PT-LawMom

Law school has definitely made me a Starbucks junkie. My favorite is a Grande, Nonfat, Sugar-Free Cinnamon Dolce Latte, followed closely by a Nonfat Chai. Both of these are almost $5! Exam time pushed me into a daily habit, which is just crazy.

On Christmas Eve we had our annual extended family party at my Mom’s cousin’s house. His wife made me probably the best latte I’ve ever tasted (VERY close second to Starbucks) and I had to find out her secret. I raced over to my Dad and made him taste it and he agreed that it totally rocked. My Mom’s the Starbucks freak but she’d left early for church. Turns out she had just purchased the Braun Tassimo. My Dad took pictures of the machine for her and, espresso junkies that we are, we ordered TWO machines from Amazon on Christmas Day! They were supposed to arrive tomorrow, but they arrived today instead. I had just enough money from textbook sales to cover mine.

Then we realized that Amazon’s running a sale through December 31 on the T-Discs ($15 off a $50 purchase). We got a bunch of Latte and Cappuccino discs as well as some of the new Starbucks regular coffee discs. Unfortunately, even though the machines arrived a day early, the discs won’t arrive tomorrow. However, before I knew the machines were here, I purchased some Hot Chocolate discs for Pumpkinhead so we tried one of those tonight (yum!). Can’t wait to start having my morning lattes on the way to work and avoid the Starbucks drive-through lines. If only I could take the machine to work to deal with the 4 p.m. cravings!!

Our Christmas was great. We played and played and played! We shopped until we dropped, crowds be damned. We drank hot cocoa by the tree and enjoyed all SIX of the board games Pumpkinhead received. Unlike Butterflyfish’s well-mannered son, mine lost every game and threw a wicked tantrum each time. I know this is a learning process he needs to go through, but I definitely agree with B-fish — as much as a Mommy is supposed to enjoy playing games with her child, I really don’t. Books are much more my thing and fortunately he’s into book variety (i.e., he asks for a different one each night so nothing gets too old).

Speaking of books, I purchased Pumpkinhead a bunch of Magic School Bus books for Christmas and he loves them! If you’re not familiar with the Magic School Bus, it’s a really fun PBS series about a cool teacher, Ms. Frizzle, who takes her class on field trips to places like inside the human body or into the world of a frog. When I was about 15, I babysat for an autistic child who was hooked on it and I was pleased to see that the series is still around on DVD and in books (not sure about TV).

Besides the board games and books, Pumpkinhead received a bike and the LeapFrog Clickstart My First Computer. He’s loving the bike nd I was very pleased at the ease of use of the Leapfrog toy. We’ve only played the Nemo game so far, but I think it will be a fun activity for us to do together.

Anyhoo, this week has been kind of sucky work-wise and I spent THREE HOURS at the damn doctor’s office today because she was “running late” but somehow they thought putting me in a room would make me not notice). Fortunately tomorrow is my birthday so my boss is not allowed to yell at me (at least I hope not!) and then I leave first thing Saturday for a week’s vacation in a hot, sunny, beautiful foreign country with my parents, Chapin and Pumpkinhead. I haven’t packed a thing because I’ve been so busy so right now I’m planning to fly by the seat of my pants tomorrow night and thank my lucky stars that WalMart is open 24/7. Just writing this reminds me that I don’t have any sunglasses! Argh.

I’m going in early to work tomorrow, planning to stay late, and hopefully that will help me accomplish what I need to get done work-wise so that I can leave without feeling bad. It’s hard to get into the vacation spirit when people make you feel guilty for taking the time. I bet the guilt will lift when I step onto the plane.

My vacation spot is Internet-free so I wish you all a very Happy New Year!

Julie Fleming-Brown has invited me to join the second annual “Lawyer’s Appreciate…” campaign. I’m far from becoming a lawyer (3 1/2 years to be exact), but I’ve worked for them long enough that I have some sense of what makes their lives easier. So here goes!

1) First and foremost, Lawyers appreciate competent staff who work as an integral part of their team to make their lives easier and their client’s business get taken care of more smoothly. Appreciate and encourage your legal staff to become a member of your team in 2008!

2) Lawyers appreciate clients that work with them, not against them. If we take the time to learn about you and your business/legal problem, please understand that our advice is meant to help you, not hurt you, and that the ramifications of disregarding our advice may be far-reaching.

3) Lawyers appreciate clear, realistic deadlines and fair co-counsel. I’ve pulled many a holiday weekend all-nighter because co-counsel in litigation matters just love to set things up so that the other side gets screwed into having a day-after-the-holiday filing. Not very nice, people. So, too, do corporate attorneys get sucked into weekend-long work at 4:30 p.m. on a Friday afternoon by their clients only to have the client pull the plug late Sunday night. It would be nice if everything wasn’t made out to be such an emergency all the time. (Although if lawyers would stop being such procrastinators, that might instill more confidence in clients that the work will be completed in a timely manner!)

4) Lawyers appreciate legal bloggers. Being able to network with people outside your immediate firm/city is immensely helpful and there are some fantastic bloggers out there sharing their tips and tricks with their colleagues.

5) Lawyers appreciate their families. It takes a lot of dedication to be the spouse or child of a lawyer. It’s a demanding service business that takes a lot out of a person, but good clients, good firms and advances in technology are helping to make the lawyer life a bit more flexible.

Those are my five things that lawyers appreciate. I look forward to reading the other bloggers’ entries and appreciate having been included this year. I am supposed to tag three people so I tag Zuska, Lawyer Mama and Shelley.

The Weekly MILS (Moms In Law School) Roundup** is the brainchild of Saramel (retired). It is hosted on a rotating basis at the PT-LawMom and A Little Fish in Law School blogs and is usually posted no later than Monday morning. Next week’s MILS Roundup will be hosted by Butterflyfish.

Isn’t it a funny coincidence that the 25th roundup falls at Christmas time?

Post-Exam Edition

2L Wannabe is figuring out what to do differently next semester

Andrea at Peanut Butter Burrito is celebrating some major accomplishments!

Over at A Little Fish in Law School, Butterflyfish is really bummed

Mommy on the Floor is looking at the up side

A New Duck is not quite there yet

Dakota at Adventures of Law School Mama can count me in!

Kim at Merits of the Case is catching up

The other Kim at Diary of a Law School Mom is reliving it for us

Could be that Magic Cookie is DONE

Citations is paralyzed in the face of her to-do list

LagLiv’s out stirring up controversy again!

At Knocked Up (and in Law School) we’re getting reintroduced to the new mommy. P.S. We need more pics of the latest MILS addition!!!

Now I’m off to continue my Christmas laziness. Thanks for twisting my arm, D.

If you’d like to have your blog added to the MILS blogroll for weekly review or would like us to consider a specific post, drop the hostess(es) an email or leave a comment at their respective sites.

**Hat tip to the “original” Roundup — Evan Schaeffer’s Legal Underground and Divine Angst

One of my friends has a baby lawyer who has just been a nightmare for the past year-and-a-half. Maybe she realizes it and this explains her actions today, but I don’t think that a big gift can make up for bad behavior. Anyway, my friend got an Amazon gift certificate from this attorney today. She went online to check the amount and found that it is $250!!! Okay, baby lawyers, despite the “bonus table” making the rounds at a large New York firm, the reality is that $250 is going a bit overboard (not that we won’t accept it…)

Typically associate gifts are in the $50 - $100 range and can include massage certificates, restaurant gift cards, or cold, hard cash. Partners give more, sometimes much, much more if they are corner office guys and have long-term secretaries. Obviously this advice doesn’t apply to smaller firms.

The thing to remember, overall, is that your secretary just wants some acknowlegement of her effort. As I’ve mentioned before, if she doesn’t help and is just plain rude, talk to her about it to see if there is some misunderstanding. But if she works hard and is kind to you, be kind back. She doesn’t expect anything, but it’s a great surprise when she gets a gift from you. You don’t have to give her a ton of money, especially if you honestly believe you are broke, as some on ATL stated (she would probably disagree, but whatever). How about a book or CD you think she’d enjoy. A certificate to get her nails done at a salon near your workplace. Or just a kind thank you accompanied by a latte. A happy legal secretary is a productive legal secretary. Just be nice and don’t go overboard!

I’ve really fallen down on the job in terms of my immigration-related posts lately. For one, the injustice just gets me down. But mostly it’s because my brain isn’t working too well these days and I just can’t get my head around things to get a serious post out. Yesterday Andrea wrote a very thoughtful post about Arizona’s state enforcement measure, which takes effect in January. It will be interesting to see how this plays out. It is my hope that the state gets hit hard and fast so that other states are deterred from passing similar measures. I’m also interested to see the additional legal challenges to the law once it is in effect.

P.S. I really like John Edwards. Obama and Clinton have both made similar pandering comments regarding immigration and it’s disappointing, but it does reflect the nation’s concern regarding this issue. I’m just not sure whether the issues aren’t being defined by the press and political rhetoric rather than by what the citizens as a whole actually want.

I got on a wild tear last night, writing and finishing my Christmas letter by midnight. Then I decided that I had to take advantage of my husband’s business trip to wrap presents (he normally has us asleep by 10 because of his work schedule) and that had me up until 1 a.m. I hope this doesn’t mean I’m going to be hit by a bus or something! And if it does, at least let me get to the end of my lunch hour so I can get these cards addressed and mailed.

After several hours of (more!) baking and cookie decorating with Pumpkinhead, I am finally relaxing on the couch. Why do I <3 Saramel? Of course it’s partially because she started the MILS Roundup that I love so much. But my eternal devotion is due to her sending me an Adagio Tea coupon about six months ago. I used to make trips to Teavana at my local mall but who has time for that? So, with my $5 Adagio coupon in hand, I visited the Adagio site from the comfort of the law library. In six months, I’ve gone from the sampler size Rooibos Tropica and Rooibos Mango to the medium size to two HUGE cannisters! Then I decided to order my Mom the IngenuiTea and a sampler for her to use at work (I have one from Teavana and it’s awesome!). As I was checking out, I realized I am almost out of my Teavana Earl Grey, so I decided to add a mid-size cannister of Adagio’s Earl Grey Bravo to my cart. It arrived today and I’m trying it now. YUM!!!! It has a citrus note that totally enhances the rest of the flavors. I’m in love. Have I mentioned that I may have a tiny little tea addiction? It’s only one full cabinet of mugs, tea and accessories…

P.S. In the spirit of passing on the favor, I have a $5 off “friends and family” coupon I can e-mail anyone who is interested. Just e-mail me at ptlawmom at gmail dot com.

We have been going flat out ever since the weekend. Went caroling Friday night with a church group (so much fun!), then got up early Saturday to meet my mother for shopping. We left Pumpkinhead with his Granddad and had a lovely breakfast at La Madeleine. Then we headed off to Macy’s to search for formal wear for the cruise we’re taking in two weeks. My mother bought me a gorgeous royal blue silky wrap top and a long black/silver formal skirt. After that, I met my cousin for lunch (she cried when I gave her the portrait, then I cried and we were both wailing in the middle of Olive Garden!)

After lunch, I headed to the Apple Store to pick up my MacBook. The case had cracked again so they replaced it for free (third time). Apparently if you put your MacBook in a squished situation, the little feet above the screen will push into the case and eventually it cracks. I bought a little leather pad that sticks on the handrest areas and helps with that. It’s $34.99 on the retailer’s site, but I only paid $19.99 at the Apple Store.

After our Apple trip, we went to the movies hoping to watch Alvin and the Chipmunks, but ended up watching Fred Clause. Funny! Then Pumpkinhead said he wanted to play Checkers, which we don’t have, so we dashed off to WalMart to search for it. Unfortunately they were out so we settled for Chutes and Ladders and spent a good two hours playing it with Chapin.

On Sunday, Pumpkinhead went to church while Chapin and I went hunting for a bicycle and other Santa Claus gifts. We left the mall with lingerie and Nikes. Obviously Chapin wasn’t in Pumpkinhead-mode. Good thing I buy everything on Amazon. Then we went to Sam’s Club for eggs and yogurt and, finally, to WalMart to find a bike.

Unfortunately Chapin doesn’t believe in Santa Claus so he decided to give Pumpkinhead the bike that same day. On the plus side, we had a great time biking up and down the street. Pumpkinhead was so proud of himself!!

Then we realized that this was, for all intents and purposes, the last weekend before Christmas (unless you count next weekend which will be INSANE at the mall!!!) So we trotted back to the mall and spent 30 minutes searching for parking so that we could purchase suits for Pumpkinhead and Chapin (again for the cruise). Then we dragged Chapin to see Alvin and the Chipmunks. This time I thought ahead and bought the tickets on Fandango beforehand. Chapin and Pumpkinhead loved it… I fell asleep! I have NEVER fallen asleep in a movie! I was just beat.

Monday was Pumpkinhead’s school skip day. He had a blast at the backup daycare and I took him for a fun lunch at some nearby shops. We hit the bookstore on the way back so he was totally psyched. Then we were up until 10 making Christmas cookies last night (to send to school with him and to Chapin’s work).

All this is to say that I need a break from my break! I’m having tons of quality time with Pumpkinhead, but I still haven’t finished even one book and I MUST write our Christmas letter and get these cards mailed off today!!! Hopefully I can do that at lunch today. And I have not wrapped a single thing!! That’s tonight’s task, I think. Hopefully all of you are having similarly fun (but less crazy!) time off from school.

This week’s roundup is up at A Little Fish in Law School.

The Weekly MILS (Moms In Law School) Roundup is the brainchild of Saramel (retired). It is hosted on a rotating basis at the PT-LawMom and A Little Fish in Law School blogs and is usually posted no later than Monday morning. Next week’s MILS Roundup will be back here.