A Smattering of Unrelated Thoughts

I've been very focused all day, reading a stack of documents to familiarize myself with a new case that is hurtling toward trial at the speed of light.  So please pardon me if this blogpost is anything but focused; I seem to have spent all my focus elsewhere.

A touching moment.  Last night, Mr. Squire and I watched the first half of the premiere of Season 4 of Downton Abbey.  In it, Lord Grantham said to Tom Branson (concerning Lady Mary and the deceased Matthew Crawley), "The price of great love is great misery when one of you dies."  Mr. Squire and I both made sad faces and reached for each other's hands when he said that.  I was touched--because Mr. Squire isn't exactly a feeler.  But he apparently feels the same way about me as I do about him.  I am thankful for the great love we share.

A touching dream.  Halfway through Downton Abbey, I expressed a desire to go to sleep.  The looming trial and everything that needs to get done in the next nine months before it (not to mention my five other active cases) exhausted me mentally, and I really wanted to just enter my own little world.  And enter I did--and there, I had a wonderful dream.  I was careening around town in some contraption that is best described as a cross between a subway car and a Disney ride.  We came to a stop, and the man diagonal from me rushed out the doors.  Just before the doors closed, he rushed back in, to my surprise (I thought he was getting off? Maybe he was mistaken about the stop?).  In his left hand, he carried a large plastic bag bearing a conical object.  He had clearly just picked it up--bought it.  Inside was what appeared to be a gigantic bouquet of flowers, which he wordlessly handed to an elderly couple across the train car.  And that's where the dream ended.  It made me very happy.

At the foot of a mountain.  The eerie peace and quiet couldn't (and shouldn't) last forever.  It's been several months since work really quieted down.  During that time, I've reached a critical place of peace in terms of calling/vocation.  I've reconnected with friends and truly rested.  I've picked up a new hobby (hello, papercutting!).  It's time to lace up my hiking boots and pack a bag for a long trip, though.  The call has come; it's time to go.  Time to go mountain-climbing.  I have several active matters at work, and one gigantic new assignment.  I think it's something of a test, and even if it's not, it will certainly be very challenging.  I'm nervous, but also excited.  I am almost certain that the next nine months will bring exhaustion, fatigue, frustration, and hopefully not too much of a physical toll.  But I also expect to learn a ton and grow immensely as an attorney.  My prayers are to not be overwhelmed; to not get buried in work; to do my work with excellence; to remember who is my God.  Especially that last one.  Here we go...