Shelley's Case

Random stuff that is mostly all about me, but some about Peach

Unbridled (and boring) narcissism, the worst type of blog post.  But it's been a long weekend.

• Peach no longer has the trots.  She did Friday, though, so it was Day 2 of "Take Your Daughter to Work."  We also made it 4 hours, although I was so exhausted that I could barely see straight.
  
• I have a hi/bye court appearance tomorrow.  [It's a court appearance in the sense that it requires me to dress up and wear heels, but not enough that I have to think about what to say.  In fact, I suspect these types of administrative appearances are designed solely for the benefit of the downtown parking garages.]
  
• Finally, I have the idea for my "Oprah book."  This is the great American novel that I will write, that Oprah will love and add to her book group list, and allow me to make a zillion dollars, or at least enough to pay off my student loans.  Oddly, I have a decent working title, right out of the gate. As a result, I'm trying out Scrivener.  So far, so good.  The tutorial was completely necessary for me.
  
• I took a four hour nap today, which would be great - except that now I'm wide awake at 11 PM and will be completely tired tomorrow morning.
  
• Did I mention this nap was necessary because Peach woke up at 3 screaming for "Mama" like she was being attacked by hyenas?  No?  And that we let her drink a bottle (I know, I KNOW, but it's only for nighttime) in our bed, which was fine until she decided to start kicking me and trying to push me off of my pillow?   That lasted all of 30 seconds, and then she went back to her room. 
  
• Matthew had a migraine and needed to hide, so I took Peach out for dinner and Target shopping -  a blast. We went to Red Robin, the one place you can not worry about whether your kid has a screaming fit, because the rest of the kids there are already making so much noise that no one would notice one more.  And she was awesome.  When a baby cried, she would stop what she was doing and say, "Baby!" And I would say, "Yes, a baby is crying," and she would nod and sagely conclude, "Baby."  She loved her balloon, but hated when anyone tried to tie it to her or another object.  (I had a binder clip in my purse - yeah, I am that type of woman - and used that to weigh it down.)
  
• Growing paranoid about email, because I have written a bunch of people long emails and have not received any back.  (I am getting some mail, just not responses to those long messages.)  Instead of thinking, "Gosh, maybe something technical is going wrong," my first thought was, "I wonder what I wrote to offend all those people?" which strikes me as pathetic.
  
• The waking up at 3-4 thing isn't new for Peach.  For the past couple of weeks, she is frequently waking up at 3-4 every morning  and I don't know if by feeding her if I am aiding and abetting the fits or if I would be better off trying to get her to go back to sleep.  (However, her tummy usually is growling and she is always wet by that point, so letting her stay that way completely goes against what I think is the right way of handling things.)
  
• Given that I probably only have 3.5 hours before she wakes up again, I probably should cut this short and go to bed. 
  
  Cheers!
  

Happy Valentine's Day

This is another one of those made-up holidays I hate.  I hate feeling like I am entitled to a gift, because, sadly, I feel that entitlement.  I hate feeling like the craven consumer the advertising people think I am.  I always want to boycott it, but damn it, those Necco hearts are really good. 

So this year, we did things a little differently.  We donated 150 doses of measles vaccine (roughly $40) through UNICEF, and I did a little shoe shopping (finally getting - at a very steep discount - those shoes I've been lusting after for ages, and a couple pairs of equally insanely discounted Joy Chen shoes*).

And in Oregon, it's the state's sesquic sexquicen - sesquintennial er, sesquicentennial, too. (Oregon is not nearly as cool as Nevada, which celebrates its statehood on October 31, and makes it a state holiday, to boot.)  So happy b-day, Oregon. As much as I love living here, I really do wish you could celebrate by getting a new, not so lame flag.

*The Maddie in Dark Wine/Rust and the Mackenzie in Camel.

UPDATE: I actually wrote this post Thursday, in advance, something I almost never do.  In some ways, ensuing results made it a better "holiday" today than before: my husband surprised me with roses at work yesterday with a sweet card that ended: "PS: Get the shoes."  Priceless. 

Also better: Matthew is going back to work Tuesday, which means no more playing single mom.  If I believed in a god, I'd be praising him/her/it.

The part that doesn't make this a better day? That would be because a couple of days ago I slipped going down our (steep) stairs and bumped - on my can - down the last four or five steps.  It didn't hurt so much at first, but today?  All I want to do is sit with a heating pad and whimper every so often. Alas, the toddler is currently playing dress up with my old Saucony running shoes and a beaded handbag, and this is occasionally requiring intervention.

At least they passed on my car stereo

Peach and I were driving home this evening when I noticed a satellite uplink news truck on the way into our subdivision.  Although my brother is a satellite uplink engineer and I love him, I was pretty sure that unless there was a sporting event taking place down the street, this was bad news.  I was particularly worried that the house the truck was parked next to was our Saturn-twin neighbor's house.  (Until a couple of years ago, we each had an older green Saturn SL2 and silver Saturn VUE.) 

No one died or anything - but it's a good thing I didn't leave a robot in my car last night. 

And that's the news

The Peach: still teething (she has had only two teeth for what seems an eternity), still smacking me (although I'm trying to re-shape that into clapping - if it's attention getting, clapping is still not polite, but is a lot better than hitting).  But in between, she is quite the toddler - getting into everything, problem solving, and now climbing.  (Her daddy climbed a refrigerator when he was about her age - let's hope she can't quite put that together.)

Matthew: Working, working, working. 

Shelley: avoiding getting smacked when possible, trying to NOT think about cases on the weekend, and reading (finally) Blue Latitudes - I'm on a Captain Cook/Lt. Bligh/South Seas History kick right now. 

Next-door neighbors: change the freaking battery in your smoke detector, will you?  I may only be able to hear it from one spot in the house, but this is the spot I like to read and work on my computer in!

Vacation all I ever wanted

We're having a mini-vacation at Mactyre Manor.  (Like almost all of our vacations, this means we're staying at home and hiding, since going away is usually reserved for business trips.)   Matthew and Peach are home for the long weekend (Friday-Tuesday) and it's quite refreshing to all be home without some of us being sick at the time. 

Plans?  Well, we'll be having a family picture taken, and Matthew's 46th (!) birthday is Saturday, and then at some point we'll be going to the zoo (although I suspect that'll be Tuesday, knowing us, when the crowds are back at work/school/daycare).

Man, we sound really boring.  (I guess we are.)  I would tell you about Matthew making changes to his computer configuration, or me rereading Susan Cooper's The Dark is Rising series or working on an ORCP 21 motion, but that wouldn't really help our image, now would it? 

Randomness

• I have started several posts for this blog and not finished them.  Hopefully this one'll make it.
• I spent the hottest damn day of the year so far (yesterday - it allegedly hit 100 here) largely in places without air conditioning, while my house stayed a consistent 72 degrees.  Seriously.  I had lots of fun, though, so the recovery time was worth it. 
• Today, though cooler, was also hot - and I stayed where the a/c was. 
• I am reading this book, which was fortunately on sale at Powell's. Otherwise, I'd have had to import it (or, more like, go without) - what, does Penguin not think Americans are interested in Princess Lieven?
• Peach is approaching the one-year mark - only a couple of weeks away.  Crazy.  She'll walk holding onto my hands, but isn't willing to try it on her own yet. 
• I  am still waiting to hear about the federal job I interviewed for TWO MONTHS ago.  I know they haven't made any decisions yet and that the department is backed up (I asked), but I'm starting to develop some kind of complex. 
• In the meantime, a little bit of contract work, wrapping up a case, and continuing the massive de-cluttering operation. 

Nothing to see here, move along...

This is just another one of those random catch-up posts, because I am tired and unable to think of anything witty, brilliant, or even just ranting. 

• The baby is really standing and cruising - nothing is safe.  She's like a ferret with opposable thumbs and tool-making abilities. Baby-proofing is much harder than ferret-proofing.
• I am really, insanely busy this week.  I'm appearing in a courthouse I've never even been to before on a type of motion I've never argued before (orally, anyway - I've done a lot with this type of motion in briefing). 
• I had a really weird dream this morning after Matthew and Peach went to work, about an evil witch who turned into a raw chicken (a la Foster's), hid in a walk-in cooler, and had to be disemboweled or else great evil would be visited on me specifically and the world in general.  I think this counts as a nightmare, because I really hate working with raw chicken.  I woke up and thought, "WTF?"
• My face broke out over the weekend - like it hasn't since I was 17.  You know, when I was HALF this age?  Annoying.
• I made vegetarian chili today.  No raw chicken here.
• I listened to General Petreus today while running.  Apt.
• We can really see Peach's tooth coming in.
• Grape Tylenol really does taste better than Cherry Tylenol.  Just ask Peach. 
• If another person tries to tell me that vaccinations cause autism, I.Will.Scream.

Today

• I should find out if I'll have a niece or nephew in September;
• I am doing the work I love best: a response to a summary judgment motion in a child sex abuse case;
• I realize how weird that last one must look, but allow me to say that it's nice to be completely sure I'm working for the "right" side and to make very technical legal arguments;
• I am feeling incredibly blessed, even though
  • It's gray and dreary outside;
  • I am really tired;
  • I have a migraine; and
  • Peach is cutting a tooth (the first - finally);
• I would like to be painting squares of green chalkboard paint (clearance at Freddies - $4!) in the computer room;
• I need to buy bubbles to desensitize the Peach;
• I am listening to my iPod while I work;
• I weigh 4 pounds less than I did last week; and
• I am running out of things to list. 

Back to work!

My weekly check-in

In the exciting world of Menagerie-land, here's what's going on:

• I took Friday off, then worked the weekend - bright and sunny topics: restraining orders and sex abuse.  Sex and death, death and sex.  Gotta love human nature...or not.
• Peach is getting very impatient with her limited mobility, and is learning to pull up. She can't crawl yet -- she still rocks, but sometimes moves a hand up -- but rolls around and scoots (backwards).  She still prefers standing up, although she's a long, long way from having the balance to stand unsupported.
• It's nice to have her (mostly) well - back to being a very sweet, sunny kid.  Although by 'mostly' I mean "she's well but we're fighting atopic dermatitis (OK, eczema) on her cheeks and a persistent runny nose." But she's cheerful and all the lotion applications have made my hands nice and soft.
• Trick of the day: a Cheerio started to go down the wrong way, and when I went up to pat her on the back (which I know is not the right response, but it was my lizard brain reacting), she spewed partially digested "Chicken with Apples" on my arm.  But it smelled appley, so all was not lost. 
• I have gone from "minimally qualified" to "among the best qualified" to "scheduled for a job interview" at the federal agency I've applied to.  Fingers crossed!!!
• The great de-clutter of the house continues.  I took a big step and weeded out a bunch of refrigerator magnets and moved all of the rest to the side of the refrigerator, leaving the front completely clear.  This sounds goofy, I know, but it was a huge step for me.  For years, every gift within the family came with magnets - it was just what we did.   Seriously - weeding out the closet?  Easy.  Weeding out magnets?  Surprisingly hard, even though they're just visual chaos - who sees them after the first few times?  I don't.  Anyway, the stark refrigerator was very hard for Matthew to get used to - he's still a bit wary of it.  I also got most of the appliances off my counter, which has made cooking vastly more enjoyable! I have lots of counter space, and it's nice to finally get to use it.
• The rest of the house is coming along nicely, although my plan to weed down to only two bookcases is stalled at four big bookcases and two small ones.  And to think this is significantly down from before!  I keep saying, "But I might need it for reference someday...."  I am trying to remember that just because they aren't on my shelf doesn't mean I can't, say, get them at the library. 
• We are trying to pay more attention to Norris, who has been woefully neglected in the past months.  I have gone so far as to schedule an Outlook (well, Entourage) item in my calendar to remind me to get on the floor and play with him at least once a day.  Yes, I feel guilty.
• I started a blog for Peach posts only (I think you can probably guess which one it is in the blogroll).  It's on our own server, and I'm using Wordpress.  I will probably end up moving this blog to our own server, too, once we get the DNS issues sorted out. 
• My natural bedtime has shifted from 12 AM to 9:30 PM, so that means I'm already an hour past my bedtime.  G'night.   

It's those little things

Breaking away from a motion for partial summary judgment to vent:

Do you have any idea how freakin' hard it is to find a pair of red leggings, size 12 months?  I thought with Val's day just wrapped up, it might not be so bad.  But jeez! 

Peach has a number of cute, short-sleeved dresses (many of which are care of law school friend Nikki), which I prefer to put her in for daycare because it tends to be quite warm there -- and it's simple enough to pull off a sweater and/or leggings if she gets overheated.  The ease of changing -- also nice.  I hate snaps. 

I love one of her dresses -- soft jersey material, empire waisted, and blue with red flowers -- but it is impossible to find leggings for.  Black?  For little girls?  Good luck.  Blue? Matching shades is impossible with this particular dress.  And red?  Also impossible.  White is just a disaster waiting to happen. 

I may just have to splurge and get a couple of pairs of Baby Legs.   

***
In other news, the eclipse was visible here.  Yes, actually, this is HUGE news.  Not the most beautiful lunar eclipse I've ever seen, but it's the first darn eclipse I've seen since moving to Oregon 9 years ago.  Every other time, it's been bloody cloudy.  A friend gave us a telescope when we moved here -- and I could only think that it was a cruel, cruel joke on her part.  To go from living in the mountains where we could see the Milky Way from our deck to Washington County, Oregon, where we're lucky to see a dozen stars on a clear night -- it was something of a let down. 

***
The Peach is still sick, coughing in the other room.  Got to run and check on her.

Quick and dirty catch up

Tired.  Headache.  Thankfully not sick.  A day behind on returning phone calls and emails. 

Peach started daycare (I can't keep calling it "school" in conversation, so I'm giving it up for good) full time today - I'd just gotten used to having her gone two days each week, and now it's up to five!  I was thinking we'd be waiting another 20 months for the bump up to full time. 

It's very strange, and I keep having to stop myself from listening to see if she's crying.  By all reports, she's enjoying daycare, and according to the notes sent home today, she "explored oats" by playing inside a container full of oats.  It's great for me to read the daily reports (including when she wet/pooped, ate, and how much), and it's nice for Matthew, because Peach is just down the hall from his office. 

She's feeling fine, but still has a cough  I have a humidifier in her room (which joins the air purifier), which is also helping. 

Did I mention that she's now 19 pounds 7 oz? I put her in 12 month outfits (Carter's) and 12-18 months in Old Navy.  Crazy, that. 

I'm still doing contract work and still looking for a full-time job.  I do have to say that it's much less stressful looking for a job with 2.5 years experience as a lawyer than it would have been with zero experience as a lawyer...but it's still looking for a job, which is never that much fun. 

Random trivia to fill the rest of the space: I have been decluttering my house, from my desks (I have two) to my living room to my bedroom to my refrigerator.  It helps.  I have been cooking at home quite a bit.  I've become a coupon queen in my quest for cheaper formula and diapers.  I am excited that we are only a couple of weeks away from Peach being able to have the marginally less expensive 9-24 month formula. 

Falling asleep at the keyboard, so that's all for now.

Present and accounted for

I'm fine.  Tired, overwhelmed, and feeling a little beaten, but I'm fine.  (Did I mention tired?)  The infection turned out to be no big deal (no MRSA here!) and is almost completely gone now.  I just wish I averaged more than 3-4 hours of sleep a night!  (Not the Peach's fault -- she's slept through the night on her own since September 1 -- but my trying to "balance" work, home, and baby.  And laundry, because she's projectile vomiting on an average of once a day - usually all over me.)

The Peach is teething and is about 200% crankier now than she used to be.  (Heck, I would be, too.)  She's still a great baby, just a lot needier - at a time when I've had some tight deadlines.  Yesterday was insane -- she was on her blanket, I was working on a big project that I'd (uncharacteristically) waited until the last minute to do, and every few minutes she needed to be held.   Great face time with my daughter, but I can't believe how many times I started and stopped what I was doing.  Somehow I managed to get everything done by 1 AM, and my neighbor graciously offered to drop my documents off on his way to work (a huge boon for me, considering I was not looking forward to dealing with traffic in the wind and rain, then finding parking near the courthouse, then schlepping Peach with me to drop this stuff off -- oh, what a nightmare.)

Now I just have to get a pile of other documents done by 1:30 this afternoon - and maybe I'll finally get some time to play with my Christmas present - a Palm Treo 700 wx.  I am really looking forward to getting organized with this - ah, to only have one calendar! It sounds so easy!

And she's awake again...

Like so many threads

It's been a mellow week, despite having braved Washington Square on Friday for the Peach's first formal pictures. My mother is visiting, and has had some great baby time despite the teething and post-flu vaccine misery.  I have gotten next to nothing done, aside from making kick-ass whole wheat pumpkin biscotti, pot roast, and roast chicken.  OK, I did a little volunteering and a very little amount of work, but it was not the productive work-fest that I was hoping for.  My contract assignments have dried up and I have not been in the mood to listen to the CD of myself at oral arguments in April, in anticipation for responding for a petition for review.  A number of projects were "put on hold-able" over the last week, and that was what has happened, because of the visit. I am itching to work again.

The Friday pediatrician appointment brought updates: 16 pounds, 12 oz; 26 inches; and a massive noggin.  (It was in centimeters, but equates to 70th percentile.)  Basically, she's grown only a bit in the last couple of months (an inch and change) but has put on four plus pounds, rounding her out to 70th percentile all the way around.  She is a big kid.  By way of contrast, I pulled out my baby book and discovered that when I was one year old (not six months!) I weighed 18 pounds and was 30 inches tall.  OK, so maybe I was just a small kid.  But it does amaze me when I look at her and she looks more like my brothers did when they were a year.  I have to keep reminding myself that she's only 6 months, and I shouldn't be disappointed that she isn't crawling yet!

This isn't just competitive thinking  The pediatrician chastised us for the flatness of the Peach's head in the back (and this with frequent tummy time, lots of time sitting in my lap or Matthew's lap, and sleeping in our bed with its memory foam padding).  I'm hoping she figures out how to lift that tummy soon  and grows a bit more hair in the back, so the flat head isn't quite as obvious.

My mother swears she is trying to kiss back when I kiss her, so that it quite the consolation.  :) 

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. 

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?

Chinese curse

The last time Matthew called me and started off with, "I don't want you to worry, but..." he went on to tell me that a colleague had been shot.*  (In fact, the colleague's body was in the parking lot at the time he arrived at the facility.) 

Today it was, "I don't want you to worry, but they've found a suspicious package (or vehicle or both) near the Doubletree, where they're conducting the dirty bomb drill." 

*And yes, this was when he was a health administrator with the US Postal Service.  Yes, I know all the jokes about the flag flying half-mast at the USPS.

Informal Poll

Chatting with my sister this morning, she mentioned a statistic she read in a magazine: 82% of people (er, women) iron their sheets.

I can't imagine this is correct, or if it is, that it's true among a different demographic than mine (say, in the 65 and up demo).  I was raised "properly" - and  while I technically know sheets "should" be ironed, I never take the time.  Who HAS that kind of time?  And how often do they change their sheets?!

So my question to you all - do you iron your sheets?  (Or pay someone to do it?) 

Excuses, Excuses

I've been neglecting you.  I'm sorry.  I wish I had something interesting to say about where I've been and what I've been up to, but I don't.  I work, I take care of Eden, and my free time is spent clearing out the den as we turn it into a nursery.  Slowly but surely, I'm de-cluttering the house.  This is nice for organization, but makes for very dull blogging.  Let's see...well, I read Ann Patchett's Truth and Beauty one afternoon, then got back to the tasks at hand.  Good times, right?

The Peach is thriving. And she and Norris continue to bond: I had to run into Portland on a work thing, suddenly,yesterday.  This meant getting her up, dressed, fed and myself showered and ready to go in a very short space of time, then driving into the city, going into an office, working there (with her in her stroller or on a blanket on the office floor), then we went to Starbucks, back into the 'burbs, to the bank, to Target -- and she melted down in the car on the way home.  (Do I blame her?  Not at all.  I probably would have melted down much earlier, had it been my crisis.)

Anyway, she was hysterical by the time I rushed her upstairs and started changing her.  She was wet and tired and hungry and didn't know what to do with herself.  She did the tomato-face-tongue-flapping screaming while I changed her, and then I heard something else. 

Norris was howling.  Baying-at-the-moon sort of howling.  In the 9 years he's been with us, he had only howled once before, a lonely howl at the window right after we moved to Oregon from Nevada - in 1999.  Just the one, and as much as we tried to get him to repeat it, he wouldn't.

But for the Peach, he howled over and over and over again, mournfully and repeatedly, until the diaper change was over and she calmed down.  Then he parked himself outside the baby gate leading to the den-cum-nursery and stood watch until the feeding session was over.

Very odd. 

Wrong numbers

We've used voice-over-ip technology for years now, and for the most part it does very well.  It's portable, inexpensive, and usually not much of a hassle. 

Somewhere in the last year, Matthew switched from Vonage to Voip, though, and we've had nothing but annoyances ever since.  The Voip people have screwed up my business line (twice) and recently there have been odd service things going on -- calls will go directly to voicemail without ringing, some odd clicks on the line (hello, NSA?) and yesterday, for several hours, I would get a dial tone, dial numbers, and then...nothing.  When people called us, they'd get no rings, just...nothing.   I sent Matthew a text message yesterday afternoon that just said, "I hate voip."

This morning it got really strange, though.  I received a call from the Coffee Creek Correctional facility -- staff, not an inmate, thankfully -- about why I called them yesterday.  "I didn't," I said.  The woman replied curtly, "Everything is logged here.  Someone there called us."  I replied, "Look, I'm an attorney.  I know what Coffee Creek is.  And believe me, I didn't call you." 

She hung up on me, but it makes me wonder what exactly happened with my phone number while I wasn't getting calls yesterday.  Creepy. 

We are so switching back to Vonage. 

Crickets chirping

That's the sound effect on Eden's swing right now, and it's also pretty indicative of the last couple of days.  We've had our little triumphs and disappointments, but mostly it's nose-to-the-grindstone.

In the triumphs category:

• Eden started sleeping through the night (to the tune of 10:30 PM-6 AM) as of September 1.  I was afraid to say much about it until I was sure it was for real. (Last night was more 10:30 to 4, unfortunately.)
• I finally found a home for our old piano via Craigslist. 

In the disappointments category:

• A trial that was previously set over twice was set over a third time, primarily because the other party is a flake and didn't contact her lawyer for months.  It's a simple case and should have resolved simply, but it's dragged on since November.
• The piano won't get picked up until early next week.
• The house is a disaster. 

In the vaguely interesting category:

• I signed up for LawLink - a sort of MySpace for lawyers (bar number required).  It's very new, and I'm hoping it will get a little more sophisticated in time (it's very new). It seems like a decent way to keep in touch with my non-blogging attorney friends. 
• I will be hanging out at the law library most of this weekend, working.