It's Monday...

and somehow a really great weekend only makes it more difficult to return to the working world (and further reiterates my desire to have a large trust that would not necessitate gainful employment). But at least I was greeted by this Facebook friend request this morning:

"Ms. Esq it's 3:00 am add me to your list or else! I find threats to be very effective. Btw I do know where you stay ho, so add me!!!!!!!!!!!!!111.".

How can that not make me smile?

In other news, I made the best cupcakes I've ever created for my friend's birthday on Friday. Chocolate cake with peanut butter frosting (I could just about live on these they were so yummy)--and for the more traditional eaters, I made butter cake with cream cheese frosting. We celebrated her birthday with a dance party, which slowed down when a cop showed up around 1:30. It was so much fun to dance at someone's house without the grossness that usually accompanies a good booty shaking (Although I did have a guest very inappropriately hit on me, for lack of a better way to put it, and for the first time instead of avoiding the person, I'm going to talk to him about it. He needs to realize how incredibly unacceptable his conduct was, and since we attend the same church I feel more of an obligation to confront him. Not looking forward to this conversation).

Since I didn't go to bed until 6:00 a.m. I slept in, and then we went hiking and watched the paragliders take off and fly around like birds. Gorgeous day, leaves, views. Ended the day with dinner with friends and more late night conversation--this time curled up on the balcony under blankets. It's a good life.

p.s. I'm grateful for my family's visit on Friday. Took my nieces to the Discovery Museum, and my mom and sister made major headway in decorating my apartment while we were gone. I am soooo glad to finally have some of that done; I like what we did with my hall so much that I might even post photos.

Continued...as usual

So I'm not in Austin right now. The other side made (another) last minute motion for a continuance, and it was granted. We've been ordered to mediate, but if we do not settle we'll be headed to Texas in January. This ALWAYS happens. People ask me if I'm a trial attorney, and my response is that I would be if anything ever went to trial! Seriously pretty much every single case I've worked on has settled. And really, I don't want to partake in the trial (I just want to watch:). Oh well, the upside is that I took Friday off and enjoyed a leisurely long weekend. Friday was gloomy, but Saturday and Sunday were absolutely glorious. Sunny and cool--the sort of day that must be enjoyed.

I've not thought much about blogging lately. I've pretty much always loved music, but I'm in a particularly intense music phase right now, meaning that there's so much I want to listen to that I'm foregoing working, television, talking, and blogging to do so. Pandora, Ilike, Myspace, and my boss are supporting the habit. My boss brought me a burned CD (Iron & Wine, Thad Cockrell, and Caityln Crosby) on Thursday and suggested that I put itunes on my work laptop, so that we can share music through our network. Gotta love that sort of boss. I'm listening to some of the usuals and have added Matt Nathanson, Augustana, Future of Forestry, and some others to the list too. I ended up with about 7 people at my place Friday night after dinner, and a few of us just ended up around the computer sharing random new artists for hours. I finally went to bed at 4:30. Throw in some dancing on my coffee table to Usher, conversation about Walden, discussion about how you shouldn't let Christians ruin your potential relationship with Christ, and nachos, and it was a fine evening.

Hope your weekend was equally as lovely. Happy Monday!

p.s. I'm grateful for haircuts. They make me feel so clean and fresh, and you can't beat the value of an $11 cut at Great Clips.

Practicing Law?

My friend Chasie likes to say that I'm "doing law;" I guess because she figures that after three years of "practicing law" I should have the hang of it by now and be ready to actually do it. I'm not so sure. I've forgotten so much and am practicing in some areas that are new to me, and since my office uses Westlaw (instead of Lexis) and has no directory search system I feel much less efficient in actually finding what I don't know. But I'm learning to extend grace to myself and set mental boundaries, not allowing myself to think about work at home. I'm trying to apply some of the lessons I've learned in the last year, constantly reminding myself that my identity and worth are not tied to my work product or ability to churn out documents. And fortunately I'm not feeling judged, which is great.

Part of being the low man on the totem pole at a firm is that you're constantly writing briefs, memos, and whatnot for other attorneys' cases, and they revise your work. It's like a test every day, and it's rare to make a perfect score as everyone's style is different. But somehow it's different now, probably in part because of my perspective and in part because I'm working at a place that ordered pizza for everyone (and we all ate together--no staff/attorney segregation) yesterday for lunch.

Now my fingers are crossed that (1) I really do get to completely take Friday off so that I can enjoy my three day weekend in Nashville (and celebrate Isabella's birthday) and (2) our case doesn't settle, so that in 7 days I really will fly to Austin for this huge trial. Every case I work on seems to settle, so I never get to go to trial. I won't be trying any of the case, but it'll still be fun to go and watch and learn.

Scene from Will & Grace:

Jack hits on a random gay guy at a coffeehouse and ends up meeting him in "Jack's office" which is really Will's law office

Random gay guy: So I wouldn't have guessed that you were a lawyer.

Jack (sitting behind Will's desk): Probably because I look so young.

Random gay guy: So what kind of law do you practice?

Jack: I don't practice, I just do.

I guess great minds (or at least Jack and Chasie's) think alike.

p.s. I'm grateful for energy and health--the ability to sprint, the desire to play, and all that goes with feeling young.