The Rules of Tennis

One of my favorite things about coming home to Georgia is hanging out with my nieces. They are 13 and 18, which means they are now at ages where I can actually relate and we can have a really good time together. They are both full of personality and crack me up on the regular.

A couple of nights ago, my little sister (22), my two nieces, and I went to the tennis courts up the street for some nighttime tennis. None of us are superstars but we all have a genetic athletic prowess which allows us to be at least somewhat competent in most sports (except bowling; I did not get that gene), so I thought we could at least get some good hits in.

Or. . .not.

Turns out we all super suck at tennis. Thus, to make things a little easier on ourselves, we developed these 4 basic rules for tennis that anyone can follow:

Rule Number 1: It helps if you keep your eyes open.

Rule Number 2: Make contact with the ball.

Rule Number 3: Hit the ball over the net.

Rule Number 4: All rules except these are superfluous.

Happy Tennis-ing!

Tales from the Crypt

Recently I had a multi-day jury trial. My client, to put it nicely, was not a defense attorney's dream. Long record, weird slightly scary tattoo, spastic hair, crazy eyes. We were not exactly besties.

After trial was over, I learned the following story: The district attorney was displaying photos on a giant screen, so I had positioned myself on the other side of the courtroom to see them. Meanwhile, back at the defense table, client started squirming around in his seat. . .every time they showed a picture he didn't like.

My boss, sitting right behind defense table, noticed client's fidgeting and leaned up to him.

"Settle down. You need to act like you are expecting everything that comes out of their mouths. Nothing is a surprise to you." Boss advised.

Client leaned down, nodded, and assured my boss, "This is my third jury trial."

Gratitude List

This article about a "gratitude practice" popped up on my Twitter feed today, and although I only skimmed it, I do like the idea. I try to stay aware of the little things, especially when the big things have me down, but I thought writing it down might go a step further toward lightening my mood.

So here's my list of what I'm grateful for today (in no particular order):

- Conversations with friends, old ones and new ones

- That I met him at all (I guess)

- Tulips galore and my neighbors who planted them (tulips are my favorite flower, so simple and beautiful)

- I saw Susan Gibson and Jana Pochop last night, a rare treat of real music in my tiny town. They were awesome. Brought me back to my roots, also made me even more excited to be in Texas (they live in Austin!).

- Guacamole

- The cutest dog in the world lives at my house

- I vacuumed some stuff!!!!! (Now only 4845721721 other chores that need doing that didn't get done that should've been done 3 weeks ago. Pfft. What.ever.)

- RAFA WON HIS 7TH STRAIGHT TITLE IN MONTE CARLO! (Did I mention I had a dream we made out last week? Hands down, best. dream. ever.) I'm grateful for Rafa, always.

So many dirty thoughts, so little time.

This was fun. Am actually smiling and happier (Rafa will do that). Post your gratitude list on your own blog or in the comments (all 2 of you :).

Samudra

Somewhere along the way of practicing yoga and dipping my toe into Buddhism I picked up a tip to help quiet the mind while trying to meditate: Picture yourself sitting at the bottom of the ocean, where everything is still, and the waves and turmoil are all above you, on the surface.

The metaphor, of course, is that our thoughts and emotions can swirl around us but at the core we can remain peaceful. I've always found it a particularly helpful exercise, perhaps because I am so drawn to the ocean anyway, and I find myself coming back to it sometimes in the middle of a hectic day when I pause to take a couple of breaths.

Today I feel quite literally like sitting on the ocean floor, except the couch is my sand and the current around me is everything I have to do, emotions I'm trying to avoid, thoughts too difficult to deal with. As long as I sit here and remain still, everything is fine. But the moment I get up the peace is gone and stress descends.

I'm not quite sure what to do. I try to live by the motto, "ride the wave," and right now the wave is crushing me, holding me under, like what my dad used to call "rolling" me, when you can't find the surface and the tide somersaults you and for a brief couple of seconds you think you might really drown. I'm trying to remind myself that I never drown. I always find air, and my feet always right themselves, and I am free to swim to shore or continue playing in the surf.

Just yesterday I told a friend that very early on in my life I began writing my own rules and forging my own path. I don't regret that, nor do I plan to stop doing it. Sometimes, though, it just feels so hard. Sometimes I just wish I could follow the steps that seem to work for everyone else instead of breaking my own ground. But I know my truth, and to ignore that would bring me more unhappiness than the pain and loneliness of making my own way.

So after I publish this post, I'm going to get up off the couch and jump into the current, because the peace here is false and if I don't fight for air, then I have succumbed to the wave instead of riding it. It's not time for riding and floating. It's time to paddle and duck dive. Hard work and patience. Another good set will come.

It Must Be Love...

...Because I've divulged my affinity for Britney Spears.

(For the record, the result was an alternative lyric to Til the World Ends, "I'm a dirty dirty dirty whore.")

WTF was I thinking?

Ya'll. This re-studying for the bar exam thing, three and a half years after I already passed it once...worst.idea.ever.

I've been half-assing it for a couple of weeks, but now it's almost crunch time, and I'm starting to slightly panic.

To make it worse, work and personal life haven't really been helping matters. And the weather? BOO.

But today I got my "ticket" in the mail. I'm definitely taking it in Austin, which is a huge relief. More importantly, I'm now kind of excited. I get to buy a plane ticket. I have to start thinking logistics.

Shit's gettin' real.

And I like it.

NYE and the aftermath

So New Year's Eve in Times Square was E.P.I.C. About the only thing missing was alcohol, but honestly, it was so fantastic that I didn't miss it. That being said, my friend EH and I did a good job of making up for a sober NYE by drinking no less than 7 mimosas at brunch on January 1, followed by bloody marys and a long island iced tea at a bar after. Hey. The mimosas were free because our waiter fell on us, knocked our table over, and spilled ketchup on my jacket. What were we supposed to do?

Anyway, who doesn't love a good drunk Niki story? That's what I thought. So I present to you a collection of sent text messages from yesterday afternoon/evening. It all began really with the one I sent to Twitter at 2:46pm: I am fucking wasted! I have to get on bus in 1 hour! Holla! 2011 is the best year EVER!

To Twitter: Whoops. 2 hours. Yes! More time to drink!

To JL: I love being drunk so e cking much! Woot!

To JH: I'm on the bus with Chris. Midnight. (note: JH was picking me up at the bus station; I had called him an hour or two before asking if he could pick me up the next morning because I wanted to change my bus ticket to 1030pm instead of 5pm. No dice.)

To EH: Yes! I'm with chris. The coolest seventeen yr old ever! Too young? ;)

To JH (in response to "Who is Chris?"): Idk but he's my new bff. Will call. Have to turn phone off bc battery dying.

To EH: Lol. I woke up at a gas station with chris in the seat across the aisle. Fuck I have to pee. You drunker yet? I can't believe antonio and the bathroom?! WTF?!

To EH: PS I drunk dialed XX and he answered. Clearly he is in love with me.

To EH: I think I'm hungover, too. I need pretzels! Where is timo when you need him?

To JW: It was legendary! I am drunk on the bus! I love you! Next year we're going! It's the best nye ever!

To EH: I'm about to pee in the bus bathroom. Wish me luck! I would cut a bitch for some dominos.

To LR: L. I got so drunk in the daytime! You would've been proud. Just getting to bus station. Ugh. Gotta drive home soon. Party foul. Hope you had a good new year's!

To EH: E! WTF was that voicemail? Amazing! I am so hungover!

To EH: Just got back. Literally slept the whole way. I want to do it again! Our lives rule!

To JH: We're here. If you see pizza on the way, i'm gonna need it.

To EH: Also I think i listened to back to december no less than 112 times.

To EH & Twitter: There is a nearly full bag of cheetos laying on the sidewalk. It's taking more self control than you know not to eat them.

You're welcome. I am happy to sacrifice my dignity if it will entertain you even a tiny bit.

HAPPY 2011!! Gonna be a fantastic year!