No Rain Saturday! No Rain Saturday!

My current mantra is “No Rain Saturday, No Rain Saturday” Really it would be nice if we had a pretty day for Amanda’s Bridal shower. Well I suppose it’s better for Mother Nature to get it all out o her system now than to have a down poor on the wedding day (every bride’s worse nightmare). I am at least ahead of the game. All of the favors are put together (And are adorable if I do say so myself) and then tomorrow or Thursday I have to buy the cupcake mix and the ceviche ingredients. Friday night I am going to be a cupcake baking, ceviche mixing machine.

Sunday my sister and I made a fantastic three course meal. First course was marinated artichoke hearts, asparagus wrapped in prosciutto and fried zucchini. Second course was a roasted leg of lamb with rosemary, tomatoes, onions and potatoes, which was very good but could have stayed in the oven just a little bit longer. Finally, the third course was a chocolate lava cake with whip cream and drizzled caramel. Last night, as part of our Valentine’s Day tradition, I made seafood alfredo. Alfredo Sauce can be pretty tricky. Your technique has to be perfect with just the right mix of parmesan cheese, heavy cream along with attention to stirring and heat. Mine, was fantastic.Tonight though, it was Ryan's turn to cook. So we went out to eat at a nice Mexican Restaurant.

The big dilemma facing Ryan and I at the moment is moving. Our apartment complex wants to raise our rent to a grand total of $1700 a month. That’s going to rough to swing if we stay here. As with many in the current economy, we’re afraid our credit score is going to keep us from being able to get something else. We love living in Huntington Beach. It’s the perfect mix of So Cal Beach and Urban life. Plus there is no way in hell I want to give up my 10 minute commute. I don’t even have to get on the freeway! It makes my 12 to 15 hr days when I have other daily commitments seem much easier because I can go home for a little bit after work. We have found an apartment that looks like it is going to be a good fit. It’s within a mile of the beach, 2 bedrooms, washer and drier in the unit, about the same distance to my office as our current office and is going to be $400 cheaper than what our current apartment wants. The only down side is that there is no patio which means that the hockey gear and no free reign for the pups. However, we are a few blocks from an off leash dog park. If we get the place we will be able to throw an awesome 4^th of July party.

On the writing front, I got this great idea to write an advice article on keeping outdoor reptiles safe from predators such as coyotes, hawks, raccoons and cats. My only problem is finding reliable sources. At least my work in OCPA is going much smoother and in my next post I should be able to post some cool things going on.

Pumpkin is adjusting well. We discovered her two favorite things are hoodie pockets and her hiding rock. She’s getting used to the dogs being around but doesn’t really care for them. Bella is getting over her curiosity about her. Bocce on the other hand is annoyingly jealous and throws a fit whenever either of us is giving pumpkin any amount of attention.

CLA vocabulary word of the day: Amicus Curiae (friend of the court: as an amicus curiae brief filed with an appellate court)

In Which I Blinked My Eyes and Realized it was Thursday

It really doesn’t seem that long ago that I was enjoying “il dolce far niente” and then I blinked and it was Thursday. So what have I been doing to make myself feel like the time traveling Dr. Who you might ask? Well besides working, which by the way, it’s officially been a month and I love it. Bad days and all.

I started off my week at my CLA class. I have been studying so hard that I have had dreams about estate planning, I have yet to decide if that is a good or a bad thing. This past Monday was the communications section. I found it to be a little frustrating because it wasn’t as clear and as structured as I would have liked. It’s one of the reasons why I decided to read “Eats, Shoots and Leaves” to supplement my studying. I swear that after May, I am going to take a break from studying (famous last words, I know). I’ll always be learning and taking continuing education to keep up with my certification but I think that’s going to be it for the time being.

Tuesday was our annual herpetology association meeting. I have to say that I am very happy to find such a great group of people. I am excited about the work in the community. May 1^st, we are bringing out all the critters for the Pediatric Cancer Research Foundation. It looks like it’s going to be a fun event and putting a smile on sick children’s faces is rewarding, for some it may be one of the last laughs they have. While we’ll be hanging out in the festival area there will be a bike tour and a 5K marathon. So I recommend for you bikers and runners out there should check it out. Well, even more exciting was that we added a new family member. She is a sweet little Corn Snake that we named Pumpkin. It was truly love at first sight. We never imagined ourselves as snake owners between their food choice and general bad reputation. We always thought of ourselves as preferring herbivores. Pumpkin has certainly changed that. She’s has got such a sweet disposition and the cutest little face. I’m going through withdraws of not being able to hold her because she just ate on Wednesday. She already has me already wrapped around her tail. Pumpkin is adjusting to her new home, she not quite sure how to take them. They on the other hand are extremely curious about this new little creature that is taking attention away from them.

Wednesday was the first General meeting of the year for OCPA. Throughout my paralegal training my professors only talked about it generally there were never thorough lessons on it. Last night Judge Thrasher really gave an interesting lecture on the specifics of ADR. One great story was that in a slip and fall case, the defense wanted to settle for $275,000. The plaintiff wouldn’t take anything less than $300,000. They were at such a stale mate that they ended up going to court. The Plaintiffs lost and got nothing. If they had settled they not only would have gotten the money but would have saved their client from a long drawn out court battle. Also, let us not forget that this was most likely a contingency case for the plaintiff so when their client lost, they didn’t get any money for the man power that they spent.

This weekend isn’t going to slow up either between teaching my friend to cook trout, helping my friends move and cooking up a storm with my sister. In between all of that I will studying and doing some research for my next examiner article.

I Promise I will not spread rumors that Professor Snape sings I'm Too Sexy for my Robes...

Friday my friend posted “Hogwarts Rule Number 362: I promise I will not spread rumors that Professor Snape sings I’m too sexy for my robes in the shower” the image of Alan Rickman dancing in his robes and singing in his monotone off beat way has stuck with me ever since. Making me randomly giggle and sing “I’m too sexy for my robes” to myself.

As many of you know I had my meeting with the Daughters of the American Revolution to start my application process. Their membership is no joke. I have to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that not only am I who I say I am but I have to prove my lineage too. They are currently asking for copies of my birth certificate, my husband’s birth certificate, our marriage license, my mother’s birth certificate, my parents marriage certificate, my grandmothers death certificate, my great grandparents obituaries, my left arm and my first born son while they’re at it. Part of the reason why I have to go to such great lengths to prove everything is because someone somewhere along the line applied for membership under a similar lineage. The application never went through (for reasons unknown) but I have to prove that I am right and they are wrong. Since I have a massive ego and I pride myself on my excellent research capabilities I am going to treat this like I would a legal case; which is similar to one of my dogs and their bones. Though, as a side note, I am in love with the Huntington Beach Central Library. That facility is fantastic! A snack bar, gift shop, a salt water aquarium and an amazing selection of books should the Zombie apocalypse occur I think I may take shelter there. Though, we’d need to bring a decent amount of alcohol with us…

Last night was our first book club meeting of the new year. The book that we were supposed to read was “A Post Birthday world.” I say supposed to because no one actually read it all the way through. Jess read the most 152 pages. I got to 53. Staci and Michele didn’t even read it. The premise is intriguing. A woman has a choice place before her and it’s about what would happen based on her two choices. The problem is that not only did I hate the writer’s style, it was very choppy. I also just wanted to hit the girl. Her long term boyfriend goes out of town and she spends her time putting everything on hold and only doing the things that he wouldn’t like. Having been through multiple deployments I find her actions incredibly frustrating. When Ryan deployed I held close to the mantra “The sun rises every morning and therefore so do I.” I also took the opportunity to do everything that I had always wanted to do but never really found the time. I taught myself how to knit, I took yoga I became a vegetarian. I didn’t just sit on my ass and do self defeating actions. Also, the writer had a thing against feminists. Like to the point where in her biography at the back of the book she says that she was insulted once for being called a feminist. The main character that she created was always saying things like “I’m sure feminists wouldn’t like that I did…” I wouldn’t necessarily call myself a feminist and there is nothing wrong with not being a feminist but seriously how many women go through their daily lives thinking “I am going to do (fill in the blank here) for my husband/boyfriend even though I know feminists wouldn’t like” I know I don’t call up my token feminist friend (you know who you are hun) and say “Ok I plan on doing x,y,z. Do you as a feminist approve?” Most women really don’t care. We just do what makes us or our partner happy because that’s what you do in relationships.

A similar premise to this book is a movie called “Sliding Doors.” I highly recommend it. It’s done much better than this book was. Michele, Jessica and I had a much better time eating cupcakes and watching that movie. Our next book is “Marriage and Zombies” Can’t wait to read that book, romance in a post apocalyptic world, what more could a girl want? I have to finish reading “The Other Queen” I am almost there and am so tempted to pick up “Fire Study” the next book in a series that my friends and I like. Michele just let me borrow the book tonight and I couldn’t resist picking it up and reading it a little. Total mistake. Now I want to really read it but I have to spend most of my day tomorrow studying, researching and finishing the other queen. Too many books, too little time…but then again there was a great Twilight Zone that covered just that scenario.

In Which I Learn Crazy Cat Ladies Love their Turtles...

I love all my pets. Though I have been known to put my dogs in sweaters from time to time I have not gone all out crazy, putting them in little bikinis to prance around dog beach in. It’s common to find those that are crazy about their dogs and cats but for the first time in my life I found people that were crazy about their turtles. Friday night Ryan and I went to a lecture on the extinction problems of tortoises.

As a side note, we found an amazing Peruvian restaurant called Casa Inca on Warner in Huntington Beach, we ended up being slightly late for the lecture because we wanted to stay at the restaurant and keep eating, the food was just that good.

Anyway, I guess we were expecting something like the SCHA meeting…it felt like the complete opposite. So there was one woman who had a red eared slider turtle. During the meeting she took it out, set it on a blanket to get some of the extra water off and then proceeded to hold it like a baby on her shoulder. We were talking after the meeting and she told us how he has the run of the house including free rein on the bed. Since the group had some events that were coming up I thought it would be a great opportunity to write about them. So I introduced myself to their PR woman. Here is how the conversation went:

Me: Hi, my name is Diana; I write for a website called Examiner.com, I was hoping I could get some information for your upcoming events so that I can write about them, maybe help generate some publicity.

The Woman: So you would like to advertise us?

Me: No, I’m a writer. I would like to write about your group

The Woman: What newspaper do you write for?

Me: I write for a website.

The woman: So you want to advertise for us?

Me: I’m a w-r-i-t-e-r (at this point Ryan was standing behind me helping me emphasize the words)

The woman: oh can you publish our past articles from our newsletters?

Me: No.

At that point I thanked her for her time and walked away. By the time I got in the car I was doubled over in laughter. Really? I mean REALLY??? I’m sorry by my 86 year old grandmother can understand that when I say I write for a website, that hey I write for a website. Plus, what part of the fact that I am a writer makes anyone think for even a second that I would want to post someone else’s work in my column??? Besides the fact that I like my column and would like to keep it, I have an ego to maintain and it wouldn’t be happy if I post someone else’s work.

The lecture on the other hand was really good. I didn’t realize what kind of effect that the pet trade has on tortoise populations. For example there are no more tortoises in Vietnam, they’ve all been smuggled out. There is one medium size tortoise that goes for $10,000 a piece. The tortoise’s sanctuary has to be secured by armed guards 24/7 because one tortoise gets a poor farmer a year’s worth of wages. Some are taken for food but so many others are taken for people’s pet collections. Apparently Russian Tortoises that can easily be found in pet stores is on the brink of becoming endangered because of the pet trade. I will be writing about this more in my column this week.

It’s time to get used to going to school again. Tomorrow I start my Certified Paralegal prep course. I plan on taking the test in May so I will be studying my bum off between now and then. They call the exam the bar exam for paralegals. I get tested on four areas of law, I have decided on three so far: estate planning, administrative law (ie: social security administration, DMV etc) and family law. I still need to choose my fourth. I am debating between criminal law and contracts. I am leaning towards contracts because I have had a class on that already, so the studying won’t be too bad. I’ve only covered criminal briefly. Given the fact that I am taking this class and a law office management class it should still be a fairly easy going few months education wise.

Thursday, I have my application meeting with the Daughters of the American Revolution. I am looking forward to joining the group. I have to go through a serious pedigree check to make sure that I am actually a descendent of a revolutionary war soldier. After we finish my application it gets reviewed and then hopefully accepted. They really don’t mess around with their members; I’ve heard that they were a tough group to get in with so hopefully things will go smoothly.

Well it’s time to go to bed and get ready for the week. I am so happy to finally have a job that I enjoy. It’s nice to not have to dread Monday morning and resenting Sunday evening.

Time to take a breath

It’s a lovely Sunday evening. I’ve got a pot of spaghetti sauce on the stove, Top Gear America on TV and two wiener dogs curled up by my feet on the couch. It’s a nice breather from the crazy week that it has been. This is what I love about Sunday evenings. Just quiet relaxation before the storm otherwise known as the week begins.

After finishing my first week of work I can honestly say that I really like what I do. It’s not the most exciting and glamorous thing in the world but I enjoy it. Really that’s all that matters. Now it is just a matter of learning all that I need to know, at least with this job this job there isn’t as much pressure to be the perfect paralegal. It means that I have the confidence and because of that I can become a better paralegal.

So amongst all that job stuff my social calendar filled up to the brim this week. Tuesday night we went to our first Herpetology Association meeting. Ryan and I really like it. They have what you would expect, a show and tell of reptiles, talk of current issues and trends going on in the world of lizards plus community outreach such as pet expos, does work with children with down syndrome and kids terminally ill with cancer. Ryan is very excited that I am getting much more interested in reptiles; it’s turning into a nice couple’s hobby. We’re also preparing to adopt a new reptile or two. They are truly interesting creatures.

The highlight of the week though was camping at Irvine Lake; it’s a pretty piece of California countryside just outside the city limits. The lake is an easy quick getaway. Besides winds so strong that in the middle of the night I thought I was going to get picked up and carted off to OZ, the weekend was a lovely time with friends celebrating Angel’s birthday. High winds aside, there was a lot laughter, love and fun. The dogs got to come with us and have been asleep ever since we got back. It’s nice to be able to include our dogs in our busy schedules.

It’s not going to be as busy as it was last week however; I will be able to keep myself busy between work, life and everything in between. I’ve started knitting a new project, some Steampunk gloves to go with my outfit. I’m happy that I can incorporate my knitting into my Steampunk outfits.