National Adoption Day

Today I started working at the school's law clinic.  The clinic offers pro bono legal services, mainly in family law.  As I worked through my cases, mainly custody cases, I couldn't help but think back to last year's National Adoption Day.

Years ago, someone noticed how many children were waiting for permanent homes, living either in foster care or with other relatives.  Many of these families want to formally adopt the children, but they cannot afford legal services.  An adoption can take a long time to finalize, often years.  This is especially true when you have older children whose parents must have their parental rights terminated before the children can be adopted.  And the longer it takes something to be finalized, the more expensive it is for the client.  

Fort Worth, like many cities nationwide, participates in National Adoption Day.  On this day, participating courthouses are devoted entirely to finalizing adoptions.  In Fort Worth, this meant all ten family court judges put aside everything else and did nothing but give hundreds of children "legal" homes.  The entire courthouse was decorated, there were refreshments for the families, and all the children received books and toys.  When I arrived at the courthouse that day, I couldn't believe the sheer number of people.  There were grandparents adopting their grandchildren; there were foster parents adopting their foster children; there were brothers and sisters adopting their younger siblings; there were aunts and uncles adopting their nieces and nephews; there were grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and neighbors welcoming the newest members of the family.  And of course, there were children everywhere! 

One family in particular caught my attention, probably because they were one of my cases.  It was a set of grandparents adopting their three grandchildren.  When I say it can take years to get adoptions taken care of, this is the family I'm thinking about.  These grandparents had actually wanted to adopt all five of their grandchildren.  However, they couldn't afford an attorney.  All of the attorneys that participate in National Adoption Day do so free of charge.  This means waiting lists.  By the time this family's number came up, the two oldest grandchildren were no longer minors. 

Attorneys are only a small part of the puzzle that must come together to make National Adoption Day work.  Most of these attorneys are fabulous, but some are not.  The attorney originally assigned to this family decided not to come to the courthouse that day.  Imagine how this family felt when after so many years of waiting, their dream was shattered minutes before they were to step in front of a judge.  The grandmother flagged me down about 15 minutes before their scheduled hearing, panicked because she couldn't find her attorney.  I quickly tracked down another attorney from the firm, who told me the attorney on the case was not coming to the courthouse.  They left if up to me to tell the family.  The grandmother was devastated, the grandfather was angry, the children were confused.  As I told them I would try to find them another attorney, I was worried this would not be possible since all the other attorneys had their own clients to worry about. 

My plan was to find my fellow law students and ask their assigned attorneys if they could help this family (and the other families my attorney was supposed to represent).  I never got to my plan.  Here is where the fabulous attorneys come in.  All of this was happening outside the courtroom where families and attorneys were meeting and waiting to be called.  As I left the family, I managed to take about three steps before I was stopped by a gentleman.  He noticed the family was upset and wanted to know if there was something he could do.  His name tag identified him as an attorney, so I told him the family's attorney was not coming to the courthouse.  That was all he needed to hear before he said he'd take the case.  I introduced him to the family and gave him the information he needed to represent them. 

A couple of people overheard me tell this gentleman the situation.  Some were family members or friends of other families, some were attorneys.  As soon as I stepped away from this family, I had four more attorneys volunteering to take the rest of my cases.  I'm sure if I had waited another five minutes, I would have had twelve more volunteers.  In the end, all the families were taken care of and all of the adoptions were finalized.  One attorney caused a family a lot of stress and potential heartache, but many more stepped up to guarantee them a happy ending. 

Facebook

I've decided that Facebook is the worst thing to come along in the past 15 years.  Why?  Because it's addictive.  If it were just a random site for updating your status, then it wouldn't be so bad.  If it were just a way to reconnect with long-lost friends or keep up with far-away family members, it would be fine.  But no, they had to go and make it fun.  They added photos and games and calendars and games and chatting and games and links, and did I mention games? 

Someone at school introduced me to Facebook.  I had received invitations to join from friends before, but I never really saw the point of it.  This friend convinced me that it would be a good idea to join in case I ever missed a class and needed a quick way to get in touch with people from that class.  It seemed like a good idea at the time.  But then she also showed me how to play games.  Big mistake. 

I'm a very good multi-tasker.  What this means is that I can hang out on Facebook while listening to my professors and taking notes.  And in case you don't buy this, I would like to mention that I made the Dean's List last semester....while playing on Facebook through some of my classes (but only the boring ones).  I also get bored relatively easily.  What this means is that I've tried a lot of different games on Facebook, and I'm always looking for something new to play.  =)

Red Light Cameras

For the record, I hate red light cameras.  In fact, I don't just hate them, I HATE them.  And no, I've never gotten a ticket from one. 

I remember when they started putting them up around Houston.  For a while, they were pretty limited, and I got pretty good at finding ways to avoid them.  Little by little, they started showing up at more and more places, but I was still pretty good at avoiding them.

Then I moved to Fort Worth.  Unfortunately, when you move to a new city, you really only know one way to get to most places.  I'm better now, but I still run into them every once in a while, especially when I go somewhere new.  I've been here for two years now, and I still haven't managed to find ways around all the cameras yet.  But give me another six months or so and I'll be set!

So why am I even talking about red light cameras?  Well, today I saw two firetrucks run red lights at intersections that have cameras and it just got me thinking -- do firetrucks get tickets from the cameras when they run red lights?

Changing Times

Tonight was the last night I will be playing with my softball team this season.  We have two games left, but unfortunately, my class schedule is going to keep me from making those games.  It's been a lot of fun, but I can't help but notice how my softball experience this season has been compared to those of my cousins and their families.

First, there's my Germany cousins.  They've spent the last couple of months playing softball in Germany (of course), the Netherlands, and Italy.  Yes, they live in Germany, which makes it a lot easier to get to those places, but still.  Then there's my Houston cousins.  They've been playing around Houston, but they've also spent the last few summers playing at nationals in Florida.  Then there's me.  The park I play at is about 10 minutes from my house, and that's if I get all the lights red.  The furthest we've gotten to travel is Field 4.  After the games, there's no sightseeing.  Instead, there's hanging out in the parking lot and having a beer with the rest of the team.  Things are definitely different.

Now I'm not saying that I didn't enjoy this season; I had a blast.  Win or lose, this team was just fun to be around.  I played third base all season and spent a good amount of time joking with the shortstop about us having the shortest infield in the league.  I'm about 5' tall; I'd guess he's about 5' 7".  The girl playing second is shorter than I am, and the guy playing first might be an inch or two taller than the shortstop.  He pointed this out about half-way through the season when the other team had just hit about 3 or 4 line drives just over our heads and out of our reach.  Luckily, we had a good season, so that helped keep everyone in a good mood.  The best thing about playing is that for a couple of hours a week, we all got to step on the field and away from the stress of law school.

I would love to go to Germany or Italy, or even Florida, but that would probably mean I wouldn't have been a part of the Green Team (that wore the yellow softball shirts) and I wouldn't have gotten to hang out in the parking lot and have a beer with my friends.

Mother's Day

Mother's Day in my family has always been a little, well, typical.  We call Mom, maybe send a card, maybe send some flowers.  I guess the only atypical thing about Mother's Day in my family is that my mom insists on celebrating it twice.  In Mexico, Mother's Day is always May 10th, regardless of what day of the week it falls on.  So Mom gets two Mother's Days: May 10th and whatever day Mother's Day happens to be in the U.S.  But she's a great mom, so I'm more than happy to let her celebrate it twice.

It seems like a lot of my friends are celebrating Mother's Day for the first time this year.  And in the past two weeks, I've learned that three friends are expecting.  Congratulations to all!

To all the mothers and future mothers, Happy Mother's Day!

New Discoveries

Random things I've recently discovered (or recently rediscovered):

• Snuggle smells better than Downy
• Rain still makes me sleepy
• The combination of me being 5' tall, having a 2" vertical, and using an infielder's glove makes it pretty easy to hit a line drive over my head and out of my reach
• Bejeweled is very addictive
• "Unputdownable" -- not a word, but a very good way to describe a good book.  I like it. 

Downtown Pedestrians

Apparently, I'm on a downtown kick, so here's another observation -- people walking around in downtown think they're entitled to cross the street whenever and wherever they want.  I have more than a few friends like this.  They'll start crossing the street without looking to see if a car is coming, or worse, see the car coming and start crossing the street anyways.  I'm really not sure how some of them made it into adulthood.

Now don't get me wrong, I completely understand that pedestrians have the right of way, that I'm supposed to stop and not hit them.  Pedestrians know this too.  However, while it's good that drivers know this, there's a small problem with pedestrians knowing it -- they think they can cross the street whenever and wherever they want! 

When I'm walking around, I always wait for the "WALK" sign, and then verify the cars see me before I step out into the street.  If there's no "WALK" sign, then I assume they don't see me and wait for the cars to pass.  My friends think I'm weird.  What they don't seem to understand is that sometimes drivers don't see you, or even if they do, there's no guarantee they can stop before hitting you. 

I especially love one of my friend's responses to this logic -- "Yeah, but they'll get a ticket if they hit you."  REALLY?!?!?  Do you not understand that that would mean YOU JUST GOT HIT BY A CAR?!?!?  I'd also like to point out that the street we cross to get from the school to the parking lot has no stop lights, so no "WALK/DON'T WALK" signs, and nothing to slow down drivers who are typically going 40 - 45 mph.   

I'm sure you're wondering where this little rant is coming from.  Well, driving through downtown yesterday I twice had people start crossing the street right in front of me.  I almost hit one of them.  Even though my light was green and the "DON'T WALK" sign was on for him, he looked in my direction (where I assume he saw me coming), and started walking across the street dragging a suitcase behind him.....slowly.....

Downtown Parking

I've lived in big cities before, but since moving to Fort Worth, I've spent a lot more time in this downtown than in any other.  And there are some definite differences.  The two biggest things that jump out at me are the number of people actually walking around, and what people will do to avoid paying for parking.  The people walking around are not that big a deal; you just aren't allowed to hit them.  The parking is another story.

Like any other downtown, parking is not cheap, and there's not always a lot of it around when you need it.  There are a few parking garages, but if you're just running in for a minute or two, metered parking makes a lot more sense.  This is where it gets fun. 

For some reason, there seem to be a lot of meter poles missing their meters.  I'm curious at to whether people broke them off, or if the city removed them for repair or replacement.  Either way, these are coveted spots.  Since the time limits are posted on the meters themselves, a missing meter means you can stay there all day for free. 

Another way to score free parking is to use the city buses.  Fort Worth offers free bus service as long as you stay downtown.  These free routes generally start a block or so from downtown, and the surrounding streets are meter-free.  Commuters take advantage, park their cars on the street, and hop on the free buses.  I travel these street daily, and I have to mention that some of these people really need some parallel parking lessons.  And a lot don't seem to realize many of the streets are one way. 

Of course there's always that person who takes free parking just a little too far.  My school is located downtown and has 3 free parking lots for students, faculty, and staff.  The key to that last sentence is for students, faculty, and staff.  This is prominently displayed at each lot entrance, and if you don't have a valid parking permit, you get ticketed.  But if you're late to work and can't find parking, do you really care?  I mean, is a ticket from the school really enforceable?  Apparently not.  The school keeps its students in line by tying unpaid fines to things like registering for classes or graduating, but its not like the school can garnish your paycheck if you refuse to pay.

Faced with not having enough parking once the lots were invaded by downtown commuters, the school took matters into its own hands.  And it found a way of making those tickets enforceable.  Somewhere along the way, the school purchased its very own wheel boots.  You'll still get ticketed for parking in the lots, and you still can't be forced to pay the fine, unless of course you ever want to drive your car again.

And in case you're wondering, yes, I have seen a boots on cars in the school's lots.  And did I mention that the fee is now triple what it was in the pre-boot days?  Those sneaky lawyers.....