My mind is mush...

So its the end of my first official trial all by myself. I'm exhausted. My brain hurts. I feel like I did on the way to Tennessee with my friend Katherine in the passenger seat after the Mississippi Bar. "Stay between the straight little lines. Hold onto the this wheel thing in front of me. Try not to say anything because it won't make sense. Look straight ahead. Don't look anywhere else because you only have one brain cell left and its best not to distract it." I'm mush.

I'll admit I did have a bit of help-- the attorney whose office I use in Decatur came over for a few minutes this morning and he did make some objections and basically try to harass the prosecution as best he could. Its not a great case, so any harassment of the prosecution is a win for us.

I'll talk more about this when its over, but I will say, there is nothing more exhausting and exhilarating that spending an entire day with an entire case resting on your shoulders to remind you why you love this job (if in fact, you do love this job. The jury is still out on this issue of fact.)-- I'm feeling more like myself than I have in a really, really long time-- I'm feeling confident and super super proud of myself for getting to this point. This trial hasn't been perfect and its not over yet, and we probably won't win-- but its been a metaphor for what's going on in my life right now-- I'm still standing and will still be standing after all is said and done tomorrow. And I'm standing proud-- I've not (yet) fallen, or bungled my words, or made a fool of myself, and I've even gotten some compliments and won a few of my arguments, and possibly even impressed some people. So, I consider this a win. I'm super proud of myself and anxious to do more of this kind of work. And to see where this next year is going to lead me! I'm getting back to myself! Slowly but surely. Don't call me shirley.

Also, on an unrelated note, the Mayor took me to eat at the Mexican restaurant tonight (I don't recall the name of it. I know its not el Charro, but that's what I'm going to call it. Oxford friends will recall that as a throwback to all the other Mexican places there.) After all the fun of last night's Lion's Club party, I wasn't sure I could handle anymore excitement. Boy was I wrong. The place was packed and I think it had something to do with the mariachi band playing. The three guys were kind enough to play "Crazy" by Patsy Cline for my dad and I. No, we didn't request it. According to the lead singer/violin player, it was a romantic song for a "nice couple". Yeah, me and my dad. Great. And no, he didn't sing it in Spanish. So we, the "nice couple" could understand the words. Thanks, buddy. And yes, the place was packed with at least 6 tables of people we knew who thought the entire thing was hilarious. That's how rumors get started...