Well...still waiting on the Lord for wherever it is I'm going to wind up permanently. Don't mean to seem or be impatient, truly, but I'd sure like to know.
Since my last post, I decided for many reasons it would be best not to do any court appointments at this time. The two judges who had appointed me to cases were kind enough to release me. One major point - it would complicate my serving as a senior status judge, which I'm hopeful will come to fruition shortly.
Some more permanent and full-time things still pending that I'm very interested in. In the meantime, status quo. Sorry not to have a more detailed or upbeat report!
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Thursday, January 8, 2009
And so it begins...
I promised you'd be the first to know...
Life takes a strange twist or two, doesn't it. I was unemployed for exactly one week. (Actually, not at all - see end of this paragraph.) Today, I started a new job - but it's not one I would've expected, and it also is temporary. I'm the interim kids' ministry director at our church. The hiring was made retroactive to 1/1/09 -the very next day after my judgeship ended - because I'd been meeting and working with our children's minister and others both before the end of 2008 and between 1/1 and today, in anticipation of the possibility of being hired. God is good!
It's not such a stretch for me - I've been a volunteer in ministry for years and actually did something similar to this twice before, when I lived in Huntington. So I'm grateful for the chance to serve and of course, for the additional income it will provide my family. It definitely has a couple of nice practical features - very flexible, allowing time for me to do some other things on the side (read on...) - and also "no strings attached" meaning that if the church finds a full-time person, my assignment is over, and if I find a full-time legal position, my assignment is over. (That sounds a bit abrupt - one way or the other, I'd expect to be a part of the transition. I'm into paving the way for successors these days :)
Also today, I got my first court appointment, to represent the interests of a kid in a guardianship case. And, a call from someone I may accept as a client on a rather simple paperwork matter. I anticipate more court appointments and also assignments as mediator in Family Court. My bar membership officially changed today from "judicially inactive" to "active" and my malpractice insurance is in process.
There remain some interesting opportunities on the horizon and I intend to keep this blog updated. But for now...even though this turn was not expected, I'm very grateful.
Life takes a strange twist or two, doesn't it. I was unemployed for exactly one week. (Actually, not at all - see end of this paragraph.) Today, I started a new job - but it's not one I would've expected, and it also is temporary. I'm the interim kids' ministry director at our church. The hiring was made retroactive to 1/1/09 -the very next day after my judgeship ended - because I'd been meeting and working with our children's minister and others both before the end of 2008 and between 1/1 and today, in anticipation of the possibility of being hired. God is good!
It's not such a stretch for me - I've been a volunteer in ministry for years and actually did something similar to this twice before, when I lived in Huntington. So I'm grateful for the chance to serve and of course, for the additional income it will provide my family. It definitely has a couple of nice practical features - very flexible, allowing time for me to do some other things on the side (read on...) - and also "no strings attached" meaning that if the church finds a full-time person, my assignment is over, and if I find a full-time legal position, my assignment is over. (That sounds a bit abrupt - one way or the other, I'd expect to be a part of the transition. I'm into paving the way for successors these days :)
Also today, I got my first court appointment, to represent the interests of a kid in a guardianship case. And, a call from someone I may accept as a client on a rather simple paperwork matter. I anticipate more court appointments and also assignments as mediator in Family Court. My bar membership officially changed today from "judicially inactive" to "active" and my malpractice insurance is in process.
There remain some interesting opportunities on the horizon and I intend to keep this blog updated. But for now...even though this turn was not expected, I'm very grateful.
Monday, January 5, 2009
Happy New Year
Last Wed. Dec. 31 was my last day on the bench. Beginning Dec. 27, Sat., I worked every day between then and the end of the year, finishing things up, cleaning things out, etc. But on Dec. 31, I did 8 weddings, and they were fun - all very interesting, all very different. Channel 12, WBOY-TV, covered them, and I not only made the news that evening, I made West Virginia Media's statewide newscast. Last night, I watched West Virginia Media's "week in review" which features one story of note around the state for each day of the previous week - and guess what? Yup, my weddings were the feature for Wednesday! It was a nice way to go out.
My staff took me out to lunch, which was wonderful but bittersweet, and then I headed back to the office about 3:00 to finish clean-out. My wife and youngest came about 4:15 and helped me finish - we left about 5:00 p.m. Busy since then! We had a party New Year's Eve here at home that started about 6:30 and ended just after midnight - a lot of fun and nice to have something to occupy my time and mind that evening. New Year's Day, I lazed around and watched football. Then Friday - had a nice dinner and movie date with my wife! Saturday, we had a visit from some dear friends, but also had some family matters to attend to. And leading us to today - this is the first day the Court House has been open since I left my job. Yes, I did call my staff today - they're there, waiting for my successor judges to actually start. The judges are in Charleston all week this week for training.
I'm trying to keep myself occupied, active and productive! Today, I've worked out, paid bills, made arrangements to get my bar membership reactivated, talked to my new malpractice insurance carrier, and taken care of umpteen other things. Working off a long list on a legal pad! It'll take me several days to make a dent. I haven't yet started cleaning out my boxes from the office or setting up the new office space for me we're planning for our attic.
Hopeful that we'll have more clarification of what's really going on here soon!
My staff took me out to lunch, which was wonderful but bittersweet, and then I headed back to the office about 3:00 to finish clean-out. My wife and youngest came about 4:15 and helped me finish - we left about 5:00 p.m. Busy since then! We had a party New Year's Eve here at home that started about 6:30 and ended just after midnight - a lot of fun and nice to have something to occupy my time and mind that evening. New Year's Day, I lazed around and watched football. Then Friday - had a nice dinner and movie date with my wife! Saturday, we had a visit from some dear friends, but also had some family matters to attend to. And leading us to today - this is the first day the Court House has been open since I left my job. Yes, I did call my staff today - they're there, waiting for my successor judges to actually start. The judges are in Charleston all week this week for training.
I'm trying to keep myself occupied, active and productive! Today, I've worked out, paid bills, made arrangements to get my bar membership reactivated, talked to my new malpractice insurance carrier, and taken care of umpteen other things. Working off a long list on a legal pad! It'll take me several days to make a dent. I haven't yet started cleaning out my boxes from the office or setting up the new office space for me we're planning for our attic.
Hopeful that we'll have more clarification of what's really going on here soon!
