Good Children

Gettin' Real

This was just a matter of time, really.  I'm just glad that it wasn't me.

Day of Service

One service idea from Slate will screw it to rich, white doctors everywhere!  Ok, maybe not.  It's a worthy cause and happening today, I believe.

Cuts

I just had to layoff our piano teacher.  It was harder than I thought it would be.  However, he cost more than the Entergy bill and the first year of opening a business is not very lucrative so we are making cuts.  I hope to hire him back one day but for now, I'll just have to plug away with the kids on out beautiful piano by myself (like I have the discipline for that ....).

I recently wrote to a friend that if I had known that I would be this broke at 35, I would have continued to live with my parents.  On the other hand, I forced myself to take stock of what I do have the other day: two working cars (one paid for anyway), a house with $100K in equity (not many people in this country can say that), passive income from our rental, my health, kids, and a house full of working appliances (for now).  Comparitively, I'm not bad off but typical of life, the moment I think that I get a foothold to pull myself up and build up a nest egg, something knocks me back.

I want to clarify that I still have the housekeeper.  The cable will go before she does.  She keeps me sane even if she comes only every other week.

I recently heard that if a new law firm can stick around for three years, it will be established and lucrative in the long run.  We have two and half more years to go -- that's the same time that I graduate from school and ideally get a good job.  2015 is going to kick ass.

Remiss

Dear Internet ...

I've been meaning to write.  I have composed so many witty commentaries in my head but I've forgotten them all by now.  Christmas was great (or Chrismukah/Yule/Secular Festivities) and we even made it to the Quarter to catch one of the free shows at the cathedral followed up by an order of beignets. 

After presents were opened, I threw myself into painting the front two rooms of the house.  It was a horrific job entailing scraping approximately 40% of the paint off the wall of one of the rooms as it was literally falling off the wall.  The sander I had wasn't adequate so my plaster walls are still laden with bumps and some cracks but it's (mostly) done.  Some highlights included me hitting myself in the nose with a hammer and the dog's purple streak of fur.  Oh, I also knocked out a whole row of outlets while upgrading the fixtures and couldn't figure out what I did for a few days resulting in extension cords running along the floors.  That was super awesome.  Fortunately a visit from a friend and quick crawl under the house got us back up and running.

As I prepare to throw myself back into my studies (I have a 4.0 y'all), I'm also readying the kids for their new school location.  Same school.  Different location.  Longer drive.  I am once again pissed at the administration and the New Orleans Public School Board but there is little that I can do except start looking at other options and fortunately this city is getting to the point where there ARE other options for public schools: public schools not governed by an elected board with a bad track record of stealing money, public schools wherein people return your calls and communicate with the parents and teachers respectfully.  But I digress.

All in all it's been a wonderful break.  We had Christmas dinner with friends at Five Happiness -- along with a significant portion of the New Orleans Jewish population -- and we all stayed awake to ring in the New Year together.  The girls are at wonderful ages where they will go off and play for hours with minimal destruction and fighting.  I'm looking forward to a fabulous 2012.

 

 

Dirty Old Woman

I would like to thank the man running shirtless along St. Charles today wearing only his chef pants and sneakers.  Who knew there were such nice looking pecs in the kitchens of New Orleans?

For a moment he took my mind off an NPR report of a certain morman who I cannot figure out and who I don't particularly want to see shirtless.

Hooray! Monday!

My morning started out with a traffic stopping chase as my precious dog tore through the neighborhood unleashed.  I had another dog that did this growing up.  I'm not up for it this time around and I will be puting a stop to it even if it means cutting off limbs.  The good news is that I'm meeting all my neighbors.

Would you believe that there are actually people living lives that can go entire days, weeks, or even months without cleaning up bodily fluids and waste from anyone but themselves?  Who are these people?  I'm beginning to question my life choices.

And finally, I've been getting a rash of crazy emails again.  Someone has used my email address on a dating site.  This is not the first time.  I have in the past received notifications from cougar.com and sugardaddy.com.  This time I don't know what the site is but I am apparently popular with ladies who don't speak English as a first language.  Most of the emails look like this:

Let us meet each other. I’m Irina.
So, I found yours e-mail on dating site .Use my sister’s account...
I'm looking for novelty in relations.
Well, it's interesting who you are, please type something about u

Irinichka

Yay for me.  I'd like to go back to vacation please.

The Company We Keep

We had a judge come to our wedding as a guest in 2003.  He was booted off the bench a couple years later for handing out bond reductions like nobody's business.

The husband threw me a birthday party a couple of years ago and of the three NOPD officers that were there, two have been fired in the past year.  Though this one was a big surprise to me since she is such a superstar.

I had lunch with an NOPD officer a few weeks ago and as he opened that day's Times Picayune he said, "which of my friends has been fired today?"  He, himself, ran into some trouble a few years back.

I am in no position to judge Chief Serpas' moves -- this isn't about that.  That Henry Glover case is ripping through the department like a cancer.  Rather, it might be time to ask the question: "Are we drawn to corrupt people or is it that odds are everyone in law enforcement ends up corrupt?" 

*** ** *** ** *** ** ***

On an unrelated note ... the movie that I stayed up late to watch last night was Never Let Me Go (2010).  I'm still turning it over in my head.  It wasn't Dancer in the Dark depressing -- I'm still angry at everyone involved in that film for ever making it.  What a dreadful story.  Anyway, Never Let Me Go did not leave me completely horrified - only a little.  Kiera Knightly is in it and she does a fair job but I just can't seem to get on board with her because of her role in the Pirate movies.  There was something about her character ,Elizabeth, either the way it was written or the way she played it, that made her seem like she was always searching for more depth and kept coming up a dimension short.  Anyway, Never Let Me Go ... I hadn't heard of it before yesterday and it's worth watching. 

I'll never make a good movie reviewer.

Oh Donna

Appearing in front of the Supreme Court can be the highlight of an attorney's carrer ... unless they are from the New Orleans District Attorney's Office.  Boy, Canny's pissing off judges across the country now.

Poor Donna.  Her dismal performance in front of the Supremes today is likely to receive a judgement against the city.

Dead Trees

I just finished my first lengthy paper of my graduate career.  Although it never seems like it when the books and articles are carpeting my floor, the paper always seems to come together and with the required number of pages.  The process was relatively painless however my topic, bullying, has reminded me so vividly of the incredible fun I had in junior high that I might need to go back into therapy.

Other recent highlights from my life include teaching a puppy new tricks, acknowleging and validating the cats' concerns and emotions by cleaning up their urine almost daily from the bathroom floor, and the hiring back of my housekeeper.  I love my housekeeper.  After the first cleaning it was like I could breath again without getting anxious over the condition of my bathroom counters.

Ridiculousness

Sometimes I dream of living in city where things work as they are supposed to.  Today I wanted to touch base with a police sergeant who recently returned to duty.  I couldn't find the office number online because the website disappeared.  I called the NOPD division that his office used to fall under and the woman answering the phone told me it was no longer under them (of this I am highly suspect).  When I pressed to see if she had a list of departmental numbers, she replied, "you can try this one but they haven't udated our phone books since before Katrina."  She also gave me the number for personnel.  I called personnel and their computers were down until "at least after lunch,"  but they were kind enough to give me the phone number of a former employee of the unit who just quit last week.  I still don't have the office number.  So much for my good deed of the day.

That said, I do have to give credit where credit is due.  I recently had to make a trip to city hall to deal with alcohol licenseing which is usually no joyous occasion.  However, the minute I stepped in the door, I was greeted with a smile and a verbal welcome to City Hall.  The officers at the metal detectors were courteous and I was grateful for their lackadaisical attitude as they failed to notice the Swiss Army Knife that I carry in my bag -- the one that I frequently have to bury in gardens outside of federal buildings because I forget to leave it in the car.  The permiting process was painless, people were helpful, and even their voicemails conveyed friendly tones.  I've never gotten anyone to call me back but at least they are nice about it.

I have to say that quite a bit of work has gone into making City Hall a nicer place but the infrastructure of this city .... oh boy.