Do you guys remember the question from the reader who was going to be sitting for the Florida bar exam while 39 weeks pregnant? Well. Not only did she have a huge, happy, healthy baby boy back in March, but she was also just sworn into the Florida bar. Congrats!
…I finally finished that last scene in the last rewrite of the novel. This is a very happy day, except I stayed up late to do it, Pea had an epic series of meltdowns (nuclear) this morning, and I am too tired to read what I wrote. It probably sucks, but at least I have something to work from whenever I’m awake enough to edit. …Friday, M had minor foot surgery (something was removed but I’m not sure what — wire? wood? metal?). …I want a day where I don’t drive anywhere. Not even to the grocery store. This is why I miss downtown. Did I ever tell you guys that there was one year when I only drove 1,000 miles? How awesome is…
Disclaimer: My undergraduate school is a land-grant university west of the Mississippi. In case you missed it, Susan Patton is the Princeton alumna and mother of two Princeton students (male) who wrote a letter to the young women of Princeton about how they would do well to get married to someone they met while at Princeton. It wasn’t tongue in cheek. Women fell over themselves to excoriate her. I cringed. If there’s anything I hate, it’s constant media women-vs-women “my way is best/most feminist” churn. The Mommy Wars are nothing but a gimmick to sell shit to women already contorted by the Twister game of “work-life balance.” (Because work-life balance, like utopia, doesn’t exist.) This is all you need to know about my take…
There isn’t a sound in the world that pisses me off more than a ringing phone, or a light that makes me angrier than a flashing red “voicemail” alert. If I were forty years older, I’d be an old lady who’d pretend to not understand how her answering machine worked. As much as I love my gadgets, as much as I need them to be productive, I hate them, too. I hate them because if I know there is something outstanding — an email that needs a response, a call that needs to be returned, or even knowing it’s my Words with Friends turn — I am constitutionally incapable of focusing on work until I’ve written the email, made the call, or taken my…
Reader Mike sent in this question: Hi, long time reader of the site and big fan. I remember a little while back you were doing a sort of “ask me anything” type column on your website. I am a third year law student getting ready to graduate. Basically, I suck at multiple choice questions. I’ve done a lot of practice in the past three years, but it seems every exam I have reviewed with my professor, I did fairly well on the essay part, below average on the multiple choice part. Now, with the MBE coming up this summer, it’s on my mind more than ever. Care to give your take on how to improve your MC test taking? I am also taking a…
Dear AAL: How do I get this baby to stop barfing down my back? YOU’RE MY LAST BEST HOPE. It’s been a long time since I had to worry about spitup, but I don’t remember this happening to me (it’s entirely possible I’m deluding myself and/or that in my sleep-deprived state, I didn’t form a long-term memory of it happening). With Pea, I didn’t burp her on my shoulder because it didn’t work well, and also because I was grossed out by the idea of barf down my back. Instead, I’d sit her up, one hand supporting most of her weight on her chest (holding a spit-up cloth), then pat and massage her back with the other hand. Good luck!
Dear AAL, I am currently 26 weeks pregnant and am taking the Florida Bar Feb 26 and 27, at which time I will 39 weeks preg. I am very determined to take on the exam so long baby stays in. Any recommendations for studying while pregnant? Also, I am so scared to go back out in the market once I get back to work in June (hopefully as an attorney and not as a paralegal). Any recommendations to make myself more marketable as a new attorney? Thanks!! When I took the bar, there was a woman about that far along taking the exam, too. This was before I was pregnant, and I thought at the time, that is one heck of a chance. Then,…
Dear AAL, Can a romantic relationship survive and flourish when one person comes from a completely cruel and crazy family and the other from a (gag-inducing) loving, functional, healthy family? Sincerely, Mere I think so. In fact, I think that’s the best person for the person from the dysfunctional family to settle down with! That said? Therapy. For the person from the dysfunctional family (for all the usual reasons) and also for both to go through couples’ counseling so the person from the happy family knows what his or her partner has gone through. Your question reminds me that for years I didn’t believe there was such a thing as a loving, functional, healthy family. I assumed they were all faking or covering up…
Punctuation questions! Yes, ask me about punctuation. I love punctuation. Question: I have an editing question for ya. I’ve always been told that there should be two spaces at the end of the sentence. Recently, I read somewhere (and I can’t remember where) that having two spaces at the end is outdated and there should only be one space. Thoughts? Answer: It’s true. Just one space now. It’s possible to train yourself to switch to one space (I managed it easily, which surprised me), and now the only time I use two spaces after a period is when I’m texting (so that my iPhone will automatically add the period). If you don’t want to bother with retraining, finish your piece and in final edits…
Thank you for everyone who asked questions! I had such a ball reading each comment as it came in, and I hope to make this a regular part of the blog. I’ll be dividing these into a couple of posts, roughly by topic, to keep each post from being too long. Dearest AAL, I am struggling with what to share on my blog. I have become totally paranoid about being found online – work is contentious enough as it is, and writing about my frustrations with opposing counsel or judges would make everything worse in a hurry. Also, pretty sure I’m not allowed to talk about Fight Club in any but the vaguest of terms. I also worry that talking about my feelings…
