It's been a bit since I posted here, and I still need to finish my travelogue! All I can say is that I haven't felt like writing. Somehow, the day on Thursday made me want to write it up. A couple of weeks ago I bought I cheap pedometer from Walgreens. I've been averaging 4-5000 steps per day and hoping to get better as time goes on. On Thursday I had 6000 by lunch and another 3000 by bedtime!
A little background: in 2014, the judge set up twice-monthly hearings where interested* parties have a chance to object to estate inventories and accounts. I'm in charge of pulling the files, giving them to the magistrate covering the hearing, explaining the rules to people who want to object, checking folks in and sometimes explaining to people who show up that they don't need to be there when nobody has objected.
Some hearing days we have no cases, some days we have lots of cases, and on days like Thursday, we have only a few cases with a boatload of people. They all need to be herded into groups and then into the hearing room one case at a time, and sometimes kept apart if there are strong emotions at play. The magistrate took people into the hearing room on the basis of "First case with all their people here goes first" and once she had the first case being heard, I had a minute to call the attorney for one side of the third case, because she hadn't shown up yet.
The parties for our three cases were interesting. One had a trio of African-American great-aunts, ladies who looked like they had seen some shit and weren't taking any, another had a really arrogant asshole attorney and the third had a guy who looked, sounded, and shook hands like he'd been living in a cave his whole life. Damp, pallid, skinny and doughy. ::shudder::
So in the middle of running back and forth herding cats and occasionally stopping at my desk to try to work on guardians' accounts, I was stopped by the gumball machine by an adorable little boy who asked me if I had a quarter. Softie that I am, I gave him two.
Things were calmer once the magistrate cleared all the cases. I call her "The Fastest Pen in the Midwest" for good reason--in one of the cases, she had her decision to me before my colleague had even docketed the attorney's notice of appearance. :-)
I did manage to get all the accounts and inventories published or approved that afternoon and cleared my desk of a boatload of work. I also got a notification that a library book I'd been waiting on had come in, so I stopped on my way home to pick it up. My phone rang when I was two blocks from home, but I knew it just meant Mom had beat me to the house, so I didn't answer.
Mom and Dad have been emptying the attic, so Mom brought over a bunch of unused carpet scraps for me to put out for the fabric recycling company to pick up Friday morning. I fed the dog and let her out and put her away again while Mom was stuffing bags and carrying them to the curb. I helped with the last bag and then we were off to Home Goods. Mom had a bunch of rewards, so she gave me half, and I got the softest new blanket and a shedload of hand soaps (for home and for work) and three yummy-smelling Halloween candles.
After that we had dinner at Aladdin's and then went to Gabriel Brothers, where I found a gorgeous fall jacket for only $12.99 and Mom looked at all the bras and didn't buy any because they were all push-ups. I got home about 9, lit the juniper and clementine candle and was glad that Mom & I had gone out, even after a very busy day.
*"Interested" is used here as a legal term--someone has to have a stake or share in the estate, not an interest in the sense of curiosity.
