Today we go up down and around the Crystal chair region of Blackcomb. We all make it at least once down through the trees. The snow is pretty much perfect. There's no ice. But we whine a little bit about the visibility and cold.
The best part of the day is seeing the sun and blue sky break out as we turn the corner approaching the Excalibur lift. The worst part is eating our much anticipated take out dinner from Opa the Greek joint. It is awful. We usually go there a few times whenever we come but -we're crossing it off our list. Yuck.
Read MoreIt is a winter snowland. Big soft flakes are floating down in a most romantic fashion. Noelle starts laughing and says – Mom look at your dandruff.
We are at the Snow Goose. Our home for the next week at Whistler.
Mission number one. Unpack the car. We aren’t exactly light packers. Here is what we schlep up the stairs, around the corner, up the stairs into the condo.
Read MoreDoes anyone know the attorneys or parties in this case, intones the judge. I see the hand rise as the clipped, precise voice calls out “Yes!” 1,800,000 million people live in King County in the early 2000s. And there sitting in the box with his bow tie, is Mr. Friedman. Father of one of my best friends since Kindergarten.
Read MoreThe cow’s inflated lungs are humungous - I am four. The brain surgery film makes me a little squeamish - I am in fifth grade. My dad is a professor of biological structure at the U of W and teaches medical students. He doesn’t switch off his professor-ish-ness when he comes home. He dissects the chicken when we are around the dinner table so we can learn about anatomy. I grow up with a fairly clinical understanding of life and death.
Read MoreI finish up at the gym and stop at Metropolitan Market in lower Queen Anne on my way home. Park, rush down the elevator and turn the corner to walk down the stairs. The woman's strong but not demanding voice stops me. Please give me money I'm hungry she says.
Read MoreThe temptation of rebuttal is to make absolutely positively sure the jury is told the right version of the case. To have the last word and correct the defense. But the jury wants to get going. They are ready to start deliberation. They’ve listened to the lawyers for long enough. They don’t want to hear a rehash of what they already have been told.
Read MoreWe probably should read up on the Empire State Building before we get there. But what can be so difficult about going up an elevator. Right.
We walk three blocks and approach it apparently from the side. We see the entrance, but it doesn’t look that big and grand. We begin to walk further but there is a man who says - “Do you want to go up the Empire State Building.” Lesson one. If someone asks you a question out on the streets of New York, and it is not for directions, move on.
Read MoreAlysha vows to be up by 6:30. We don’t get up til 9:30 which technically is 6:30 if we’re in Seattle. It is raining as we rush out the door headed for Chinatown. We get on the right subway make the right connection, then start the six block trek from Canal street to 27 Sunshine dim sum restaurant. For two blocks little Chinese women come running up to us saying “honbo” in their sing song voices. The first woman gets my puzzled look until I realize, they want us to buy the knock off handbags from the little shops that line the street. The rain picks up so we raise our umbrellas. Suddenly, it begins to pour and big gusts of wind kick up around us. People are trying to fight it and I watch as umbrella after umbrella wooshes inside out.
Read MoreI’ve agreed to speak for AAJ in New York. But it is our firm party the night before.
Both our Hoquiam and Seattle offices are together. We are on the Top of the WAC. P.A.R.T.Y! The Pauls are in their Santa Hats. Everyone is dressed beautifully with sparkles galore. We finish dinner and are about to begin the gift exchange. I lean over to Ed and ask him what time it is. 7:40. Great. I have twenty minutes before I need to leave. The volume is growing. Numbers are called, people get their gifts but can’t unwrap them. Then they steal other people’s gifts. But only two steals for any one gift. These are Hoquiam’s rules.
Read MoreMy favorite time to go to the gym is 8:00 at night. It gets dark now at 4:30. Plus it’s cold, rainy and windy. Even if I felt like running outside, I would have talked myself out of it. There’s hardly anyone in the gym this late. I have a favorite treadmill. Right in front of the television. A little too close. It is mounted from the ceiling and so I have to tilt my head back a little bit to look up at it. But it is near the window which I crack open. Ah, precious breeze. I always look at tvguide.com before I head out to the gym. I want to know what channel to turn to. This is another reason I like to go when the gym is empty. I want to hog the tv.
Read MoreThe jurors are the ones who are supposed to “speak the truth” in voir dire. This is not a time for attorneys to dazzle the jury with brilliant manipulative dialogue.
Of what use is eloquence? He who engages in fluency of words to control men often finds himself hated by them - Confucius
Read MoreGet up. Make bed. Brush teeth. Throw on yoga pants and Northface puffy long coat. Fill Nala’s bowl with water and slightly less than a cup of dog food. Wait 22 seconds until she scarfs it down. Walk to front door. Attach her leash. Go outside. Wait 1.5 minutes until she does her business. Retrieve residue with ecologically sound cornstarch refuse bag. Toss it into can. Walk back into house. Unleash Nala. Say goodbye to Noelle who heads off to school.
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