I am a judging fool.

Up until this last year, I was never once in my life unemployed by force.  In fact, since I was 14 years old, I continuously had a job - yes continuously.  I took off nine months when I started law school, but hopped right back into the workforce as soon as my first summer hit. 

I could certainly understand the challenges of finding that "first" job once out of school, whether it be undergrad or graduate school.  I reasoned that once you had a job and some experience to rely on that finding subsequent employment would be no big deal.

Now, in the past, I'd heard of people being laid off for lengthy periods of time.   First, I never thought this would be me (I suppose this is like assuming nothing bad will ever happen to you).  But second, I assumed that those who had been laid off for a long time and could not find work were either not looking hard enough or were not very good at their chosen profession.

God, I am such a jerk. 

Maybe this is where karma came back to get me, but I can almost guarantee that people have thought I am not looking hard enough or that I am a bad lawyer to not be able to find a job.  I mean, you should see the looks on people's faces when I tell them that the market in Minnesota is horrible for attorneys...they think my reasoning is total fugazi.  Perhaps they think that I am being fugazi as well.  That is certainly what I thought of others.

Well, I can assure that I have been looking very hard and you bet your ass I am a fantastic attorney.  So, while my "reasoning" may be true for a certain percentage of unemployed persons, it was absolutely asinine of me to assume my reasoning applied to all those unemployed for a long period of time. 

Reality bites.  And that reality is that many highly educated, highly skilled and highly motivated people are without work.  I supposed I had to become one of them to realize it.

Since I do not want to leave you with such a deep wallowing thought today - here is a video my husband sent me that I play over and over because it makes me smile :)

Did you know I am totally unoriginal?

Really, I am.  I have no original or creative thoughts when it comes to baking.  I am a complete novice.  In fact, you probably recall that when it comes to anything in the kitchen, I am pretty bad.

With all this in mind, I decided to copy a few bloggers...namely Kludgy Mom, Three Pugs & A Baby and In Pursuit of Martha Points.  These bloggers made my super cool list when they made the Rainbow Cake.  Yes, that cake is so cool that it deserves italics.  This cake, as you will see, is a huge stack of different colored layers with delicious butter cream frosting between each vibrant color.  It looks cool. 

Once I saw the masterpiece known as the Rainbow Cake I decided I must attempt it.  After all, if I can make a cake look even remotely like Mickey Mouse, I can make a cake with different colors in it, right? 

My brother, who really does not like cake, had a birthday coming up, so even though he did not want a cake, I made it for me him anyway. 

I purchased gel food coloring, six disposable cake pans (because honestly people, I am such a disaster in the kitchen that I don't even own cake pans), and the ingredients listed here.  And, because I am likely one of the laziest people you will ever meet, I purchased a few cans of frosting as opposed to making my own. 

I easily followed the directions to whip up the white cake.  I probably coasted a little too confidently, as I separated all 5 egg whites over the same container...I mean really? A novice would likely dump a yolk in on egg number 5 and have to start over.  Lady luck must have been looking out for me because I did not get a single yolk into my pretty egg whites. 

Now, to get 6 different colored layers, you have to bake the cake in 6 different pans.  You are supposed to weigh them so your layers are precise and even...or I would presume measure them at the very least.  I did neither.  Again, I am lazy.  I just poured out a bunch into each bowl and figured it was close enough, lol!  All 6 layers baked really well and I let them cool in the fridge for a few hours. 

After frosting...would you like to see the result?...

I think it turned out pretty well!  My frosting skills need a ton a little work, but otherwise it looks very pretty :)

Oddly enough, for a person who does not do so hot in the kitchen, I really like baking.  It is a creative process with nearly immediate results/satisfaction.  So if this lawyer thing doesn't pan out, maybe I could be a baker...or maybe not :)

If you are wondering...it tasted amazing!

Third Grade.

My kiddo is getting so big!  I remember when I used to have to help her tie her shoes and button her pants.  I remember when I had to buckle her in a car seat so we could get to school.   This morning, she did it all on her own.  She even remembered things that I forgot.  Although, I wish one of us would have remembered to bring the camera on Noelle's first day of third grade.  Well, at least my cell phone had a camera.

Yay for my third grader!

Excuses

This one bite won't hurt.

I am too tired to run right now.

If I try to run, Nikolai will cry.

It is too hot/cold/wet outside.

I already messed up my diet today, I will start over tomorrow.

I can eat this just for today only.

Nothing I do matters anyway.

Excuses.

I have been full of them lately.  I have not been eating well.  I have not been keeping up with my running.  I need to do better.

I have no idea what it is, but I have this uncanny ability to rationalize my behavior - even when that behavior is totally and completely wrong.  There have been many opportunities for me to run, all of which I have passed up.  On the other hand, I have taken every opportunity to eat poorly. 

When I was full force into eating properly and dealing with my cravings and urges, my doctor advised me find a mental image that I could think up every time I wanted to eat something that I should not be eating.  A goal of sorts.  I kept trying to picture my goal weight on the scale every time I got the urge to eat something bad.  I would say it did not work so well.  I suppose that perfect number was not enough for me to eat right.  Problem was I could not think of anything else that would help me avoid my number one enemy (food).

So, my fat ass was driving down the road the other day and I saw a man running.  He must have been at least 70.  Notwithstanding his age, there he was jogging away down the road without any sort of problem.  Then it hit me.  That is what I want.  I want to be 70 years old running down the road, not 70 years old struggling to get up a flight of stairs.  That is my mental image.  Not the old man...me.  Me at 70 running down the road.

This week will be better.  Excuses are lame.  Plus, I will be too busy running to make them up.

Family Love

We used to sing a song in church talking about how families would be together forever...when my siblings and I were younger I doubt we ever wanted that to come to fruition.

The phrase: "fight like siblings" comes to mind when I think about my childhood days with my two younger brothers and older sister.  There is no doubt that we loved each other, but if you were to bring about the wrath of another sibling, you'd better run for cover and sleep with one eye open.   We were mean.  And god forbid you pissed off more than one sibling, because three against one is not good.

This reminds me of somethine we used to do to my poor little brother.  For whatever reason he used really big words when he was about 10 or 11.  The other three of us found this to be an entirely appropriate time to make fun of him day and night for it.  I mean, when you younger brother uses the word "quite" on a frequent basis, you know the nerd patrol is coming out in full force.  We used to call the poor kid "Watson" you know, Watson from Sherlock and Holmes?  We would even toss out the english accent now and then and pretend we were drinking tea while saying something to the effect of:  "Indubitably my dear Watson, indubitably!"

Now, my other little brother had issues.  Issues the size of a truck...a tonka truck that is.  That kid used to chase us around the house and throw his trucks at us.  It hurt.  Really bad.  To avoid the pain, my sister ran away from him as he came at her with his truck.  She tried to jump down the stairs to avoid getting struck with it.  Yeah, not a very good idea.  She broke her ankle.  She should have just let herself get hit with the truck. 

Despite our childhood cruelties, we somehow ended being pretty tight as adults.  Although, I do sometimes miss calling my brother Watson.

Consider this a "get to know Anne" session

One of my favorite people in real life, Ingrid over at Avery and Me,  tagged me in a fun little blog game.  She asked a few questions for me to answer and in return I will ask some questions of my fellow bloggers. 

I felt this would be much more fun than hearing about my weight loss/eating/job woes.  So here we go!

1. What's your favorite flavor of ice cream?

Jamoca Almond Fudge from baskin robins.  Unfortunately, I think there is one Baskin Robins in the entire state of Minnesota.  It is nowhere near my house.  In fact, this place has basically been taken over by Dairy Queen and so the ice cream options are not super abundant.  No hate on DQ - I actually was addicted to their butterfinger blizzards when I was pregnant with Nikolai - but I just feel the need for some 31 flavors now and then.  Moreover, DQ does not have REAL ice cream (they have some dairy concoction called "soft serve") so if I want REAL ice cream I need to haul my butt to St. Paul for some Grand Ol' Creamery.  Yum.  Fattening.  But Yum.

2. What was the worst job you've ever had?

I worked at Baker's Square when I was 16 because those waitresses make bank ya know.  Well, I was basically tossed out there with absolutely ZERO training, yet somehow expected to do everything right.  I was getting cussed out by other waitresses and the management all the time.  It did not help at all that I am probably the world's worst waitress.  I could not walk ten steps without forgetting what exactly I was supposed to be doing.  So the customers cussed me out too.  Yeah, that job didn't last very long.

3. Best vacation you ever took?

When Noelle was just a baby my family took a trip to California - and yes, you know it is coming - to Disneyland.  I was super concerned that I would not have any fun with an infant and that she in turn would not have fun either.  I was so wrong.  It was a blast.  Noelle loved the parades and had so much fun on Dumbo and Pirates of the Caribbean.  She also loved the ferris wheel and the princesses.  It was so fun I have done it every year since (or at least I will use that as an excuse - because I am an addict).

4. What's your dream job/career?

Haha.  Well.  I would really love to be a County Attorney.  It would mean lots of courtroom time and also mean I could provide a very meaningful public service.  We all know where this conversation is going...

5. Who was your favorite teacher and why?

My crim pro professor in law school.  He was fairly arrogant and was always putting on a show, but I learned SO MUCH from him.  While I was frantically reviewing all the courses for the bar, I very confidently put crim pro on the backburner because I just remembered so much.  Oh yes, there was a crim pro question on the bar - and I killed it.


So, to continue on this little game - here are some people who should answer MY questions:

Law Momma at Spilled Milk
Nicci at Changing the Universe
Champaigne Mom


Now for my questions:
1) Name a person you would like to meet (dead or alive) and why.
2) Where would you like to live and why?
3) Name your biggest regret.
4) Did any of your MASH game predictions ever come to fruition?  (if you do not know what MASH is, we need to have a 13 year old girl style slumber party).


Happy Thursday!

Nothing to see here folks...

No really.  Nothing.  If you want to read something by me, go here.  You see, I am posting for the great KLZ at Taming Insanity today!