Esquire Coffinberry's Great-Grand-Niece

I just wanted to say that it's ok to live life in seasons. We cannot do it all, and I don't think we are meant to. (That's why King Benjamin said not to run faster than we have strength.) We also aren't meant to do it all alone. That's one of those strange paradoxes of the gospel-- perfection requires both the individual and the community, and the perfection of both is required, but none without Christ. Sometimes, the community gives us opportunities to examine ideas, tasks, and viewpoints we haven't thought to pick up for ourselves. But just because the community happens to be offering them at the moment doesn't necessarily mean it is the right time to do it. It is merely the right time to reflect on whether the offered season might be ours right now. If it isn't your time this time, it might be next time. All things come around again. And when it is the right time, you'll know.

What to do when the playwright reads your blog, but you need to comment about how you feel in response to the play, but you are worried that divulging this might offend... awkward, isn't it? But my recollection is that writers crave to know how the writing affected the audience. So knowing that every writing contains a bit of soul-self on display--an act of courage, no doubt--I hope the playwright forgives me, because I want to share how the play and my own soul (for what is art but a dialogue between the artist's soul and the observer's soul) interacted. (A long way of saying -- please don't feel bad because of what I say, because the bad is about me, not you.) So, tonight was the annual Relief Society birthday party. And contrary to my previously stated intentions, I decided to go. The dinner was good, and somebody bravely used real plates, cups, and utensils (bless the dishwashers). As usual, I guessed wrong on where to sit (I despise that part of these parties), so ...

I open Outlook, and see a message from the women's group I "belong" to; the subject line says "E----'s Baby." Who is "E----"? I wonder. I click on the message. No help there. I still have no idea who is being talked about. But nevertheless, congratulations to "E----" and her sweet new little one. So, tell me again: Why would I say I "belong" to this group?

The wheels of justice may roll quite slowly, but they do move nonetheless. I was delighted to hear today from my Legal Aid Clinic professor that the SSDI appeal brief to the Appeals Council that I wrote during Finals last spring for my pre-adolescent client was successful! The Appeals Council remanded to the local ALJ, and the fully-favorable decision came in over the weekend. I am very excited for this young man and his family, who have been in dire need of this help. Hooray!

His heart was all a'flutter Round the bend came number ten-- Toot-toot! Peanut Butter! Would you eat a mashed peanut off of a railroad track? Mmmm, I suppose that depends on how hungry you are. In some ways, we have become much more germophobic than we need to be, I suspect. (I've long been a 5-second rule person, depending on where the offending ground is... kitchen, maybe; zoo, no way!) My husband's grandpa (who lived well into his 80's) used to say that if you haven't eaten a bushel of dirt before you die, you haven't lived. Mice and ants are a fact of life (that's why God invented cats and bug spray). Before the Pure Food and Drug Act of 1906 food manufacturers could and did put non-food extenders into goods sold to the public, to increase their profitability. As the ever-more-urban public became increasingly dependent on mass marketed ingredients and food stuffs, they had less knowledge of the processes and sources providing their edibles, and thus more...

We have a lovely snowfall outside, with sugar-coated trees and ice-coated streets. Wanting to avoid the traffic snarl likely out there (last time it did like this, my 16 mile commute took 2.25 hours), I'm leaving for work in a minute. In personal terms, these last several days have been a whirlwind of emotions, but things are looking to settle down positively now. Meanwhile, I'm not so sure about this (perhaps it is the beginning premise that is wrong... I would rather be a SMART car than a sports car, in the first place), but it was fun: I'm a Dodge Viper! You're all about raw power. You're tough, you're loud, and you don't take crap from anyone. Leave finesse to the other cars, the ones eating your dust. Take the Which Sports Car Are You? quiz.

It's a day for doing budgets and taxes, for closing up the first month of 2009 and preparing to enter the second month. Not a lot to tell about, really. A new niece was born the day Obama was inaugurated. Both cool new beginnings. I personally am exhausted after 6 weeks of focused work on two complex trials, and ready to switch gears a little. I also think I've got a sinus cold. But I have managed to put in at least 30 minutes of exercise in 25 of the last 31 days... if you know me well, you know that is remarkable. I was the kind of kid who hated PE by the time she was in second grade. But now I crave the exercise time, even when tired. It is a very strange thing. I was looking at the walnut tree outside the window (the one a squirrel planted a dozen years ago), thinking that it's another three months until the leaves begin filling the view with lush green. It seems like forever.

You Are a Dash Your life is fast paced and varied. You are realistic, down to earth, and very honest. You're often busy doing something interesting, and what you do changes quickly. You have many facets to your personality, and you connect them together well. You have a ton of interests. While some of them are a bit offbeat, they all tie together well. You friends rely on you to bring novelty and excitement to their lives. (And while you're the most interesting person they know, they can't help feeling like they don't know you well.) You excel in: Anything to do with money You get along best with: the Exclamation Point What Punctuation Mark Are You?

Our stake 's 14-18 year old youth are going on Trek this summer (Mr. Coffinberry & I are lead pa & ma, which is a quaint way of saying people-who-fill-in-for-whatever-is-needed). Of course, Trek is a large part of our young people's focus of study this year, then. In an attempt to combine this year's YM/YW theme "Be an Example of the Believers" with Trek (and respond to an itch to compose something brought on by Elder Uchtdorf's talk last fall), this is what I came up with. A handful of young people will be singing it a week from Sunday at a Trek Kickoff Fireside. Can you tell I'm a Scouter at heart (ahem, I usta be a Bobwhite, a good ol' Bobwhite too... )? Let me know what you think, and if you use it for some purpose, I'd love to know that, too.

So you thought I'd never post again. You were probably right. But here I am, with a free morning at last, and all sorts of things to think about. On my mind today: how to make a career decision. Like the puppy chasing cars--what does it expect to do when it catches one? After decades of wrestling with "you can be whatever you want to be," I finally decided to be a Lawyer. Now I find that I still have to decide what I want to be. And this in a seriously down economy. I have been offered an opportunity to put off actual practice as a lawyer for another year, and gain experience in the criminal law side of things. The pay is low, as lawyering-pay goes, but it is a job, which is a real big deal in this down-market. And the experience would be good. But I won't be doing actual law practice yet, so that means that if people ask me for legal help (as some have already done), I will have to say no to them still. But (like Tevye, I'm running out of hands here) taking this ...