Do I really want to start all over?

I went to my interview. It was a little odd. More hypotheticals and they also wanted to know what each of my siblings and parents did for a living. (?) Once again, who knows how I did. Lots of ethical and evidentiary issues. I don't know if they appreciated my answers, but I was happy with them. I had to do a closing argument on the spur of the moment on a retail theft case. That could've been a little more dramatic but then again, when would that type of closing argument be spectacular? Anyway, I'll know in a couple of weeks.
I made an unplanned stop at work on my way home from the airport. It just popped in my head to do it even though I'd only been out of the office for 3 days - not long enough for anything urgent to come in. Anyway, it struck me that even though I get annoyed at the people and sometimes I get a boring case, I have a kickin' office in a major city and I'm doing interesting felony cases. If I took this job, I'd be in the courtroom more which would have its own charm, but I'd be doing misdemeanors. In a lot of ways, it'd be like starting over in my career. I don't know if I'm interested in that at this point. So, the upshot is that I don't expect an offer, but I'm not really sure I'd want it anyway..... It's a shame because I've been trying to go home for 10 years now, but I'm just now sure this would be the best way to do it.

midwesterners do talk

I was in the elevator today and pressed my floor. The other person, a man, in the elevator says to me, "Oh, that's the highest you can go." I said, "yep." We stopped on another floor and another woman got in. The man says Hi to her and she greeted him back. He then says, "Oh, so people in the Midwest DO talk" and he looks very pointedly at me. He then claimed that Midwesterners aren't as friendly as people from Oklahoma. Apparently Oklahomans can also actually have a full conversation about how high someone is going in the elevator.

Comment away!

I thought that something in the "upgrade" to the new version of blogger was making my comments disabled and that it would resolve itself. Ha.
I haven't been able to check my code and locate the problem - or if there is one. In the meantime, I have changed my template and the new one seems to allow for comments.
Now Simba's mom can yell at me for rooting for the Saints!

Going home

Well, in a couple of days, I'm off to go home and interview with the prosecutor's office. Should be interesting at the very least. I'll keep you posted.
I've been trying to think of what I miss most so I can make sure I do it. I actually miss all the little independent coffee shops. I don't drink coffee, but I miss the non-Starbucks options for places to hang out. I have a secret dream to open my own one day (I'm not sure where on the list that is in comparison to my secret dream to have a hobby farm) and they have good models back home.
I hope to get a book for the trip out, North to the Orient by Anne Morrow Lindbergh. Maybe I can get it from the library before I go.

Whoa! Midwestern Super Bowl!

I'm not a huge sports fan, but I did watch most of the two playoff games today. To show you how not a sports fan I am - even when it would be very exciting to see the home team go to the Super Bowl, I always have to root for the underdog. I figure since Cowboy was rooting for the Bears, I can even out the universe by rooting for the Saints. After all, what a year they've had! Watching the Colts game - I rooted for them too; partly because it would be cool to battle it out with a neighbor state, but more because they were really not the favorites to win. What completely different games. I have to say, the Colts game was more fun to watch - even down to seeing the coach of the Patriots grumble at losing (what a sore loser). Probably for the first time ever, I'm actually looking forward to, and will watch, the Super Bowl.

My new mentor - whether or not he wants to be

I've elected myself a mentor. He is an attorney in my office who is ALWAYS excited about his cases and always seems to go the extra mile on behalf of his clients. Plus, he actually seems like a decent person. This kind of attorney is hard to come by in general, much less in a person who is not really your friend but is just someone you admire and can learn from. Of course, I'm probably dragging him down by associating him with me - while my mind painfully grinds its gears in figuring out the basics of d.u.i. law (hey, there IS a lot to cross-reference for a misdemeanor), he is debating whether to go up on a mandamus in a case involving judicial misconduct on top of police torture. I've decided to seek him out whenever I think Justice needs a good kick in the pants.

I guess I did okay

So, the results of my examination came back - they actually tell you what your score is and the number you ranked on the list. It's a little odd. I now have to decide whether to fly out for an interview. I get to combine it with a trip home, so that's not bad....
New things I tried this week: Forrest Yoga, which kicked my butt, and the Green Eggs and Ham at Kitsch'n. Hello Kitty had the fried chicken and waffles - they do go surprisingly well together, and Cowboy had the coconut crusted french toast - the only french toast I've ever enjoyed. All in all, yum, yum, yum!

More world news, less news about Trump and Rosie

Are you freakin' kidding me? I turn on the news and catch the tail end of yet another round of the whole Trump / Rosie brawl. This is the news? Thank goodness for BBC and PBS.
BBC had a story about cell phone technology innovation brought to you by a company in Kenya. Soon we'll be able to send people money by cell phone!
Bankelele, a blogger in Kenya, has a detailed post that tells ya all about it.
I simply love that Kenya gets to export intellectual property!

it's been a while...

I had my first job "interview" in over 3 years. To be fair - it wasn't really an interview - they called it an "examination" and that's a pretty good description of it. It lasted less than a half an hour - and they stuck to the time frame. During that time, they asked you several questions, with several subsections to each one. There was no give and take - no discussion, no ability to ask questions. I felt like I took a test without being able to study for it. Zoinks!
The position would be as a prosecutor, which would be a switch, but not an unreasonable one for me. I believe in my work as a defense attorney, but more because I am interested in policing the system - something I should be able to do as a prosecutor. I am not sure this position is going anywhere, though - I am afraid I come off as too even handed and not like I'm interested in a conviction at all costs. True, I don't want to work somewhere that doesn't pay more attention to ensuring a fair trial than they do to getting convictions.

New Year's Resolutions

One of my resolutions this year is to try new things. My goal is to try something new each day (although I will consider the goal met if I try 3 new things a week). Today, my list includes some intentional and unintentional effort to try something new.
Unintentional:
1. putting my workout shorts on backward and not even noticing until I tried to put my keys in my pocket
2. leaving the gym after my workout with my barn door wide open.

Intentionally, I tried treats from the middle east. I have no idea what they were called, so I emailed the girl at work to ask her. As I was telling Cowboy about this delicious new treat that I found, and how I emailed the girl, Cowboy started to laugh. He reminded me about a similar email I sent to a different girl praising her with a "Yum, yum, yum" for her banana chocolate chip coffee cake. Cowboy correctly noted that I only seem to talk to a couple of people with whom I am friendly - and people who bring in treats. Maybe I am one of the very freaks I complain about.

Great gift for newlyweds

How cool is this? I don't think I've ever bought my own Christmas tree, and I know I've never had one in an apartment in Chicago. This year, we got a nativity scene to add a touch of Christianity to Christmas at the Cowboy-Betty household.