If you know me, you’ll probably be surprised that I am not taking the opportunity of this being Labor Day to write something about the Labor Movement through history or the need for an increased minimum wage or the reinstatement of unemployment insurance in North Carolina. Fear not, I am still subjecting my kids to…

I can’t believe it’s been nearly 2 months since I’ve posted. I guess I’ve had a lot on my mind that just hasn’t been making it to the page. I am, in fact, working on a proper post now. In the mean time, here’s a poem. It was one of those things that came to…

The Practice of Law, in General In case I didn’t explicitly say it in my previous post, How I Accidentally Became a Family Law Attorney, I went to law school because I believed it was a noble profession through which I could affect positive change in the world, or at least in the lives of…

The Wrong Area of Law Most lawyers avoid family law like the plague. Some are hobbyists, practitioners who focus on a different area of law – criminal or real estate law or something – and take on the odd domestic case here and there thinking it will be easy because it’s “only a custody case”…

By the time I had my heart attack last year, I was already in the process of transitioning out of legal practice. I had dissolved my law firm a few months earlier and was wrapping up the last remaining cases and taking on only a limited amount of simple, flat-fee work. There were several reasons…

What I’d Set Out to Do I never intended to practice family law. It was so far off my radar, I did not take a single class in family law in law school. My focus was entirely on Constitutional law and litigation. Through my involvement in the local anti-war movement and a bar association with…

The Day I Didn’t Get a Blood Transfusion, Part Three … in which I get an official, if brief, reprieve Last time on The Day I Didn’t Get a Blood Transfusion, our hero changed her mind a bunch of times; annoyed Dr. Flatline; and went for a wheelchair ride during which she told Fabulous about…

I’ve spent pretty much my whole life hating my body. I’ve been overweight forever. Actually, that’s a lie. When I was young, I was a perfectly healthy weight; I just didn’t believe it. I didn’t look like one of Charlie’s Angels (my favorite was Jaclyn Smith) or Wonder Woman or any of the rail-thin, badass…

… in which I’m maybe not the best patient ever Previously on The Day I Didn’t Get a Blood Transfusion, our hero starts losing blood and is instructed to discontinue Coumadin, one of her blood thinners. The ever-stoic Dr. Flatline admits he can’t decide whether she should go to the hospital promptly for a transfusion…

… in which we meet the cast of characters and discover there’s a problem Cast of Characters Patricia: Erstwhile attorney, heart patient. Has braved around-the-world travel and survived a Widowmaker, yet still is uncomfortable with discussing “girl things.” And with spiders. The Buddhist: Patricia’s longsuffering husband, caretaker and all around good guy. Official transporter of…