Glee Dream and Law Firm Event

Last night I had this crazy dream that I was on Glee.  (I always sing-say the name of the show in a high-pitched and staccato voice just like in the opening sequence - Glee!).  The episode was about singing in falsetto and everybody was supposed to choose a song to showcase their falsetto range.  So basically I dreamed in Mariah Carey and Frankie Valley & the Four Seasons mode.  It was so bizarre.  And the lesson to be learned by singing falsetto was that sometimes you just have to 'put yourself out there' and go for 'it' (whatever all that means).  I played the 'new girl' and my role was to be a tone-deaf singer who is so flat that it affects the entire choir but still wasn't afraid to try.

What is the takeaway from this dream?  That I watch too much television.  There is no other takeaway. 

Also last night, but about 8 hours earlier, I participated in a Kickball Tournament at work.  Partners and Paralegals teamed up against Associates and Summers at a nearby park.  After an obscene amount of rules were read (come on, it's kickball and 7-year-olds play it, no more rules already - but then again, we are all lawyers and it turns out there was some heated debate about the rules during subsequent game-play), we commenced with a kickball battle.  And I got really annoyed. 

Here's why:  I wanted to KICK THE BALL.  But when I was getting ready to go up to kick, our team captain and his assistant captain (both 6th year associate males) were like "Okay Amy, here's the plan, you are just going to bunt this play.  Just bunt the heck out of it.  Don't kick it.  They'll never see it coming.  Yadda-yadda-yadda."  The plan was fine and dandy and all, but I wanted to KICK, not bunt.  All the guys got to kick the ball.  The girls with soccer backgrounds got to kick the ball.  But I didn't want to whine about it and I wanted to be a team player, so I bunted and didn't point out that it was unfair for me to not get a chance to unleash my amazing kickball abilities against the red bouncy ball.  The same thing happened every time it was my turn to be on deck--I'd get a little pep talk about bunting.  So I played along and went with it, but I was annoyed the whole time and never did get to kick the ball.  (Yes, of course I could have just ignored them and done whatever I wanted, but I was trying to be a team player and every time I was up at the plate there was somebody on third and two outs already so I didn't want to showboat only to cost us a score).

Kickball was exactly like I remembered it from 2nd grade - the boys are still bossy when it comes to all things sports-related and they don't really let me play even when it is my turn.  At least I talked another associate into doing cartwheels with me in the outfield.

Unslumping

I went to work this weekend taking advice to heart.  I mopped, ironed, and disinfected while Paul vacuumed, dusted, and folded laundry.  We watched "Oklahoma" and "South Pacific".  I spent a good amount of time on the trail and in the gym working out and putting myself through a self-guided yoga routine to favorite songs on my ipod.  I slept in until about 7:40 on Saturday morning (which is super late for me).  I got all the work done that really needed to be done by late Saturday afternoon so that I could relax all day on Sunday.  I didn't hug any cats Nikki, but friends came over for dinner today with their son and I got a hug from the cutest toddler--it basically made my day.  I also have fun plans to look forward to for future weeks.

But you know what really helps unslumping?  Watching Paul go toe-to-toe with a friend in a speed-walking exhibition.  He can shake it like you wouldn't believe.

In a slump

I feel like my life is a moving sidewalk and I'm walking the wrong way on it - not fast enough to counteract the forward motion, but just enough to be stuck in the same place perpetually watching everybody else go one way or the other.  I've tried to put my finger on just exactly what is causing these doldrums, but the source of the funk keeps slipping from my grasp.

It's not work - I'm working long but not insane hours and for the most part my cases are pretty interesting.  In fact, a team I'm on had a nice little victory yesterday that I got some firm-wide recognition for, which was fun.

It's not the weather - California has the most beautiful weather of any place in the world.

It's not Paul - he cracks me up on a daily basis and we've been enjoying long evening constitutionals again on the trail by our house.

Some possible causes are:  1. I haven't read a book that has really inspired me in a little while and although I've read some interesting ones, none of them have really stuck with me.  2. My skirts are getting a little too snug for comfort and that's never fun.  3.  Our apartment needs a good scrubbing - floors need to be swept and mopped, clothes are sitting in untidy piles on the dresser, and the carpet hasn't been vacuumed in too long to admit on the blog.

But I'm trying to dig myself out.  What do you do when you are in a slump?

Effective Marketing

A friend of mine from childhood linked to these photos the other day on FB.  I think that these photos are really fascinating.  "Das leben ist zu kurz fur den falschen Job" means "Life is too short for the wrong job." I tried to find the original site so that I could give credit for the photos but didn't have any luck.

When the skunks come out to play

Lately I have been putting in crazy hours at the law firm.  It hasn't been so bad - the work is really interesting because of the cases I am on right now - but it means I get home later and later it seems.  Last night I walked in the door around 8:30 p.m. and told Paul that we should go for a walk.  After sitting for 12+ hours in front of a computer screen, I wasn't exactly in the mood to plop in front of the TV.  So we put on jackets and comfy shoes and went out on the trail.  We walked up to the casting ponds and the lake where we normally go.  There are always tons of geese there and Paul likes to hiss at them until they hiss back, then he jumps behind me for protection (maybe not entirely true, but close enough). 

Last night we didn't see the geese though.  Instead we found a family of SEVEN skunks foraging for food.  Some of them ambled side by side while others were frisky and playful with each other.  They were tiny little guys and so ridiculously cute with the big fluffy black and white tails that wag behind them as they waddled through the grass.  Only skunks are even more dangerous than geese when you are with Paul.  Because he would get as close to them as he could then raise his arms into the sky in order to look big until the skunks would turn their backs on him, surprisingly quickly, and raise their tails in warning.  Paul would hoot and holler and jump backwards, but not behind me this time because I kept my distance.  Fortunately none of the skunks ever carried through with the threat, otherwise Paul would have been sleeping outside for the next week.