My mood was lifted a bit upon realizing that it was the most perfect D.C. morning. The sun was glistening perfectly from behind the clouds. The temperature was a perfect 70 degrees with a slight breeze. In an instant, my walk to work was starting to look up. However, upon Strauss taking his morning poo, my case of the “Mondays” came roaring back into my reality. As I obediently cleaned up his lovepile and tied the bag in a knot, my brute strength ripped the bag in half.
Poo went up, and subsequently came down. The shit did not hit the fan, instead it splattered across the sidewalk and my bare feet. My first thought was “well, golly, I hope I have another bag in my backpack because I would hate to leave poo on the sidewalk.” As I fished for another baggie, I looked down to find the bulk of Strauss’s poo all over the front of my dress. Yes, the front of my dress. Good thing I was not supposed to “dress smart” today, as I literally had shit on.
I looked down the road in the direction of my house and quickly decided it was not worth the time to walk back and change. Therefore, I marched on. I did a quick inventory of my life and plastered a smile on my face, as I was determined to focus on how gorgeous of a day it was. I marched through all the SuitsandTies, and business suits, and FancyHeels with my poo stained summer dress. Upon arrival at my office, I quickly washed my hands and tried to clean up the front of my dress as much as possible.
I did a quick mental inventory and thought, “of the all the places to have dog poo on your dress, the Animal Welfare Institute would be the ideal one.” My case of the “Mondays” seemed to be diminishing.
I began working on a Memoranda of Law for my boss. I had told him that I started on it Friday but it took me a weekend of thinking over the subject matter to really figure out how to approach the topic. It concerns an extremely complex area of law (for me anyway). The more I wrote the more I found myself asking another question; therefore, doing more legal research. What I expected to finish today by noon is still incomplete and with a few more questions to answer. However, I have enjoyed writing it and loved the fact that I was able to see the holes and try to find an answer.
I have researched committee and subcommittee reports. Read the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, as well as all of its amendments. I have actually learned how to use Lexis, efficiently and effectively. (It only took me two years!) I can actually see why legislative intent matters. There is so much that is to be read in between the lines, so many unseen forces, motives, expectations, none of which can be adequately portrayed in the actual words of the statute.
None of my research thus far has produced the answer I was hoping for; however, I have learned so much in the process that I’ll put a tally mark in the win column for myself, and a tally mark in the loss column for the cause, at the moment anyway. But alas, there is tomorrow, mayhaps I will stumble across something that will illuminate some loophole that I have not thought of yet. With the law, the possibilities are endless.
My case of the “Mondays” did not last all day and although I was hoping to have the memo finished, my replay of the day seems mighty productive.
I even forgot that I had poo on the front of my dress until a gentleman at the dog park tonight at 8 pm pointed out the “stain” I had on the front of my dress. I thanked him for letting me know, stating that “I must have missed that when I walked out of the house this morning.” I laughed on the inside and went back to my modest row house and watched the sunset behind the other row houses with a glass of wine and two happy dogs. Outside of a Robin by my side, I could not have been more content.
“Health is the greatest possession. Contentment is the greatest treasure. Confidence is the greatest friend. Non-being is the greatest joy.” --Lao Tzu
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