Leaving for Florida Tomorrow

Well, now it has been two weeks, and two days. The world is beginning to seem a little brighter - thankfully. Hope this lasts, especially when the days begin winding down toward the end of the term later this year!

We're leaving for Florida tomorrow, in fact about 3:00 p.m. We've rented a neat little riverfront house in Weeki Wachee, Florida, which is fairly close to several relatives. We'll be seeing my father-in-law, my sister-in-law, and a favorite aunt and uncle to my kids. My whole crew will be there - all five of my kids, my two daughters-in-law, and of course my wife and me. We'll miss our dog and my oldest son's two dogs who often travel with us. The dogs loved the beach last summer.

Last Friday, we had our "Quarterly North Central Regional Judicial Summit" which is dinner with a few of us judges from this part of the State. This time we were in Philippi, hosted by Judge Longo, and the whole crowd was present - Judges Culpepper, Born, Fantasia, Longo, and Crislip (me), with several spouses also in attendance. After dinner, we walked up the street to Judge Longo's office and she showed it off. I'd been there several times but none of the others had. We also walked past a really neat old house which had been converted into a bed & breakfast and got a tour from the owners - it was some house. For anyone who knows my wife, that was the highlight of her evening.

Feelings of hopefulness probably come from several sources. Prayer and God's responsive intervention. The support of family and friends. The diversion of work and other activities. Planning for our trip. Looking forward to summer. And, some specific strategies, at least thought strategies. I decided over the weekend, and told my wife, that I had to focus on something I had control over, or at least that I perceive I have control over. Since my focus has been, "What next?," the only job path I have reasonable control over at this time is making a plan to do my own thing, hang out a shingle, which I have said repeatedly I do not want to do. But - it's occurred to me that I might be able to do it in a very controlled way and I even have an idea for something almost unique that might be successful both in terms of income and real help to the public and the court system. I need to run it by a few people to see what they think -

I'm aware of many other potential options, of course. But all of those would require me to be hired by an employer as opposed to "hiring myself." I'm not opposed to a job where I'd be hired and where I'd get a paycheck, a paycheck, a paycheck, with benefits, etc. We'll see what God lays before me, though.

We're not out of the woods yet. I'm getting more and more used to the idea. My staff and I are trying to get back to normal and actually, this week, at least to me, it's beginning to feel normal again being here, doing the work, interacting with my staff, the lawyers, the litigants. I'm going to try hard and focus on doing my job well, serving the public well, making sure my staff is happy, and not leaving this place in a shambles for my two successors. That's the least I can do for the people of Harrison County. Many of whom, by the way, voted for me :)