The Menagerie

Sleep, baby, sleep

Poor Peach.  After being a trooper all day today (two doctor's visits, the store, and the hairdresser), she has napped very little, and has been an absolute gem.  (Note to self: It's OK to hear women whispering about your daughter when they're expressing amazement at her good behavior.)

It's just that she can't seem to go to sleep.  I've been home with her for three hours, and she's exhausted.  She's rubbing her eyes.  She's not hungry (she's consumed 12 ounces in the last hour and a half).  She's not wet.  She just won't sleep! We've watched two "What Not to Wears" and one "Flip That House," but nada.  Zip.  Bupkis.

Although...in the time it took me to type this post, the fussing in the other room stopped.  My god!  Maybe she finally has gone to sleep!   Yay for me -- now I can do dishes and clean up the house. 

Wait...that doesn't sound all that fun, does it?

UPDATE: She cried.  I waited, then caved.  I picked her up, comforted her -- and she projectile vomited on me, then became hysterical. (Her, not me.)  I bathed her, and put her down again.  After some whimpering, she seems to be out.  Whew!

Would it kill him to say, "Great, thanks?"

For over a year, I've been involved in a case with prominent opposing counsel. This has been a great learning experience for me -- just not in the way I'd hoped.

The case is fine, by the way.  The problem is that the guy obviously dislikes me.  Oh, he's not a jerk as in calling and screaming at me (I have had that experience with other opposing counsel), but jerk as in treating me as if I don't exist.  Which, as you might expect, makes working with him difficult.  His reputation is not that of being a jerk, so I can only assume it has something to do with me, personally.

My philosophy is that the person with the older bar number should make an effort, even a small one, to be kind to the person with the younger bar number (in Oregon, our bar numbers begin with the last two digits of the year we are admitted - mine is 05315, for example).  I do it with the two years of admittees who've followed me, and it's not like I'm great shakes.  But it just seems the courteous thing to do. 

This is NOT what I would have expected:
- ignore attempts to communicate by letter
- not introduce self (or even say "hi") when at court before or after arguments
- in a group of three people, refuse to look at me or address comments to me

And this last bit made me laugh.  Yesterday, I sent an email saying basically, "hope you had a great holiday, blah, blah / I'll be requesting an extension of time / do you have any objection?"

To which he replied, "No." 

Admittedly, I might be too sensitive.  But I think the next time I see him in person I may gush, "Wow -- I just realized you were admitted to the bar when I was TWO!

On our own!

We no longer have a nanny: GT found a real job. She'd only been coming two or three days a week, but having those two or three days to run errands and work uninterrupted in was awfully nice.   Needless to say, I was a bit apprehensive about how well the Peach and I would do on our own, especially with the teething situation, and the fact she doesn't sleep all the time during the day (I hate being the person with the screaming baby at the post office).  Because, well, I still work (or try to) during the days. 

And...we've done pretty well, if I say so myself.  She's at her best from mid-morning to mid-afternoon, and she's all mine during that time!  Sure, she's fussier than normal with the teething pain, but she's still a very good natured baby.  She's developed enough mentally that I can distract her when she's crying, if only for a little while.  There have been days when I've been working madly during a nap time, and I remember that this might be the only time I'd have to shower before 6 PM, which is slightly aggravating. But we play and go for walks, and watch daytime TLC and HGTV (man, do I want to install granite tile countertops!), and I read to her, and we just generally have a good time. 

We're still on the waiting list for child care at Matthew's work. (This is 16 months, or 17, somewhere in there.)   It's spendy, but as much as full time child care costs there, it's less than three days a week of nannying each month.  Unless a really great opportunity presents itself, I'm not sure we'd go the nanny route again (maybe as a shared situation).  The costs are huge, and at the end of the day, I was still doing all the light housework and cooking.  But for convenience and the Peach not getting sick, it was awfully convenient and definitely made me feel better about working during her first six months!

Catching up, randomly

1. There is a huge, important, ultra-cool possibility on the horizon...but I'm too superstitious to talk about it yet.  No, not a job, not quite.
2. Yes, this is from the person who uploaded this post last year. 
3. I went to two stores over three days with the sole purpose of purchasing Diaper Genie refills.
4. I forgot the Diaper Genie refills both times.
5. Thankfully, we have two Diaper Genies.
6. I read Marilyn Robinson's Gilead. I enjoyed it, but some parts of it didn't ring quite true.    (The narrator is a Congregational minister and I am a Congregational minister's daughter.)   The comment I made to my father was, "For a Congregationalist, he quoted the Bible too damn much."  Full disclosure: Marilyn Robinson attended my father's church in Northampton, Mass.   I'm pretty sure my father didn't quote the Bible that much - he's a Niebuhr guy.
7. We stayed in our pajamas all Thanksgiving day and enjoyed a low key meal, a la Mark Bittman. 
8. Although convinced I'm 10 years too old for Facebook, I'm still enjoying it. 
9. After nearly 15 years of marriage, Matthew and I have finally sorted out the laundry/cooking tasks.  He's the laundry guy, and I'm the cooking gal. 
10. Laura, the law librarian for Washington County, gave me a promising new cookbook today.  How is that for timing?
11. The only thing I purchased on Black Friday was a coffee.
12. I found a CD of photos from 2000-2001 - we were both so thin! Damn you, law school!
13. Slowly, oh so slowly, the house is becoming organized again. 

Congrats to Phil!

Brother Phil has been accepted into an IT baccalaureate program in Finland - one of 33 accepted out of 3600+ applicants.  Go Phil! 

Who?

The ABA sent out an email about the Third Annual Homeland Security Law Institute.  One of the speakers was listed as:

The Honorable John Ashcroft

It took me a few moments to realize they were talking about the former Attorney General.  And as much of a stickler for titles as I am, I'd choke before I referred to him as "honorable."

Peach Raspberries

Mother of Invention Muffins

This morning I went downstairs to make muffins -- there was a recipe on the back of Bob's Red Mill Oat Bran package that looked promising.  I knew I'd have to tweak it a bit (walnuts and I don't mix), but I started getting the ingredients together...

...only to discover that the last banana in the house had been consumed by my husband before I got up.  And there was no whole-wheat pastry flour in the house, nor did we have any plain yogurt.  I wanted to try Amaranth flour in something.   And we only had about 1/4 cup of brown sugar in the house, not the 1/2 cup that was required.  And I really didn't want to get the food processor out to grate carrots, because then I'd have to wash the food processor.  And I don't like dates, so I was going to substitute dried cranberries, anyway. 

But I really wanted healthy muffins!  And while I made a bunch of substitutions, the end result was really good.  Matthew is laughing at me for typing this up, but darn it, they were good! 

This looks only marginally like the original.

1/2 c. Bob's Red Mill unbleached white flour
1/4 c. Bob's Red Mill Amaranth flour
3/4 c. Bob's Red Mill Oat Bran cereal
1/4 c. brown sugar (packed)
1/4 c. white sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. baking soda

I also grated a bit of nutmeg in there. 

Whisk until mixed.  Then mix: 

3/4 c. unsweetened applesauce
1 egg (free range and organic, so it wasn't so large)
2 Tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp. vanilla (Madagascar bourbon)
handful of raisins
handful of dried cranberries

Fold into the dry ingredients and mix only until completely moistened.

Bake in 400 degree oven for 18-19 minutes.  They'll be short, but not too dense.  Cool on a wire rack, then place them on a plate and dust confectioner's sugar on the tops.

I think next time I will up the baking powder, add another egg, and add more raisins. 

Will this be me?

Maybe not the bit where I want to talk with Truman Capote, but it's interesting to wonder if I'll be here in ten or fifteen years.  Maybe I'm there now.

Thy mother is near

At least in terms of sleeping.  Or not sleeping, to be more specific.  The Peach's crib is in our bedroom, and apparently it doesn't matter if she's across the room or in the papasan by the bed -- I wake up if she so much as turns over. 

Last night?  She was sleep at 10-ish.  I went to bed around 11-ish.  And the Peach was up at 12:30.  1-something.  4-something.  And then 7.    If I hadn't made the executive decision to get the coffee grinder/pot ready and primed for 6 AM last night before embarking on adventures in diaper changing and formula mixing in the dark, today would have been a lost cause.  Surely I wouldn't have gotten the scanty few hours billed that I did bill, at least until she woke from her one afternoon nap screaming and crying hysterically (what could she possibly be dreaming of?  Me taking the bottle away?  Armies of Happy Apples tormenting her?). 

During one of those feedings (and no, I can't remember which one), I actually fell asleep while feeding her - my head fell backwards, then I snapped awake.  And woke the Peach up, because she'd fallen asleep, too.  Amazing.  In the old days (pre baby) it practically took a fistful of Ambien to get me to sleep anywhere other than my own bed.  Today, though Matthew's aircraft carrier honed sleep skills have *nothing* on me!

I have my fingers crossed for a full night's sleep.  Surely she needs the rest, too? 

But speaking of sleep, well, what you're getting right now is a blog post directly from my subconscious. I'd better get a head start (at least by last night's standards) and hit the hay.

So enough of that.  G'night.   

Giving peas a chance since 2007

Knackered

I am exhausted and I hurt.  The exhausted is because in addition to everything else that's been going on, I have been preparing for a trial Wednesday, the last court appearance pending from the last client I took before finding out I was pregnant and I stopped taking on new clients.   Tonight it finally settled, and we just have to put the agreement on the record tomorrow.

It'd be kind of nice to take a day off, but I have too much else to do -- and I already took most of Saturday off to do things around the house.  I even made a pot roast and re-cleaned the downstairs carpet, about as domestic as I get these days.  (Note to self: do not give the dog Iams dog food, even if it's too late to get the good stuff at New Seasons.)   I may not have much free time in the near future, anyway, because I heard from a third party that I may be having to oppose a petition for review by the Oregon Supreme Court in my appellate case - Wednesday is the cut-off date for the other party to petition (or ask for an extension) so at least I'll know soon.  I get 14 days after that to file a response.   I did learn that the brief colors are much prettier for the petition and response (yellow and orange) than they are in the court of appeals (blue and red).   Whoo. 

Somehow I've aged to about 50, or at least it feels like it. Sure, there's the blood pressure, but my shoulder has gotten worse (the rotator cuff thing) and my jaw is aching so much I can barely open my mouth (I clench it when I'm sleeping when I'm under stress).  My left knee feels like its burning or tearing whenever I kneel down, and since I often play with the baby on the floor on her quilt, that's quite a bit.   

I want more than anything to start running again, but I think I need to find some energy first.   

The Peach is into trying not to sleep right now, and squealing at such high frequencies that I swear I can see the sound she makes.  I am learning the skill of putting her down and giving her 10 minutes to settle down before checking on her.  It goes against my grain to a) allow crying or b) listen to crying, but it seems to be working.   Thankfully I don't have to do it much, maybe once every few days.

I think there was something I was going to deliberately blog about, but frankly, I can't remember what it is.  Maybe the fact I finally watched an episode of "Little People Big World" -- the first I've seen -- and saw a friend's kid in the episode, only a few hours after I saw his mother in the law library.  How random is that?

The catch up post

Recently my life has been a rush of baby Eden, working, driving, working, eating take out, and frantically trying to get at least one housekeeping item done a day.  Needless to say, I'm tired and the house is trashed -- but the baby looks good! 

She's very into her feet right now, and rolling over from tummy to back (but only on one side).  She's really lifting her head and gets annoyed if we don't have her sitting up with us.  The sleeping through the night -- that's heavenly.  Sometimes I'm up in the middle of the night, but not much; her schedule seems to be 10 PM to 6 AM, which is OK by me. 

Slowly but surely, her baby room is coming together.   Once our den (and an overpacked den at that), we've been moving furniture out -- giving it to friends -- and selling most of the books that occupied the three bookcases in the room.  Now we're down to one bookcase (with her stuff), and while the TV, couch, and ottoman are still in there, the massive entertainment center is gone, the exercise bike is gone, and there actually is room to move around and play with Eden.   We're not in a huge hurry to finish it (she still sleeps in the papasan next to the bed or in her crib - also in our room), and there are still logistical issues in our way: getting the HD satellite feed downstairs requires hiring a low-voltage electrician, and getting the couch and ottoman downstairs will require movers -- and both cost money, which is in short supply).   Still, it's nice to see it coming together.  I'd forgotten what a nice, big room it is, what with all the stuff that was in there.

 

Today I'll do some work, but also some fun projects (fun for me, that is): cleaning up the woefully neglected garden, some organizing and de-cluttering, and cooking food for the upcoming week.

I may even spend some time on Facebook, now that I've finally been sucked (er, indoctrinated) into it by classmate Ann.  Amazingly, of the maybe 20 people who were on Facebook for the high school in Massachusetts I briefly attended, one was a long-lost friend, with whom I'd lost touch in around 1987.  How wild is that? 

AWOL

Sorry -- I have been in a deep funk, feeling sorry for myself for being 34 and poor and in a quagmire of student loan (and other) debt.  Usually I can philosophize and remind myself that if the biggest problem in my life is a lack of money, then I lead a pretty good life.  Today though?  Not so much. 

Proof I've watched a bit too much WNTW

I was getting a bottle ready for the peach, who was not happy about the wait.  Matthew was holding her while I was running water. Then I heard this:

Peach: [cries]
Matthew: Don't cry, baby girl.
P: [more cries]
M: No, no, don't cry.  It'll make your eyes all red and puffy, and that isn't following the Rules™.  What will Trinny think?

Full Disclosure: Matthew claims to hate WNTW and all such shows, but he gets sucked into them and has developed strong opinions about women's clothing.  What he doesn't get is the mental transformation process  the women on the shows go through - how they learn how to dress themselves and suddenly feel more confident.  That's the part that bugs him.  I've tried to explain it, but I almost wonder if it's possible for a guy to completely get it.  Thoughts?

Congrats to my classmates!

Two pieces of news put a smile on my face this evening.

Classmate Zach has passed the Texas bar exam!

And classmates Yin and Yang are having a baby girl! 

Attorney nightmares

Everyone I know has had the dream where they have to take a final and they can't find the room for it and they haven't gone to class all semester and... Right?  Stereotypically, for me it's always a math class.

So last night was a new one: I had a client and I'd negotiated a great settlement but it was on contingency and the professional rules say that every client agreement in a contingency case must be in writing and I was writing as fast as I could, but I kept screwing up and having to start over again and if I didn't get it done I wasn't going to get paid and....

I guess it was bound to happen sooner or later.