Friday
9-10:00 am perform office work with Nala in tow
10:00 – 11:15 teleconference with AAJ committee. Anne takes Nala for a walk and brings her back.
11:15 – 12:30 Meeting with co-counsel and new client who is in full rigid body brace. Nala tries to tip her over.
12:30 – 1:15 Put Nala in car. Head to court but first stop off at Whole Foods Interbay as frig is bare. Pick up fruit.
4:30 Slide sideways out of bed. Do everything necessary to get out of house.
5:15 Drop Nala off at downtown dog lounge.
5:45 Arrive at SeaTac. Park. Walk. Get thru security. Wait. Board.
7:00 Lift off. Eat lemon luna bar. Pull up P case on ipad. Exhibits have been loaded into Trialpad. Scroll through them. Nod off. Child kicks seat. Get back to work. Eat too many grapes.
I leave Nala at home. Today is a half day mediation. At my office. We will be done by 1:00. I can then come home and let her out. She will be fine for four hours.
The mediation drags a bit. Colleen Barrett is the mediator. First time I've used her. She was a defense attorney. Had several cases against her. Always liked her.
Read More5:45 am. Phone beeps. Count backward down to the minute have to get up to get out on time. 5:56 am get up.
Race through morning ritual. Clothes put out the night before. Black crop jeans. Black t-shirt. Deconstructed BCBG black and gray striped jacket. Black doc martens. 2 black bags. Black raincoat. Slick back hair that used to be black and now in places looks like tinsel. Grab 2 luna bars, fat sumo orange and honey crisp apple for later.
Read MoreWake up at 6:45. Laze around. Tonight is Hollyball. Wonder what else is on schedule. Open calendar. "9:00 a.m. hold for Court of Appeals Argument." Whaaaaaaaaaaa
Text John 7:27 - is there an argument today.
Texts back 7:29. Yes at 9:30 at first & union.
Read MoreGet up before alarm rings at 6. This means it is really 4. Flop back on bed. Alarm rings at 6:15.
Search around for hotel phone on night table. Don’t find it. Sigh. It is on the other side of the bed. Scramble across. Hit “O”. Ask for front desk. It is front desk. Can I get a late check out. Yes.
Read MorePrologue: The best and worst outfit I ever wore to the Hollyball was when I was President of WSTLA. It was an election year. We were fighting for the insurance fair conduct act. And if you added to all that -raising my girls and handling my job...well....There was no time for shopping.
The theme was the Red Hot Hollyball. And I was determined to do it right. So a few days before the big event, I went online. Promdresses.com or some such website. Found a red hot hollyball dress.
Read MoreWake up at 4:15 am. Didn't mean to. Go back to sleep. Wake up 4:45. No. No. No. Close eyes. Alarm rings 5:00. Slide out of bed. It is still dark out. Grope way to closet. Throw on Gray pants with little white polka dots. Flats. Soft sweater. Gray coat. Do ministrations. Zip up already packed suitcase. Hidden in closet because Nala has grown to hate it. She knows what it means. Lap top in carry on. Ipad in purse. Liquids and gels in year old ziplock. Fold up beats headphones Debbie got me. Blanket. Extension cord. Luna bars. Orange, Check off list in head.
Read MoreThere is nowhere more beautiful than Seattle in the summertime. Decide for once, to remain here and relax rather than go somewhere else for vacation. Have many friends who do this. Watch all their good times on facebook. They explore the city. Stay home and garden. Have friends over. Hang out on the patio.
This is what happens when a trial lawyer decides to take a stay-cation.
Read MoreWake up from semi-conscious state just in time to glimpse the wreckage of the Korean jetliner still at the airport. Shuffle off the plane. It is 9:30 a.m.
Find limo driver. Follow him to car. He wants to talk. I want to zone out. Good manners kick in. We talk the whole way. He is quite delightful. If we had more time, I could probably recite his family tree for you.
Read MoreThe day after.
Oprah talks about the power that our bad secrets hold over us. The amount of time and energy we spend keeping them hidden. The worrying that others will find out. The feelings of unworthiness that fester from trying to suppress our embarrassments.
Read MoreWake up at 6. Hear Alysha turn off the alarm and leave to teach her yoga class.
Lean down and grab ipad off floor. Check email. Check weather. Turn on Pandora Anthony Hamilton station. Lie there like a slug for another hour. Leisurely get up and out the door. Nala gets around to doing her business after first lunging for an imaginary squirrel.
Read MoreThe alarm is ringing. Try to ignore it, but know cannot. Look at the phone/clock and it is 4:30. As in a.m. Put on ugly red glasses. Only wear them when no one can see me. Like now. Lie there til 4:45. Finally jump up because have to make a plane. Open the drapes. There is a gigantic full moon that seems to be shining a path across puget sound right into my bedroom.
Rush around. Put on black clothing. Tell Nala to get up. Out the door. Drop her at doggie daycare. Make it to the airport by 6. Stand in sluggish security line. Even the special Spokane shuttle line is clogged. No worries. Have time to get a scone and bottle of water from D'Lish.
Read MoreToday is our last day to file motions. For the third time since the trial has been continued twice. Motion after motion, instructions, declarations, orders, notes. We have been working like crazy to get them all done. Garth and I have been doing all the briefing. Anne and Jody are scrambling to format and get everything filed.
Read MoreAm confined to hotel room. Prepping for trial tomorrow. Sniffling. At about 10:30 pm decide to go clear away the fog. The gym is open 24/7. Change into gear. Give one good last blow and head downstairs. Turn on the lights. Utter peace.
This is my time to let my mind roam wherever it wants. Michael Jackson on the ipod. The Olympics on TV. Am watching the high jumpers. About a mile into the run, the door opens. A minx with shaggy (wet) blonde hair tosses her room key onto the treadmill next to me. I sigh at the noise she makes and try to ignore her.
Read MoreHead jerks forward. Eyes open. Where the heck am I. Are we still in Minneapolis. Can’t figure out if the plane has taken off. Or is landing. It hasn’t taken off. Thirty minutes later we bounce down in Fargo North Dakota.
Alan the Executive Director of the trial lawyer association has texted me to call him. I do. The airport terminal is clean, new and small. At the landing by the escalator, a big tall blond woman is hugging another big tall blond woman in greeting. They appear to be sisters. Talking in a language that is definitely not English.
Read MoreTap. Tap. Tap. It is dark out. Grope for the clock. Bring it within two inches of my eyes and squint. 6:00. Which means it is 5:50 since pushed it forward a teeny bit. Just in case there was a day like today. Put it back on nightstand to go back to sleep.
Tap. Tap. Tap. Really drives me nuts when my upstairs neighbor wears shoes. Yes, am still in the condo. Waiting for the house remodel to one day end. Condo is a hundred year old apartment conversion. The old wood floors are beautiful . Dark and glossy. There is just one problem.
Read MoreDon't write out "to do" lists. Don't want or need to see how much there is to do. What would be the point. Besides, the lists go around and around inside my head like a pinwheel anyway.
Lately though, have been a bit filled to the gills. Can obsess about work when the kids are away. But when they return - it is kids plus work. Add to that the house remodel and have no breathing space left at all.
Read MoreAlarm goes off at 6:45. Slap it off. Get up at 8. Must get to bed earlier than 2:30. Must rush. Suitcase is already packed on the floor resting on top of a towel. Nothing can touch the floors. We are in the new house … just barely. Won’t bore you with the details of how a trial lawyer orchestrates a house move. Let’s just say it is intense. And it isn’t over.
Read MoreThe ringing is obnoxious. Reach over and turn off the alarm. Sleep in for hours it seems until finally get up at…7:45! What time did I set it for good grief.
Do my thing and out the house to see if Nala will do her thing. As usual it will depend on what’s going on out there. Oh dear. Another dog is walking its woman. Nala stays at attention until they pass by. Lunges and begins to act all crazy but a stern talking to makes her (kind of) behave. A car whizzes by – freeze and point. A leaf blows in the wind – freeze and point. Throw in some squirrels and birds. The dog drives me bonkers. Time is of the essence here. Which she ultimately remembers and finally gets the job done.
Read More
