and proceeded to hot glue millions (ok, 50) tiny swaps while watching the worst Grey's Anatomy ever. (Yes, SS and TT should have made their own swaps, but we were out of time, and they finished up Friday after school).

Speaking of this week's terrible entertainment, I finally watched Black Swan last night. Yuck! I had been so disappointed that I missed it in theaters and was really looking forward to it, and I just did not like it at all.


*Still doing the Nutrisystem thing. Still losing, albeit slowly. Would probably lose faster if I stuck a little closer to the plan, but there have been a lot of client meeting and out-of-office events that require lunch out. And weekends are killer for me, because we usually dine out at least once as a family and we tend to pick up something quick if we are out running around. But I've lost the 10 pounds that I put on this year.

I just ordered another month of food. Hopefully by then I'll be trained to eat healthier. NS forces me to eat more veggies and protein, and I think that lifestyle change is key. I looooove carbs, but they leave me hungry.

As for the NS food, the breakfasts and lunches are ok, but I really don't care for the dinners. I used up all of the breakfasts and lunches that I originally ordered, but I have several dinners left. And a ton of desserts. We've never really been dessert eaters, and when I snack, I usually want salty and NS only sent sweet stuff.

And it appears that I have unintentionally given up sodas. I don't remember the last time I had a Diet Dr.Pepper. I don't even want one any more. Weird.