Best of Belleville

The Reid's Dairy -- famous for their cheese curds and other dairy products.

The 401 east at 7am.

The Big Apple, Colborne Ontario -- famous for their pies.

It's been incredibly busy the past couple of months. But I managed to make the best out of work. Again, I love my coworkers -- the jokes and the borderline harassment are part of the reasons why I get up and go to work every day. Articling is always going to be hell -- the most you can hope for is a bunch of people you can have fun and joke with. I am blessed in that regard.

Another reason I get up (really early) for work is because I get to go to court -- very often. As a student at law I have limited court appearance rights. So most court appearances I do are for minor incidents -- things that I can't screw up. I do a lot of adjournments, some motions and status hearings and on the rare occasion, I get to conduct my own trial in provincial offences court. I savour every chance I get to be on my feet in court -- even if I only state my name and seek a new date for my next appearance. It's good practice for advocacy and the stakes are low.

Last week, I had to attend provincial offence court in Belleville. The drive was about just under two hours and at 7am, the colours of the sky was beautiful. I can't wait till the end of articling when I drive across the country and see how beautiful this continent can be. I stopped along the way to pick up some pie at the Big Apple and some cheese curds from Reid's Dairy for my coworkers. I felt like I went on a road trip. And I got the adjournment I needed. Win-Win. When the going gets tough, you need to savour the small things in life to keep going.

...and it only gets worse

this week was pretty shitty. I felt like I was being punished for going out on my birthday weekend. And the inevitable happened -- I screwed up at work. It was a pretty dumb mistake that I did that costed another lawyer a weekend to fix. And the worst thing is when you can't even make it up to them because you already have too much on your plate.

I should be happy that no one was really affected by my mistake -- nothing I do is that important that would cost a client a case. And the lawyer was nice about it. Nonetheless it was the kind of sobering experience I anticipated would tip me over breaking point. I told myself I wouldn't cry at work -- not only did I cry, I cried in front of the lawyer.

On that note, when people closed their door to their office you should never knock and insist on coming in. About 5 other people decided it was a good idea to interrupt my breakdown with mundane things, like dropping off the photocopies and interoffice documents. After that, I went drinking the night away with coworkers. I missed my run this morning. again.

So I think I need a new goal -- to develop thicker skin. It's just a job. I shouldn't lose my shit over it. And it's only September.

Garden update

My veggie garden

Buttercup squash: you're going to be mashed with butter. You'll be delish.

A tiny watermelon

Eggplants: parmasean. mmmm.

Cherry tomatoes and my toes. That shade is called "90210".

My garden always gives back even when I ignore it. Here's the inventory to date:

Cherry tomatoes: unlimited supply

Watermelons: two

Eggplants: three

Butternut squash: one