Graduation Day

Today is graduation day.  For the past three months I participated in a Leadership Academy for "young" lawyers that offered a comprehensive curriculum designed to equip us with knowledge about our personal leadership style, methods of influencing others and an array of other subjects.  As a result, we are all tasked with implementing a "Leadership Legacy Project" in our local communities.  I am pumped.  My project deals with promoting academic achievement and cross-cultural training and language instruction to black boys.  I'll keep you posted. Literally:)

Reconnecting.

I'm on vacation!! Yay! In the physical, mental and familial aftermath of billing 250 hours last month, I decided to take this week off.  For real.  I have only checked my email twice since Sunday.   My hubby and I took the boys on a short "one tank" trip for a couple of days to get away and strengthen the family ties that have become worn because I am out of place.  Yes, out of place.  When your husband has to call you to come home from work at midnight because you're still there engrossed in a project- that is out of place.  When your seven year old is the ONLY child in his class whose mommy didn't show up for the Mother's Day program because she had to work out of town- that is out of place.  When your four year old can't sleep at night (because you're not home) and is taking three hour naps in preschool to make up for it- that is out of place.  When you have no desire to be a wife to your husband because you've just worked a string of 14+ hour days- that is definitely out of place.  I knew that a change had to come, but spending time with my family this week confirmed it.  I haven't been this happy and relaxed in months.  My boys haven't been this happy and relaxed in months.  My husband and I haven't gone this long without snapping at each other in months.  Good times.  Yesterday we went to the zoo, the mall, out to eat, and swimming in the hotel pool.  At the end of the day I took a video of the boys to recap our adventures. When I asked them their favorite part of the day, the four year old answered immediately:  "Being with you!"  My thoughts exactly.   I am praying for a new opportunity to open up soon.

Excellence is Deliberate!

When Late Nights Collide With Early Mornings

Last night I pulled an all-nighter.  The kind that starts at 12pm on a Sunday afternoon and ends on Monday morning  after the kids get ready for school.  ALL NIGHT LONG.    On the bright side, I watched at least 3 episodes of Law and Order, an episode of cheers and the Meryl Streep/Alec Baldwin romantic comedy, "It's Complicated" before the sun came up.  Side note: That movie is HILARIOUS at 3 in the morning!   So why was I up all night?  Working on a 35 page brief that absolutely, positively had to get done.  The good news:  I've billed at least 60 hours in the past week related to this project. In case you're not a firm lawyer, here's everything you need to know about billable hours: more = better. The bad news- I've billed at least 60 hours on this in the past week - on top of hours billed for other clients and non-billable work.  That is EXHAUSTING.  Nothing hurts me more than coming home from work after my boys fall asleep.  In fact, on Thursday, my husband sent me a text around midnight telling me to come home because (1) It was friggin MIDNIGHT and (2) my poor four year old was crying that he couldn't sleep until I got home.  Now that sucks.

When I started this job, my oldest son was in kindergarten.  I blinked and he is now getting ready to begin second grade.  Time flies when you are (almost completely) distracted.  My husband and I have been talking and we agree--We can't go out like that.  Preparing for the next transition.  More talk on that later.

For now, I need to get some sleep.

Excellence is deliberate.

To the Boys: Chapters 7 and 4.

I LOVE YOU THIS MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

To My Dear Boys.

My love for you is like buttery syrup-infused IHOP pancakes.  Every fiber of my being is saturated with it.   I have loved you both from the moment I knew of your existence and for years when the thought of you was a mere possibility.  You challenge and amaze me on a daily basis and no matter how miserably I fail to live the life of a perfect example, your innocent admiration motivates me to keep trying. I love the way you giggle openly at childish things, the way you honestly question the world around you, the way you fight each other for the right to receive my kisses, the way your eyes light up when I return from a terrible day at work, the way you snuggle with me in bed with cold feet wrapping themselves around my legs, the way you take pride in our family traditions like playing UNO and evening prayer, the way you sing at the top of your lungs when Mommy turns up her "jam" on the radio, the way you see the good in people and look to me for confirmation, the way you trust completely in God without reservation, and the way you are each growing up to be absolutely unique and amazing individuals.  I pray that the years ahead bring many more opportunities for me to share how much I love you and that your memories of your childhood are always rooted in the certainty that your spiritual, physical, intellectual, and emotional well-being are always precious to Mommy. I will never give up on vigilantly protecting all of the above.

Thank- you for making this my favorite day of the year. 

Thank You, Mr. President.

Maya Angelou got it right, "When people show you who they are, believe them." Yesterday, the President took off the mask- and I believe him.  When he repealed Don't Ask, Don't Tell, I turned the other cheek toward economic issues.  When his administration refused to defend the Defense of Marriage Act, I chalked it up to Presidential prerogative.  But yesterday, he removed all doubt that he supports the redefinition of marriage to include same-sex couples.  My first reaction to the news was an audible gasp.  Then anger.  Then sadness.  Then grief over the fact that I can no longer support his re-election campaign.    

I was one of those "Independent Voters" who helped Obama get over the hump the first time around.   Back then, I was willing to compromise my adamant opposition to abortion-on-demand to support a pro-abortion candidate like Obama, because I thought he was clearly the better choice to lead, and the thought of Sarah Palin anywhere NEAR the White House was both hilarious and terrifying.  As an African-American, the Martin Luther King--Barack Obama narrative was also hard to resist when I watched him accept the Democratic Nomination on the forty fifth anniversary of the famous "I Have a Dream Speech."  It was "Eyes on the Prize" meets "We Shall Overcome" meets "Young Gifted and Black" meets "The Cosby Show" - a spectacular evolution of perseverance and black excellence on display for the World.   Just thinking about how I felt in that moment still gives me chills.  I volunteered as a poll-worker for his campaign during the 2008 election and felt the weight of history on my side when we realized that he'd won our polling location.  I remember the feeling of ecstatic disbelief when the networks announced his victory.  Pure joy. 

This time around, I was already gearing up to go the distance.  I've been sporting my "Obama 2012" tee-shirt for months, making plans to volunteer for the campaign and scheming to get a ticket to the 2012 Democratic convention in North Carolina.   That's all behind me now.

I believe in marriage between one man and one woman.  Period.    Despite what activists in the other camp would have you believe about the demographics of this issue, my opinion remains unchanged even when viewed through the lens of a law degree and law licenses in two states.  Access to an expensive and completely liberally-biased education and the so-called knowledge that accompanies it haven't succeeded in dampening my fervor for the Gospel of Jesus Christ and my duty to stand for Biblical principles.  I think any honest person who has actually read the Bible will acknowledge that it doesn't mince words on the issue of homosexual behavior.  It is condemned. No matter how people try to twist the Scripture or ignore its authority, on this issue the Bible is clear.  To think that people who name the name of Christ would completely ignore what the Bible has to say to not only endorse homosexual behavior, but to try to redefine the definition of marriage to affirm it is sickening.   That said, I can't support a Presidential Candidate -even the "great" Barack Obama, with whom I so vehemently disagree.

I suspect there are tough times ahead (politically) for our President.  He will continue to be in my prayers, but from a greater distance. I wish him well (personally).  As for me, there are also some tough decisions ahead- can I stomach a vote for Mitt Romney?  Highly doubtful, but time will tell.

See Obama's comments below.

 

A New Deliverance.

For those of us that love Gospel music, Helen Baylor is a legend. Her voice is the truth.  Her singing testimonial, "Praying Grandmother" is a master class in using music to enhance the effect of spoken words.  Today  CBN aired a feature about her storied career and recent struggle with prescription drugs in the wake of a health issues and painful divorce from her husband of over 30 years.  " I wanted the marriage to work, but you know what, if somebody doesn't want you, maybe you ought to see that they don't want you!" That's deep. Her story reminded me that we should never stop praying for each other because we never know what a person is going through or what they are struggling to overcome.  Baylor also shared her thoughts on the prevalence of drug addiction in the Church.

The Church is in the same shape as the World, they just don't look at us as closely. If there's something that you're dealing with, I know the Man.  I know the Man.  His name is Jesus.

She's right.  What an amazing testimony.  See the full interview below and read the CBN article here.

Get in the Game.

Timing is everything.  Last week, I had my first encounter with a life coach.  I was nervous.  Talking to a life coach is like going to counseling, without the option of blaming your parents or your husband for your personal hangups.  It was paid for by a leadership program that I'm participating in, so we only had 30 minutes.  In this scenario, the past and the present become irrelevant.  It's all about the future.

She encouraged me to write down where I want to be professionally and personally in 20 years and work my way back to 2012.  That kind of freedom to shape the future is completely liberating.  I've always known that I want to do more than practice law.  This exercise helped me to articulate my goals and begin to think through my current situation through the eyes of my future self.  Thanks life coach- for the first time in months, I am back in the game.