Barbie on Money Management

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvZRcJHRtOE

It’s true, I am a consumer of Barbie products. We have a house full of Barbies and their accessories, but I was shocked when I saw this commercial for the Barbie Shopping Boutique. Not exactly the best way to teach your kids about financial responsibility: “You Never run out of money!”

On a related note, Nana is once again the cover article for Meridian Magazine (!!) with her article titled Teaching Children to Live Within Their Means. Good stuff in there!

Bar Widow

As stated in the post below, I was a “bar widow” for the summer of 2005. This meant that Rob was technically home for the summer, but nobody knew it. He could have holed up in the library or something, but since my parent’s basement is pretty soundproof from the chaos in the rest of the house it worked for him to study in there. He was in that basement bedroom studying all day; reading, taking sample tests, writing, and stressing out. Then he drove to Stockton every night (almost an hour away) for the BarBri class. This class is essential to preparing for the California bar, and he took it very seriously. It was brutal.

I was kept sane by staying with Nana and Papa who would help out a lot with the kids! Also, in the middle of it all, we found out that we were expecting baby Sabrina just days after Hannah started crawling at six months old. I put myself in denial about what that would mean for me, and dove into finding our family a place to live in LA. I did tons of research online, where were the best schools? a low crime rate? a decent commute? I drove down with my Mom and Hannah and we stayed at Auntie J & Dan’s house while we looked around. We timed the drive, checked out neighborhoods, called realtors and scanned the papers for rentals. Unfortunately we didn’t find anything from that trip so I went to plan B and started calling bishops in the area and friends of friends etc. Finally, I found a bishop’s wife with a lead! Someone in their ward was taking a year to practice law back east and wanted to rent out their house while they were gone. Ta da! They sent us pictures and told us how great the neighborhood was. We felt like it was a good fit, and signed the lease by fax. Luckily, it turned out to be just as nice as we had hoped and our blind faith paid off.

When the bar exam was over we started preparing for our move to LA. We settled in and loved our new community. The hours at the firm were a very hard adjustment for all of us. In fact I still have a tolerate/hate relationship with all firms. Regardless of where you work there is an unpredictable schedule and lots of surprise late night shifts. If getting through law school weren’t so expensive I think most people would never choose to work there, but when you finish school with undergrad debt and then law school debt, you do what it takes to pay the bills. It’s like having to pay for two homes, one that you live in and the other that houses your opportunity for a career. The firm takes good care of you financially and gives you lots of little parties and perks to keep you from saying “I’m outta here!” It’s what has been called the “golden handcuffs.” Once you go in it’s hard to leave behind. Although we are determined to not buy into the lifestyle and use these as our big earning years to pay things down to a more manageable level and then Rob can get a job with better hours, etc. So until then I have morphed from the “Bar Widow” into my current status as the “Firm Widow.” My next title had better be more glamorous!

A Lawyer Walks Into a Bar…

A couple of weeks ago, I was watching Ebert & Roeper and the reviewer that was filling in for Ebert had as his video pick of the week a documentary called “A Lawyer Walks Into a Bar…“. He said it’s been making the rounds at the film festivals and getting really good reviews. I found it on Amazon and ordered it (when I ordered it, it was $14.99. Now, it’s $21.95. Must have gotten popular). Amy and I just watched it last night. It’s really interesting. It follows 6 law school grads as they study for the California bar exam. It’s also interspersed with interviews of well-known lawyers and commentators (Alan Dershowitz, Nancy Grace, Scott Turow, John Stossel) talking about lawyers and the craziness of the legal system. I posted a couple of short clips from it below.

It brought back a lot of memories from my time studying for the California bar. It was by far the hardest, most stressful thing I’ve gone through so far. I basically had no life other than studying for the bar for the 3 1/2 months between graduating from law school and taking the bar. For me, the main source of stress wasn’t that it was just a hard test, but that it was pass/fail. I couldn’t just stop studying and say “I’ll just accept a lower grade on this one” (something I’d done on plenty of other tests in the past). It was all or nothing, and if I didn’t pass, that pretty much erased the degree I’d just worked three years for; not to mention that it would put in jeopardy the job offer I had, the reason I was taking the California bar in the first place. It was a lot of stress. I’ll have to get Amy to post about how it was on her end. I know it was pretty brutal for her too. We stayed with Amy’s parents that summer, I don’t know how Amy could have managed with the kids if we hadn’t stayed with them. Amy was a “bar widow” that whole summer.

One of my best memories though, was coming back home after taking the bar up in Sacramento (it was the closest testing site and an hour and a half from Amy’s parents’ house so I stayed in a hotel up there for the 3 days of the test). When I walked in the door, I was greeted with balloons and a cake and a big banner that Hunter, who was 7 at the time, had written on in big letters, “Lawyer or not, you’re still our Daddy”. That was pretty great.

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wm3eZamdVnw

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OEMBsS4VZD4

NICU Preemie Costumes

My friend Kim sent me a link to this cute website Elliott’s Preemie Tees.  They also have adorable Halloween costumes.  I think it would be so comforting as a parent to have these tiny clothes if my baby were in the NICU. I have heard of people getting doll clothes for their preemies.  These seem so much nicer because they allow for tubes and monitors too.

Club Penguin

Club Penguin is Hunter’s and Emma’s favorite place to go online. It’s a great site for kids because it is so safe and there is zero advertising. The kids can sign up for a monthly fee and then live in the virtual penguin world. They have to “work” to earn coins and then they can spend the coins to buy things to decorate their igloos or for their pet “puffles.” The puffles have to be fed, exercised etc., and Hunter gets so bugged when he has to use his coins to buy them food. I like it because he’s learning about how the financial world works, except that work is actually playing games and more like fun. Hunter and Emma use their allowance to pay for the membership fee, so that’s another way they can practice their financial skills. The penguins can also have monitored interaction or chat with the other penguin friends. Hunter and his school friend have figured out times to meet online and they can chat and play together. Club Penguin recently announced that they are partnering up with Disney, so you may hear more about it now…

The Last Lecture

I have a second cousin, Tammy, who I really don’t know. But I am learning about her through her blog that documents her family’s current situation. Her husband Bryce was diagnosed with melanoma at age 26 as the result of years of lifeguarding in the sun. After a year of treatment he was said to be cancer-free. Now six years later, he and Tammy have been married for four years, and 8 weeks ago he was told that his cancer had returned with a vengeance. Their lives have been turned completely upside down as they struggle with finding new treatments, dealing with oxygen, blood transfusions, trips in and out of the hospital, and their baby girl. I have read her blog, cried, and reminded myself how lucky I am to have the blessing of a healthy family, a loving husband and four fantastic, beautiful children. We just never know what tomorrow will bring, and I have learned so much from her family. I so appreciate that she is willing to share her experiences with us.

With all of these thoughts in the back of my mind I was moved when I heard the story of Randy Pausch, a computer science professor who recently gave his last lecture. He was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer and has just months left to live. His lecture is inspirational and embodies all of the things that he wants his three small children to know about their Dad. I am truly amazed at the grace I have seen in these two families as I have peeked into their lives. Their bravery and stamina is stunning.

Hug your family, spend time together and appreciate them… and then go put on some sunscreen!

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_8kUTUIveyA