This one's for you Marshall Erickson!

Last Friday night, I hit 5 Points for Happy Hour for the amazing MegLee. She was home for a visit from jolly old England. Okay, so technically calling Columbia home is a stretch (as her home is Arizona). But whatever...

After Happy Hour turned into hours (and Grilled Teriyaki), I headed back to my car. The one thing I had forgotten to do before going to Village Idiot was feed the parking meter. So what was waiting on my car when I got back to it? Yep- an orange envelope and a parking ticket. Oh well. I'll just pay it.

Yesterday, I went to write the check to put in the Clemson-colored envelope from hell. I happened to glance at the ticket. No, no one had switched tickets with me (you never can tell- I've heard of that happening). It was my car. My tag. But the time of issuance of the ticket? 6:08 pm. When do meters in 5 Points become freebies? 6:00 pm. It does NOT take 8 minutes to write a ticket. Which means that ticket was issued incorrectly.

Take that City of Columbia meter maid. You just got lawyered. And don't think I'm not going to argue about why I shouldn't pay the ticket. I think my law degree might FINALLY come in handy! Huzzah!

AMENDMENT as of 9:30 am this morning: I called the City to make my argument. Who knew that the meters in 5 Points have to be fed until 7 pm?! Damn City- that's awfully late in the day. And effectively destroyed my argument. So they'll now get my $7. Yep- I was going to the mat for $7. Bring it on!

Tucker Max is my hero. Well, sort of...

For those of you who don't know the above pictured fellow, this is Tucker Max. Officially, he is a lawyer (graduated from Duke Law). But more importantly, he has a blog. And some books. And a movie. He's also a bit of an a-hole (according to him, not me. I've never met him).

Anyway, the reason he became so "famous" is his blog. Which oddly enough started out as a joke. Women could send in their pictures and an application to hook up with Tucker. I found that to be quite a humorous way to get your start. Especially if it means ending up with a movie starring Logan Huntzberger from "Gilmore Girls!"

So I started thinking. Perhaps I should turn my blog into a new blog. Or simply start a new blog. Where men can apply to be my husband. Think it will work? Applications will be available later this spring.

Soulmates?

Nothing makes me giggle as much as people talking about their soulmates.

I am a CRAZY romantic. No, seriously. If you don't know me, this is something you should know.

But I find the concept of only being blessed if you get to marry your soulmate to be complete hogwash. So many people talk about how their lives are complete now that they have married their soulmate. And I feel kind of sorry for them. I don't think your soulmate is necessarily the person you are meant to marry.

Sometimes, your soulmate might be the person who was everything you needed at a certain point in your life. Sometimes, your soulmate might be a person to whom you simply could never be married, even though they make you happy. Sometimes, your soulmate might be someone of the same sex who is meant to be your friend for life. Sometimes, your soulmate might even be a family member.

But to say that your life is incomplete if you don't get to marry your soulmate? Well, doesn't that kind of limit what a soulmate really is?

I guess you can officially call me a clothes horse

This weekend was spent cleaning out my closets. I've got quite a few closets in my house, none of them very big. But it's just me, so I feel that I should use all of them. One closet in my bedroom is used for dresses, suits and jackets/blazers. On the floor of that closet are boots and various shoes (sneakers, Danskos, etc.) The other closet in my room is used for shirts, skirts and pants. On the floor of that one are some of the rest of my shoes (heels, sandals, etc.) Of course, there are about 20 boxes of heels stacked outside of my closet. Yep- it's a disorder. I'm seeking help.

The closet in my guest room is only half-full. I keep it that way on the off chance that I have an overnight guest. I mean, they've got to have somewhere to hang clothes, right? But that closet has cocktail and formal dresses. And all of my purses.

The closet in my study is what I lovingly call my transitional closet. It contains off-season clothes (which means it's got my winter clothes in there right now) and clothes that I need to sell. This time around, it also holds clothes that aren't fitting me right now. I know- everything you read says to get rid of stuff that doesn't fit you. But they are referring to that size 2 dress that will never fit now that you are comfortably a size 6. I've experienced some extreme weight loss lately, so my clothes will eventually fit again. I know I'll gain some of that weight back.

Anyway, my closets (other than the one in the guest room) were almost bursting at the seams. I had forgotten some of the stuff in there. So I pulled everything out of 3 different closets and threw it all on the floor/bed/hallway. Then it went into one of three piles- Trash, Sell, Keep. Trash pile- small. And already in the garbage. Keep pile- pretty big. But happily back in my (no longer quite as stuffed) closets. Sell pile- embarrassing. And covering the floor and bed of my guest room.

The added benefit to this Spring Cleaning fever was that I did some thinking about myself. Spring Cleaning's not just for your house and closets, folks. It's good for your soul.

Movies, they aren't just romantic on screen

So a few nights ago, I was watching TV and up popped a commercial that "Sahara" was going to be one TBS tonight at 8 (or some crap like that). Anyway, it got me thinking about movies, especially love stories, and movie stars. And if movie stars watch the movies they star in long after they finished filming.

In "Sahara," Matthew McConaughey and Penelope Cruz play love interests. And they dated in real life. Obviously, that relationship wasn't a keeper. But I wonder if either of them watch that movie and feel awkward that they were dating at the time.

There are lots of other couples like that. Penelope Cruz and Tom Cruise. Gerard Butler and every female movie star. Zac Efron and Vanessa Hudgens. There are countless examples of couples who fall in love on and off screen. And while it's great for Angelina Jolie to say that not a lot of kids get to see the movie where their parents fell in love (you know, while one was still married to someone else), I wonder how awkward it must be to watch a movie where you fell in love with a costar and now you have fallen out of love.

Yes folks, these are the things I wonder about sometimes. I'm a deep thinker.

A dream is a wish your heart makes

I just finished watching Disney's latest princess masterpiece, "The Princess and the Frog." For those of you not up on your Disney princesses, this particular princess is a waitress in New Orleans. And she's black. Yep, Disney finally decided that every girl can be a princess. It's about time! The movie was wonderful- I found my head bopping along to the music, the storyline was intriguing, and the characters (other than the Shadow Man) were lovable. It made me remember all the other Disney movies I've always loved.

Growing up, I was a HUGE Disney fan. Clearly, I still am. I would watch those Disney princesses by the hour, never tiring of their stories. I still can. My cousin's little girl (ie My Favorite Person on the Planet) can't get enough of those Disney princesses. She's had the theme parties, the costumes, the works. One of my best friends loves Disney so much that she and her husband spent part of their honeymoon at Disney. And had so much fun that they returned for their one year anniversary. Don't think I wasn't a little bit jealous!

So much of Disney appeals to both children and adults. But what's sad is when you realize that what Disney is peddling is so beyond the fairytale that you are unable to face reality. There isn't a Prince Charming out there for every princess. Not everyone is guaranteed a happily ever after. Sure, it's great to dream. But dreams don't always come true. Don't worry though- I won't tell the kids that. Because sometimes, it is still good to dream. Reality will come soon enough.

But they're cousins, identical cousins and you'll find...

This is me and my dad, faithful husband to one woman.

This is Mark Sanford (minus me), adulterous governor of South Carolina. I've got some connections folks, but they aren't good enough to get me a pic with Marky Mark.

For some reason, people think Pops and the lover of Argentinian tail look alike. I've never seen the resemblance.

The parentals and I love a little McAllister's for a meal. A few years ago, the parentals were in there without me. And one of the cashiers/waitresses informed them that she and some of the customers were pretty excited that Governor Sanford ate at McAllister's. And apparently that he was stepping out on Jenny even before the state trip to South America.

The funniest for me, though, was when I got an email from a friend of mine. She was at lunch at Zoe's with another friend. Both of them got very excited to see Governor Sanford walk through the door. Until they saw my mother walking in with him and realized that it was my dad and not the governor.

Oh well. I guess if I can't be famous, it's nice to have a famous (or infamous) dad!

According to Rob Hyndman, lawyers should enjoy their work and clients. Today I truly did.

As a bankruptcy attorney, my day is spent meeting with clients. Some of those clients are new clients, trying to determine whether bankruptcy is the right move for them. Some of those clients are existing clients, trying to get advice about a problem with their case. Both types of clients come in and out of the office, one right after the other. And most of them make no real impression. Other times, they are super memorable. And today was one of those days. I'm going to ignore the bad memorable ones (yep, I'm talking to you, Affliction-attired skeezer) and focus on the ones who made me glad I do what I do.

My first existing client of the day was the cutest little grandmotherly type. I was able to help her with what was going on with her case. She immediately started crying. For those of you who don't know, I am a sympathetic crier. So I started crying along with her. She asked me if I was a Christian (which I am) and told me God works in amazing ways. I agreed. Then she asked what color my kitchen is. Kind of gold I told her. Because she was going to knit me a dish towel for my kitchen. When she got up to leave the office, she grabbed me up into a big hug and gave me a kiss on the cheek. I love clients like her!

Another existing client was a super friendly fellow. After talking with him, he told me I do a really good job, I am very efficient, and my boss should give me a raise. Doggone it, I love clients like him too!

Am I just too Southern?

This is a Folgers commercial that truly bothers me to no end.

First of all, the father and daughter seem to actually enjoy Folgers coffee. If nothing else, it speaks well to their acting abilities. Because Folgers coffee is crap. It's instant, after all.

Second, I'm going to go under the assumption that the daughter is actually an adult. So why does she have an implied curfew?

But what really gets to me is the daughter's reaction to her father when he says that he talked to Todd last week. Why does she seem so surprised? If I were the girl in the commercial, I'd be more shocked if my boyfriend/new fiance had NOT asked my father for my hand in marriage. Isn't that how it's supposed to go?! Or am I just too Southern for my own good?

It's not confusing, it's deep

I have been a huge fan of LOST since the second season. Wait, what? The second season? What about the first season, NotSoPlainJane? Well, I kind of didn't watch the first season until it came out on DVD. Why not? Because I had too many other shows going on. However, once I was turned on to the wonder that is LOST, I was hooked.



The best thing the creators of LOST decided to do was repeat the "enhanced" episodes prior to a new episode. Lots of times, these enhanced episodes help remind me of stuff I'd forgotten from the previous 5 seasons. I wish the enhancement would point out things that are important, but I guess that would be asking for too much. Anyway, the point of this is that I now watch each episode twice. And notice things the second time around that I didn't always notice the first time.



Last week's regular episode/this week's enhanced episode was an interesting one. And a conversation between Jack and Hurley really stuck out to me. They exited the jungle and came upon the Lighthouse. Jack said, "How is it we've never seen it before?" To which Hurley replied, "Guess we weren't looking for it."



How true is that about most things in life?! Things are always right under your nose. But until you look for them, you don't even know they are there. A deep thought from Hurley (who's quite the deep thinker, I think). Despite all appearances....

Signs, signs, everywhere signs

I'm a big believer that there are signs everywhere. Not street/traffic signs. I mean that stuff that whacks you in the face. I never used to believe in signs. Or coincidence. I guess that's my dad talking there. He always says there no such thing as coincidence. Coincidence isn't God's plan. I will say, though, that I do now believe that there are signs. Horrible movie, but interesting points, was "Fools Rush In." Matthew Perry and Salma Hayek. Big mistake for both of them, but I did like some of points brought up. The reason this couple ended up together (you know, aside from that baby that resulted from their one night stand) was that there were too many reasons for them NOT to be together.

Sometimes, you don't realize at the time that there are signs pointing you in different directions or shaping different parts of your life.

For example, I should have known that someday I would have more than a passing connection to the state of Arkansas when I house sat for a law school professor and found a Razorback pig hat in his closet. Now, did I think it would mean that Pops would end up in Little Rock for cancer treatments? No. Should I have been shocked that's where he ended up? No.

Here's another one for you. One of my best friends didn't live in Columbia for part of high school (we didn't become friends until college). She moved back to her mom's neck of the woods. Where was that? Janesville, Wisconsin. Was there ever a doubt that we would be friends?!

I can think of countless other things that have happened in my life. Things that should have led me to different ideas about why things have gone the way they have gone.

Why is it though, that people who talk about signs or how something is so coincidental seem to be the ones who run from those things when confronted by them?