FIRE!

Fire #1 (internal) So today I lost my cool. I was tired of my emails being ignored, tired of being on a "need to know basis" when it comes to our case, tired of the who does what routine, just plain tired. Maybe I am blowing things out of proportion- but I am extremely frustrated about this unnecessary waiting for whoever (other than us) to do something! I made some phone calls, I sent some e-mails.
If I've learned anything from my job as a paralegal working with crazy people on a daily basis, it's that the squeaky wheel gets the grease. Well today, I just had a minor meltdown. I'd like to say I'm better now. But I know the only thing that would make it better is me getting in my car and driving to the post office with a complete set of documents to be sent to Columbia to be Apostilled. Short of that I am going to have to be "that person" with the phone calls/e-mails/whatever it takes. I guess I just know what it's like to be on the receiving end of crazy and it's not pretty and I really hate to do that to anyone. The only thing I am asking for is for someone to be proactive on our behalf.
The way I try to treat everyone in my job is I think of the people I deal with as "what if this was my mom? What if this was my dad? What if this whiny annoying person that's been injured was my best friend?" Could I be doing anything else in my power to help them or make their case go faster or make their experience smoother? If this was my mom's case I would be diligent in requesting medical records, researching their case, I would follow up with them in a timely manner when they leave me a message. In other words, I would treat their case as if it was the most important case I have. But enough of my ranting. I am just on fire right now!

Fire #2 (external) Yesterday I came home on my lunch break to walk the dogs and it looks like the woods behind our house is ON FIRE! Thick smoke is filling the air, ashes are blowing all around. I am nervous. Chad is out of town on his trip to New Orleans (he's back now ;0) and I am a little freaked out. Stay at home moms are in their driveways trying to figure out what's on fire. In my head I am thinking about what to grab out of the house (#1 the dogs #2-adoption file folders (I am not filling all that stuff out again), #3 wedding photo albums #4 How am I going to fit all that new baby stuff in my car?) So I call the fire department to see if there is a control burn of something going on. Hmmmm......they don't know of anything. I get on my boots because high heels are not conducive to woods adventure. I poke around a little bit, but it is so windy, I can't even tell which direction the smoke is coming from. I call our friend Mark who lives in the next neighborhood over. He says "I'll be right over" I call work and tell them I am running late because our woods are on fire. I'm sure that sounded convincing. However, in the few minutes it takes for him to get to the house the wind dies down and we can see the smoke is coming from a HUGE lawn fire in Mark's neighborhood. I guess the leaves were wet so the guy pours like 10 gallons of gas on it. Yikes. I won't tell you what I was really thinking about him... but anyway, I just thought I would share this story with you because it's not everyday that you are making a fire escape plan from your house!