Daffnee

 

Altoids make me sneeze.

There's a part of me that feels guilty for not doing any of the awesome things young adults my age ought to be doing. After all, I'm the same age as Amy Winehouse and Nicky Hilton, and I get the feeling they get out a whole lot more than I do. I blame part of this on the law-school-as-temporal-wormhole phenomenon: first year was college, second year was my early twenties so I yelled at people a lot, and third year was that depressing time in one's late twenties when, I'm told, one has to accept the fact that yes, really, that is your credit report, and you do have to pay those bills.

But on the other hand, I had a fun weekend just being boring. We went to Old Town and ate very meaty chili and drank a pitcher of beer. I then discovered a Nine West Outlet (!) and had a field day. I watched movies and tried to teach my puppy to dance. I looked a houses that I might actually be able to afford, and roasted chicken and read The Economist (which found us again after 4 months). I researched charities that we might want to donate money to and we talked about what John would actually like to do with his life. I thought a bit about what it might be like to be married, and stood in the freezing outside and talked with our neighbor whose first kid is 3 weeks old. And puppy and I took a good walk around the river on a sunny day, after he hung out at the office with me for a few hours while I drafted a motion in my pro bono custody case.

Should I be disappointed in myself?

I kind of feel like Milton Waddams from Office Space, but before he gets his paycheck cut off. Only I don't put in full days at the office.

Vet visits are so fun -- puppy got snipped today, and it turns out that those brown spots on his face really are just brown spots, and not mange. I just have a puppy that's going to look like a mangy mutt forever.

I was resigned to being a sporadic photo-blogger for the rest of my life, but then my sister linked me to dooce.com and now I feel inadequate. Also, my job doesn't let me get much use out of that English degree (honors!), so I've got to practice putting complete sentences together while I can.

So, what's been happening.

1. I got into a catfight with my firm's HR department, and lost. For those of you who are U.S. citizens and inundated with press about illegal immigrants, you probably don't think much about the plight of the legal immigrants much. I'm not even a legal immigrant -- my official status is that of legal, non-immigrant student, soon to be legal, non-immigrant professional NAFTA worker. To make that transition from student to professional, I needed a letter signed by my employer, a copy of my J.D., $50, and a trip across U.S. Customs. Instead, my firm decided it would rather waste several thousands of dollars in man-hours to process it for me and then get it expedited for another $1000 so that I don't lose my license in February. Genius.

2. It got really cold out, and then it got really cold inside, too. It turns out our windows are barely insulated. Then, our puppy figured out how to escape from our yard through the front gate, and this one bathroom for two-people-and-a-dog (he likes to watch us brush) is getting old. Now we're looking for a new place, and possibly to buy. Donations to the cause are appreciated, and we might name a panel of fence after you too. After all, why donate to political campaigns when you could help us?

3. My work clothes keep wearing out. It sucks that knit tops don't last as long as fleece. Who knew?

4. Visited my folks, then his folks, and then came back from the holidays sniffly and red-nosed. I am still red-nosed.

 Happy 2008!

This year, I resolve to:

1. Check my credit card statements.

2. Buy dog toys only once a month.

3. Count to 10.

4. Jog.

5. Sort my laundry.

6. Take more pictures.

7. Grow my hair out.

8. Learn to dance.

9. Invest in an index fund.

10. Train Wedge into an obedience superstar.