so, august is over and so i looked over my goals for the month and sadly came up short.

1. Cook dinner at least twice per week - 1 weeknight and 1 weekend. FAIL, didn't cook dinner at all (but did see Julia & Julia and was very inspired by cooking) :/

2. Attend lunchtime pilates class at least once a week (LOVE lunchtime pilates). I haven't been at all in the past 2 weeks, but the first half of the month i was good. I'll try to keep it up in September.

3. Finish reading Living Artfully by Sandra Magsumen. Ugh...fail. Lately, I have not had the attention span to pick up a book and finish it. So not me.

4. Create a nighttime routine that includes yoga, walking my dogs, a healthy dinner, etc. FAIL, especially since I've recently become addicted to the TV show Dexter and have spent all my non-work hours watching Seasons 1-3.

Looks like I need to do some major work. On a high note, though, I've spent the past 2 nights doing a fun little (or not so little) art project for a non-profit organization that I'm a board member on. Basically, I've taken it upon myself to decorate our hospital room, which currently consists of stark white walls, filing cabinets, and a gyn bed. Instead of shopping around trying to find the "perfect" art work that will appease both adults and children, I decided to do it myself. Yikes! However, I have surprised myself because it is actually turning out well and I've recruited my sweetie to help so we've had lots of fun hanging out in the garage painting together. So much better than our typical vegging in front of the TV. I'll post a picture when we're done.

living abroad

ok, one of my big fantasies for a long time has been to move to europe (preferably france, of course) and live and work there for several years. i could fully immerse myself in the culture plus have the rest of europe to explore much more conveniently. but, i always kind of dismissed it as a pipe dream because i just couldn't see how an opportunity like that could open up for me and i don't think i'm ambitious enough to just move over there and hope to find a job (plus, don't you have to have a work visa or something before you move there?). anyway, it all just seemed too complicated and too unrealistic to seriously consider...until now!

a dear friend of mine is in the process of applying for jobs with the department of defense in such places as germany and italy(!). she hit her breaking point at her current job and so she and her husband have made the decision to move out of the country with their 3 year old son. they have lived in germany in the past when her husband was in the military, so this isn't some spur of the moment crazy decision. plus, can you imagine the opportunity living abroad will have for their son? so, i've been listening to her as she goes through this process and have asked TONS of questions. seems like the possibilities are there as long as i'm willing to take a chance and think a bit outside the box. i'm pretty content where i'm at right now, but i'm seriously looking at the possibility of moving abroad while i'm in my 30s. can you imagine???

friends, fun, and g.i. joe (seriously)

so excited about this weekend and am so sad that it is over. friday evening my sweetie and i met up with another couple at their tavern (aka, their fabulously decorated garage) for a late night of playing games, drinking, and just having a good time. saturday, we headed over to a co-worker/friend's house for her margaritaville party, and today a big group of us went out to see g.i. joe (yes, i know everyone else is seeing julie & julia, but don't worry, i'll be dragging my sweetie to see it soon) and then had dinner at a yummy italian restaurant. honestly, i don't know the last time i have been so social in one weekend and i have say that i'm loving it. normally, the bf and i bum around all weekend and before i know it it's time to get ready for monday and i haven't really done anything special. so glad this weekend was a change.

speaking of change, i started looking around the house this weekend and noticed that i have NO personal pictures up anywhere. is that not bizarre??? i guess it's because i don't like things to look cluttered, but really, no personal pictures? so, i started by buying one of those collage picture frames and filled it with old pictures of my bf and me from college. boy, do we look young in them! i then started sifting through all my pictures picking out the ones i want to frame and i can't believe the wave of nostalgia that overcame me. some of those memories seem so far away; many of my dear friends in those pictures i haven't spoken with in years. it's just so hard to believe (it's also hard to believe how much i've changed physically since college, but i'm trying not to go there!).

july into august

tonight i'm sipping a glass of wine, cuddling with my 3 puppies, and catching up on my fav blogs and podcasts. some how july snuck past me. i'm getting kind of annoyed for always finding myself at the end of a month wondering where the time went. seriously, at some point, i want to reach the end of a month and really feel pleased at everything i accomplished (outside of work) or did for myself.

but july wasn't without its high points. my bff turned 30 (but i'm still working on finding the "perfect" present to give her when i visit her in september), this weekend my sweetie and i drove to odessa (okay, not a high point) and attended a baby shower for his sister, i got to shoot some guns, and we had a couple of fun toobing trips.

but, august can be better. it's been a couple of months since i've made a formal monthly goals list, so...

August Goals:

1. Cook dinner at least twice per week - 1 weeknight and 1 weekend.

2. Attend lunchtime pilates class at least once a week (LOVE lunchtime pilates).

3. Finish reading Living Artfully by Sandra Magsumen.

4. Create a nighttime routine that includes yoga, walking my dogs, a healthy dinner, etc.

we'll see how i do!

bang, bang

this afternoon involved a very unexpected trip to the firing range! our chief set it up as an initiation/welcome aboard for our new attorney (our civil section is entirely female and we all seem to have this desire to do "tough" things). i shot a .45 and a .380 and we had a great time despite the overpowering heat. i can't ever imagine carrying a gun in my everyday life, but it sure is nice to release some frustration every now and again.

monday, monday

another fun start to another week. my bench trial that was set this morning was continued because the defendant decided not to show up. i enjoy nothing better than getting warrants issued for people who waste my time.

AND, i'm so proud of myself because i went to pilates class again during lunch. this is the second monday in a row - a major accomplishment during my overly excessive exercise drought. i've found it is so much easier to just make the time during lunch rather than drag my tired body to class after work. so, looks like every monday and wednesday i have a lunch date with my pilates instructor.

my rant

you know, i have a hard time understanding how i can give so much to my job and to others that i work with and still be treated like crap by someone who is never there, who has no authority or control over me, and who simply doesn't take the time to make sure that her employees are doing their job. i also have a serious problem with anyone who deems it appropriate or professional to try to accuse, gripe, or berate someone via e-mail. are you kidding me??? are you that spineless??? oh, i also have a serious problem with anyone who deems it appropriate or professional to cc a million people on these hate e-mails. again, are you kidding me???

i fell victim to such a person today and, given the drama that happened a couple of weeks ago, i just about threw in the towel. do i really have to put up with crap from someone who doesn't bother to properly supervise her employees, thereby making my office and other offices do more work in order to correct all of their mistakes? do i really have to be the bigger person and not respond in kind?

unfortunately, i do, and i did. i'm not going to fall victim to some immature e-mail war. all it will do is make me look like the irresponsible one (funny how that works). instead, i responded by telling her that we should set up a time to meet in person to discuss the issues, which is something i get to look forward to next week. UGH!!!! i don't hate much, but i hate hateful people.

sunny days

had a blast today toobing on the guadalupe river with my sweetie and some good friends. what was supposed to be a 3 hour float turned into a 4.5 hour float thanks to the slow moving river. so, suffice it to say, i got lots of sun, drank a few more beers than expected (though not nearly as many as the poor guy who ended his float puking in the river - yes, in the river), and just generally got some nice relaxation time. even though i've lived in the area for over 2 years now, i've only just discovered the joys of river floating - very relaxing and cheap way to spend a sunny saturday. afterwards, we had a yummy bbq dinner at cooper's (complete with blackberry cobbler - yum!) and now i'm ready to change into some pj's and veg out on the sofa. yea for a good day!

last night, a co-worker of mine and i went out after work hours for the first time in the two years we've worked together and we had a blast! first, we had dinner at the melting pot (she had never been - for shame!) where we had a cheese fondue and a to-die-for white chocolate fondue. then we headed to the movie theater to watch bruno. it was pretty much as vulgar and tacky as we expected, but also hysterical and we both needed to see a mindless film that would make us laugh.

no idea how i plan to spend tomorrow, but it's probably about time to do a bit of yoga, a bit of reading, and hopefully not have to nurse to bad of a sunburn.

no sleep

i don't know what is with me this week. i'm not typically a morning person (gosh, that's putting it lightly), but this week has been especially difficult. as in, i've been SERIOUSLY late to work each and every day. i even had to call my assistant one morning and give her a lame excuse that i had forgotten something at home and had to turn around and go get it because i was so late. and i'm supposed to be focusing on getting a good night's sleep this week for my work's wellness program. sigh...

i'm so ready for friday, though. i keep wanting to go up to austin and maybe take a stroll on the hiking trails around town lake. i need to do that before august hits and the heat becomes really unbearable. i also keep getting the urge to play tennis and golf. really? i'm not an outdoors person, but maybe that's my body's way of telling me that i need serious exercise (along with the insane case of the blahs). but, it's 11:30 now and it's time to get some sleep.

happy friday everyone!

sleep

so, in my pay stub envelope was a Fit For Life 9 week program sponsored by the county's wellness committee. normally, i don't pay much attention to the junk mail included with my pay stub, but this actually sounds really cool. each week, we'll be focusing on a different wellness issue - sleep, volunteering/community involvement, organization, nutrition, physical activity, social/relationships, intellectual, emotional, and spiritual. this week, the focus issue is sleep and here are some suggestions made to create good sleeping habits:

1. develop regular sleep habits
2. slow down and unwind before bedtime
3. get up at the same time seven days a week, no matter how long you have slept
4. your bedroom should be a comfortable resort for sleeping
5. breathe deeply to induce drowsiness
6. exercise daily to promote good sleep
7. accept occasional nights with less sleep (boo)
8. if your sleep is consistently disturbed, ask for help

next, i'm supposed to pick one of the following tasks to do three times this week:
1. keep a sleep journal
2. try to get 8 hours of sleep
3. try increasing your amount of sleep by one hour three nights this week.

i know i don't get enough sleep and that i don't get "good" sleep, if that makes sense. i'm thinking i'm going to go with task 3 and maybe task 1. we'll see how i do!

artist date

thanks to the lovely carolyn of hang on little tomato, i had a lovely little artist date this evening with all the goodies she sent me (including an awesome cd mix of fun, creativity-inspiring songs). while sipping a yummy glass of wine, this is what i made. thank you, carolyn, for being so sweet. i'm going to have to think of something to send you in return.

here's the spot i found for it on my wall in my pink space. :)

happy birthday to me and other drama

good news - today is my birthday! even though i have now hit the 31 mark, i'm still such a kid when it comes to my birthday. i love surprises and attention, so it's all good. my office buddies decorated my office with pink and black decorations (love!), took me to a great restaurant for lunch, and bought me a gorgeous cake. my bff send me a bouquet of flowers. all in all, it was a fabulous day...

until...

about 10 minutes til 5:00 my supervisor calls me into her office for my annual review. all is going well - mostly very high praise with a little bit of constructive criticism - until she blurts out that i need to talk to my legal assistant because one of my probation officers told her that i said that she is too involved in my cases. what??????? any attorney will tell you that they live and breathe by their legal assistant. a great one makes life smooth and a sloppy, inattentive one can make your life miserable (and sanctionable, for those in private practice). my jaw just dropped. i can't believe this person would say such a lie to someone so important to me. i can't believe she would intentionally be hurtful to a person as vital to her job as she is to mine. so, i got to finish my day by having a heart to heart with my assistant. she told me that when this girl first said those things to her, she got so upset that she seriously considered quitting. it hurt me to know that for a minute she actually believed i would say those things. so, even though we finished our talk well, i still have mixed feelings about all this.

anyway, i didn't have much time to dwell on that because my sweetheart and another good friend of mine surprised me and took me to dinner. my friend also bought me a totally awesome present - roller skates!!! i've been wanting to have an 80s roller skating party for the longest time, and now i have the kicks for it!

my week

another month has passed way too quickly. the last week of june has been an eventful one for me. last tuesday was my sweetie's b-day which we celebrated by him treating me to see the musical wicked at the majestic theater (which i TOTALLY loved, by the way). we had dinner beforehand at a little cafe in downtown san antonio and i realized how often i forget how cute and historic downtown sa really is.

on thursday, me and some gals from the office treated ourselves to a yummy dinner at a new seafood restaurant in new braunfels called mcadoo's, which was F-A-B!!! we're so lucky to have incredible restaurants in such a small town (my hips aren't thankful, but my tummy sure is). their cocktails were probably the best part - i had a fun little drink called the macadoo, which had vodka, champagne, and pineapple. YUM!



friday evening, some friends and i spent a slightly inebrious evening at tavern on the gruene, which in turn meant that i spent all day saturday passed out on my living room sofa nursing a headache and mindlessly watching tv. yeah, those drunken nights probably were better left to my college days. :)

sunday i finally went toobing for the first time on the comal river and, in spite of a slight case of heat exhaustion, I had a BLAST! yes, i've worked in new braunfels for 2 year and never went toobing before last weekend. but really, i'm not much of an outdoor person and i always know that, try as i might, i can never prevent a sunburn. yesterday was no exception. despite dousing myself in sunscreen, i spent today in pain. sigh...

i'm so glad for the short week. john and i plan to drive to h-town to visit my parents and hopefully check out a good fireworks show.

oh, and tomorrow is my birthday!

hung over

yes...i've been hung over all day today, reminiscent of my college days (except the hangovers didn't hurt as much). it's 6pm and i'm still feeling badly. that's what i get i suppose, but i can say that i had a really good time letting my hair down with some good friends. very much needed.

i'm off to double dave's pizza to hopefully get something in my stomach. then i'm planning to finally watch confessions of a shopaholic. :)

death

i'm at a loss today. farrah fawcett, michael jackson, and ed mcmahon. deaths always happen in groups, don't they. i'm especially blown away by the announcement of mj's death because it was so unexpected. and while it is sad when anyone passes away, he was such a gifted and tragic person that it is just depressing all around. plus, it's just always unsettling to be reminded that one day someone may be here and the next day they're gone. everyone remember to hug your pet and tell your loved ones how much they mean to you each and every day.

sunday afternoon

it's sunday afternoon and i'm trying to decide what i want to do - read one of my many books that i have started and not finished, work on my knitting, walk my dogs, go to a bookstore (and buy yet another book - probably not a good idea). too many good ideas and not enough time to do them all.

friday and saturday i spent in Corpus Christi with my BFF who now lives in dallas. we met while working at a Corpus lawfirm about 4 1/2 years ago, and for some reason we got the urge to take a short trip there this weekend to see what's changed. little did we remember that NOTHING changes in Corpus other than businesses closing. fortunately, our favorite restaurants were still around so we obscenely stuffed ourselves with yummy asian food and spent friday night at a fun little club called havana. after making the rounds to our fav little boutiques, getting pedicures in our fav nail salon, and picking up some brownies from the gourmet brownie kitchen, we hit the road back to san antonio yesterday afternoon. as we were driving back, i have to say that both of us were very content with our decision to move away from Corpus. :)

today we had a yummy breakfast at fork & spoon in new braunfels and then she was off on the 4-5 hours trek back to dallas. sigh...it sure sucks that she lives so far away from me as she is truly my bff and i have yet to meet anyone who lives close to me that i connect with like her (and who isn't completely tied up with their family and children). oh well. it might be easier to meet someone like that if i didn't just work all the time. funny how that is. well, time to stop feeling sorry for myself and get out there and enjoy my sunday afternoon!

grrr!

ever been frustrated with the people you work with? well, the people i work with happen to be judges and that makes it a bit more complicated to be upfront with how i feel. but, it has come to just that. i've got to figure out some creative way to pass along what i need to say, but in such a way that doesn't immediately offend or piss off the judges. i try to remember that i actually have a very good job. the people i work with in my office are amazing and, for the most part, my day to day work, while busy, is pretty bearable. but, i just find it increasingly difficult to work in a system where the judges don't hold people (kids) accountable and are too afraid to make the tough decisions. i just finished a long day arguing with a judge about just that. it left me with a headache and a strong desire to give up. but, i'm really hoping that eating something sweet and a good night's sleep with help make things look better tomorrow.

keys and witches

yea, what a fun day. didn't get nearly enough accomplished today at the office, but my bff from dallas visited me in the afternoon and hung out until 5 (hence, the reason why i didn't get anything done). anyway, afterwards we shopped at la cantera and she gave me my b-day present early. i am such a sucker for jewelry from tiffany & co and she did not fail to surprise me by giving me the these two key pendants. one is big and the other is itty bitty and totally adorable. they look absolutely precious on one necklace and i can't wait to wear it to court tomorrow. we then had dinner at a yummy italian restaurant and then called it a night.


i also found out what my b-day present is from my sweetie - tickets to the musical wicked at the majestic theatre. having never been to the majestic (so much prettier than bass hall in austin) and having wanted to see wicked for, like, ever, i am SOOOOO excited!

MIA

gosh, i have been missing in action. june is already halfway over, it officially feels like summer here (meaning it is H-O-T!), and i am insanely busy. we have been short 1 attorney in my office and the rest of us have been working major overtime trying to cover. this is the main reason for my absence here. fortunately, the new attorney will be starting june 24, which still feels like eons.

so, i'm approaching my birthday (june 30) and the daunting task begins of recapping my past year and trying to figure out how to do things better. i already know without having to think that my biggest short coming is the fact that i do not take care of myself. it is a constant battle taking the time to do the things that really matter to me - yoga, reading, walking my dogs, riding a bike, getting some sun, etc. so, once again that is going to be my focus. time to stop letting petty things like jury trials, yucky criminal defense attorneys, and juvenile delinquents get in the way of my personal time. :)

long story short, i'm officially in a mindset to get off my tush and get my life in gear (maybe this had something to do with kimberly wilson's quote she posted today.

tomorrow is another day

must come up for air! my work life has been insane (as usual). all last week, i was the only attorney in the office. while i was able to hold the fort without mass chaos ensuing, it was still stressful and long and i'm so grateful the other attorneys will be in the office tomorrow.

i spent memorial day weekend in dallas visiting my bff. inevitably, we had to spend a few hours on sunday at her office. ahh, the joys of litigation. the rest of the time, however, was pretty fun. we saw the new terminator movie, which i really liked. christian bale is such a little hottie! we also ate at asian mint and a really yummy italian restaurant and, even though we stopped by tiffany and lv, i'm proud to say that i kept my spending to a minimum.

yesterday, i went to a shooting range with some law enforcement guys and got to shoot an automatic rifle for the first time (think "rambo" - ha!). i'm such a badass now! i'm not a big fan of guns and i don't ever see myself packing a "piece" in the future, but i'm always proud of myself after a fun day at the range (i've only been like 3 times).

after running boring errands, like getting my car inspected, john and i headed up to austin for dinner and we met up with another couple for drinks at a place called waterloo. today, john took the 8 hour drive back to his hometown to attend a funeral and will be back tomorrow. i really feel bad for him having to make that round trip in less than 48 hours.

i'm dreading the upcoming week (ok, month to be exact). there is so much going on at work that it is, as usual, becoming overwhelming. i'm trying to take things one step at a time, but the bad thing about being a lawyer is you really can't do that. you always have to look well into the future because trying cases takes lots of prep time. sigh...

but, for now, i'm enjoying a nice glass of wine, am doing some much needed closet organizing, and plan to finally finish my SARK book. tomorrow is another day. :)