Yes, I am a real attorney

Okay, vent time...

 

 

In the course of my daily work, I come across instances where individuals apply for legal aid assistance and then withdraw their application, stating they have hired a "real attorney" and no longer need our help.  When I worked for the Department of Child Services, I got this a lot, too.  "Do you think you will quit DCS and become a 'real' attorney?"  Or "oh, he didn't use a public defender. He hired a real lawyer."

 

 

Let me be clear about something. 

 

 

Legal aid attorneys, public defenders, prosecutors, attorneys representing the government (i.e., Department of Child Services)...ARE real attorneys.  Yes.  We, too, have legal degrees, and we have also passed the bar exam.  We go to court in front of real, live judges and perform legal work.  Sure, we do it for less pay.  (Often significantly less pay.)  But being a lawyer doesn't require you to make loads of money or work in a law firm.  Numerous attorneys work outside the private practice.  And believe it or not, they do so voluntarily.   And they are "real" attorneys, too.

 

 

I don't mean to be lecturing here.  Trust me, as a reader, I have no doubt you would never dare say this to someone in my position, but it's my blog, so I'll vent if I want to.  I find myself writing this after coming across another one of those statements.  Each time I hear or read it, it's like a slap in the face.  So I may be coming across as a bit heated.  But this is more of the "in the heat of the moment" posts.

 

 

I love what I do.  I chose to do what I do.  Similarly, I stayed on with the Department of Child Services voluntarily.  I wasn't under a contract to work there for a period of time.  I worked there to protect the lives and rights of children who were abused and neglected and had no voice in the legal system.  I terminated parental right of parents who should have never under any circumstances procreated.  These children lived through and witnessed things that no child should.  Innocence was something that was a pipe dream.   I like to think I gave these children a better life or at least I sure tried.  Sure, I worked for the bureaucracy, and there were aspects of my job that I despised.  But the underlying purpose behind it?  I was passionate and still am passionate about.  I chose to leave my job for a less stressful position due to health not because I didn't think I was doing real legal work.  I made next to nothing, yes.  I could have made much more than I did.  But I was still an attorney.  A real one, too.  I assure you, nothing about what I did was easy or fake.  In fact, my caseload was quite large, and my job very demanding.  And emotionally draining.  But I was a real lawyer. 

 

 

Now, working for a legal aid services agency, I love what I do.  It is a passion of mine and has always been to provide legal access to people who don't have a voice.  People who can't afford to hire a private attorney.  People who are being taken advantage of in a very difficult situation.  People who are scared, facing a legal proceeding.  It's part of my oath of attorneys I took on October 20, 2006.  I swore "I will not encourage either the commencement or the continuance of any action or proceeding from any motive of passion or interest; I will never reject, from any consideration personal to myself, the cause of the defenseless, the oppressed or those who cannot afford adequate legal assistance; so help me God."  And I meant what I said. So that is what I do.  And it doesn't make me any less of an attorney merely because I do not charge for my services or because I do not work for a private firm making money. 

 

 

Some of the best attorneys I know out there are public defenders and government attorneys.  It's hard work what we do.  But it's rewarding. 

 

 

So I guess I would just ask the next time someone says "well, he hired a real attorney rather than using a public defender" or something along those lines, stop and think.  Because it's just wrong.  Everyone deserves a "real" attorney, even those who can't afford one.  And there is no such thing as a "real" or "not real" attorney.  I am an attorney.  Plain and simple. 

 

 

So now that I'm off my soap box, onto lighter subjects of being an attorney...in February I will be speaking at Aubrey's daycare in front of a kindergarten class about being a lawyer.  The letters of the month are K and L, and I volunteered to talk about my job since it starts with an "L."  I don't think I'll be using the above speech to explain what I do.  I'm thinking a little online research on explaining what I do on the level of a young child is warranted.  Ideas anyone? 

 

 

Thank you for listening to me complain.  Hope I did not offend anyone.  Or well, if I did....too bad :-)

   

Oh, parenthood....

 

I think parenthood is making me duller.  Or odder.  Or both.  It's amazing how things change once you have kids.  There are moments now where I'll say or do something in the normal course of the day, and either T or I have to step back and ask "really?  Did we really just do that?"  Oh what happened to us?  When did we get...so....old? 

 

 

I can't think of them all, but here are a few instances recently,,,,

 

 

Watching an episode of Sesame Street we've seen maybe twenty times, I find myself talking about a character on the show, Chris: "You know, he used to irritate the crap out of me, but he's really starting to grow on me. You know. Chris?" 

 

 

Speaking of Sesame Street, once Aubrey was watching "Play with Me Sesame" and fell asleep while T and I were getting ready.  Not wanting to wake her, we laid around watching TV.  The sad thing?  We kept Sesame Street on. 

 

 

Elmo's World - I find myself humming the tune to the beginning of that song throughout my work day. 

 

 

Driving in the car, Elton John's "The Circle of Life" comes on. T says, "when Aubrey turns one, I am going to stand up on a table, blast this song and hold her up in the air."

 

 

Aubrey has a V-tech Alphabet Pal that is a bug that has 26 legs for each letter of the alphabet.  One of the modes plays a different song for each letter corresponding to the letter's sound.  T actually looked up online what songs were all included.

 

 

Further, we even got T's Mom into it.  When they stayed with us, T's Mom got interested in the whole "Mr. Noodle" thing on Elmo's World.  (Personally, I find it odd that a stranger, older man hangs outside the window of a kid's room, but that's just me.)  So when she gets home from staying with us, she looks up the career history of Mr. Noodle.  And then emails us the information she found.  And we actually find it interesting. 

 

 

I don't think anything was more telling than New Years Eve.  Staying awake until midnight?  Unlikely.  Wanting to really do anything?  Eh, I could give or take the fact it was New Year's Eve.  All I care about is taking any opportunity I have to shower and relax in quiet.  Of course, as soon as my head hit the pillow on the couch, I'm out.  Wild and crazy nights here at our house.  Look what parenthood has done to us. 

 

 

Man, when did this happen?

 

 

     

Motivation Monday!

Seriously not wanting to get back into it this week.  Seriously don't.   My "to-do" list is a mile long, and deadlines are looming.  It's annoying.  But nothing I can do about it.  So my motivation this week is to keep my focus and keep my sanity.  Must...get...everything..done.



I'm not really good about this during the day.  I come into the week with high hopes, sure.  I'll make my lists of what I need to get done that day.  But then I'm distracted very easily..."squirrel!"  Oh, shoot, I need to email this person.  So I'll start the email, come up with one other thing I need to do, stop the email but leave the window open and do the other thing.  It's exhausting.  And confusing.  And I get nothing done. 


So this week, I need to be a little more self-disciplined.  Focus that motivation that I give towards my weight loss and do the same with other stuff.  Work, specifically.  There are only five days in this week, and I really would rather not have to drag work into the weekend.  Because that's no fun. 



But in all seriousness, I really would rather this past weekend continue.  It was a fun one, spent with friends and just relaxing, playing with Aubrey.  No stress, just fun.  And who wants to come back from all of that? 

Here's another blogger who could use some motivation this week!  Ali @ A Coffeeqween's Life
                               

Home improvements

Over Christmas break, T's parents came to visit us and helped with various projects around the house.  Since we have lived in our home for almost two years now, we've decided it's time to start painting.  Of course, we're doing this a room at a time.  Aubrey's room was first, and we decided the next two would be our downstairs half-bath and our dining room.  Honestly, T's Dad did all of the work.  He's one of those people who constantly have to be working, and I think he's happiest when he's doing home improvement projects.  The man needs his own HGTV show.  I'm pretty happy with the results, and he did an awesome job at making our rooms look amazing. 

 

We decided to paint the bathroom a kind of country blue.  I forget the name of the paint, but I really think this adds a lot to the room. 

   

I wanted a darker color for our dining room in order to make it a little more formal, so we chose this caramel color.  I absolutely love the final look.  It really makes the room stand out.

Lastly, T's Dad installed a back splash for our kitchen counters.  This is hands down my favorite improvement done that week.  These tiles are glued on and put into place by grout.  The tiles by the sink are a little higher to cover the entire wall behind the sink, which makes it really easy to clean.  Love, love, love this.  And yes, that chili in the crock pot was very tasty, too.

After they left on New Year's Eve, T and I ventured out to Target, as I had plans for our fireplace mantle once Christmas decorations were put away.  That wall was empty, and I hated the way that looked.  So we bought this mirror with some gift card money, and T hung it.  I moved around some pictures in our house to change what was there before, and I added a few items to give it a different look.  One of the pictures up there on the right is artwork Aubrey did at daycare.  It's her footprint, shaped like a bee and is labeled "Busy Baby Bee Aubrey."  Of course, we had to display it prominently on the fireplace!  It's our best work of art in the house.

 

 

We don't have the time or funds to keep going with the painting, but my next projects involve our guest bedroom and Aubrey's bathroom.  We have nothing really in her bathroom, and I'd like to do a rubber ducky theme in there.  The guest bedroom is basically where we put everything that doesn't really have a home.  I'd like to make it a little more of a guest bedroom.  I mean, guests don't want to look at random pictures of my college friends and all of the paperback books I have that I don't know where to put.  So this winter, I'll be redecorating.  Of course, when I'm not taking care of Aubrey, spending time as a family, doing Mary Kay, resting...life...you know, with the spare time I have? 

 

 

Have a wonderful weekend, everyone! 

     

Back to life, back to reality

As a kid, I absolutely hated this time of year.  You look forward so much to Christmas break, and then there's that dread that comes over you as you near the end of break.  Because, let's be honest.  The rest of winter just sucks.  I don't mind the snow during the Christmas time but in January and February?  Totally not a fan.  And with my job, January brings a busy time - lots of grant deadlines.  Work, work, work.  So both T and I, on Tuesday night, were reliving that feeling from our childhood as we approached that time when things went back to "normal." 

 

 

For those of you not from the Midwest, winter in Indiana...well...sucks.  It's gloomy.  No sunshine, just gray skies.  When I lived in Alabama, I remember getting sun and days when you could go outside for a bit and get a little of that Vitamin D.  Last winter I was spoiled when I was home with Aubrey with the warmer temps, but I have a feeling that this winter is going to make up for what we didn't get last year.  I hate the gloominess.  Bah.  (Bitch, bitch, bitch...sorry :-)

 

 

It was so nice to just spend time with T and Aubrey.  The day after Christmas we were snowed in, just the three of us, and I had a blast just getting to play with Aubrey and relax.  I hated having to bring her back to daycare on Wednesday.  All during the day, I kept watching the video I posted on Wednesday.  I counted down the hours until 4:30 when we got to pick her up.

 

 

In a way, it's good to be back to normal.  Aubrey needs to get back on her daily routine and schedule, as do T and I.  While work is never fun, it's a necessity.  And unlike previous winters, we do have something fun coming in the future - Miss Aubrey's 1st birthday!  It's so hard to believe we're coming upon that.  It seems just like yesterday that I was going to weekly NST appointments, anxiously awaiting her arrival.   And now she's this big girl, standing up on her own and just itching to walk, babbling away and eating solid foods.  It'll be fun planning Aubrey's party, and every Valentine's Day from here on out will always have a different meaning for us. 

 

 

So I guess that is my silver lining.  But I wouldn't mind being back home in my warm house, on the floor playing with Aubrey and listening to her giggle. 

 

 

I think I'll watch that video once more. 

   

Wordless Wednesday



Aubrey and Daddy

 

 

God, I love them both so much!

         

Good bye 2012, hello 2013!

Happy New Year, everyone!   

Side note:  I had intended to write an extremely detailed "end of the year" post with pictures and everything, and then I realized that...well, yeah, my pictures are on my computer that is now fried, so...yeah."  T has them backed up, but that would require too much effort.  (Sorry!)  So instead, you'll have to enjoy a written recap.

 

 

The year 2012 was an extremely full and blessed one for us.  We began the year wanting time to go by quickly so that we could get to February and the arrival of our little girl.  January was full of weekly doctor's visits and non-stress tests, getting the nursery ready, me rushing to get everything ready to go at work so that I could go on maternity leave.  Before we knew it, the month had flown by.

 

 

February brought us our biggest blessing ever and the best Valentine's Day gift I will ever be given.  Aubrey Leona came into our world on February 15th, and life will never be the same again.  If I had to pick a defining moment where everything shifted and the focus of my life changed forever, that would be it.  We spent every moment we could treasuring our little miracle.  I was fortunate to get to spend the rest of February and all of March at home with her.  She and I hung out, watching basketball, celebrating St. Patrick's Day, sleeping (well, her...not me.)  T and I learned firsthand what it meant to truly be sleep deprived.  We celebrated Aubrey's first Easter, my first birthday as a Mother, first Mother's and Father's Days.  We took Aubrey on her very first family vacation as we braved a three hour drive with a five month old to St. Louis.  It was hot, but we had such a fun time on our little adventure. 

 

 

Fall brought trips to the apple orchard, cheering on Mommy and Daddy at the Wine at the Line race, and trick or treating with our own little monkey.  Aubrey and I cheered on Daddy as he completed a mini-marathon in November.  We traveled even farther in the car, driving five hours, up to Michigan to celebrate Thanksgiving with T's family. 

 

 

We had so much fun with Christmas preparations for Aubrey's first Christmas.  She met Santa and Mrs. Claus at school.  We celebrated Christmas Eve with my family, but the best part of all was celebrating Christmas Day at home, just the three of us.  Getting to see Christmas through Aubrey's eyes is going to make the holidays so much more meaningful than they already are. 

 

 

I would say that 2012 was an extremely blessed year for us.  And an eventful one at that.  We were married in 2010, built a house and got pregnant in 2011, and we had our first child in 2012.  I think we're going to go easy in 2013.  Maybe redecorate a room.  Paint.  Take a weekend trip.  But no big life milestones this year.  Let's just go easy on this one...

 

 

Happy New Year!!!