The Week That Was

My high-school friends and I traveled to Texas again for a girls’ only vacation. Last year we were in Mission, stayed with a friend of one of my friends, and the four of us took a day trip to South Padre Island. The weather was not very warm. So this year, we scheduled it almost a month later, planned to fly into Mission, pick up that friend, then drive to Corpus Christi for a warm relaxing several days on the beach. We found a hotel right on the beach, and spent a bit extra for a “corner balcony room”. We were very excited. Then a few day days before the trip, one of my friends got the flu. the out of every orifice flu. We thought she’d be better in time to travel, but she could not take her diabetes medication, and became horribly ill. She didn’t want us to cancel, as the reservations were nonrefundable. She thought she might be better and could join us a day or so later. So only two of us got on the plane. And she didn’t recover enough to join us late. It changed the entire trip. Not only was it less fun, but we felt guilty the entire time. We made a “flat Stanley” version of her and took photos of it as we went to different places. People around us thought is was funny. A waitress came up with a prop for one of the photos. Others suggested poses or took our pictures with the flat friend. The weather was pretty awful, too. It was rainy, cold, and windy most of the time. We wore our flip flops one day. Otherwise, it was jacket and socks weather.  We are putting the photos into a book for her through shutterfly. We haven’t gotten the final product back yet, and we haven’t seen each other yet. I still feel guilty.

Even the seagulls didn’t want to put both feet in the cold wet sand.

When I got back to work, it didn’t seem as though I’d been on a vacation at all.  So work has been a bit overwhelming at times. I had a huge hearing soon after returning. Very emotional and depressing. Any positive effect of being away was soon gone.

This past week seemed very, very long. It’s so strange that sometimes a week can just seem to fly by, others drag along. It was a drag-along week.

There were some very odd things at work. My job is filled with odd things, but these were notable even for us.

* After learning that there was an outstanding arrest warrant for her
husband, a woman brought his box of ashes in and plopped them down
on the front counter to “prove” that he was dead.

* An entire jury pool was excused and the trials postponed until a new
set of prospective jurors can be called. One of the guys in the
jury pool had commented in front of everyone that he knew the defendant
because he “met him when he was in jail”. The judge agreed that it
may have compromised the presumption of innocence. It is pretty rare to have the entire jury pool contaminated and start over.

* Our boss, a man of 60 who has been married for over 30 years, came into one of my colleague’s office and sat down in the middle of his conversation with someone else. He then told them that he “really needs to get laid”, and that he just “cannot understand this menopause thing”. It did not appear to matter that one of those in the office was a woman.

* We learned that one of my former clients recently was married. To his
former adoptive mother. The family was part of a very conservative
cult-like religious order and they had adopted a boy they found on
a mission trip in Africa. The whole case was beyond bizarre. They had
ten other children. There were criminal charges for assault, criminal
sexual conduct, abuse and neglect petitions in child protection, with
the children removed to foster care. The parents’ rights were termin-
ated as to my client. Now, the mother and former adoptive son have
married. He is an adult, but not yet 21. She is about 39. She has a
blog describing their story. She’s not so religious any more, I guess.

You just can’t make this stuff up. No one would believe it. And although we laugh about the weird stuff that happens, it wears on you.

It seems that we may have an early spring, so most of the normal people in the world are in a very good mood. It is great to leave the window in the bedroom open a crack and smell the fresh air. The eagles are gliding along the tree line of the river, hunting. The small birds seem to be returning already. The forecast is to return to reality this next week, with the temperatures going back to normal, but it has been wonderful to taste the spring. I try very hard to take note of these things as a bit of a buffer for the weirdness of what I do for a living.

And family is what saves me from insanity, I swear. Earlier in the week, we were informed that we will soon be grandparents again. Our oldest son, the one who was married this past August will become a first-time father this fall. They are still in just the very early stages, and have decided not to tell anyone except their parents and siblings until they are about 20 weeks along. This means that I cannot tell my mother, my sister or my brother. It’s killing me. I understand why, but I am so excited I am bubbling over. So I am telling you…….just don’t tell anyone else!  It would be so much fun if it were a little boy after our 3 granddaughters, just for a change of pace, but I know that this will be an amazing child no matter, girl or boy. I suppose I can’t start shopping until it is formally announced either.

By Christmas, our family will have added my brother’s soon-to-be wife, her two children and this new baby to our midst, all within a year. Oh, we will have fun! The budget will have to be increased, that’s for sure.

After a week like that, I am a little curious about what this upcoming week may bring. I am hoping for a little less odd, and a bit more of some good stuff.

Now, if our daughter and her husband were to have a big announcement……hmmm.