Friends, Alias, and Emily

In reverse order...

Shout out to Emily Hatcher for a comment similar to that previously noted by DK regarding the lynch mob and my being outed as an Obama voter at work. (Incidentally, it seems rather inappropriate that the spell check on this blog still has a problem with the President's last name. It's like Kindles (c) not being able to pronounce "Barack Obama" in news articles a few months back...)

I decided today to restart the Alias series. I own the first three seasons, and I'm already on disk three of the first season. I have a friend here who owns all five seasons (Heather, Greg's wife) but it would be more fun if one of the owners of all five came to visit! (That's right, I'm talking to you, Emily and Elise!)

As to friends, it's really simple. I MISS YOU ALL SO MUCH! My nickname at work is "Outta Town Katie" or OTK because I'm gone so much, but it's because when I'm here I'm bored out of my mind. As shown by the fact that this is my second blog post in less than 24 hours. Anyways, I am again encouraging everyone to come visit me so that I don't become like Bridget Jones (also watched both of those earlier today before starting Alias...I rest my case) and end up dying alone and eaten by a pack of wild dogs. Perhaps I'm being a bit melodramatic, but I LOVE hosting visitors if anyone feels like making the trek to Lamesa! I can offer a drive-in movie theater, a comprehensive if somewhat random tour of town that includes my official ADA office complete with diplomas on the wall, baked goods and home cooking, and Scout the delightful puppy.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXY Zee end.

A Baby Changes Everything, or Let's Do a Rock Remix of Traditional Christmas Hymns

The tree all lit up at the end of the show.

The choir climbing up onto the Christmas tree.

As to the title of my post: today Sue gave me a ticket to a free show at Lamesa First Baptist. The show is called "A Baby Changes Everything" and is basically a musical theater synopsis of the Christmas story. The following is my review of the performance. It was okay. Mostly the singing was good, but it was distracting to have the residents and visitors to Bethlehem speaking in a west Texas drawl. In terms of acoustics, the sound was good and the choir sang well, singing along to a cd of the instrumental accompaniment. At one point there was a brief cello solo in the recording, and I waxed nostalgic for the days of Christmas concerts in orchestra. In my opinion, however, the best part of the show was actually part of the set. Odessa Baptist loaned the church a 32' 5" Christmas tree set piece on whose tiers stood 66 members of the choir (I counted...twice). There were several additional members on the floor, in addition to characters singing, making a total of (by my count) 77 vocal performances, but I digress. The super tall Christmas tree was not only tall and tiered, it was LIT UP in an outline of a tree on the sides, and the front of each tier had blinking red, orange, green, blue, and white lights that turned on and off and blinked in time to the music. Whoever was doing that (probably preset to the music and run by computer) was much more impressive than the person running the spotlights. I saw better following by tech theater at my high school. However, it was an enjoyable show and better than just staying home all evening, which was my alternative. (Although it didn't save the whole evening...I'm posting this at 9 pm on a Friday night. Lamesa is lame.) Overall, I give the show a B, and that might be higher if I weren't a big city girl with high expectations for theatrical performances. :)

As to work: This was kind of a big week for me. We had docket Monday through Thursday, once in each county, and two of them were just me in the courtroom. Wednesday Greg was running grand jury and Thursday I was totally on my own, running a Gaines County felony docket. This may or may not sound impressive, but it was six pages of cases, four pleas, one crazy judge, and a partridge in a pear tree. In any case, I'm proud of myself. Next week I may be running grand jury in Gaines County, depending on what Brian has going on that day. TBD.

In other news, Scout had her last round of shots at the vet yesterday, so she's good for the year. She's up to roughly 18.6 pounds, but she wouldn't sit still on the scale so that's merely an estimate. As time passes, I'm increasingly expecting her to look like a Shiba Inu, rather than a husky. We shall see.

Peace out, readers.

Out of the closet (as an Obama voter)

So pretty much my whole office (possibly excepting my boss, who wasn't in the room) now knows I voted for Obama. If I lived in any normal city in Texas, this would probably still make me in the minority at the DA's office, but it wouldn't be a big deal. Because I work in the 106th District, though, I'm probably the only liberal for something like 50 miles. (I'm guessing there's a few in Lubbock and Midland, since they both have universities...) Although, to be fair, I know there were at least SOME Obama voters in all four counties in our district, since I looked it up when Danielle was here a couple months ago. I sent a text to about a dozen people this evening saying something along the lines of "So today I was outed as an Obama voter" and I'm basically writing this entry to chronicle some of the responses:

"Oh dear" - DT

"Uh oh, no trial for you!" - MW

"Oh no. You still have a job?" - LN

"Uh oh... Will there be trouble now?" - AW

"Oh dear how did that go?" - KB

"Have you been tarred and feathered yet??" - KC

and my personal favorite:

"Is the lynch mob forming?" - DK

Funny side note: I told my mom "Today I was outed as an Obama voter" and either she didn't hear or didn't understand what I said, because she asked me what that meant. Sigh/<3

The Upsides and Downsides of BFE

I have Veterans Day off. Next year, no election day off thanks to the efforts of our judge who thinks Dawson County gives too many holidays, even though next year is when she's up for election. Short sighted? I think so.

With fewer stores to shop in, I don't spend as much money. (But then when I do go to civilization, I tend to overspend.)

I get visited by Jehovah's Witnesses. (Not sure if this is a positive or negative.)

I have a big yard for my puppy. However, Scout likes to dig, so my backyard now resembles a field used for testing small artillery.

Lubbock has a netflix distribution center, so I get new movies two days after the last one was returned.

Small town politics is similar to academia: the politics is so dirty because the stakes are so low. Example: our district judge tries to control what the DA's office and all the county and JP judges do. It's annoying, to put it kindly.

I'm much quieter here than I think I have ever been before, because I spend so much time biting my tongue. It's an interesting experience, being surrounded by religious conservative Republicans.

However, being surrounded by Bible-quoting Baptists is making me want to better understand and define my own faith. I'm planning to read The World's Religions by Huston Smith, an excerpt of which I read in my Asian Religions class freshman year of college. That should give me a good start.

There are fewer cars, which would seem to make cycling safer, but there are also fewer cyclists and mostly trucks rather than cars and lots of glass and other trash in the street, which makes me feel, oddly, less safe cycling than I did in Houston. Part of that could be the new pedals, though.

I have amazing people in my life. Thank you to everyone who has made the drive to visit me. Elise and Treva get the man-miles (woman-miles?) award, but Tony, Michelle, and Kyle (twice!) your visits are just as appreciated. :)

I miss San Antonio, and Houston, and even Arlington.

I did not want to be a homeowner, and possible problems with my plumbing in the wall between kitchen and bathroom reinforces that. Whether it ends up being a big or small problem remains to be seen, but I was really wanting that kind of thing to stay in the responsibilities of a landlord for awhile.

That's all I can think of for now...have a good week!

Happy Veterans Day!

Isolated thoughts

It would be really awesome if blogger.com, the site that hosts this blog, would remember my sign in information like I tell it to EVERY time I log on to make a new post.

The other two attorneys don't seem to think I'm ready to do anything at trial or even do an open plea by myself. (For non-criminal law people: open plea is where the defendant pleads guilty, but goes to the judge for punishment rather than taking an offer from the DA's office...generally a bad plan with our judge, but hey, that's their right as Americans...)

However, they're happy to have me write all the appellate responses. Awesome.

I love Glee. Like, really love it...so much I'm considering getting cable.

I currently have zero television stations because I don't have a 20 foot antenna or a dish or cable...which only matters when I want to see tonight's episode of Glee and it isn't on hulu yet.

Scout has started to assert her personality and chew on things she's not supposed to. Not. Good.

My party was a success and I loved having Michelle visit, but it really underlined how most of the time I'm really lame when in Lamesa because I have no outside-of-work friends here.

I think I want to start biking again to get ready for one or more MS-150s, but I still have the motivation problem.

I really really really hope my Houston friends visit for Halloween...else it'll be the worst party since NYE 1999.

I miss sleeping in...between Scout and work, I never get to continuously sleep past 7:30 anymore...and that's best case scenario.

I'm going home this weekend, but after that I have no specific travel plans, so EVERYONE SHOULD COME VISIT ME.

The end.

Why is Lamesa

Here's a question: why would anyone choose to live in a small town? It's entirely possible that I've just been spoiled by living in large urban areas all my life, but I for one would not be here if I'd had a job offer anywhere else. I don't understand the people that choose to remain in BFE when they have the chance to live elsewhere. However, I'm also bitter because all my friends are many hours away and I don't get to spend time with people outside work, because everyone I work with has a family and the accompanying obligations. They have spouses and kids, and I have a puppy. Also a time commitment, but the conversation isn't quite as good. Besides which, I've never been the only liberal in my environment, and I've never been surrounded entirely by conservative Christians who are openly homophobic and borderline racist. I miss being in the midst of a plurality of opinions.

In work news: we may have jury selection in a week and a half for a trial that was supposed to happen a month ago but was postponed due to a defense witness being hospitalized. This would not be a big deal except we're also supposed to have a trial in mid-November on an injury to a child case where the victim, a not-quite-three boy, was in the hospital for over a month and still, three years later, is dealing with ongoing health and developmental problems from being beat up by his mom's boyfriend. I don't believe in the death penalty, but I come pretty close in cases like this one. Here's hoping he takes the plea offer so it doesn't have to go to trial, because that would be a hard case to try. Just reading through all the evidence, medical records, etc. was heartbreaking. Should find out in a few days whether it'll be a plea or a trial.

On a happier note, I enjoyed going home for my dad's birthday last weekend. Lisa, Daddy, and I went to see Toy Story and Toy Story 2 in 3D. Pretty sweet, but the 3D doesn't really add that much to the story. Bonus: there was a preview for Toy Story 3. Can't wait! Also can't wait to see my Houstonians in a few days. Thanks in advance to everyone who makes time to see me while I'm there. :)

Not camping

Four days of docket, in all four counties, last week. This week is (for me) preparation for a case that may or may not go to trial in November. So, I guess that means my first trial may be in November. We shall see. In any case, we're maybe having trial next week (jury selection set for this Friday) so I may get to do something with that even sooner. In the meantime, I'll write offers and read a case that nobody's looked at in a couple years. I hope we finish wading through the old cases soon...stupid former DA and his lazy non-working cases. At least the cases on which I'm making offers are new, so they're "my" cases from the beginning. :) Not that I'm possessive, I just get a warm-and-fuzzy feeling when I do a plea on a case in which I made the plea offer and negotiated with the attorney and all. This whole actually using my degree is still a novel concept, and I like it!

I was supposed to go camping this weekend, and made it as far as Austin, but the camping was cut short after people were a little loud at the campsite Friday night. Instead, we hung out at several people's apartment pool and then ate copious amounts of chili and queso at Christine/Carlos/Sam/Chad's house. Good times. :) Also, Scout got to play with several other dogs, which is all good because I want her to be comfortable around people and dogs. She's good with people, but so far kind of aggressive and seems to think she's a boy. (She was humping a similarly-sized boy dog all evening...awesome.)

I don't know what I'm going to do when I'm finished with my autumn 0' travel...life in Lamesa is boring. At least Scout keeps me busy; I just wish she could talk. Living alone is no bueno. Moral of the story: people should come visit me! The end.

Hello, autumn

So I haven't updated in awhile. This is getting to be a bigger problem as time goes on, so I'll try to do better. Let's see...I have my car back, after three weeks without it. State Farm (insurer of the F-150 that hit me) paid for the rear damage but not the front, so from the back my car looks new and from the front it looks the same, but the crumple zone was replaced (and maybe more, I'm not sure) but it's safe again. Woo. I freaking hate unlicensed drivers and want to put them all in jail because I'm vindictive like that. I also hate stupid people who don't bother to look and see who hit them, but instead assume that it must've been me, since I actually stopped at the scene of the accident. FALSE. Ok, done with the rant, unless someone wants more details, then I'll just tell you.

Last week were the first trials since I started working in Lamesa. One was a mistrial that may or may not be retried, depending on how double jeopardy shakes out in the particular circumstances, and the other was a PCS - cocaine for which defendant was found guilty and sentenced to four years and a $3,000 fine. Go team. Next Friday we're supposed to be picking juries for one or two more cases, that may or may not actually go to trial. At this point, only one of them is even a maybe, the other won't be happening. Hopefully I'll actually get to do something in this one, although that idea simultaneously excites and terrifies me.

I also went to my first CLE last week, in San Antonio. Lauren graciously hosted Scout and I, and I spent three and a half days watching/listening to videos of lectures. Gross. There was some useful information, but I hate the thought of doing that every year for the rest of my career. Sigh. Stupid state bar with your stupid "continuing education" and expecting people to stay current on what the law actually says.

In other news, Scout's doing well. She's mostly potty trained and generally limits her chewing to toys and nibbling on people. But it's an affection thing when dogs bite like she does, according to Pooh's vet. (Pooh was the dog my family got when I was a kid, for those who didn't know her...) She's almost 3 months old, and will be going to the vet again next week, at which point I'll actually know quantitatively how much bigger she is.

I have a note on my desk at work that says "you personally need to pick up your credit card from auditor." Apparently I get a work credit card here. That seems like just asking for trouble, but hey, at least I'm not a mad crazy shopper like some people I know. And if a plane ticket to Maui magically appears on the statement, it definitely wasn't me. :) That's all I can think of, so have a good week and visit me!

Link of the day: http://www.omggopwtf.com/

Oops

So I've been a little busy and haven't been updating...oops. I'll try to remedy that now. But in my defense, I've been out of town the last two weekends and Scout takes up a goodly amount of time. Let's see...

The last weekend in August I went home to see people and pick up my puppy. She's adorable (see facebook for pictures) and pretty well behaved, for being so young. However, on the way home from picking her up and seeing Tony's new apartment, I was in a car accident. Aurora was smushed between an F-150 (black) and a Jeep Cherokee, also black. The truck hit me, I hit the SUV, and the SUV hit the Altima in front of it. I find it amusing that the girl at fault (who's also unlicensed) and the car that left the scene are both black, whereas my car is white. Maybe I took too many English classes in college. Anyways, the truck's insurer (State Farm) has agreed to pay for the damage to the back of my car, but since bitchface claims I hit the SUV before she hit me (FALSE!) they're thus far refusing to pay for the damage to the front of my car. However, discussions are ongoing and the worst of the damage is all repaired. We shall see what happens. Sigh. I hate people.

On a happier note, I spent Labor Day weekend in Austin. I got to see Kyle, Lisa, Erin, Lisa, Lauren, Linsey, and Michael, not to mention a good number of Kyle's friends at their last-minute show Sunday night. Twas good times. Scout wasn't a huge fan of tubing, but I think she'd like it better if it were warmer outside. I also got to visit HPB (I never realized how much I'd miss not having a bookstore nearby!) and several restaurants that Kyle and I tend to frequent whenever I'm in town. Overall a fun weekend, although I wish I could make Kyle's last few months of grad school more pleasant. I guess the end of grad school has to be miserable so you appreciate it more when it's over. Maybe.

On the work front, I'm going to miss the first trial since I started working here (robbery of a convenience store...can you get more cliched?) next week, because I'll be at a criminal law CLE. Oops. Oh well, I should be back in time for the second trial, unless druggie mcdruggerson decides to plead out. Lame. But on the upside, I'm working on another appeal, so once again my name will be on the record with the Eleventh Court of Appeals. Neat. (And just think, I could've applied to a job there and been closer to everyone...poor life decisions...except I hardly think that would have ended up being a better job.)

I think the above rambling mostly catches any stray readers up on my life. I hope the car stuff gets sorted out soon and Scout continues to be a good puppy. In the meantime I'll just keep be-bopping along and I hope everyone is doing well in your respective cities and lives. :)

Toto, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore...

Interesting fact from last weekend: while Danielle was visiting, I had the inspired idea to look up and see how many people in my judicial district (the counties of Dawson, Gaines, Garza, and Lynn, for those not keeping track) voted for Obama in 2008. Of about 60,000 people in the whole district, 2,804 people voted for him according to cnn.com. Wow. Awesome. But at least I received my voter registration card in the mail today, so I'm officially able to cancel out one red Dawson County voter. Although I can't vote straight party, because I do like my boss and he's as GOP as they come. :)

In other news, had a blast with Danielle. (I miss my friends!) We ate dinner from the drive in and caught up on gossip and whatnot Friday. Then she came back through on the way home Sunday and we got lunch at Sonic. I think I'm actually starting to get burned out on Sonic drinks, which makes me sad. There's just a lack of options here.

Today we had the first grand jury since I started working in Lamesa. Eight cases, eleven jurors, five officers testifying. All in all, took just under 3 hours to indict (I think) all of the variations on the cases. Woot. Docket tomorrow and Thursday, then grand jury again Friday in another county. Nothing terribly exciting (so far as I know) going on this week, but I'll probably be sending more people to prison or probation since we'll be in several more counties this week. There is rumor of potential drama at docket on Thursday, but I'll wait to see if anything actually happens before sharing. I'm mean like that. :)

That's all I can think of that's new and different in my life. Have a good night!

Just call me Negative Nancy

I hate living in a place where I don't have anyone to hang out with after work. Life is boring when you can't even choose to be by yourself or not, it's being forced upon me. Granted, I did this to myself by applying to work in a town I'd never heard of before, but that doesn't really make me feel any better, since I was applying everywhere and not hearing back from anywhere, so I'd expected more of the same. I even tried to ride my bike today for the first time since moving here, but it's been too long since I've used it so my tires are flat. I have a little pump that goes on the bike, but either it's ineffective or the operator is, and the air pumps at gas stations are really too big for a bike tire's nozzle. Sigh. I guess I'll just bring my bike home with me next weekend and take it to Sun and Ski Sports, because they're nice and helpful. I'm just grouchy today, and I really shouldn't be, because tomorrow's Friday and Danielle's coming through on the way to Brandon's wedding. Yay, a visitor!

Also, since I haven't written in awhile, Lisa's 21st birthday was a blast. She celebrated as she ought and Kyle and I DD'd so she and her friends could have fun, which generally speaking, I think we all did. :) Today was also Linda's (office secretary) birthday, so we had cake.

Tomorrow's going to be a tough day at work because I have to (jointly) tell a mom that the case against a guy charged with sexually assaulting her daughter is being dropped because he passed two separate polygraphs. That's going to be unpleasant, based on previous interaction with them. Sigh. But it's all about justice being done, so I think that's what's happening, at least as far as the guy is concerned.

That's all that is new with me. Over and out.

A lawyer, a Texas ranger, and three game wardens walk into a DQ...

First off, last weekend was generally fun. My cousins are awesome, Maria was super for letting five of us stay at her house with three dogs, and it was good to see various family members I hadn't seen in many years. Some drama ensued among Grandma's kids (my aunts and uncles) but none of it involved me, and it wasn't as bad as expected. We ate a lot, drank some, didn't sleep much, but had a good time. And I made a friend on the flight home. Woo. This weekend should be even better: less drama, more sleep, and two of my favorite people! :)

Seriously, this week has been...real. Monday afternoon a guy was found murdered in his house in Lamesa. No worries, he lived in the bad part of town (southeast...I live north central) and it was probably drug related, so I am not fearing a drive-by or anything. On the upside, I've now been to my first murder scene, which sounds really cool until I tell you the body had already been removed. But it was a long day: most of us (police, sheriff's deputies, Texas rangers, ADAs) didn't leave the office until around 10:30, and boss stayed even later. Tuesday we had court, and I actually did the state's part of sending someone to TDC, so I've officially (helped) put someone in prison. Woo. Most of the week has revolved around investigating the murder. Today we stayed at the office until 7, waiting for a call from the PD that didn't come.

Today was also the circumstance that led to today's title. Brian, one of the rangers, wanted to get food, so I went with him to DQ to get dinner. We arrived at the same time as three Texas game wardens from Marfa, so we sat and ate with them. Apparently every county has at least one game warden, some have more than one, and some counties share a single warden (like our four-county judicial district). These are the things you learn when you eat dinner with four peace officers. Also, every peace officer in Texas seems to have at least 50% friends in common (or acquaintances in common) with every other peace officer, so if you get too many of them together, it's bla bla do you know this person...ad nauseum. But I'd still rather be on the good side of the law and slightly bored, enjoying my blizzard, than the alternative. :)

Have a great weekend!

Playing catch up

Sorry for the lapse in blogging (although I really wonder if anyone noticed). Last weekend Kyle was here, (huzzah!) and we ended up spending Saturday afternoon and evening in Lubbock because Lamesa's pretty boring. But we did see "Public Enemies," which was ok but not as awesome as I had hoped. Tuesday I had internet installed,(yay!) and today I had my first CLE class. Woo. Three hours of legislative update. At least it was in Midland, so we went to Carino's for lunch. Good stuff. :) Tonight I had someone come to my door to ask if they could do a free water test. I let them, which took almost 2 hours and an attempted sales job (for a water softener machine thing) and resulted in my liking Lamesa water even less than I did before. It's kind of gross. But I don't really like soft water, either, because it feels slimy to me. I'm just used to good old hard Texas water, I guess.

In other news, here's my travel plans for the next couple months: Columbus and Austin and home in August, Austin and San Antonio (for CLE classes) in September, and home and Houston in October. I'm supposed to be getting the puppy when I go home at the end of August. She's a husky/shiba inu mix and I'm going to name her "Scout." For anyone who's interested, the plan now is to go tubing over Labor Day weekend...read, IF YOU WANT TO COME TUBING WITH US (ME) LABOR DAY WEEKEND, COME TO AUSTIN! The Mondays of Labor Day and Columbus Day are county holidays, so I get the day off, so I'm thinking...travel? Yes! Discuss among yourselves and in comments or emails whether these weekends are good for me to visit and whether I'll get to see you when I'm in town. Also, this means the weekends I'm not going to be visiting elsewhere, I'm open to host visitors (hint, hint).

I think that's all, folks. Have a good night!

I fancy myself to be a novice gardener

To catch you up on work, Thursday I received my official ADA badge. It's a silver star with my name, my title, and the office, that will soon be in a black leather wallet. (SWEET!) Friday I did my first pleas in court. For non-lawyers, that means three of the defendants to whom I made plea offers the week before accepted, so the three pled guilty to a total of nine counts of burglary (of a building, which is a state jail felony, and of a habitation, which is a second degree felony). So, three just-barely-adults are now on probation as a direct result of my work. (again, SWEET!) Also, I found out today that one of them may have already done something that violates his probation, so we may end up revoking his delinquent butt. Remains to be seen.

I spent the weekend in Austin, where I went to a Killing Industry show at Trophy's with Kyle and Erin on Friday night. Saturday we played softball, kickball, horseshoes, and swam for Sam's birthday party. Good times, except I realized how super out of shape I am. Sunday I drove back to Lamesa after watching Role Models, which I would encourage everyone to see. I'd give it 3, maybe 4 stars. The drive between Lamesa and Austin is about 6 hours, which isn't terrible, but gets a little scary after dark near Austin, because the road's so hilly and curvy. For anyone who may be visiting me, I'd suggest getting gas in Big Spring or San Angelo because it's cheaper in those cities than other places along the drive.

Today I spent a solid three hours weeding; one hour in the backyard and two in the front. Other than the fact that there's a few more spots of just dirt, you can hardly tell I was even out there. It's rather discouraging. However, I have ambitious plans for my yard, so I'm going to keep plugging away at it. (My ambitious plan is primarily to be able to walk barefoot in my yard and have more grass than weeds...yes, it's really that bad.) Anyways, hopefully I'll have a mowable yard before I acquire a dog, because I could lose a small dog in my backyard jungle right now.

That's all I can think of that's new in my life...have a good week, good luck on the bar, and make plans to visit me! :)

Bitchy McCantbepleased

Today we had two pleas and a parole revocation hearing. This should have taken no more than 90 minutes total, but our judge takes 20+ minutes per plea, and the hearing lasted 2.5 hours. Really. The length of the hearing was made worse by the fact that we didn't start until 4:00 pm because up to that point there was a hearing trying to divide up someone's farm assets (cattle, land, John Deeres, etc) among three squabbling siblings. I wanted to punch them in the face and tell them to suck it up, they're getting free stuff. But back to criminal law...the defendant in the hearing has an inability to accept responsibility for anything and seems to like behaving like a 13 year old girl. (she's about 45) So, she was simultaneously the most annoying and the most hilarious defendant I've ever seen. She was on probation beginning in 2004 for food stamp fraud, then got a federal charge in 2006, but they still gave her another chance. Bitch has had about five chances, and she still doesn't seem to understand that HER BEHAVIOR is what's getting her in trouble. Another amazing characteristic: she can't seem to answer a question. She'd get something about why she quit her job, and start talking about fake medical issues. The best part is, that in about 13 years when she gets released from state and federal prison, if she goes back to her prior home she'll live about three blocks from me. Awesome.

In other news, I watered my yard last night and then it rained today. I learned that if it's raining or has rained heavily, I have to take a different route home to avoid drowning my car. Not a big deal, but good to know. Also, when I FINALLY left work at 7:30, i decided to check out Los Ybanez. This is the half section about a mile southeast of Lamesa that was incorporated as a town specifically so they can sell booze. Unfortunately, it's a drive thru (kind of cool) that only takes cash (not cool.) So Katie won't be making herself a margarita tonight, despite talk of it during the looooong hearing today. C'est la vie. Overall, life is good. I still like the job, the house is growing on me (although the idea of home ownership still scares me), and I have thus far had a regular stream of visitors, who make life happier. Keep the visit's coming, y'all!

Also, thanks to Emily H. for the title of this one, from days long ago at TU. :)

A few thoughts while the internet's working

I'm still stealing internet, so I should take advantage since it wasn't really working when I was trying to post pictures earlier.

Thoughts:
Come to Lamesa because there's a drive in movie theater. Super fun in itself, but add tasty cheap food, including something called a chihuahua which is my new favorite 4000 calorie food, and you have a great evening. Assuming you have a citronella candle in the car to drive off some of the bugs, and it doesn't start raining. Harry Potter on a BIG screen is fun, but the book is still (of course) much better.

My dad, Lisa, and Tony are awesome for visiting me this weekend. Woo for having shelves and towel rods installed and appliances on the way. I never really thought about how much money goes into a house that's just been redone until moving in here. It's amazing how many things this house doesn't have, considering it was just redone. Like towel racks, toilet paper holders, curtain rods, all the things you never think about but when you go to buy them all at once, (if you're me) you can't bring yourself to do it because in combination they're EXPENSIVE. Boo hiss. Oh well, at least the house is looking more lived in now.

Last but not least, I highly recommend Hoosiers, The French Connection, The Firm, and Mississippi Burning. All Gene Hackman movies, all good. I've watched them all in the past week. Not surprisingly, I watch a lot of movies here.

Have a good week, and for those of you taking the bar, keep studying but don't forget to sleep and eat and not be a hermit. At this point, there's only so much you can learn before the bar. You'll be fine.

The house

The living room is just about the perfect size for the furniture I had. (Thank goodness!)

The bar is pretty sweet. There will be two or three bar stools on either side (kitchen and living room) once I decide which ones I want.

The kitchen is so much nicer than either apartment, and in some ways is better than my parents's kitchen, even. It'll be even nicer when the gaps in the counter have appliances in them.

I don't think you can really tell in this picture, but my bathroom has a palm tree theme.

Somehow, amazingly, Bob the tomato plant survives everything. I don't know why, but Bob just won't die. He's a mutant.

My house is still a work in progress, no question, but it is progressing. I will have a normal size refrigerator and a stove/oven delivered July 29, while most of my law school friends are answering MBE questions. (Rememer the mantra: you will be fine.) I hope you enjoyed the pictures, but as always, please excuse the mess. :)

First paycheck

Since the last time I updated, I've been to the Odonnell rodeo; sent out 7 or 8 plea offers to defendants; co-interviewed 7 people, two of them twice, who are either defendants or witnesses; and received my first paycheck. Whew.

The Odonnell rodeo was fun in that it's much smaller than any rodeo I'd attended before so I was closer to the barrel races and whatnot, but it's really not much fun watching by myself. Also, the "witty banter" between the announcer and the rodeo clown was heavy on puns, wife jokes, and borderline racist humor.

Sending out plea offers and signing paperwork is exciting for about a day. I'm glad I actually get to do things that matter, but the coolest thing based on my work so far is the judge refusing someone a hearing based on my research into his eligibility for an exemption from registering as a sex offender. (Incidentally, I don't think he should have to register because I don't really think he's a sex offender in the high recidivism sense, but he wasn't eligible to be exempt the way the law is written.)

Yesterday was payday (yay!) and we spent most of the day interviewing people in Seminole. One of the interviews, with a girl who was basically in the wrong place at the wrong time and was caught with drugs in her car, got a lecture better than any I heard working in juvenile court. Hopefully it'll take and she'll find some less felonious friends. (If that's not a word, it is now.) Also, not that this is a surprise to me, but I have a hard time with sexual assault cases. Especially when the victim is a small child. Nothing makes me angrier and closer to being ok with the death penalty than someone who hurts a kid.

On a lighter note, I'm going to have three visitors this weekend, and I may actually start accumulating appliances now that I have income. Up to this point I've been living in a dorm fridge and microwave environment, but soon I might even be able to bake and do laundry in my own home. What a concept.

Final thought: I have three tickets to the Lamesa rodeo, good on any day July 30 - August 1. Hint, hint.

I'm a real lawyer now

So in the past two days, I've actually been assigned cases and handed things to the judge to sign during pretrial proceedings. Therefore, I guess I'm a real prosecutor. Crazy. Now I just need to make some friends here in Lamesa and my life will be pretty good. In the meantime, I have my books and movies, the internet, and my ipod. I might be lost without technology. I hope barbri wrapped up well for everyone and life is bebopping along as it should.

In other news, I may be getting a puppy in a few months. I was leaning more toward getting an adult dog from an animal shelter, but if I can get a dog whose parentage is known, that makes me feel better about getting a puppy than I would otherwise. TBD.

The house is officially mine and my mom (and dad's, thanks to Texas' community property laws.) I bet he never thought my moving to Lamesa would result in his having an undivided 1/4 interest in a house. The electric and water are in my name as of today, too. This means visitors can come whenever and see me and the house! PLEASE!

I think that's it. Have a good weekend!

The first three days

Day 1: In the office. My day consisted of talking to my boss and the other people in the office and reading cases from the previous week's Dawson County grand jury. Most of the cases were a group of kids just barely adults for criminal purposes who decided to steal shit from houses for no apparent reason. Awesome. This is why I'd have a hard time defending people. I have no patience for stupid.

Day 2: Docket in Garza County. Docket in each county occurs, I think, only once or twice a month. For the felony docket for this county, we were finished by noon. To give some perspective for non-criminal law people, it took a daily docket to do that in Harris County. Nothing too exciting in court, but we did go to a tasty restaurant for lunch. I am becoming a fan of small towns because they have tasty, reasonably priced hole in the wall restaurants. :)

Day 3: Docket in Dawson County. Dawson and Gaines have the biggest dockets among the four counties in the 106th. We actually had to come back in the afternoon to finish up a few people's cases. The last was the best of the day. The defendant was originally convicted in about 2004. She's since screwed up several more times and been kicked out of various TDCJ programs. Her diatribe about how none of it is her fault was hilarious. She just kept going and going for somewhere between 10 and 15 minutes. Whenever the judge tried to focus her talking to what the judge was actually asking about, the defendant didn't let it stop her. The whining continued. And continued. Among other things, she talked about how in prison she'd gotten "a drug education, and a lesbian education." Can't say I knew they offered those classes in TDCJ.

In other news, I was sworn in by the judge today. She invited members of the Lamesa bar, so I met several attorneys who practice no criminal law. The thing I found most interesting is that, aside from the judge, I'm apparently the only female attorney in Lamesa. Crazy. But I'm a real attorney now, pending receipt by the bar of my prorated attorney tax. I owed them just under $100 because there was a month or so gap between when I was eligible to join the state bar and when I got my job, which (as a government attorney) made me exempt from the tax. I think that mostly sums up the past few days. Here's hoping tomorrow's docket in Gaines is just as much fun.

Random fact of the day: the 106th judicial district is divided between two appellate courts. Lynn and Garza Counties go to Amarillo and Dawson and Gaines go to Eastland. I find this entertaining because it means the same judge's cases may be appealled to two different courts. Oh, Texas.

Pictures

Look, windmills! If I'd been faster turning on my camera, I would have had a picture of windmills in the background and a single oil derrick near the freeway. Ah, Texas.

This is the view all the way to Lamesa. The side of the truck had a picture of Sacajawea. I wanted to punch her in the face. Why yes, I am all about the misplaced frustration leading to a desire to punch metal trucks.

I was going to post house pictures, but I think I'll not post anything that specific. If you want to see pictures of the house, let me know and I'll email a few.

Avoiding unpacking

Current status: I'm avoiding unpacking and borrowing someone else's wireless internet. I'm on my fourth movie of the day (Blazing Saddles, Snakes on a Plane, On Her Majesty's Secret Service, and now You Only Live Twice).

Update on my life: Everything was moved into the house in about half an hour because the contractor, Chris, had several people come over to help. The house is beautiful, but way too big and lacking appliances. Right now I have a dorm fridge and a microwave. No washer/dryer, stove, oven, refrigerator, and no place to install a dishwasher. (bitch moan, bitch moan. my blog.) On the upside, my living room is set up and all my movies and board games are unpacked. My bathroom is mostly decorated. My bedroom and the living room have curtains, installed by me. (go me.) The rest of the house is rather less settled. However, I'm definitely open for business as far as wanting people to visit me. I'm lonely. I start work on Monday and we're closing on the house sometime this week. Maybe the same day I start work or maybe Tuesday or Wednesday. I hate this delay delay delay shit.

Things I've learned since arriving: I get splinters when I walk barefoot in the backyard. The Lamesa Wal-Mart closes at 10 pm. Lubbock has a decent mall, with a Rudy's and Freebirds nearby. Ikea dressers should not be moved by one person, because they get somewhat broken. Latin hip-hop singers exist, and one is the brother of the contractor who sold us the house. Jalapeno's is better Mexican food than Savannah's. The Lamesa Chinese buffet is overrated. Medium Pizza Hut pizza boxes fit in my dorm fridge. I'm sure there's more, but that's all I can think of right now.

Peace out.

Preliminary thoughts

It's 6:30 in the morning and I've been up for an hour already because I woke up and can't get back to sleep. That will make moving in today just awesome. The drive here was ok except there's no cruise control in the Uhaul and mom insisted on going in front, so I couldn't use cruise control either. At least I was very safe and texted most of the time, and even took a few pictures. (They will be posted later, once I unpack the cords for my camera.) I thought the juxtaposition of oil rigs in the foreground and windmills in the background was pretty appropriate for Texas right now...we need to get our energy shit sorted out, but that's a diatribe for another day. In the meantime, here's hoping the move in goes as smoothly as my mom seems to think it will.