Updates coming soon.

As I predicted, I started a blog and updated it frequently for less than a week.  Then, I disappeared off the face of the blogger world.  Oops.

There are lots of exciting and new things going on in our world and at least a few changes to be made to my 101 list.  I hope to find some time this week to loop the blogging world back in on my life.  In the mean time, I'm updating my 101 list today to make sure it is up to date as of May 10, 2010.

My Husband Rocks Friday

This week my husband rocks because he always helps support my goals.  If I want to lose weight, he packs me vegetables to take to work, if I want to get to work earlier he tries to remind me in the mornings.  He also has lots of creative solutions for every goal that I have.  I couldn't hope for a more awesome and supportive guy!

Not a know-it-all.

Many people assume that lawyers know everything - or at least everything about the law.  That couldn't be further from the truth.  Nevertheless, at least once a month I get a call from an unsuspecting friend or relative: "I'm getting divorced, can you help me?"  "can my employer fire me over my weight?" "is my son's school allowed to make him cut his hair?" 

The resounding answer is, "I don't know."

All I really know about the law is focused in on the area in which I practice which is mostly actions in Federal Court.  For that reason, I felt more than a little awkward walking into the county courthouse today to file some forms relating to my husband's adoption of my son.  I think the awkwardness was apparent as I walked through security.  After checking my bag, the officer asked me, "do you know where you're going?"

Looking around the big courthouse I answered honestly, "I have no idea." 

"Divorce?" he asked, motioning toward the papers in my hand.

"No!  Adoption."  I answered, kind of insulted.

After some motioning and confusion, I was directed toward a door at the end of a very long hallway.  Upon entering the room, a woman behind the counter greeted me asking, "divorce?"

"No! Adoption."

Apparently, I was in the wrong place.  After going a few more places I finally got to the right place - up three flights of stairs and hidden in a secret passageway behind a bookcase.  There I was asked, "do you have an attorney?"

"I am an attorney," I admitted rather sheepishly.  "I just have no idea what I'm doing."

After adopting the "I'm an idiot attorney" mantra, people were very nice and helpful to me.  After running around like a rat in a maze for an hour, I turned in the last piece of paperwork and set a hearing date.

The exciting news is that if all goes as planned, our adoption will be finalized on Tuesday!!!

My Husband Rocks Friday

In honor of My Husband Rocks Friday, which I believe originated with this blogger, I would like to take this opportunity to mention why my husband rocks this week. 

I have had a really tough week and have not been getting enough sleep.  When I got home yesterday, I must have looked exhausted.  So, the husband let me go to sleep at 6:30 and took care of making dinner, doing dishes and getting our son fed and ready for bed.  He woke me up at 9:30 in time to make me dinner and let me tuck our son in for the night.  He woke me up telling me how much fun he was having teaching our son about computer programing.  He always has such neat activities planned for when they have time together.  After hanging out for a little while, I was still exhausted and went back to bed for the night at 11:30.  Even though I'd gotten plenty of sleep last night, he still woke up and made me breakfast and coffee this morning before work.  My husband definitely rocks this week.

15 Things I Love About My Job

There has been a lot in the news over the past few years about bloggers getting into trouble or losing their jobs for blogging about work.  For that reason, I don't intend to rant and rave about my job, my boss, or my coworkers even if they really really deserve it (which they probably don't).  Even though this blog is semi-anonymous, there is enough personal information already to identify me to someone who knows me.  Once I get around to adding some pictures, there will be no doubt about my identity.  So, instead complaining about work, or billable hours or anything else that young attorneys complain about, I've decided to fulfill goal number 20 and make a list of 15 things I love about my job.  Here is the list:

1. Cool co-workers
2. Fairly casual dress code
3. Family friendly in an emergency
4. Profession I love
5. Some really awesome clients
6. More hand-on experience than I would otherwise get
7. Comfortable income
8. Close to home
9. Dual monitors
10. No internet filter
11. Cool new office
12. Occasional free tickets to sporting/music events
13. Strong focus on litigation
14. Relatively healthy co-workers who don't routinely encourage me to make poor health choices
15. Opportunity to continue learning.

I am so thankful for my job and the friends that I have made through this job.  Especially in this rough economy, I am thankful to make a comfortable living and support my family.  I am also happy to be working in an area I love with clients who I think are awesome.  All in all, it sounds like I'm a pretty lucky girl.  

First item complete!

I completed the first item on my 101 list tonight.  I started this blog!  Item 89 is complete.  Only 100 more to go.

Looking forward

Now that I have gone from jobless single mom to newlywed lawyer, I want to continue to challenge myself to achieve. I also want to document my life so that I can more easily remember dates and events. Having seen a lot of friends create "101 in 1001" blogs, I decided to start my own.

My goals range from whimsical (tell only the truth for a week) to serious (save up six months worth of expenses) to fun (go on a picnic) to life changing (have a baby). I hope these 101 goals give me a reason to blog regularly and keep a journal of some of the most important moments of my life.

I also hope that I will spend the next 1001 days making myself a better and more well rounded person. After the next 1001 days I hope to be happier, healthier, and smarter than I am today. Thus, without further delay, I present the list:

Family

1. Visit Grandpa.
2. Visit Cleveland family
3. Learn about eating right during pregnancy
4. Chart one full cycle
   
5. Get pregnant
6. Have a baby
7. Finalize adoption
8. Visit brother and his wife and see their new house
9. Classified
10. Build a blanket fort with son and husband
    

Work

11. Write a law review article
    
12. Publish a law review article
13. Get to work at 8AM every day for a month
14. Finish taking physics classes
15. Classified
    
16. Volunteer for a position in a bar association
17. Decorate office
18. Do Wills or other simple legal matters for a friend
19. Finish a project at least a week before it is due
20. Make a list of 15 things I love about my job
    

House

21. Paint the front room
22. Remove the wood paneling from the back room
23. Remodel kitchen
24. Decorate front room
25. Paint master bathroom
26. Replace bad part of roof
27. Turn guest room into a nursery
28. Organize closet
29. Find a purpose for the random room in our bathroom
30. Go through son's old toys and clothes and donate old stuff
    

Self Improvement

31. Get to goal weight of 150 (25 pounds to go)
32. Exercise at least once per week for a year
33. Exercise at least 3 times per week for at least a month
34. Quit caffeine
35. Eat only raw foods for one week
36. Go vegetarian for a month
37. Run a ten minute mile
38. Learn enough Russian to have a simple conversation
39. Learn enough Spanish to have a simple conversation
40. Volunteer for a cause I believe in
41. Fast for a day
42. Eat no more than three donuts
    

Financial

43. Pay off all credit card debt
44. Pay off Honda
45. Pay off Kia
46. Save up 6 months worth of expenses
47. Contribute the maximum Roth IRA amount each year
48. Write my Will
49. Write husband's Will
50. Sell leftover wedding stuff on Craiglist or Ebay
51. Make a list of financial accounts and information for husband just in case.
    

Leisure

52. Buy a good camera and learn how to use it
53. Take at least one photo of other people or things a week for 3 months
54. Stay active in a book club
55. Read a book outside my comfort zone
56. Take "rock the dress" pictures
57. Finish my "married bio"
58. Plan something fun but economical for our first anniversary
59. Take a photo every day in the same position for at least 6 months and make a video of it.
60. Take a weekday off of work for no reason
61. Go to the shooting range
62. Go to a roller rink
63. Take a dance class with husband
64. Go camping
65. Go on a picnic
66. Go fishing
67. Go horseback riding
68. Reenact my first date with husband
69. Spend a day geocaching
    

Travel

70. Go to Ann Arbor
    
71. Go to Burning Man
72. Go to NYC in the winter
73. Plan Russia trip
74. Travel to Connecticut
75. Go on a cruise
76. Ice skate in Rockefeller Center
77. Go to Phoneix
78. Go on a solo trip

Friends

79. Be a bridesmaid
80. Host a bridal shower for M and A
81. Host a party for no reason at all
82. Travel to visit a friend
83. Have a drink with an old friend
    

101 in 1001

84. Blog about each completed item
85. Donate $7 to the Liz Logelin foundation for each item I fail to complete
86. Share this blog with a friend
87. Inspire someone else to make a list like this
    

Internet

88. Delete my myspace
89. Start a blog
90. Update blog weekly for at least a month
91. Go an entire weekend without the internet.
    

Miscellaneous

92. Send a secret to Post Secret
93. Buy a gun
94. Leave a note inside one of my favorite books at a bookstore
95. Pay for a strangers meal at a restaurant
96. Tip 100% for really great service
97. Donate blood
98. Tell only the truth for a week
99. Get law license framed
100. Read Fox News online every business day for 2 weeks
101. Get iPod music organized