Had a good day on the set. People never cease to amaze. I am going to tell my boys not to marry until they are thirty.
I would write more but I do believe I have used up my allotment of words for the day. (never thought that would happen).
Peace.
This was on my mind ...
Well Rested
August 4, 2009 · 5:32 AM ET
It may be early but I am well rested nonetheless. Going to work so my blogs will be brief and intermittent. Had a great conversation the other day about parenting with a woman I just met. When I get a moment I will comment. I have strong beliefs on that issue (as do, I assume, most people). A couple of people asked me questions that I intended to answer but for the life of me I can’t remember who asked what when or where.
A special holler to my Crew. You guys have a great day.
Return of The Night Stalker
August 3, 2009 · 7:31 AM ET
No. It’s not a bad movie. It is my current condition. Can’t shut off my brain. Can’t sleep. Found 14 in my office bed again (I am going to have to get to the bottom of that).
I permed my hair last night and burned my scalp. I will say this for myself, though, dinner was good. Nothing fancy but everybody ate it.
Sweating the tube as usual, I know that is a part of my midnight wanderings. Read a book, though, from beginning to end. That was a luxury.
Feel like I’m back stroking through butter. I forgot to call my mother.
OK THAT’S IT. I’M THROUGH WHINING!
Now it’s time to kick ass and take names. Except in the most extreme of circumstances a mood is something you can dictate. I am, as of this moment, declaring conviction, dedication, and dare I say it? JOY.
Peace.
6:30 am and All is Well
August 1, 2009 · 6:30 AM ET
Storm is over. Everyone still standing. There were a couple of moments at the DMV and when ordering clothes on-line for the boys B@#$#h Lynn slipped passed me and tried to say something but I caught her just in time.
14 was asleep in the day bed in my office this am. His room is huge. My office small. I ask “what’s up with that?” He says “spilled Gatorade in my bed, didn’t want to sleep in it.” (this from a boy who actually made up his bed with a plate of spaghetti in it – and as if that wasn’t bad enough – he got in it that night and woke up with spaghetti hanging off his back. – no lie – true story). You see how well my “No food in your room” rule is working.
Gotta go while I still have morning brain. There is work to be done.
Have a wonderful Saturday.
I'm Not Sure What Happened
July 31, 2009 · 6:51 AM ET
Every morning my husband gets a weather report and it has nothing to do with 110 degrees hot and sunny (which is the looped recording we get here in Phoenix). He gets it from me.
I can be a little moody. I contend everyone is a great deal more moody than they acknowledge. Usually when folks get upset they attribute it to a situation without first assessing their own emotional landscape, which is a mistake – and clearly a blog for another day.
Be that as it may, I am moodier than most. (ask anybody who lives with me). I have a great out-of-the-house edit button that I perfected in court. You can’t go passing your bad moods around when you have a robe on. I believe more judges should be emotionally aware – did a judicial education course on that which was not well received – got racial and everything – but, that too, is a subject for another day.
Here, in my own home (which I pay the mortgage on) I feel a certain sense of entitlement. That having been said, I don’t believe I should just blithely pass my attitude along. That’s the whole purpose of the weather report. To put a name on any mood I might be sporting in the morning so I can keep an eye on my lesser self and just as a precaution so everybody knows what’s up. Was preparing the weather report for today and to my surprise we have an unusual weather pattern I have not seen in a while:
Without any warning from threatening skies, Bitch Lynn blew in some time last night. Winds up to 100 miles an hour. I don’t know what happened, but I’m irritated.
Here’s the thing. Nobody is going to get knocked down. I am aware and I am responsible. I will be extra nice. I will request space. I will barricade myself in my room if I have to.
I write this to give my irritation form so I can have ‘you know who’ in my sights and not let her run my day. Usually I ask for personal prayer. Today you might want to throw up one for the family.
Peace – I’m looking for it.
More from JudgeLynn
Books
You’ve asked. She’s answered. In Dear Sonali, Judge Lynn speaks to all the young women who call her Mom2 or the Auntie in their Head.
My Mother's Rules" is a humorous, easy to follow self-help guide to managing your emotional life.
Using lessons learned on the bench along with humorous anecdotes from her own 30 year marriage, Judge Lynn Toler wrote "Making Marriage Work" as a logical and simple guide to bringing back the practicality lost in relationships over the years.
About
Judge Lynn Toler became the host of the longest running television court program, "Divorce Court" in 2006. Prior to that, Judge Lynn Toler graduated from Harvard University and The University of Pennsylvania Law School. She began practicing law in Cleveland in 1984. In 1993, at the age of 33, she was elected judge of The Cleveland Heights Municipal Court. Judge Toler volunteered actively in her community creating innovative programs for young offenders such as Woman Talk, a program designed to intensively mentor young, at-risk girls.
Toler also headed the Cleveland Heights Coordinated Community Response to Violence against Women, a countywide initiative for the coordination of community resources to assist women who are victims of violence. She was also active as an advisory board member for Templum House, a battered women's shelter. As a result of her work in the area of domestic violence in 2002, she was awarded The Humanitarian of the Year Award from The Cleveland Domestic Violence Center.
Judge Toler's dedication to ending domestic violence continues. Currently, she is on the Board of GoPurple.org, a non-profit organization that addresses the issue of domestic violence through education. GoPurple.Org sends educators into classrooms teaching students about healthy relationships, signs of potentially abusive relationships, and ways to help both themselves and others who are in abusive situations.
Judge Toler has served as an adjunct professor at Ursuline College, where she created and taught courses on Civil Rights Law, and Women and the Law. She was also a frequent instructor for the Ohio Judicial College, where she helped create and taught continuing judicial education course for other judges.
Judge Toler is the author of three books including her most recent "Making Marriage Work: New Rules for an Old Institution." Her first, "My Mother's Rules: A Practical Guide to Becoming an Emotional Genius" published in 2006, is a humorous memoir in which Judge Lynn recounts a childhood lived in the shadow of mental illness and provides a practical guide to the emotional lessons learned from that experience. And her time on the bench. Her second book, "Put It In Writing," coauthored with Deborah Hutchison, was published in September, 2009. It gives readers concrete, conflict-free solutions to the difficult situations that arise between family and friends.
Judge Toler has written for a variety of magazines including Divorce Magazine published through out the United States and Canada. In 2009, Judge Toler was given The Voice of Freedom Award by the Philadelphia Chapter of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. joining former honorees Colin Powell and Vice President Al Gore, in ringing the Liberty Bell on Martin Luther King Day.
Currently, Judge Toler appears regularly as a guest expert on WeTV's Marriage Bootcamp. Born on October 25, 1959, she has been married to Eric Mumford since April, 1989. She has two sons and four stepsons.
Connect with Judge Lynn
Well Rested
It may be early but I am well rested nonetheless. Going to work so my blogs will be brief and intermittent. Had a great conversation the other day about parenting with a woman I just met. When I get a moment I will comment. I have strong beliefs on that issue (as do, I assume, […]
Return of The Night Stalker
No. It’s not a bad movie. It is my current condition. Can’t shut off my brain. Can’t sleep. Found 14 in my office bed again (I am going to have to get to the bottom of that). I permed my hair last night and burned my scalp. I will say this for myself, though, dinner […]
6:30 am and All is Well
Storm is over. Everyone still standing. There were a couple of moments at the DMV and when ordering clothes on-line for the boys B@#$#h Lynn slipped passed me and tried to say something but I caught her just in time. 14 was asleep in the day bed in my office this am. His room is […]
I'm Not Sure What Happened
Every morning my husband gets a weather report and it has nothing to do with 110 degrees hot and sunny (which is the looped recording we get here in Phoenix). He gets it from me. I can be a little moody. I contend everyone is a great deal more moody than they acknowledge. Usually when […]