# 117 Gotta cut Footloose...

Last weekend, while in Memphis for the National Association of Junior Auxiliaries, my girls from LJA and I went to Beale Street and had a great time dancing in some random club. We danced for several hours and I've paid for it all week with the pain in my knees (getting old!). We heard one of the best dance songs ever. Apple Bottom Jeans. I'm pretty sure no one else knew what I was doing, but I attempted to emulate my idol during this song. I love this kid, it makes me happy to watch him dance, and wish I could dance half as beautifully as he can:



Alas, I never will. But its good to have hopes and aspirations.

# 116 Its been a hard day's work...

I worked super hard today. Each week, I'm supposed to file 25 new cases. This past week-- Wednesday until yesterday, I filed 50. Isn't that awesome! Unfortunately, its not that awesome, since I really didn't have anything else to do. Most weeks won't be that great, because I will be seeing clients, filling out other paperwork, having court, etc. But I'm pretty proud of myself anyway. Today I filed a total of: None. I did a bunch of other stuff. And while doing those other things, like figuring out how to send an email message on one of the three (3) different mail programs I have, I also came across some of the file folders used by my predecessor. We use these daily. They look like this:

I've seen these file folders the last few weeks and I thought I could handle it. I thought I was strong enough to resist. I figured that one day, when I was bored, I'd have enough time to make some changes, but until then, I'd just live with what I got. I mean, I just started-- don't want to make too many changes too soon, you know?

Well, today, I pulled a continuance form out of the folder and I couldn't handle it anymore. I've had a tough year or so, and I've been working on making myself a better person, more happy, more content, less stressed, blah blah blah. But I could not handle one more minute looking at those file folders. I mean, can you readers out there see what the tabs say? I'd say not since you cannot see them in person at all. Its not just a bad picture. They are old. I knew that I wasn't going to be able to survive one more minute with those file folders in the corner of my eye. I felt like it was necessary for my mental health. So I got to work, with some brand spanking new file folders I bought at Wal-Mart on my lunch break.

Now, isn't that much better? I mean, its a million times better!

And aren't the colors pretty? I'm an office supply nerd. I love office supplies. I could spend hours in a good Office Depot. Its like a toy store for adults who have to work in boring offices. If I've got to spend a lot of time sitting at my desk, I at least want some pretty things to look at! I want pictures of my friends and family looking back at me and I want lots of colors in my boring gray office!

# 115 The best thing about working...

I'm loving my job. Love it! Its so much different from practicing on my own, and I think I'm adjusting ok! I love having co-workers and having someone to ask questions when I don't know what I'm doing. I think I will eventually get the hang of things and when I do, I'll feel even better.

I'm also loving having a paycheck, a steady one! This last pay period wasn't great-- I didn't get a full paycheck, but the next one will be normal, so that's good.

But you know what the absolute best thing about my job, thus far, is?

This:

Its my health insurance card! I have health insurance! I can go to the doctor without having to pay a $75.00 upfront fee! I even have a prescription card! For someone who hasn't had health insurance for several years, this is super exciting. For the last couple years, every time I got sick, I worried about going to the doctor, or tried to put it off, or tried to figure out if I had the money to pay the bills. I'm still paying hospital bills from nearly four years ago, a few bucks a month! And in the back of my head, I was always worried that something awful would happen, like a car accident or whatever, and I'd be stuck with lots of medical bills. I often wondered if that happened, would people throw me one of those benefits where they sell the steak and a potato and a smushed roll for $7.00, and all the proceeds would go to my medical bills? Or that some kind, rich couple would let me know that they will pay all my medical bills, and I shouldn't worry. Or that the car accident would be the fault of some person with lots of insurance.

Well, now I don't have to worry about that! I've got insurance! No more worries. Now, I've got to find a doctor up here in Cleveland and make an appointment-- I plan on getting every single test that I can think of run! Just to be sure!!

# 114 In Your Easter Bonnet...

Finally, some pictures from Easter:

The sweetest couple-- Betsy and Peter

Betsy and Peter doing the cheerleader/football player pose! Silly!

The siblings

Dad and Betsy

Em and I

Betsy and Dad hanging out

# 113 The Shopping News

Last week, I was off on Monday for Confederate Memorial Day. I took the chance to visit Joyce's Juntiques in Cleveland.

I'd driven by several times and my Aunt and Lori and I had attempted to go there on a Saturday, but they are only open during the week. As my new friend Rebecca said, "Joyce apparently hates working people." I was super excited to finally get to go and I had a great time. Joyce has some great stuff. If only I had lots of money!

This guy greets you when you walk in the door!

I NEED this mirror.

I love this bookend.

It reminds me of my favorite muppet:

FYI: This is my second favorite muppet:

I really like this large tile picture. I think it would look cool in my house.

While there was a lot of cool stuff, there was some kooky stuff. This little gal creeped me out though. I do NOT like her.

# 112 Working hard for the money...

Today I worked in Clarksdale all by my lonesome self (my co-worker Ann Marie had to work at her own office in Indianola today. Its much more fun when she can train me!). I spent the day filing cases. I made it through the letter B in the filing cabinet with only a few questions. I fear that tomorrow Donna, at the Clerk's office, will call me and tell me I filed 30 cases and they were all wrong! I've filed cases before, tons of times, but these are a bit different and when you file that many in a row, you tend to overlook some of the small details that are easy to get wrong. Most of the cases are similar, but there are differences in certain cases-- like different forms for different cases, or different things that need to be written in or attached, so its easy to get on such a roll that you realize you filed three cases in a row, and the last one was supposed to be a different type. So you have to fix it. I'll get the hang of it eventually, but for now, I'm often second-guessing myself and rechecking everything, so I'm slow!

Here are some pictures of my office, taken today:

This is my desk view-- you can see the Coke machine in the doorway-- its been there for two weeks. Its a tease, however- its empty. I took it upon myself to call today and apparently, they didn't even have an order to fill it. So, its a good thing I called! We should have DC's by close of business Wednesday.

You can see the fancy METS computer program on my screen. Its the best of the State, circa 1997. But it gets the job done, and quickly.

This is the set of filing cabinets-- all full of cases ready for me to file. And I do mean full. See below.

This is how many is in one drawer!

I worked the entire day, mostly on filing cases-- I did about 30. You can see my progress-- it was full when I started and now there is some room to breathe!

Tomorrow is a court day in Clarksdale, so my tired fingers will get a break from typing and doing paperwork in the office! I love court!

# 111 No post today...

I've not really been posting daily, but I'm trying to keep up with my original promise of posting each day. Unfortunately for everyone, today I won't be posting. Why? Because, instead of blogging about my fun weekend in Memphis with my Laurel Junior Auxiliary girls (pictures and stories to come!), I've spent the entire night looking for some shoes on-line. Not just any shoes, but these shoes:

This is my new favorite website-- What I Wore-- its written by a girl, Jessica Quirk (fabulous name!) and all the clothes she's worn daily. I found this blog last week and looked at several pages, but tonight I went through the entire 65 pages she has posted, and am inspired to come up with some cute outfits. Now, don't worry readers, I'm not planning on taking pictures of the clothes I wear each day, nor do I plan on dressing Parker up each day and taking pictures of her (though that would be fun!). But I'm going to try to at least make some sort of effort into dressing cute, and, as my mom says, "taking some pride in my appearance". However, I do believe it will be super hard to be happy until I find those shoes in the above picture. Perfect color-- goes with everything. Perfect heel height. Perfect shoes. According to the website, they are last season Coach. And they are nowhere to be found. Not on ebay. Not on Coach or any other website. And I've found no similar shoes. I'm devastated.

I've literally spent the last three hours either on her website or looking for those shoes. So that's why you guys don't get a post today!

P.S. Do you like the way I actually gave you a post without you knowing it! I'm so clever!!!