lawmummy

As much as I love my theme, it’s been giving readers fits for months now because the comments section doesn’t work properly. So I’ll be changing themes some time over the next few days. Don’t be alarmed if things appear wonky.

Upon the recommendations of many of my blogging peers, I decided to upgrade to WordPress 2.5. It is supposedly a very easy upgrade but things went awry for me (totally user error, though, not a criticism of WP 2.5). And suddenly, I was getting Parse Errors that I had never seen before. I went into full panic mode.

Fortunately for me, I happen to know a wonderful guy at b5media where I blog on taxgirl.com, among others. Tris Hussey, who writes at Maple Leaf 2.0, sorted out my troubles. A huge thank you to Tris.

So things are back to normal on the site, more or less. I’ll be sorting through the upgrade later to see what’s new and exciting.

(And yes, speaking of updates, I know I owe you all some - it’s been a crazy week. I’ll get to it, I promise.)

Jeez, it’s been so long. I will make some adjustments tonight.

The comments section on my blog has not been working properly for a bit so I am going to change themes. If the blog goes down - no worries, it will be back up and running shortly!

I didn’t say it earlier but thanks so much for the nice words of welcome back. It truly means a lot.

Here I am, peeking round the corner to see what I’ve missed.

It’s been ridiculously hectic at home and office as of late. I don’t even know where to begin, so I won’t. I’ll just dive right in.

I’ve missed lawmummy. Really. I’ve kept busy blogging but it wasn’t the same at all.

So, I’m easing back into the swing of things. I have some caveats, which I’ll share along the way.

First and foremost, I am really flattered that many of you read my blog in search of answers about being a mom, being a lawyer and mixing the two. But here’s my dirty little secret: I have no answers. Really, I don’t. I’m just like you, muddling through the best that I can.

In fact, while I love your comments and emails - and have been desperately missing them - I did get a little overwhelmed by what I felt like was responsibility to put on a happy face. I am not always thrilled with my choices. This life that I’ve chosen? It’s hard. And yes, I know that it’s relative. We all have our own degrees of comfort and sanity and chaos. And my line feels like it is constantly moving.

I’m not complaining. I do like my life. But it is not perfect. And sometimes, when I vent because things aren’t going so well it’s because… well, things don’t always go well. That’s not the same as giving up and it’s definitely not the same as saying that I think others should give up.

Just before my hiatus from lawmummy, I was having a particularly troubling time, both personally and professionally. I got an email that said, basically I’m a mom in law school and I read your blog. Tell me that I’m not making a mistake. Tell me this is all worth it.

And I panicked.

You see, I don’t know that it’s all worth it. When I was younger, I used to think that the mark of a good life was having no regrets. And I have regrets. It has taken me awhile to sort out that it’s okay to say out loud that you’ve made a mistake or used bad judgment. I have more than one outfit hanging in my closet that’s a testament to my bad judgment on occasion. Now I think the mark of good life is learning from your mistakes - which is good, because I have lots of those.

And I’m not sure that this gig - this being a mom and working (especially as a lawyer) - is good for everyone. But I’m also not the right person to answer that question. As corny as it sounds, only you can do that.

So, I guess what I’m trying to say is that as women, as moms, as people, we’re all just trying to do the best that we can and hope that everything turns out okay. And I love that you guys read my blog and email me and leave comments. And maybe occasionally, I have some words of wisdom to pass along - that’s how I learn, by listening to the experiences of others. But Lord knows, don’t use my life as a road map. There’s a reason that my husband bought me a GPS for my anniversary…

I am glad to be back.

I love my readers. I really do. And I appreciate the emails. And usually, I try to respond fairly quickly.

All of that said, I have received a flurry of advice about moms or moms-to-be entering law school or the legal profession. I really do intend to respond to these - probably via a post due to the number of requests. I know that at least one reader felt that I was simply not responsive and for that, I apologize. Life has been crazy as of late with appointments, work, blogging and oh yeah, having 13 people for Thanksgiving dinner (some of which, little munchkins, trashed my home office). That means that I haven’t had the time to personally respond to a number of emails.

Please don’t take my lack of response personally. My husband will tell you that he doesn’t get answers to half of his email lately. I’m working on it, I swear.

So, it’s been a weird couple of weeks at the Erb household… Chris has been in Germany, my mother has been in town and the Phillies just got booted out of World Series contention. Sigh.

I know I’ve been fairly silent on the blogging front. There has been lots of rearranging and re-prioritizing going on. Some of it is a continuation of stuff from before but I am really happy about the direction that things are going. Here is a bit of an extended re-cap:

First, the house. It’s still not sold which means we are still not in the new house. We have a few more days left on our contract for the new house so the sign is still up on the old house and we’re still showing it to potential buyers. It’s been a long, painful process. I have learned a lot. More on that later.

Second, the law. Chris is in Germany, promoting the firm. Yeah, it just happens to be Oktoberfest, too. Think what you will. Another of our associates just got married this past weekend (congrats, Erica!). Another associate got her blog featured on ESPN (how cool is that?). I love that everything that happens in life is not about work.

Third, blogging. Clearly, my blogging on lawmummy has suffered. But I’m turning a corner. I was trying to get situated as Channel Editor of the Business Channel for b5media during September. It is the most fun job. Ever. Just sayin. My tax blog had a phenomenal month (www.taxgirl.com - are you subscribed?). My Gossip Girl blog (www.gossipgirlreport.com) has been a blast to write - what other gig gives you an excuse to have friends over every Wednesday for cocktails? And finally, my kids’ book blog has launched. I used to write for one at 451 Press way back (okay, just a month ago) but b5media offered me the opportunity to launch a new one from the ground up - title, concept, look, the whole bit. The result is at www.onebooktwobook.com. Just getting started but loving it. The tally, for those of you keeping score at home (and you know who you are, Jackie) is… 3 b5media blogs, 1 personal blog (this one) and limited participation in a blog for Katie’s school. So there you go. See, not as nuts as you thought.

The kiddos are still sick. Well, two out of three. Katie has a great immune system, Ames and Charlie not so much. Gotta love those first month of school germs. Amy’s nightmares, sleepwalking and breathing difficulties are continuing and the sleep study at Children’s Hospital will be scheduled soonish.

The weather here stinks - where did autumn go? Nonetheless, I am thinking like autumn and went out and bought far too many plants. Plants are my shoes. They just are. Other women spend their weekends at Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s; I spend mine at The Secret Garden and Franklin Styers Nursery. What can I say? This week, they had pots 50% off. Beautiful, glazed pots. I am officially penniless (but boy, the porch looks lovely).

So, gosh, I think you’re all caught up now. My plan is to get back into the swing of things this week. And work on Halloween costumes, so expect plenty of cursing.

The search box is back!  It’s to the right, under the Recent Posts box (for now).  Search for lawmummy news to your heart’s content.

I finally got my archives page working…  You can check it out here (in the future, check out the link in the header, above the photos).  It could take a little bit to load.  Apparently, I’ve had a lot to say over the years.