Day 896: Earned It

Thursday was a freakin' long day. I spent a whole lot of my morning talking to Jenny, making lace, and not reading for Native American law. I had a good time in First Amendment listening to live music. I hate how, at the end of my law school career, I learn how awesome my fellow students are. Like Hencke - he's got an amazing voice, and he's also a talented guitarist (we listened to the original uncut version of "This Land Is Your Land" which was censored back in the day by the government and isn't nearly as cheerful as the version we hear these days). Lunch was a hasty affair - a final salad - and then there was clinic class (I was a touch late for it because I was talking to Jenny). After clinic Jen and I got work done, and I busted out of there at a pretty decent time.

Made it home around five and listened to Bradley James and Colin Morgan on the radio while I paid bills and hunted for my passport (which I still haven't found, to my parents' dismay). I went bellydancing, which was awesome. I do need to work at that business more - practice the basic moves she gives us, and also work on having decent dance posture, which I lose as we dance. (Also, I'm not gonna lie, I look about ten times more like a girl when I have decent dance posture.) Dancing on the nights I don't train would be awesome cardio, right?

After dancing I wanted to make lace and go to bed, only I got an email from my Street Law partner. We wanted to bring treats for feasting after the mock trial, and he got donuts, so I agreed to get juice. Only as I wandered the juice aisle at WalMart, I saw the fake bubbly stuff, so I bought some. Only then I remembered that I can drink an entire bottle of that business myself in one WoD sitting, so I ended up buying ten bottles, plus some plastic cups. I could feel - and occasionally see - people staring at me as I hauled my glass-clinking load up to the cashier, who also looked at me askance. I told him it wasn't all for me, and he said he wouldn't need to see my ID (the stuff is non-alcoholic, after all), but he was still looking at me. I opened my mouth to protest, and then realized it wouldn't really help my case to tell him the stuff was for a class of seventh-graders.

I was up bright and early this morning (and feeling sick with dread, knowing how busy it would be) to do the mock trial for the seventh graders. I got all dressed up in my second-favorite suit, plus pearls and nice watch, and I thought to myself, wow, I look like a real lawyer. I knew I'd be in court pretty much all day and I'd have a client meeting after my last dose of court, so I figured I'd work till four-thirty, which is when Dan L also gets off work, and we'd meet at the dojo and I'd try to learn some hanbo business. So I took the hanbo Sensei Raymond had bailed to me on Tuesday night.

I stepped out of my flat this morning dressed like a lawyer, carrying a Dr. Reid-esque book bag, a gym bag, a hanbo and ten bottles of fake bubbly. It was freaky.

I got to the school, and the mock trial was all right. The kids probably weren't as prepared as they should have been, but they tried hard, and we had fun. Afterwards Pat served up donuts while I served drinks. As I ran around pouring fake bubbly into their glasses, I thought, I didn't go to law school to become a waitress - I came to law school so I wouldn't have to be a waitress. Then I felt bad, because chances are I will end up being a waitress after law school. One bottle was almost empty, so I finished it on my own - and the kids thought it was hilarious, me drinking from the bottle.

I had a genuinely good experience working with those kids, and I was kinda sad to see it end.

After Street Law, I headed back to school and managed to get a bit of lace-making in before I started prepping for our temporaries hearing. Jen was a bit late, but we went down to court together. Our client was one of the few who was early, and she looked impatient, and the opposing party (from here on out known as "baby daddy") was there too, and our client was agitated. We explained to her that the hearing was in chambers and she'd have to wait outside, but it was all right. Jen and I actually rode up the elevator with one of the attorneys on our case, and I saw a fellow law student on duty at the courthouse, as well as my old legal writing teacher. It was weird.

Liz and Amber have both told me that Judge Otepka is awesome. They weren't kidding. He was super-nice. I ran into opposing counsel and the attorney from the state (he is also nice) in the Bailiff's office, and then we went into chambers. And the judge was...awesome. Reasonable. Kept control of the situation. Liz assured everyone that Jen and I were seasoned. Jen qualified it with, "Lightly seasoned," which earned us good laughs. Like we told our client, visitation with baby daddy was inevitable (you slept with him, you deal with the consequences), but we got it pretty limited and other terms to make her happy. Afterwards we found out that baby daddy had tried to talk to her while we were against chambers (we told her that was bad bueno) and her paranoid self attempted to record the conversation as well as call over the deputy on duty. She was stubborn and just annoyed at the thought of any visitation, which was childish. At first I'd thought her reasonable, a victim, but after reading through her file of relationship drama, I've come to see that she is selfish and irrational and...young. We smoothed things out as best as we could, and then Jen and I ran back to school.

We picked up paperwork for the name change and then dashed back to the courthouse. We got the boss to sign some important stuff, and then we filed it. We saw our client, and she told us she hadn't brought her son (whose name was to be changed), so we, unsure, sent her to fetch her son. Who was only one. According to the boss, we didn't actually need the child, and we'd be late. So we scurried to speak to the bailiff. He is the only dude bailiff at the courthouse, so his walls were covered with movie posters from violent movies. I learned about courthouse politics: the judge was running late anyway, we could go to the on-duty judge, or another judge owed his judge a favor because his judge had taken a name change for that judge, so that judged owed his judge a name change.

Our client arrived in good time anyway, and she had the most adorable little boy in the world. (This led to Jen and I eventually discussing how guys with kids get a serious boost for even having kids.) He had flawless skin and prettiest big brown eyes and a perfect little face and was all cute and shy and...awww. Totally warmed my heart, especially after Jen and I were so terrified for having screwed up like we did. I did the name change, and the judge looked almost visibly pained at having to sign the thing when he didn't have the results of the paternity test in front of him. (It seemed logical to me - if the only possibilities are Daddy A and Daddy B and the test rules out Daddy A, it must be Daddy B.) But we got the name change done, and that's that.

Jen and I went back to the office, and I closed out some files and drank bubbly in celebration of dumping that one pathological liar of a client. We also did some intake call-back, which was hella fun and full of humorous moments - awkward client names, the Boss telling us about how the neighborhood kids play in the playhouse, and other fun times. I busted out at half four to get my car washed and buy gas (cheaper in Iowa), and I was going to meet Dan L to train, but he wasn't there when I got there, so I went to look at shoes (my Chucks are dying). He was there when I was done looking at shoes, so we changed and talked and stretched out. Didn't end up training; just ended up talking. There was an awkward moment when he mentioned coming back to church with me, and I'd point out everyone would assume we were dating. I told him that idea was all wet, because he has a girlfriend, and even though they're not married, I won't be a homewrecker. And of course, he said, "And yeah, I'm you're teacher too. Come on."

Me, I'm getting better at my game face, and I said, as earnestly as I could, "Yeah. That would be totally inappropriate."

Slap me with a hypocrite sticker right now.

The others showed up (including Sensei Raymond, which is ridiculously rare), and we got a talking to about how terrible our lines are and how none of us manage to tie our belts right. And then...then Sensei Doss gave us kids to Sensei Raymond, and it was nigh on an hour of ground fighting. Holy crap. Tired. Can arch and turn with the best of them. Am lame at punching from top mount. My elevator needs work. I'm pretty good at posting. I am lame at fighting from guard when my training partner is self-conscious about getting me in guard. And now whenever Sensei Raymond gets me on the ground, it's awkward. After we got done drilling, he dismissed all the white belts, and the rest of us had to fight him. Worst ninety seconds of my life. I fought hard, tried to remember all I'd been taught, and it was going good till he got me in an elbow lock. My arm still hurts from that.

After kids class I was masochistic enough to stick around for adult class, and we worked on rolling, which was good, because I am terrified of distance dives and the like. Best and worst moment of rolling was me lying in the middle of the floor while the black belts jumped over me (that's what I get for being high rank, I guess). Sensei Doss just jumped. Sensei Raymond thumped super loud before he jumped, which was scary, but then Dan jumped almost silently (super-ninja) and then Tim almost landed on my feet. Not cool. I've good and wrenched my left shoulder trying to do distance dives.

After rolls we did some combat techniques, which was good times, and then for the last ten minutes or so we just practiced for testing, and I got Dan to help me with distance dives. It was kinda funny - while we were standing in line between rolling drills, each of the black belts would tell me things. Tim would tell me to use my arms more (which is important). Sensei Raymond would tell me one thing, and then Dan would grin and tell me something else (he's proud of me because apparently I roll the way he does, which isn't the way Sensei Raymond does, and Dan's glad I'm joining the club, or something). Still, Dan helped immensely.

Afterwards, though, I was pretty darn beat. It took a lot to convince my body to let me stand. We hung out in the parking lot for a stretch, just talking, and then I came home. Called my mother. She gave me the first season of Drop Dead Diva, for which I am wildly excited. We talked.

I cannot find my passport. Hopefully I'll be able to find somewhere to live over the summer for the bar.

Man. One more week left of school.

Halfway through this, Ericka called, and as it turns out I sound like I'm from the cheap-side of London when I'm tired. Hah.

Another awesome moment of today:

NAGI: Opposing counsel said he was all concerned about the child seeing his father, the child being a child of color and all.
ANGELA: That's retarded and irrelevant.
NAGI: I know. I was all, "Hey, I'm a child of color, and I was raised by white people, and I'm fine."
ANGELA: That's debatable.
NAGI: True.

Ugh. I need to get to bed.

For the record, today was awesome. I earned every ounce of my pain and exhaustion. I'm going to own it. Till Tuesday. It'd be nice if it was gone by Tuesday.