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Sunday, October 31, 2004 - 9:53 AM

Saturday was the best day ever. Why? Because Baylor ended their 18-year losing streak and BEAT THE AGGIES!!! I wish I could have seen it on TV (even more, I wish I had done some more begging to get people to go to the game with me) but when we heard the news over the radio, I started screaming and did the squirmy puppy dance. When Baylor beats other Big 12 teams, I get happy, but not near as happy as I did for beating A&M. Matt fueled my desire for Baylor to win further by sending me a link to a web forum the Aggies have that discussed why they hate Baylor so much. So for my Aggie friends that like to toss it in my face that Baylor has not beaten A&M for 18 years and for those idiotic posters in the web forum, I'd like to remind them that not only is that losing streak over, but our losing streak is still smaller to A&M's previous losing streak to us...over 25 years. GO BEARS GO!! On the downside, the students once again tore down another goal post, so tuition will rise again. (We only beat one Big 12 team a season, so tearing down goal posts happens every year along with a corresponding rise in tuition.)

Friday not so good. I was awoken at 3 a.m. because my stomach decided to get rid of everything I had eaten for the past two weeks. At first I thought it was because I drank at the happy hour on Thursday, but then I realized that I only had 3, maybe 4 glasses of wine, I was buzzed at most, and when have I ever thrown up after sleeping for a few hours after drinking? And then it didn't stop until about 2 that afternoon. I seriously thought about going to the ER for a saline drip because I couldn't hold anything down. I've never been so sick before, not even when I had had food poisoning. I was doubly pissed because not only was I sick, but I had paid $10 to the firm to eat at the Chili Cookoff and wear jeans. How often do I get to wear jeans at work? Um, never! I went to work on Saturday for a few hours so I could do what I had planned to do on Friday and move the trial preparations along. It looks like I may not go to either trial in November, but hey, gotta be prepared for it all in case I do, sick or not. But yes, I am feeling tons better, thank you.

I had thought about going out for Halloween this year like I always do, but I think this year I'm going to pass. We were invited to go out with a few groups, but I don't feel like paying a lot of money for cover and for watered-down drinks in Deep Ellum. We're going to be neighborly and pass out candy to the trick-or-treaters this year. And play video games. I got this new video game, and if there was ever a game that was induced by crack, this is it. Not only was it induced by crack, the developers continued to smoke crack while creating the game. But it is fun and oh so addictive. And I also will be praying that the supposed curse on the Redskins is not true, so the Packers can beat the hell out of them without making me feel bad. But then again, if the Packers do lose, I won't feel it too much because I'm still high on my Baylor Bears beating the Aggies.

posted by Keri
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Tuesday, October 26, 2004 - 2:57 PM

I can't believe that when I first started this job, I was told that I would rarely go to trial. Right now I'm preparing for two trials at once...so I feel like smacking that person for giving me the idea life wouldn't be quite so stressful all the time. Didn't I just get back from a trial? Okay, so that was three weeks ago...still haven't caught up. My office is a complete mess. Right now I have medical records literally strewn all over the floor, I have boxes stacked in two corners, X-rays in four different piles (not sure the distinction of the piles anymore), videotapes in my chairs, and affidavits to be filed all over my desk. I'm amazed I found the keyboard. So yes, I have a trial on November 8th and another one on November 15th. And Lisa's wedding is still going on November 20th as planned. I'm hoping that the one on the 15th settles because I don't want to ask an assistant to help out with trial that might go into the week of Thanksgiving. I feel like I ask for help too much as it is. I went in to Steve's office and told him I was so sorry that once again I may be bailing on him for one of his trials. It seems like it's always his trials I'm gone for. But hey, this time my out of town plans are the weekend after trial starts, not before, so at least I'll be able to help him prep. Lisa shouldn't be too mad if I bail out of my matron of honor duties for work, right? Augh! I'm kidding, I'm kidding! Stop throwing things at me. Fortunately for me, Steve is incredibly understanding and nice guy, and he just laughed and told me he completely understood. I never have plans to leave town...it just happens that the few times I have for my sister's wedding stuff, it's right before trial with Steve.

I've decided to redo the site a teensy bit. I've created a separate blog just for ranting. I figure that people come to this site (all five of you) to read about what's going on with me, not what I'm passionate about. However, some things happen and I like to vent in writing (hey, it's what happens when you're an English major) so I have a rants page just for me. If anyone cares to read them, hey, knock yourself out. If you choose to do so and they anger you, well, you know where to e-mail me. I like arguing. Ask Shawn or my family.

Well, better tidy up this place before I go insane or drown in the sea of paper. Be sure to vote next week! I did yesterday and discovered that the state of Florida must be full of idiots to not understand how to do so.

posted by Keri
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Monday, October 25, 2004 - 4:40 PM

Oh yeah, almost forgot to mention GO PACK GO! Thanks for showing once again how much the Cowboys suck.

posted by Keri
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Monday, October 18, 2004 - 1:49 PM

Priceless quote from our expert witness at trial that he wanted to say but refrained from doing so (which was probably a good thing):

Opposing counsel: "Doctor, are you wearing makeup today?" (actual question)
Expert: "No, but I am wearing women's underwear." (what he wanted to say)

posted by Keri
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Thursday, October 14, 2004 - 4:53 PM

Shawn has become rather important in his line of work. He's been asked to be a part of reorganizing the tech schools, their curriculum and format, for our US Air Force. Where and when this will all take place is of course anyone's guess (it is the military afterall) but many congratulations to him! He is excited, and I know he has lots of ideas and lots of things he wants to change. Hopefully now I won't hear near as much about how total idiots can graduate from the USAF tech schools. When I say total idiots, I mean those that melt down the communications vans and think it's a good idea to turn on generators when their electrical ends are in puddles of water. No lies there, folks.

Okay, on to the story I was going to tell last time. I actually had to testify in this past trial. During voir dire, the judge and the attorneys went into the jury room to talk with particular jurors one on one. During this time, the plaintiff took it upon himself to sit in the jury box, which was right in front of the jury room door. For the jurors to walk in and out of the room, they had to walk right past him. So the plaintiff decided to chat with a few of them. That's a big no-no. The first time it happened, I pointed it out to the bailiff, who stopped it. The bailiff was not present for the next two times though. I told Steve about it, who then asked me to tell the judge about it. I thought, hey, all informal, no big deal. Nope. I walked into the Plaintiffs' conference room, where the judge and the court reporter were waiting. This was very formal, under oath, and rather on the record. My first thoughts were "Oh crap! Please be right about which jurors you saw talking to him." After I testified and Plaintiff promptly denied it (much to the angst of his attorney for speaking out of turn), the judge brought in the jurors one by one to testify. My thoughts then were "OH CRAP! Please don't lie and make me out to be the biggest bitch here." Thank God, I was right and the jurors didn't lie. Steve was going to bust up the whole panel, but when we heard that they didn't talk about anything pertinent to trial, he let it go as long as those jurors were struck. I felt kind of bad at first, thinking I had disrupted everything for no reason, but Steve assured me that it doesn't matter what they talk about, neither party should talk to jurors. So it's weird that I am actually on the court record. Thinking of it in that way and knowing that I had some role in this case makes it seem better than it was. I never want to do that again...that was scary, and I don't know how our clients, experts, and witnesses can handle testifying. Thank God I wasn't actually cross-examined.

Not much going on for this upcoming weekend. Someone is supposed to come by and look at the house on Saturday, so hopefully they will actually come (unlike the last few punks). I also need to find time to go shopping for new shoes for work, I've about killed my black heels, and buy new stuff for Lisa's rehearsal dinner. So twist my arm, I must go shopping.

posted by Keri
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Sunday, October 10, 2004 - 9:36 AM

Finally scanned in everything I've collected since June. Probably the last cel update for a loooong time. Helloooooooooo new car payment.

posted by Keri
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Saturday, October 09, 2004 - 10:44 AM

I feel like I've been gone from reality for two weeks. Today was the first time I've checked my e-mail in over a week. I'm supposed to go to a wedding tonight and I can't focus enough to even think of how I'm going to clean up, start laundry, and drive there. Last Friday afternoon I headed down to Galveston with Lindsey to go to Lisa's bachelorette party. Lindsey and I both learned that we are not 19 anymore, nor do we wish to be, and we can't, to quote my sister, "party like rock stars" anymore. After driving for six hours to Galveston (yes, Houston traffic is worse than Dallas traffic...this is coming from a native-Houstonian) Lindsey went straight to bed after dinner. Everyone else was planning to go bar hopping, but I only brought one going out outfit because the plan originally was to just hang out at the hotel and drink wine. Lisa's friends decided to dress me up like a doll (gave me jeans and a top to wear), but I drew the line when they said they wanted to fix my hair and put makeup on me. We stayed at the first bar for an ungodly long time. I was very drunk, but I sobered up quickly when I realized that the first three guys we met when we arrived were hanging all over Lisa's friends...even the married ones. My Mother Hen syndrome took over and Emily and I tried to get everyone to close out and leave so we could get away from these leeches. But we were followed. I even had to get Lisa off this guy's shoulders because he decided to pick her up and walk away with her. He asked me what my problem was and I gave him my evil glare and told him he wasn't wanted. God I felt so old. I can't even remember the last time I thought it was fun to go to a bar and meet random guys. Not much happened on Saturday...everyone was kind of tuckered out. For Saturday night, I didn't want to go out late because I had to leave at 7:30 the next morning to go to work. However, we discovered that there was going to be a drag queen show at the gay bar in Galveston, and I had to see that. First big mistake of the night: taking our mother. She said she wanted to go, but she had no idea what to expect 1) going to a gay bar and 2) seeing a drag queen show. Second big mistake: thinking I could round up everyone to leave when Lisa was ready to go. I think Lisa said it was like herding cats. Lindsey, Mom and I said good-bye to the crew as they trucked down to the next stop. We think some of them came in around 3 and then the rest went back out. I still haven't asked what all they did. I got to work around 12:30, worked for about four hours to get ready for trial on Monday, and then headed over to Kay's where I was going to stay the rest of the week. I think I crashed at 7:30.

I've been in trial with Steve the rest of the week, so I've been doubly cut off from reality. I'm scared to look at my inbox at work. I've gone there every morning for about an hour before I go to court, so I try to get some things done, but it seems like more work piles on the more I try to lessen it. We didn't finish this week, so it looks like we will go Monday as well, if not Tuesday. Steve is fascinating to watch in trial. He's so good at what he does. He's so good, he's made opposing counsel rather paranoid. Every day after trial, he takes me and our client to "debrief" at the West End Pub. I haven't gotten much done at work after our debriefings. I'll talk more about it once it is over...like how I actually had to testify before the judge. That was scary!

So now I'm finally home, Shawn is out camping with his friends, I have a crap load of laundry to do so I can wear another suit on Monday, my stack of mail is huge, I think I have some bills to pay, I have a wedding to go to tonight, the house is a mess, and all I can do is stare at my computer trying to sort it all out.

posted by Keri
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