October 31, 2004

Sweet Tarts

So far we've only had one group of trick or treaters tonight, so it looks like Maggie and I will be finishing off the candy by ourselves. I'm taking a break from preparing for a deposition tomorrow. I'm attending the deposition of an industrial hygienist who I've deposed before. Hopefully things will go smoothly, though he has a problem about lying so you never really know what to expect.

When I'm not reviewing deposition testimony, I'm shopping online. When we go to San Diego next week, we're flying Southwest. I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to handle the four hour flight period, but I know I won't be able to take it without a movie of some sort. Archi-Sapper informed me that I'm not allowed to borrow his laptop (which has a dvd player), since he'll be taking it to California when he goes the week after I return. Although we initially thought about buying a G4 iBook, we decided to hold off on that and just purchase a portable dvd player. Any suggestions of units to buy would be greatly appreciated.

Posted by Kitty at 09:09 PM | Comments (0)

October 27, 2004

I Really Shouldn't Be Blogging Right Now

I just returned home from book club and we discussed The Happy Hooker. The meeting was even more animated than I expected. As usual we had copious amounts of wine (the main reason why I have no business blogging right now), great food and the host's home was intimidatingly lovely. However, those are all pretty typical attributes of book club meetings. What I wasn't expecting was the can of whipped cream which was passed around (it went along with the sex theme of the evening), the woman who lifted her shirt when the host was taking pictures (she had a bra on, but still) or the pantomiming of various sexual positions which were described in the book. All in all, it was an education.

I've started Tropic of Cancer but am having trouble getting into it. I like it, but it's about as approachable as Laurence Durrell's Justine.

Posted by Kitty at 10:20 PM | Comments (0)

October 25, 2004

Hit By A Train

On the way in to work this morning I heard a re-broadcast of a live set by The Old 97's on XM radio. The music was great -- it was all their new stuff off their new cd Drag It Up. I was bummed to learn that I'll be missing their show this weekend -- a 10th anniversary tribute to their first album, Hitchhike to Rhome. The Old 97's have put out some good music over the years, but I still love their early stuff the most.

And can I just say that I am still addicted to my XM Satellite Radio? How else could I hear a specially-recorded mini concert by the Old 97's on my way to work? Fabulous.

Posted by Kitty at 10:03 AM | Comments (0)

October 23, 2004

Free iPods

Okay, I just signed up for this service through Fnlii's link on Wetwired, mostly because I want an iPod myself. I've been thinking of getting myself one for Christmas, but that isn't too likely to happen, what with all of our money going to our house. At any rate, if you're interested, sign up yourself through my referral link.

Posted by Kitty at 10:37 AM | Comments (0)

October 21, 2004

Regression Cheddar

Ten movies you'd watch over and over:
Clue; High Fidelity; The Sound of Music; School of Rock; One Fine Day; Big Daddy; Italian for Beginners; most any John Hughes movie; Lost in Translation; The Game.

Nine people you enjoy the company of:
Hmmmm. I suppose I should start by saying that this list is by no means exclusive. Some people, in no particular order are: Archi-Sapper, Cosmic Sister Catherine, Cosmic sibling Rob, my shrink, my boss (seriously), Andre, Patrick, my in-laws (also seriously) and various business associates.

Eight things you're wearing:
My wedding ring, a watch, shoes, a skirt, a shirt, a bra, underwear and a smirk.

Seven things on your mind:
My fear of flying, whether this case I'm working on is going to go to trial, what Archi and I are going to do this weekend, whether I should keep reading the book I started or switch to another one, when I'm going to clean my office, what's going to happen on The Apprentice tonight and when our roof is going to be fixed.

Six objects you touch every day:
My bed, Archi-Sapper (does he count as an object?), my car, Pillow, Maggie and the ground.

Five things you do every day:
Talk on the phone, eat, read, listen to music and talk to Archi-Sapper.

Four bands (etc) that you couldn't live without:
I've played along this far but I can't narrow this down to four.

Three of your favorite songs at this moment:
My Prerogative by Brit. . . kidding. Really.
How am I supposed to narrow this down? The pressure! I can't take it!

Two people who have influenced your life the most:
Archi-Sapper and my shrink.

One person who you love more than anyone in the world:
The person who has already been mentioned five times in this post.

Posted by Kitty at 03:23 PM | Comments (2)

Book sales

The fact that Wal Mart won't be selling Jon Stewart's new book makes me want to buy it even more.

Posted by Kitty at 01:33 PM | Comments (0)

October 19, 2004

Shortcuts

This article talks about how lawyers aren't required to actually graduate from law school in order to practice law in some states. Basically, in some states you only have to complete one year of law school at an accredited school, and can then complete the other two years in a clerkship at a law firm.

So, is this a good idea? I can't decide. On the one hand, I've long been a big proponent of not relying on law school grades to determine who will make the best lawyer. I wasn't on law review, and I tend to think I'm a pretty good lawyer. However, not completing law school does seem to make it far more difficult for you to pass the bar exam, which is a big problem.

Posted by Kitty at 06:55 PM | Comments (1)

October 18, 2004

Slow weekend

My weekend had inauspicious beginnings with a three hour, wine soaked lunch at Mr. B's with my boss and paralegal (side note for New Orleanians: we tried to go to Galatoire's, but when we got there at 1:45 they told us that we would have to wait two hours for a table, so we ended up wandering over to Mr. B's). The evening ended by meeting Archi-Sapper at the local bar where he hangs out with his co-workers while I sipped Diet Cokes. One of his rather inebriated co-workers asked me what I was drinking, and when I said Diet Coke he responded, "You're going to have to drink a lot of those to get a buzz."

I went to the firm's business meeting Saturday morning, which was a very nice, climate controlled nap (I still haven't figured out how coffee manages to wake me up when I want it to and lull me to sleep when I'd prefer a nap). The remainder of Saturday was pretty calm, ending with me watching the first part of season one of Gilmore Girls on dvd from Netflix. Somehow I feel like I should be embarassed to admit that I really liked it, and I'm not sure if that's because it's a cheesy chick-flick t.v. show or because it airs on the WB network (sorry, Andre). I'm not making any apologies for liking shows on the WB, since I also like Grounded For Life. As for chick-flick t.v. shows, well. . .

My other weekend accomplishments include finishing The Happy Hooker (she's happy, all right) and discovering that my husband -- employee of a construction company -- now knows more about the criminal trial process than I do. He's been on jury duty for the past couple of weeks. He now calls me from his two hour lunch breaks and says things like, "Yeah, I didn't get picked up in round one of voir dire, but there's still round two before they start their strikes and then have an in camera conference." Okay, babe. Whatever you say.

Posted by Kitty at 05:14 PM | Comments (1)

October 14, 2004

Charity trailer

I just received my latest e-mailed copy of "Hello Kitty's Sweet Happy News" (I love the Japanese) and in it, there was a link to Hello Kitty's latest charity auction to celebrate her 30th anniversary. Naturally I clicked the link, and the best item has to be this $40,000 Airstream trailer with a big Hello Kitty head painted on the side. The Judith Leiber coin purse is cute, cute, cute (though it's the most expensive coin purse I've ever seen), and the Michael Graves purrvilion is just weird (and besides, that springing kitty head is going to smack some child in the head at some point. That's a tort waiting to happen.)

Posted by Kitty at 01:43 PM | Comments (1)

October 13, 2004

The Dick Cheney Approach to Truth Cheddar

I didn't make up the title of this post, I just like it. . . .

1. What's your favorite food?
I will chew on just about anything that doesn't chew on me first. I love Tex-Mex, pot roast on Sundays, fast food from Backyard Burger, medium rare steaks, cantaloupes from Pecos, Texas, absolutely anything from Jacques-Imo's and any type of candy.

2. What Constitutional Amendment is the most important?
This is like asking who my favorite Beatle is. Hell, I don't know. If pressed, I'd say it's a toss-up between the first and the fourth.

3. What needs to be added to the Amendments?
Don't get me started.

4. Is truth relative?
I don't care. That may make me sound shallow and stupid, but at the risk of sounding like Paris Hilton, it just doesn't matter to me.

5. Who's the best leader your nation has right now?
I wasn't aware we had any active leadership at the moment.

6. What lets you sleep soundly at night?
Archi-Sapper, who shuts the door when Miss Maggie starts barking too loudly.

Posted by Kitty at 08:09 PM | Comments (1)

October 12, 2004

I Don't Get It

It must be because I spend so much time studiously avoiding it. Much like avoiding eye contact with your teachers in school -- as soon as you fixate on some point near your shoe, they figure out what you're up to and call on you.

My boss just e-mailed me and said that she thinks she I should really re-think my decision not to go to the DRI's Asbestos Medicine Program. After all, one of our major clients will be there and I haven't had a chance to meet him yet, several of our clients' insurers will be there, etc. She makes a good case (as usual). There's only one problem.

It's in San Diego.

Posted by Kitty at 08:54 AM | Comments (4)

October 10, 2004

A Roof Over Our Heads

And the home maintenance saga continues. When we last blogged (this is the imperial "we"), the gas lines had been leaking and Archi found a plumber who fixed them. Now that the gas lines aren't leaking, the roof is.

Before we closed on our house, we had a home inspection. The inspector (and the bank) insisted that the roof that covers our office -- an addition to the original structure of the house -- had to be replaced. The sellers hired a roofer and they replaced that part of the roof. It passed inspection and we thought nothing more about it. Until today.

This morning, I was leaving to teach CCD (Sunday school to you non-Catholics) and noticed brown stains on the ceiling of the office. I summoned Archi-Sapper and we inspected them more closely. It appears that the tar from the roof is pushing through the ceiling in some places. Further, at 8:30 this morning there were indentations in the ceiling where you could tell water was accumulating from Tropical Storm Matthew.

I had to head out and teach my class (which went well), so Archi-Sapper stayed behind and moved important stuff out of the office. He went to the hardware store and bought a ladder, buckets and visqueen. He used the visqueen to cover the roof (after he bailed out the standing water) and to cover the carpet in the office from dripping tar. The buckets are catching the dripping tar and water, as we now have a rather large crack in the middle of the ceiling with a hole in it, caused by the pressure from the standing water. *sigh*

Archi also called the guy who sold us the house (he's a partner in a company that buys houses, fixes them up and then flips them for a profit). The guy was very nice, as he was when we bought the house, and said he's going to bring us the warranty papers for the roofing work and he's going to call the roofer and have them come over tomorrow to get started on repairing it. Tellingly, he said he had received a few other phone calls this morning from people who purchased property from him who had leaky roofs as a result of shoddy roof installations from this same guy. While I'm not thrilled about letting Mr. Magoo repair our roof (especially since he didn't get it right the first time), I'm also not interested in spending a bunch of money we currently don't have to get a competent roofer to come over and install a new roof. I repeat: Ah, the joys of home ownership.

Posted by Kitty at 12:55 PM | Comments (1)

October 08, 2004

Time Well Spent

Some men are strange, but this takes the cake.

I know. I've been remiss in my blogging. I should have some really great reason, but I don't. I did go to Florida on Tuesday and Wednesday for a deposition, and I'm happy to report that Florida is still there. I stayed in Destin Tuesday night (hey, somebody's got to do it) and headed to Defuniak Springs for the deposition Wednesday morning. When I checked into my hotel Tuesday night my room wasn't ready. They only had smoking rooms left (not what I had reserved since I'm allergic to cigarette smoke), but they assured me they could put an ionizer in the room and it would eliminate the smoke. However, it takes one hour for an ionizer to work. So, kicked out of my hotel, I went to the outlet mall to spend Archi-Sapper's money. I got a cute pair of shoes and two Christmas gifts before the hotel called me on my cell phone to tell me my room was ready.

The only other excitement of the week was our fun with plumbing. I had our gas oven/range installed on Tuesday. The pipe leading from the wall to the oven was too long, so the oven was sticking out into the kitchen. I hired a plumber who came over and cut the pipe to size and installed the oven. That was Tuesday morning before I left for Florida. Archi didn't use the oven while I was gone, so it's inaugural cook was Thursday night. When we used it, I smelled gas. This concerned me, and my concern only increased Friday morning when we woke up and I still smelled gas. Archi didn't smell it, but he smelled it when he stepped outside. Between the two of us, we realized it was time to call Entergy.

I had a hearing Friday morning so Archi called Entergy after I left and they came out to the house. They used their high tech gas gizmo and determined that we had a gas leak in the pipe that leads from the hot water heater in our shed to the house. Archi came inside to call our plumbing company and see if they could come over and fix it. After he hung up, the Entergy guy asked him who we were going to use to fix the line. Archi said we would use the people who installed the oven. The Entergy guy said, "I don't think I'd use them." While Archi had been on the phone, Entergy guy had been checking out the oven, and found a gas leak there where the plumbers hadn't tightened the connection with the wall. We were batting a thousand. Fortunately, the very nice Entergy guy tightened the oven connection (which he absolutely didn't have to do since they're not responsible for anything inside your house) and headed out on his way.

A couple of hours and ten million dollars later and we are no longer leaking natural gas either into or outside of our home. Ah, the joys of home ownership.

I'm now headed out to work to go make some money to pay for these fiascos.

Posted by Kitty at 05:21 PM | Comments (0)

October 01, 2004

Weekend Fun

Happy Birthday to Grey Headed Stranger. I no longer link to him on my blog because he no longer posts on his, but he's still a great guy and a fun relative.

Mama kitty will be in town tonight for the weekend. I think we'll be painting baseboards and doors in the new house (exciting, I know) and maybe even watching the two movies I just got from Netflix.

And if all goes well, I might even get the copies of the next three books my book club selected for October, November and December (this is for the book club that actually reads). Their selections?

The Happy Hooker by Xaviera Hollander
Tropic of Cancer by Henry Miller; and
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.

You guessed it -- they're going with banned books this go 'round. The best part is that I bought them used on Amazon.com and it cost me $5.50 for all three!

Posted by Kitty at 03:42 PM | Comments (3)