Well, two reasons, actually.

One of them is my aforementioned trip to New York; I wasn't really packed. When I woke up this morning at 3:15 (which was about an hour before I'd planned to do so), I set about packing. I'm about 85-90% done.

I'm finishing packing because, while my plane doesn't leave till tomorrow at an ungodly hour from Detroit, I am leaving Port Clinton very early this morning to go to Toledo for a hearing.

You'll remember my friend who was threatened with jail because her guardian ad litem hadn't been paid.

The same friend who then sought an emergency hearing and was scheduled for one two months after the emergency.

Well, finally, today, she -- more importantly, her son -- gets the hearing.

In it, custody of her son will be decided.

It will be suggested to the court that a child should not have to endure the police being called -- twice -- when a situation escalates because the child wants to call his mother.

That, when the police are involved and domestic violence charges are pressed against the child, the parent who presses the charges should not have a role in determining whether the child is represented by counsel.

Among other things.

The appetizers I've given you here are fairly frightening, and I assure you there is more. If I explained the whole thing, I'm pretty confident you'd say there's very little to worry about and there's no reason in the world custody shouldn't be changed. And I'd tend to agree with you. I'd feel relatively confident about my friend's chances, if only the courts hadn't managed to screw this up so many times before when confronted with evidence of abuse and its effects.

Today will be a big test of whether the court can get it right. I'm praying for the best, and that common sense will rule the day far more than it has so far. Say a prayer, do a chant, or a dance, or whatever you do, for some justice.

PS: I am greatly looking forward to this trip to New York. The company'll be terrific and it's a good time to go. Especially after what will be a rather nerve-wracking morning in court. If not for being a lawyer, and having so much decorum, I'd say to heck with the whole suit thing and wear the shirt Eve bought for the last day of the bar exam. (Scroll down, it's there.)

PSS: Speaking of Eve, California has their model answers printed already. Meanwhile, Ohio can't get their act together enough to get the QUESTIONS on the website. For Pete's sake...