good luck with the lawyer!! Take all of Mr. X's bada-bling and spend it on yarn!!!

Good luck this morning!

What a relief it will be when the cable guy comes... er, well, you know, to install his cable. Um... Oh I give up.

Bob is so cute, I can tell he is pining for Chandler... ;)

It will be okay! The lawyer (while sorta scary and intimidating) is working for YOU! You are paying him so he will make sure everything is okay! Just ask lots of questions about stuff and make sure he's doing his best to represent YOU! Don't worry about the questions being silly or strange - he's there to take care of YOU!

I went through a bad custody spat (three times - long story!), and when you get a good lawyer they are totally in your corner and willing to shield you from all the yucky crap. It will be fine! You will do great! And when you come home, the yarn and the kitties will make sure you feel better!

Good luck today. Supportive thoughts from AR!

Good luck! Hang in there! And soon you will have the Internets again!

I've been lurking on your blog for a while now - really enjoy your writing and have hurt with you as you go through these wrenching processes. Sometimes, your monologues make me think you could be a great stand up comedienne... no, really!

... and supportive thoughts from Toronto in the Great White North!

Good luck today. You can get through this. Good thoughts coming your way.

GOOD LUCK! Ask questions; nothing is too far out. Be sure to take some knitting. You can fill any slow time and it'll bring a little comfort to have it with you. If you get really pi**ed you can whip it out and do the Madame La Farge thing while envisioning Mr. X's head rolling.

Go get 'em! We're with you!

Totally know what you mean about the TV; it's a national emergency when thunderstorms knock out the power or cable. I hope the meeting with the lawyer went well!

Hey, I've been reading along for the last week or so; your blog really makes me smile... I also want your cats. They're lovely!

Hope all goes well with the lawyer... as a med student, I've got a phobia of them...

You've probably already left for the lawyer, but in case you haven't remember a couple of things.

1) they work for you.
2) write down your questions you really want answered so you don't forget to ask.
3) bring along some knitting while you wait, lawyers can be worse then doctors for making you wait.
4) Just relax seeing your lawyer has to be better then seeing your ob/gyn.
5) your lawyer is just a person, underneat the clothing he's naked just like the rest of us
6) be nice to the lawyers secretary, they are your key to good representation! If they like you, you've got a good person on your side.

Just some thoughts from a lawyer's secretary.

Best wishes this morning!

Good luck girl...

Good luck at the lawyers this morning. I think a little fiber therapy may be in order after your meeting.

I understand about the slow connection. When our DSL went out I swear we had 500 ft of phone cord strewn about the house. (Just lovely with 3 kids, a dog and a cat to trip over it EVERY time they move a 1/2 of an inch.)

Lawyers, while looking sharp and usually useless, are people too... with a purpose. To help you. (I kid, I have love for the lawyers, the helpful ones… who are helpful… to help Laurie.)

You are going to be fine… thank you for the pictures of Bob. He is pretty, and so are you.

Good luck this morning! Take Mr.X for everything :-)

Geez, between Bob's fierce claws and Roy's lone fang, do you even need a lawyer? (Just kidding. You do. Get lots of yarn money!)

I thought of you when I was at the mall this weekend... I saw something I thought you would get a kick out of, but, being a tightwad living on a student salary, didn't buy it. Here's a link instead: http://www.mcphee.com/amusements/current/11377.html

Good luck with the lawyer!

Good luck, don't let the lawyer intimidate you and be sure you check his/her bill very carefully...they are powerful and necessary tools, but they do get careless about their charges!

Hmm, everyone else is making the assumption I am making (whispers d i v o r c e lawyer). I think you are already finding there is the possibility of L I F E after (whispers) d i v o r c e.
Good luck!
It is now going to be Saturday before your cable guy fixes your modem? Good grief!

Good luck with the lawyer today!

Laurie - let us know how it goes - and if he's cute! Take Mr. X and his goatee wearing ass to the ringer!

April

Hang in there. You will be fine. I swear you will be. Just remember that it doesn't matter if your are "nice". Do what you have to do to protect yourself and take what is yours.

J.

Oooh good luck! Perhaps to keep your hands from being idle, you can take some yarn and knit little nooses while you wait for your lawyer?

But then maybe that wouldn't go over too well in the "negotiation" portion of the meeting. Ah well, I wish you luck!

Hey, Laurie, where's your creative copyright. Seriously, dude.

here, this'll help. http://creativecommons.org/learn/licenses/

Be strong and have the lawyer get what you deserve!! Sending good litigation vibes your way :)

It is just like when a kid is afraid of a bug, "He is probably just as scared of you as you are of him!" Especially, if you start talking about cats and buses on fire and ugly thing-a-majigs. And, of course, you'll have to be knitting the nooses that susannah mentioned!

Oh wait, I guess I'm not being so reassuring here, am I?

Oh yeah, and you are already done with the lawyer, too. Hmmm....guess I should stop typing now. :)

I so love the pictures you take of your cats and the witty captions you put on them. You have me almost sort of kind of half liking cats for the first time in a long long time. hehehe Hope everything went well at the lawyers and he ended up being a cutie to boot. :P

Laurie: I've only recently found your blog about a week ago. I tell you, you are the funniest damned woman! I love your blog. I was in your shoes many years ago and I wish I had this and knitting to help me through. Good luck today!

If mr lawyer doesn't like having a mr lawyer photo he can join mr x and you can get a NEW mr lawyer. My grandpa is a mr lawyer, we don't think he is a very good one though cause he has a part time job to help support his cookie habits.
can sobokawa and Roy sue mr x for abandonment too? I think they should. I would totally go after daddy if he left...

Hi! I just wanted to say hi! Hi!

I wish my Katie cat was photogenic, but she hides as soon as she sees the camera, or ducks her head. I think she's sensitive about her one ear and the scars on her nose. Not that she isn't the most gorgeous kitty in the world, of course.

Don't worry about the lawyer. They are all dorks, deep down inside. I know, because I live with one, and my sister is soon to be one as well (This weekend!) They are highly dorky and make fart jokes at innappropriate moments.

Here's wishin' for a RAWKIN' hot cable guy for ya... ;-)

As my motha would say: "be a bawl buster. don't let that bastard off easy."

Think Joan Collins as Alexis Carrington!

Here's hoping you have a good lawyer who realizes you're worth getting every last thing you can from Mr. X, who is obviously an idiot to leave a woman like you.

stalking your blog is my new favorite thing to do. i love that you refer to your house as chez spinster. if grad school doesn't suck every penny i make ever, che spinster is that to which i aspire. let me paint you a picture: single, cat, knitting obssessed, studying to be a librarian. i am an actual spinster-in-training.

Gawd cat feet are the BEST! More cat feet!!!

Be the boss with that lawyer. Stomp your feet and be bitchy if you have to--sometimes they don't know who is in charge, so you have to remind them...

Sigh. Between you and uh...Kristy @ She Walks, I don't get any work done anymore. But I sure as hell laugh a lot. My friend Linda and I talk about y'all like you're family (yeah, Arkansas folks). Wish you the best of luck at the lawyers. Give that ass Mr. X hell!

ps. Thanks for inspiring me to get back to my own knitting. Even though I suck at it...note to self: must find local SnB for help and giggles.

lets hope the cable guy isn't like that actor Jim Carey or you'll be in trouble lol...btw he is Canadian.Good luck with the lawyer,maybe he will be single,good looking and have pots of money,and be very into you!

Laurie,
Get everything in writing, lawyers are like money sucking vampires!!! No seriously, I will spare you the long story....we totally got screwed over by a lawyer last year... If you want to hear the story, just drop me an email...BTW my basketweave scarf is going well... if I could only keep my tension consistent on my knits and purls....practice practice practice....
Heidi

Okay I just laughed out loud at the Notorious B.O.B. pictures and now my boss things I'm crazy and is probably on his way upstairs to HR for a referal to the company head-shrink! Ah well... Cute photos though!

Can you share the secrets of how to put the photos inside the body of your post like that?

My child is convinced that Bob's name is Fluffy. I don't know why...

Hope your internets speed up soon.

I love the paw pic. Great composition and clarity--and no kitty litter bits!

Hang in there, sweetie! You have all these great people on YOUR side, plus now Mr Lawyer to take care of the tricky bits with Mr X. We are all rooting for you, 'cause we know you have Woman Power and Knit Power, all mixed with the healing Powers of Laughter, which you share with hundreds of blog stalkers like me. You go, girl!!

When our cable went out for a day I think the bf nearly cried too. I was sorta happy, but only because he usually controls the tv. I go crazy when I go to my dad's and have to use his dial up internet which because of his appt complex is like half the regular dial up speed. It takes days!