Recharging

After an insane, amazing, exhausting week at trial in which I billed nearly 90 hours, our Austin-based legal team pulled back up to the office at 7:05 last night. I walked in our front door at 7:13 and Landon greeted me by sprinting around the corner yelling, "MommyMommyMommeeeeeeeee!" and leaping into my arms. He talked nonstop for about 20 minutes and I heard something about bikes, daddy, parks, and daycay - it sounded like he'd been having fun. The house was clean, the dogs were underfoot with tails wagging, and my god it was good to be home.

It's not easy being away- I miss JP, miss my Landon, and miss our usual routine, but it's not as hard as I feared it would be. It helps enormously that I know JP is taking care of everything at home just as I would (and maybe even better- he's stricter about eating healthfully and putting away toys at the end of the day), and that Landon is happy and loved in his competent hands. It also helps that Landon can talk on the phone now and I get to hear about his day and receive some telephonic kisses. Of course this also makes it harder- at one point when we were talking JP said, "umm, he's leaning over the phone (which was on speaker on the couch)... I think- oh, he's giving it a hug!" That did make my eyes a little teary and I had to remind myself that I was only away for two nights.

The other thing that helps is being insanely busy, knowing I'm needed, and loving my job. Being an integral part of a prestigious team of super lawyers on a case of critical importance to our client (and a client who's of critical importance to us) is pretty amazing. The second chair at the trial is the firm-wide head of litigation; first chair is one of the most famous litigators in our state. Getting to watch them in opening arguments and cross- and direct-examinations of a witness was awesome. Watching the UT game up in the hotel suite of the super famous partner and hearing his stories of litigating through the years was icing on the cake.

While the partners were crafting their arguments, I, along with the two paralegals and senior associate, were frantically gathering docs, labeling exhibits, and drafting outlines to prep witnesses. Because this was a temporary injunction hearing, we only had a few days to prepare and the arguments and witness list changed well past midnight before the first day. I didn't get much of any sleep Wednesday night, but Thursday was much calmer. We were out of court by 5, eating a delicious dinner with the legal team and clients at 6, and then watched the first half of the game with the group. By 9:30 I was back in my hotel room, in bed, eating room service dessert and reading a book. It was delightful.

Being pregnant didn't have much of an effect on me, other than not be allowed to lift any boxes (everyone is very vigilant about my physical restrictions) and not being able to partake in the $200 bottles of wine our client ordered at dinner on Thursday (though I did have a sip- he owns a vineyard and knows his wine, wow that stuff was good). But it has affected my day off. I went to bed at 10 last night and slept all the way until 8 a.m. Then, after a pancake breakfast at home, I laid down on the couch and accidentally slept another 4 hours. This would never have happened pre-pregnancy and obviously my body doesn't trust me to get sufficient rest so it simply knocks me out instead. Effective, if inconvenient- I had things I wanted to do today.

This weekend is about family and relaxing. I have my 18-week check-up on Monday before we return to Fort Worth for another 2-3 days of testimony. This time it shouldn't be nearly as busy or stressful since our documents are organized and all our exhibits have been admitted. I will have to miss my first progesterone shot, but there was a snafu at the pharmacy and it turns out it wouldn't have been ready for my Tuesday morning appointment anyway. I'm moving it to Friday and will continue them weekly from there- I'm also going to ask about JP administering some of them. I suppose I should check with JP on that first- he's not quite so comfortable with medical things as I am.

I started to feel the baby kick while sitting on the wooden bench in the courtroom- I got a big smile on my face right as on of our witnesses was being grilled by the other side. Feeling the baby move is the only thing I enjoyed about pregnancy last time; it's so fun to have a little secret dance going on in my belly while everyone else is focused on the judge. Landon just woke up from his nap (in his big boy bed!!) and we're headed to the park- Happy weekend to you all!