It's been a year(ish)?

So um...what's a blog and how do I write a post? 

I seem to have forgotten how to do that over the course of the past year. 

Whoops.

I've often thought over the course of the past year, 'hey, this would make a great blog post.' And then, of course, I never wrote it. 

So allow me to commence catching up on the past year of missing/unwritten blog posts in one post.

Don't worry, I have pictures.

I'm working in what one of my co-workers (semi-)fondly refers to as a "cube farm."

Here you can see just a tiny part of the maze of cubes.

One of the cubes way in the back towards the windows belongs to me. Yup, that's right- I'm near a window! I get to see daylight! But seriously, it's quite the coveted location.


Back in March, Jason and I traveled to South Florida to get away from what was a brutal winter (anyone remember the evil phrase "polar vortex"???) and spent a few days with my parents enjoying the warmth and sunshine.

In this picture, we were in a big park, just on the edge of the Everglades. We didn't see any alligators nearby, thankfully!

We got to do some geocaching, and I learned that rustling bushes in Florida is a lot different from rustling bushes in Wisconsin or Minnesota. I mean, there could be an alligator hanging out in that bush! Or a giant lizard!

Or, you know, it could just be a tiny little gecko like this one...

My parents took us on an airboat ride and we got up close and personal with some alligators as we rode through the Everglades. An airboat ride is a must-do if you're in south Florida- it's such a unique way to experience the Everglades and you see creatures you wouldn't (hopefully) see otherwise!

We spent a day in Key West, and toured Ernest Hemingway's house. It's famous for having polydactyl (more "toes" than usual) cats roaming the grounds, and let me assure you, they are everywhere. On everything. Literally nothing is off-limits to those cats, including glass display cases...

Here's an example of one of the polydactyl cat, see how its paw looks different?

Here's Hemingway's writing studio, along with his typewriter on the table, which he used to write a number of his books.

We gave ourselves a walking tour of part of the island and found a couple of geocaches. One of them was near this interesting wall.

And we walked through the Key West cemetery, where some of the inhabitants became famous for their sense of humor.

And then, unfortunately...we had to come home.

And the roads looked like this:

 In April, we bought a new laptop...and Jason was a happy guy.

I went to a CLE (continuing legal ed) and saw this. Nothing says classy like white socks and dress shoes/pants.

Hudson experienced a wee bit of high water in the spring...such that some riverfront roads were closed, benches and tables disappeared and trees were half swallowed up.

In June we spent a few days at a lake home near Hayward with Jason's family...but apparently I neglected to take any pictures.


We also celebrated our 3rd wedding anniversary. But again, no pictures. Apparently, I'm not very good at this whole "documenting" thing.


BUT, I (ok, Jason took it) did get a picture of us when we went camping for a weekend at Glen Hills County Park.

Jory stopped by my in-laws upon his arrival in Wisconsin after spending almost 2 months in New Jersey for a summer project.

Jason and I dogsat for his sister and brother-in-law's dog, Cooper. He was quite the handful. And liked to sleep 2 feet from his bed, you know, as you do.

I think that covers most of the past year, with the exception of the major holidays, but of course, I didn't take any pictures then either. My bad.

I guess I'll need to work on that.

Along with writing a post more often than, say, once a year.

An Upgrade?

If you read this post then you know that I frequently have to move around to different desk locations throughout my work day.

However, the court commissioner's office was recently renovated and reorganized and now I have been upgraded to my own work space.

But, is this really an upgrade?

The judges don't seem to think so and are always offering for me to work in their offices so I can have more space.

But how can I beat having not just one, but two desks all to myself? Now that's a tough one.

Best Courtroom T-Shirt

I heard a story from my boss recently that I thought was too interesting not to pass on. 

A couple of years ago he was holding a temporary restraining order hearing or something similar, probably involving either a stalker or ex-boyfriend, and a guy (the respondent) came in with a very classy t-shirt.

It read: I'm not a doctor but I'll take a look anyway.

My boss thought that, although the t-shirt had no bearing on his decision, that perhaps the t-shirt was not the best wardrobe choice for the particular subject matter of the hearing.

What a person wears to court and how they act sends a lot of signals to the judge regarding credibility. I think I'd have to agree with my boss that the shirt was not the best clothing option...would you?

An Interesting Court Specimen

I often sit in on court proceedings and today was no exception. I chose a temporary restraining order (TRO) because, let's face it, those are pretty much always interesting. 

Generally, someone has filed a TRO because the other individual ticked them off or said something mean or stole their significant other. Only very rarely is someone in legitimate danger or did someone do something to warrant the placement of a TRO.

Today's hearing didn't reach the point where the parties spill their sob stories and explanations...it ended up getting postponed to next week.

But, one of the parties was certainly one of the more interesting characters I've seen in a courtroom.

This woman may have tried to dress-up for court...but didn't quite make it.

Hot pink was her "theme color".

Hair, scarf, tank top and shoes. All hot pink.

The pink tank top was covered with a black tank top and she was wearing a white skirt. 

Also, her bra straps were showing.

Whoever said law was boring never spent time in a courthouse.

A Day in the Life of a Judicial Law Clerk

Welcome to an average day...

I come in and say hi to the secretary who usually sits here:

Then I go say hi to my boss who sits here:

And I pick up one of the files that is either sitting on his desk (see above) or is stacked on this shelf:

And then I usually go set up shop here:

This is one of the hearing rooms used by either of the two court commissioners. 

The rest of the room looks like this:

Generally, the court commissioner's schedules don't overlap, so I can stay in this room all day. However, on this day, I had to move to a jury room, which looks like this:

And on this day, I had the honor of working on this gigantic file:

Lucky me, right? This is one of the larger files I've worked so far.

A word of advice to any of my attorney friends who may read this- don't let a court file get this big! The judge's crabbiness tends to increase with the size of the file. This particular case is only at the summary judgment phase...imagine what it will look like if it goes to trial!

This brief in support of summary judgment is 42 pages long.

Not sure if the judge read it or not...but I did! 

Sometimes, I get to sit in on court proceedings...but I didn't have a chance on this particular day...too much reading!