The Dishes Are Staying

So I decided to keep the dishes. They're pretty. I'll never use them. But after all of the decluttering, I'm starting to feel the need to HANG ON TIGHTLY to a few things. And so the dishes are staying. Thanks for all of the helpful suggestions!

If anyone knows anything about china, I'd love to try to figure out how old these are. They are "Rose China," Dalton pattern. From what I have learned via google, Noritake manufactured under the name Rose China following WWII briefly. Could these dishes be that old? If so, they they were handed down to Tim's mom. Would love to figure that out but hit a brick wall on it.

Work has been insane this week. Very busy. My work is done in a two-step process. Step one, I go to a deposition and, using my stenography machine, "write" down everything that is said. Step two, I type up the transcript, edit it, proof read it, bind it and provide it to the attorneys. Not every deposition goes to step two. Sometimes they'll hear what they need to hear in the depo, and then settle the case, or whatever, and there is no need to type it up.

So the week before last, I worked for two days on a deposition that was being translated for a non-English speaking witness. The attorney was too cheap to hire a court-certified translator, so he used a friend who speaks Chinese as his translator. Knowing how to speak a language is NOT THE SAME THING as knowing how to be a translator, and the whole deposition was a huge clusterfuck, amounting to an insane amount of time of me sitting there, playing solitaire on my laptop, while conversations that should not have been taking place where being conducted, in Chinese.

This depo did not go to Step 2. Not because the attorney doesn't need it, but because he's too cheap to pay for the transcript.

Since that day, he has called FOUR TIMES asking for parts of the deposition to be READ TO HIM over the PHONE. Rather than pay to have the thing typed up. I AM ABOUT TO LOSE MY SHIT OVER THIS. There are 400 plus pages of testimony, and he's calling up with questions like, "Remember when I asked her about bank account No. 1234 and she said she was the joint holder? Can you tell me exactly what she said?"

I wasn't going anywhere with this story other than to say I AM LOSING MY SHIT over this attorney. That's all. CHEAPSKATE.

I hate that I have hours and hours of work to do today, on a Saturday. Blech. But before I chain myself to the computer, I am going to haul some goodies to a friend's garage sale, then go to a 30-minute "core" class followed by 60 minutes of yoga. Because? The marathon training group is kicking my ass and I need to do something to step up my game. Also? People who strive to run 26 miles apparently are all a little bit nuts. Who knew?

On the soccer front, my post about tryouts was cut short because I was doing it on my phone from the soccer field and started talking to another parent. But the "fearless" part of the deal is the fact that it's a different soccer club, so Carlie is going in cold, as opposed to playing with all of her usual soccer friends. She has three workout sessions per week for the rest of April, then tryouts the first week of May. One of my favorite things about Carlie is that she is fearless. She saves all of her neuroses for bedtime,  but in the light of day she's that kid that bolted from the car to the classroom the first day of school while a few others clutched their mom's legs and cried.

Having been a mom to both kinds of kids, the bolt to class and the cling and cry variety, I have to tell you, man, is it so much easier with the first v. the latter.

And lest anyone think I am pushing my young child too hard to be competitive, let me reassure you that I am not. I don't know where it's coming from, but she is all about being on a competitive team right now. She still has the option to play another year of "fun" soccer, but wants to go with the select team. She has been BEGGING to go back to cheerleading, but we are holding firm with a big NO on that front. Because competitive cheerleading? Is hardcore insane. We've done it twice (because we're stupid like that) and there is no way I am letting her talk me into that one again. I shall regale you with tales of insane cheerleading mommies another day.

Because Carlie goes to a Catholic school, they are always doing inspirational school projects, faith-based, and they post them on the walls of the school. Yesterday while I was there to pick her up, I checked her class bulletin board to see what her project was. Each child had written a paragraph about something that brings them joy. Horses were very popular, along with golden 

retrievers. Some kids said their friends, their pets, their favorite toys brought them joy. Here is Carlie's worksheet, photographed right on the school bulletin board: 

and in case you're not fluent in fourth-grade cursive, it says:

I AM JOYFUL WHEN I GO TO COMPETITION FOR STUFF LIKE SOCCER OR CHEERLEADING. AND EVEN IF I LOSE IT WAS STILL FUN!

Yes, I am sure this is exactly what the Psalm in question was talking about.

My 16-year-old doesn't like to be a big point of discussion on my blog, so I won't say a word about her, but I am just wondering if this has anything to do with it all.

UPDATE: Okay, I could not find the article to link to, but Erinna was highlighted in the newspaper as Athlete of the Week this week. Apparently it's only in print and not online, though. The article linked above features this little tidbit (but she is a sophomore, not freshman):

However, it was the sets that Lake Oswego won in singles and the victory by Erinna O’Brien at No. 4 singles that locked up the victory for the Lakers.

Lake Oswego coach Debbie Ford didn’t want to put too much pressure on O’Brien, a freshman but she knew that if she pulled the match out, the Lakers would likely win the match.

“I have full confidence in her. She’s going to be very tough to beat at fourth singles this year,” Ford said.

O’Brien got down early in the match but rallied quickly for a 6-3, 6-1 victory over Alex Loren.

It would be the only singles match Lake Oswego would win. Lakeridge’s first through third singles players were solid. Kathleen Preston tallied a 6-1, 6-3 win at first singles over Kelsey Edmondson while Callie Harling and Olivia Stark each prevailed in tough three-set matches at No. 2 and 3 singles.