Half successful is maybe good enough

Last December 31, I resolved the following:

Be invested in the present. Enjoy classes. Enjoy the luxury of being in school. Enjoy the externship and the journal commitments and yes, the stress.

I have to say I was more successful in keeping to this mindset in the Fall semester, after a pretty good summer, than I was back in Spring. I need to keep that going, as this coming semester is my last. Probably ever . . . wow. Anyway, even though I don't have any grades yet and therefore may feel differently next week, I finally felt really present in classes this past Fall and I liked that feeling. So, good enough.

Otherwise, as I said last year:

I don't "do" New Years resolutions. I don't let the flip of a calender page dictate how I choose to live my life. Every few weeks, I go on the kinds of "kicks" people do for the new year -- like giving up fried food or caffeine or pretending to exercise. January first doesn't necessarily inspire any more commitment from me than March 13.

But some recent events have inspired me to consider making some changes. Maybe I can stick with some of them in the new year. Maybe some will even find their way to the blog. Maybe 'good enough' is just that. Maybe I won't be so hard on my self in 2009. Maybe.

To all my bloggy friends, have a safe and happy new year.

Mommy, I'm...

Clownfish has countless sentences with those two words. Mommy, I'm a baby. Mommy, I'm a puppy named Scruffy, and you're not allergic. Mommy, I'm Lightning McQueen and I'm fast.

He imagines he is a variety of animals, characters, and objects and expects me to interact with him accordingly. A brief list of alter egos:

• Dinosaur, usually an ankylosaurus, an allosaurus, or a stegoceras
• R2D2
• The "good" Anakin Skywalker
• Darth Vader & Darth Maul & Darth Sidius & Darth Brooks & Any Other Darth
• Yoda as a Padawan
• A shark
• Snowball (a kitten)
• A friendly dolphin
• An unfriendly orca
• A cookie
• Bumblebee, a Transformer

No, he has never seen Star Wars or Transformers movies. His Mommy thinks he is too young. He was freaked out when we rented Madagascar. Yet he has learned quite enough of the Star Wars and Transformer universes to engage in some credible dialogue, so I tolerate that his Papa has taught him a lot about it.

Besides, in Star Wars mode, I usually get to play C3PO which is pretty easy as it involves a silly walk and talking very formally and British-like. Also, I occasionally get to play someone who gets rescued from something invisible and dangerous.

Except when I am being mauled by marauding dinosaurs or orcas, or being slashed in half by a Lightsaber, it is a pretty good gig, being a mommy.

__________________________

Yes I know, Darth Brooks was a bad joke, but I can't help but think of it every time he begins listing the sith.

MILP #78

Originally posted at OND. Re-posted here for posterity.

This week's roundup is being hosted by me belatedly because I freaking forgot to do it this weekend. On a side note, does the word "forgot" look weird to you? Every time I see it I think it's like a very derogatory name for a gay frog.

Um, anyway. So the roundup. This week's catchy theme is words, and here's a summary of some big ones we've used this week:

• A Year in the Life: Blastocysts
• And You Know What Else: Bicycles
• Better Together: Epidural
• Butterflyfish: Tyrantness
• Cee: Reversed
• Frequent Citations: Reaching kickstand
• (Formerly) Knocked Up (and in law school): Mediocrity
• Googiebaba: Fling boogie
• Lag Liv: Curmudgeonly
• LawMummy: Unvacuumable
• Legally Certifiable: Indictment
• Magic Cookie: Obaba
• The Menagerie: Spikesspiders
• Peanut Butter Burrito: Nochebuena
• PT-LawMom: Bribery
• Trannyhead: Toyphoria
• Wonkness: Sisyphean
  

The tyrant in footy pajamas

My sister is feeling much better after a fever spike and general unpleasantness associated with a C-section, her new daughter is beautiful, and her two year old daughter is terrifying. Ok, the last part is not precisely true. By not precisely true, I mean she's really 27 months old, not 24. She really is terrifying, at least in one respect. I shuddered in fear every time she stirred at night, and I heard every sigh and groan as I was on toddler duty and had her baby monitor. I felt sure another raging screaming fit was not far behind every twitch. She is a bedtime tyrant.

Her bed time ritual involves: bath, pajamas, kisses from my sister, three books in precisely the correct order--woe to the harried aunt who skips a page--a sippy of milk, a face massage while singing "Moon Moon Moon" by Laurie Berkner, and then about an hour of her gently pulling tiny hairs off of my right arm as she holds it while I sit awkwardly on the floor until she falls asleep. When she wakes up during the night, which she does at least twice, she gets another round of arm hair pulling ... and I get a stiff neck. Because if I were to say, sit on a comfortable chair across the room, where she could see but not touch me, this would turn her into a serial killer. No, I had to sit at an awkward angle so she could touch but not see me.

How my sister expects to sustain this ritual while nursing a new infant is beyond me. At nine months pregnant, she often fell asleep on the floor of her daughter's room while waiting for Her Tyrantness to start snoring. Sis says it could be worse, Her Tyrantness could still be crawling into Sis's bed every night.

As for me, I am happy to be home in my own bed. And I believe the post-traumatic stress dreams will fade in time.... If not, there is always booze.

MILP #77

Backdating this one for posterity.

PtLawmom had the round up, here.

Off line

I'll be at my sister's for a few days, helping with the baby, and then maybe a few days more. Not really sure of the time table.

I don't really have time to schedule a bunch of posts, so I am not going to. I'll update upon my return. Until then, have a great holiday, and

Dance.



See Pt-Lawmom and A New Duck for the Round Ups.

Winning him over, one alter ego at a time

Clownfish: It is raining mommy. I don't want Meow to get wet. Could you carry her inside of your jacket?

Me: Sure. (taking Meow and securing her).

Clownfish *tiny voice*: Thank you, you're a great Mommy.

Me: You're welcome, Clownfish.

Clownfish: That wasn't me, that was Meow! Meow thinks you're a great Mommy.

Me: What about you? What do you think?

Clownfish: I think you're ok.

______________
Meow is the stuffed animal he brings to pre-school for nap time every day. He is a small black and white tiger and a miniature version of Ian the Tiger.

Also, my sister had her baby girl, 6 lb 12 oz, 19 inches, healthy and beautiful. She's a peanut compared to her over 8 lb first one. Sister was doing fine last we spoke. I'll be up to see her this weekend.

Post-exam lack of feeling

Real estate is over.

I felt very nervous before the test. I haven't felt that nervous before a test in a while. Now, post-exam, I don't feel much of anything.

I don't feel terrific, like wow I totally nailed that.
I don't feel awful or sick, like wow I totally blew that.
I don't feel as if it tested as much as I knew.
I don't feel that dorky exhilaration that I get when I am really challenged by something and have some fun during an exam.
I don't feel particularly relieved.

I don't feel much of anything.

Could it be? Have I have finally have gotten to the place where I have taken an exam, done what I could with it, and know that since its out of my hands now, I may as well just not bother worrying about it?

Could it be I am finally done with exam angst?

Eh, not bloody likely.

Can you guess which one was mine this weekend?

The following are the 'status messages' some of my friends and I displayed on our instant messenger this weekend. Which one was mine?

Ambition is a poor excuse for not having sense enough to be lazy.

Some people put the 'stud' in study... I bring the Y.

The name on everybody's lips is gonna be: Proxy.

2,4,6,8 I don't wanna die intestate.
1,3,5,7 my will is in probate and I'm in heaven.

Fuct.

There is a fine line between genius and insanity. I have erased that line and replaced it with a small trout.

Haven't been this nervous since when I was waiting to take my driver's license test for the 3rd time.

MILP # 76: Happy Ramahaunusolstikwanzmas

The Weekly MILP (Moms In the Legal Profession) Roundup is hosted on a rotating basis between PT-LawMom, A New Duck, and A Little Fish in Law School blogs. We originally rounded up just the moms in law school, but then discovered that those women eventually graduate. Who knew? So now all the moms in the legal field (heh) are represented. We aim for Sunday posts.

This week's theme: All I want for The Winter Holiday of my Family's Choosing!

One New Duck. Scratchy toilet paper.
Dakota and Butterflyfish. Minimal ethical competence
Lag Liv. Time off with no strings attached
Tranny Head. Anything but turkey sandwiches!
Lawmummy. Anything but permanent markers!
CM (Magic Cookie). Harder exams
Googie Baba. Easier Exams
New Law Mom. Motivation to get through 1L exams.
Andrea (Peanut Butter Burrito). The magic of suing people.
PtLawmom. Bathroom privacy
Legally Certifiable. Bonus!
Amanda (Law School Mommy). First steps.
Cee (Starting to Melt). A resume that doesn't include Blagojevich.

. . . I hope every one gets what she really wants for her Winter Holiday.

___________________
If you’d like to have your blog added to the MILP blogroll for weekly review or would like us to consider a specific post, drop the hostess(es) an email or leave a comment at our sites.Expecting Moms in law school are welcome! Hat tip as always to the “original” Roundup — Evan Schaeffer’s Legal Underground and his co-rounder-upper, Nobody! And of course, to the founder of this round-up, Saramel (retired). Woo hoo! This week I have two in class exams, two take homes, a pre school Holiday Party, a planned date night with Bullshark, and my sister is scheduled to give birth to my new neice.

I think a little Queen (We are the Champions) is appropriate right now

I wrote a summary judgment motion during my last week of work this past summer. I felt good about this one -- it was really helping someone who was getting railroaded by a much bigger entity. We didn't hold out much hope for SJ, but were certainly entitled to it, at least by my reasoning. My boss submitted to the court without any changes.

Butterflyfish-

I wanted to give you a heads up - I received the attached ruling this morning. As you will note, the Court GRANTED THE MOTION FOR SUMMARY JUDGMENT!!! Thanks for all of your work on this one.

Have a Happy and Healthy Holiday Season and I hope to talk to you soon!

~Boss

Now if they would only give me a job . . . though I am honestly ambivalent as to whether I would work there now. I have another iron on the fire. More to come on that score in January.

How can you tell if a lawyer is ethical?

See, this would be the start of a great lawyer joke, except apparently, according to a multiple choice test, I am ethical enough to practice in every jurisdiction that takes the MPRE seriously.

I have no idea how that happened.

Ok, you can all officially say "I told you so."

I've earned it.

Why real estate is making me crazy

Ann borrows money from Big Bank secured by mortgage on her house. Big Bank borrows money from Conglomerate Bank and assigns Ann’s note and mortgage to Conglomerate. Big Bank doesn’t tell Ann about the assignment. No one does. Ann makes all her payments to Big Bank.

A little while later, Ann sells her house to Steve and by the closing, Ann pays off Big Bank in full. Steve moves into his new house. Steve is happy. Ann moves into her retirement community. Ann is happy.

Big Bank declares bankruptcy. Conglomerate has never seen a dime from Big Bank. Conglomerate is not happy.

Conglomerate doesn’t think it can get anything from bankrupt Big Bank, so it can sue for payment on the assigned note and mortgage:

A) Ann
B) Steve
C) Both
D) None of the above (tough sh*t, Conglomerate)

___________________________

Obviously, there is more than one correct answer, depending on the "it depends." But the fact that any approach leads to anything but D blows my mind. Comments later today (or sometime thereafter) will have an explanation.

MILP #75

Originally posted at OND, re-posted here for posterity.


Welcome to the Moms in the Legal Field roundup #75. The roundup is hosted on a rotating basis between me, Butterflyfish, and PT-LawMom. Here's what you had to say this week:

Dakota: The pepper must be injected in a liquid form.
Zuska: He was a girl, she was a boy.
Butterflyfish: Only booze will keep me from going all Lord of the Flies on them.
(Formerly) Knocked Up (and in Law School): Searching for phallic/otherwise dirty kitchen utensils on Williams-Sonoma
Lag Liv: I have hope that someday it will be over and I can get rid of the thousands of pieces of paper lining the walls of my office in neat little stacks.
Trannyhead: If you do not poop, you may want to discontinue reading, you freak.
LawMummy: I don’t know if you use the word “mummy” to mean mom as I do, or you’re looking for dead Egyptians, but either way, you’re totally creeping me out.
Legally Certifiable: Better add a few more bottles to that alcohol order.
Wonkness: And, yes, I admit it. I WAS an a capella nerd in college.
Magic Cookie: We managed to push it out with the other car, pull the other car out over the lawn, and leave the non-starting car on the sidewalk.
Googiebaba: She thinks I am a little dense.
Peanut Butter Burrito: Look behind you, Pastor Dave!
PT-LawMom: One box of tissues down, another one at the ready.
Starting to Melt: That's one more baby soul for God and one less for Simon Cowell.
The Menagerie: Y'all are going to have to skip me - I'm out of tiles.
The Merits of the Case: We were surrounded by pictures of The Brady Bunch and The Love Boat cast and the drinks had names like The Tootie and Blair Cocktail.
A Year in the Life: Ah, well, my fifteen minutes of fame is up.
And finally, our newest MILP, Better Together says: Oh, so you still haven't popped that thing out yet?

Carhart + Heller = ??

ME (3:22:21 PM): the following words were just said in my adv. con law class: . . .
ME (3:23:44 PM): “Open season on fetuses”
Friend (3:24:00 PM): hahaha, i just got the image of [professor] in camo with a rifle
Friend (3:24:03 PM): its kind of awesome
ME (3:24:10 PM): same image in my head
Friend (3:24:14 PM): the camo is of course a turtleneck
ME (3:24:32 PM): naturally