tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-40868204572029906722024-03-13T03:50:31.150-07:00The Muse Invokedskimmetryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256257353398158383noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4086820457202990672.post-68710934821762489982009-05-13T15:55:00.000-07:002009-05-13T16:49:08.584-07:00Let's Play Catch UpI guess it should be no surprise to me that it's been almost a month since my last posting. I tend to fall out of routines as quickly as I fall into them. But, instead of beating myself up for my lack of consistency, I will just try to forge ahead.A lot has happened since my last post. The weather has drastically improved (although, there has been a ghastly amount of rain in the past couple ofskimmetryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256257353398158383noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4086820457202990672.post-3100507190637277632009-04-17T13:47:00.000-07:002009-04-17T14:39:17.847-07:00My Neighborhood Soulmate: Bucktown/Wicker ParkIt's been did.I just finished running (well, more like a light canter and walking combo) around my neighborhood and I can't begin to tell you how nice it felt. It didn't even phase me that I was so out of shape I could barely run four blocks without panting and wheezing. The only thing that mattered was that I was free...free...FREE from the shackles of a cruel Chicago winter (they say it was skimmetryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256257353398158383noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4086820457202990672.post-67914373829074768992009-04-17T10:09:00.000-07:002009-04-17T10:49:09.843-07:0067 Degrees!Is it possible? Has winter really made its final, dramatic exit?Today, the forecasters are claiming it will reach 67 degrees...and tomorrow, a whopping 73. People, it is time to rip off that bulky parka, store the boots for good this time, uncork the champagne, y celebrar!I am actually considering removing the dust bunnies from my running shoes (hmmm...i think I still know where to find those skimmetryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256257353398158383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4086820457202990672.post-9692520727485922032009-04-09T14:14:00.000-07:002009-04-09T15:46:42.614-07:00The Answer... is Blowing in the WhimIf you know me, I mean really know me, you know that I've never been THAT person. You know, the stable, put-together person who had her life mapped out by the time she was in high school. The girl who always knew exactly where her passions lay and what she wanted to do with her life. The girl who never dared stray from her neatly carved-out path or indulge even the greatest temptation to breakskimmetryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256257353398158383noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4086820457202990672.post-7657363100062155462009-04-06T11:37:00.000-07:002009-04-06T13:14:28.849-07:00Love Me, Worry Warts and AllI am an easily spooked sleeper. For some reason, when night falls, my worry-wart filter becomes a lot more porous. Morbid thoughts and worst-case scenarios that seem ridiculous during the day, seem more than a likely possibility under the cloak of darkness.Last night, I laid wide-awake, listening to our large bedroom windows shaking and rattling in submission to what felt like a violent skimmetryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256257353398158383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4086820457202990672.post-58329319267479325962009-04-05T17:54:00.000-07:002009-04-05T20:16:03.297-07:00Warm and FuzzyI'm sitting here on our living room couch with my beloved husband. We both have cups of chai tea and laptops on our laps. Up until a few minutes ago, the snow was swirling devilishly outside our huge windows. I can't help but feel all warm and fuzzy inside.After all this gloom and doom dread, I'm realizing that snow in early-April really isn't that bad. I just suddenly feel ridiculously skimmetryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256257353398158383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4086820457202990672.post-10631937367042673702009-04-03T10:21:00.000-07:002009-04-03T11:50:53.017-07:00April snow showers bring...April indignation...which begets April motivationYes, the forecast does say snow on Monday. For a girl like me who has lived in hot, humid Houston for most of her life, that is more than a little mind-boggling. When our first Chicago winter approached last fall, I was prepared and had been well-versed on the importance of layering, warm boots, and windshield wiper fluid. "You can forget about the cute little wool pea coats," I was warned. skimmetryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256257353398158383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4086820457202990672.post-16481123443290111732009-04-02T14:15:00.000-07:002009-04-02T16:18:27.434-07:00How to Save a LifeI am approaching my one year anniversary of my retirement from the legal profession. (cue bells, whistles, hoorays, and other general shouts of glee)Around this time last year, I was tying up lose ends in Houston, saying my goodbyes to people at the courthouse, having tearful goodbyes with old friends, packing diligently, and thanking my lucky stars that I would never have to practice law again.skimmetryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256257353398158383noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4086820457202990672.post-72239340260478998692009-02-12T12:36:00.000-08:002009-02-12T14:50:38.891-08:00Do these things a writer make?I keep wondering: at what point can I actually call myself a writer? Now that I've quit the practice of law, how do I respond when people ask the inevitable question: "So, what do you do?" Believe me, I have tried to say the words, “I am a writer” out loud, but I can’t seem to keep a straight face, or the words come out all wobbly. Sometimes the words are even accompanied by a nervous, skimmetryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256257353398158383noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4086820457202990672.post-17651103810767265802009-02-05T11:10:00.000-08:002009-02-06T09:16:45.488-08:00Don't Cry for Me Cyberspace Denizens!In May of 2008, I found myself in an odd, and some may say enviable, position. At the age of thirty-one, I had the luxury to retire from the only profession that I had ever known: the practice of law. I suddenly found myself heavily burdened with the freedom to do absolutely whatever I wanted. Yes, I know, you can hardly hold back your tears of sympathy. Now, don’t get me wrong. I fully skimmetryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256257353398158383noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4086820457202990672.post-89125694499963381162009-02-02T15:52:00.000-08:002009-02-02T17:40:21.103-08:00Burn Hello Kitty, Burn!<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 <![endif]--><!--[if !mso]> st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } <![endif]--> <!-- /* Style Definitions */ p.MsoNormal, li.MsoNormal, div.MsoNormal {mso-style-parent:""; margin:0in; margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:12.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-font-family:skimmetryhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13256257353398158383noreply@blogger.com2