Hey kiddos!

We're still alive!

Just barely.

A few things of note to report:

1) I just wrote my first sonnet!  Yay!  I should be ashamed at how clever this makes me feel.  But sonnets are hard!

2) The car accident injury stuff (yes, from five years ago) is finally all settled and done with.  I barely came out ahead of my medical bills, but I'm grateful that they're (at last!) all paid.  Not without grief, however.  My lawyer, my own lawyer, was less than professional and harsh at the end of working together for about three years -- all because he wanted to push me to go to trial to earn him some more cash.  Money-grubbing louses, all.

Things I wish I would've known to do at the beginning of this: don't let yourself be passed on to a new lawfirm without researching them and having a say in the matter.  My first lawyer retired, and I "inherited" this juniorest of junior lawyers, who consistently failed to give me relevant case information in a timely manner (i.e. me calling his office the day of the deadline for the other side to appeal, thinking we were all done, finding out they'd appealed it two weeks prior and no one told me, even though I'd specifically asked to be notified as soon as we got word), who failed to return phone calls or emails when promised, who contacted witnesses to appear two days before the arbitration, which was scheduled months in advance -- among other lovely behavioral gems.  It was as if I had to babysit my own lawyer.  Awful.  Make expectations clear as far as communication goes, etc., right in the very beginning.  And, last, don't let them push you around.  They work for YOU, not the other way around.

More than anything, I'm just happy to put this whole thing behind me.  It's been a stressful part of the last five years.

3) On a far more fun note, I'm loving this quarter!  Poetry.  Spiritual Autobiography.  Mythalogical Lit.  I'm in heaven.  (And working my ass off).

4) I had the wonderful opportunity to fall completely in love with a new author this past week.  Peggy Shumaker came to read at Village Books here in Bellingham and Prof. Miller introduced me to her.  What a gracious, warm, lovely individual.  I wish I could capture in words the resonance of her voice as she read her work.  Mesmerizing.  She then visited our Spiritual Autobiography class the next day and read for us, occasionally kicking back into teacher mode, which was a real gift.  If you get a chance, check out Just Breathe Normally.  It's an amazing memoir constructed while Peggy was piecing her memory back together after a cycling accident left her with cranial injuries.  I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

5)  It's supposed to snow this weekend.  RIDICULOUS.