WLC 4: Smile!

Yes, I gained. 0.4 pounds. Not quite half a pound, but still a gain.

I think my problem (still) lies in emotional eating. A habit I am hoping to eradicate through heartfelt application of weight-loss principles. Faith better work in weight loss, because I am simply going through the motions (doing)... hoping I will gain the conviction and ability behind the motions sometime later. With faith, you often have to "step into the darkness," per se, to gain testimony or knowledge. The best way to gain a testimony of a principle is to live that principle, hope that you can believe it is true, and keep going through the motions (and the hoping) until the conviction comes. Maybe it's the same for weight loss. I hope so. I'll see.

Sorry it's been a while. The weekend was exceptional, with Conference. I was so sad to have it end, but I am grateful for the many words of inspiration that touched my heart. Here's hoping I can "be a little better" (as President Hinckley is fond of saying) and continue to progress in my many endeavors.

Peter is 8 months old today. How crazy is that? He is learning so many new things, I can't even believe it. He is crawling, very slowly, one crawl at a time. He hasn't quite mastered the arm movements, but he gets the legs. It makes me a little sad that he's becoming mobile. Partly, selfishly, because it means I need to be better at picking up and I need to finish babyproofing. Okay, I guess the whole sadness is selfish, because I'm also sad that he's so into going and moving and exploring that he doesn't cuddle much anymore, like he used to, and I love my cuddle time with him! Don't worry, I still force it on him (haha)... no, he likes it... when he's tired and not super curious. I know, I know, he's only 8 months, but as he keeps getting older and older... it feels like I'm getting closer to the time when he'll no longer be my baby. And that makes me sad.

In a HAPPIER light, though, he is 8 months and he is healthy and happy. AND even if he is always on the go (usually rolling, though he always tries crawling first now), he also always smiles and coos and giggles when I look at him or smile at him or try to make him laugh. So I still have my Mommy Magic.

Isn't it the best feeling to earn the pure, undiluted smile of a baby? Well, it's even better when it's your own child, in my opinion. I earn more smiles a day than I can count, but supply-and-demand economics do not apply; their value never diminishes for me. Peter's smiles remain among my greatest assets. (-Jocelyn)

3: A Magic Number

Robert being silly while he played his birthday present, Zelda: Twilight Princess...

...which he just completed, last night! Yay for Honey!

As if Robert needed one more thing for me to congratulate him for! First, his eloquent TIME magazine rebuttal. Next, his making the ADR board (which is a big deal; usually they don't accept first years, you have to wait for your second year; and out of more than 200 people who competed, only 15 people were chosen to be added to the board). NOW, to top it ALL off, his conquering of Zelda. I must say, I am impressed with myself. I definitely married well. :)

Of course that's true, but when it gets down to it, I married Robert because he is truly my best friend. There are a million reasons that factor into that one title, and I take them all. I love him so much and I am grateful to be his companion, because with him at my side, it's sure to continue being a fun ride!

There's not much for me to report on my doings. Same old. I'm trying to be a clean, organized person. It hasn't worked yet. I just naturally attract clutter, no matter how hard I try to cut down on all the stuff and keep my life organized. Unfortunately, marrying Robert DIDN'T help in this one regard, except to make me feel less guilty for being so cluttered myself. When you put both of us together... a lot of chaos can often ensue. Curse you, "born organized" people! I AM going to... sometime in my life... be so used to forcing myself to clean and be organized that it will become a habit. One day...

Well, that's pretty much it for now. Congrats to Robert on all accounts... and have a great day everyone! (-Jocelyn)

Hmm... what IS that in Peter's mouth?


Ewe!!! (While Robert plays Zelda, haha.)

A Moment in TIME

This is the building where TIME is located.

Two cool bits of news on the D.C. front.

First, I got a letter to the editor published in the latest issue of TIME magazine (dated Oct. 8, 2007). This letter was in response to an article about U.S. presidents and their religious beliefs, written by Michael Kinsley in the Sep. 17, 2007 issue of TIME; it was called God as Their Running Mate. I won't explain the entire article; you can read it at your own leisure. But I would like to talk about my letter-writing experience.

When I wrote the letter, I made some assumptions. I have heard (but have not actually fact-checked well) that every president we've had so far has believed in God. I know there have been wide variations in the range of belief, but they believed in God nonetheless. I extended that assumption/fact to say they all belonged to religions which believed in "improbabilities" (a term used by the author of the article), which is less likely to be true. The beauty of making bold, unfounded claims in letters to the editor is that it puts the responsibility of fact-checking on them. I could sound confident in my letter, knowing that if I was factually wrong, my letter wasn't going to be published anyway and no big loss. If I was right, I saved myself some time with my guesswork.

So here's the letter (via e-mail) I submitted:

According to Michael Kinsley's definition, every President this country has ever had has been "too credulous to be President," since all of them have belonged to religions which believe literally some "improbabilities" inherent in Christian doctrine. It sounds like Michael Kinsley thinks you can't be a good president unless you are in line with Kinsley's personal preferences. Fortunately, the majority of the country doesn't share his view.

So of course I was surprised when, on September 28, I received an e-mail informing me that my letter would appear in the Oct. 8 issue of TIME (currently on newsstands).

I looked online to see my letter. Here's what the TIME-approved version said:

In "God as Their Running Mate," Michael Kinsley said that, for him, anyone who believes in the literal truth of religious texts is "too credulous to be President" [Sept 17]. That would apply to a number of our past Presidents. Kinsley seems to think you can't be a good President unless you are in line with Kinsley's personal preferences.

And you know what? I can't argue with TIME's edits here. They toned it down a lot, but they made me sound more credible.

The more exciting news of the day is that I competed in an ADR (Alternative Dispute Resolution) competition last Saturday, and was one of a few very lucky people to be offered a position on the ADR board (I think 10% of people who compete make it).


The specific issues we were trying to resolve in this competition related to an impending divorce action. My partner and I were representing the husband, and the other side was representing the wife. We met to discuss custody issues, child support, assets, and a few other things.

It went extremely well, actually. We all treated each other very respectfully and things went very smoothly. We were afraid that the wife was harboring ill feelings toward the husband (she was the one who had initiated the divorce action), but she didn't. We all felt like the agreement we'd reached at the end of the negotiations was good, and the judges were very congratulatory.

One of the funniest parts of the negotiation occured when we were discussing the car situation. The wife's attorneys suggested that she keep the BMW while our client (Tom) keep the minivan (since he was going to have custody of the kids).


We said this was fine, but since the BMW was worth so much more than the minivan, we expected an additional asset to compensate. The other side suggested the $30,000 boat, which had been a gift from the wife to Tom. I started to say, "OK," because I felt the negotiations were going so well and was glad to getting the boat for our client. But my partner stopped me and said, "Well, the boat was a gift. We don't think that it would be fair to consider that a compromise."

So then the other side suggested that the compromise could come in the time share. And I said yes, it would be appropriate to have the wife pay for maintenance and expenses on the time share, and in exchange, she could keep the BMW.

So we definitely got a good deal there. On the other hand, Tom in this case was the stay-at-home dad and Mary (the wife) was making $280,000 a year as an attorney, so a few expenses here and there for her should have been no big deal.

So what does being on the ADR board mean? I don't know. I think it means I have the chance to travel and compete with other law schools. And it's something I can put on a resume.



(-Robert)