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Bolton Bulletin The January 2026
Tomball 990 Village Square, Suite G1100 Tomball, TX 77375 (281) 351-7897
The Woodlands 2441 High Timbers Dr., Suite 400
The Woodlands, TX 77380 BoltonLaw.com
WHY I FINALLY STOPPED DABBLING AND STARTED LEARNING SPANISH
FOR REAL THIS TIME
“Hola, amigos. ¿Cómo están”?
online materials, but I never saw myself progressing. Then my daughter, Sierra, married Jose, a Mexican citizen, on May 17, 2025. His family is warm, kind, and welcoming, but many of them don’t speak English, and I absolutely need to be able to talk with all of my future grandchildren’s other grandparents. That flipped a switch for me, and I’ve been all in for the last seven months. I take private lessons a few times a week, listen to Spanish radio or Spanish YouTube lessons while driving, and watch Spanish TV with English subtitles. I also practice my Spanish with my son- in-law, my executive assistant, or my bilingual children. I write sentences practicing grammar concepts, and use ChatGPT to have them corrected. I don’t ever seem to get everything I am practicing right. But somehow, I have reached a point where there may be plenty of grammatical errors, but I can manage to put almost any thought I have into Spanish words. Of course, I still need my listener to be extremely patient and willing to talk very slowly and repeat themselves. Obviously, I cannot be considered bilingual, but I am astonished at how much progress I have finally made. This journey has also given me a deep appreciation for the millions of adults who come to the United States without English and work tirelessly to learn it. It’s humbling. I also think about the future. Sierra and Jose will almost certainly raise bilingual children, and I want to be able to talk to my future grandchildren in whatever language feels natural to them. Also, one day soon, I’d love to greet my Spanish-speaking clients in their own language, and maybe even record legal educational videos entirely in Spanish. I definitely haven’t reached the finish line. Not yet. But for the first time in my life, I’m actually running toward it and enjoying the journey. “Poco a poco,” as they say. Little by little. And this time, I’m not stopping. -Ruby Bolton
It’s a simple phrase, one even beginners can pronounce, but for me, it represents something much bigger: a doorway I’ve been trying to walk through for decades. Now, thanks to family, motivation, and a decidedly stubborn streak, I am finally making progress toward that threshold. For more than 40 years, Spanish has been the language I admired from afar. I grew up in California and built my life in Texas, states where Spanish is incredibly common, yet I never managed to pick it up. I sat through two years of high school Spanish without learning a thing, then spent half a year in college, where, miraculously, I learned more in one semester than I had in the previous two years combined. I traveled to Mexico with my siblings and imagined myself interpreting for them. Instead, every time I tried to speak Spanish, someone would smile politely, say, “Un momento,” and return with an English speaker. Ouch. Nothing bruises confidence quite like realizing strangers believe your Spanish is worse than their English, or and they are not willing to talk to you in English at all. After my ego-bruising trip to Mexico, Spanish became a hobby I cycled in and out of for decades. I would spend a few weeks, or even months, trying to improve my Spanish using apps or studying
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HOW TO MODEL CONFIDENT CARE FOR KIDS The Power of Hearing in Healing
No matter what station of life someone is in, they deserve to feel safe. Of course, physical safety is always paramount, but what about emotional safety? In our often busy and complex lives, ensuring our loved ones feel safe on the inside can be overlooked. This is especially true if you’re a working parent, juggling obligations to your young ones and your own sense of stability and peace of mind.
Here are two quick but valuable tips for making the journey emotionally safer for you and them. Not every problem requires a solution. We’ve all had days when we need to vent to someone close to us. While the recipient of our woes may immediately start suggesting ways to solve the problem, all we really want is for someone to hear and understand us. It’s the same with children, who sometimes just crave the security of someone who listens to them. In these instances, saying, “Wow, you’ve had a tough day,” may be more helpful than proclaiming, “Here’s what you’re doing wrong and how to fix it.” Of course, adding something that elicits a smile or chuckle from a stressed child never hurts. Above all, be sure to validate their emotions. Even if their negative
situation seems minuscule by adult standards, acknowledging it may still mean the world to them in that moment. Calm can be found in chaos. It’s a Monday morning. Everyone is running late, the toast is burnt, a glass of orange juice has just spilled all over the kitchen table, and your little ones are talking a mile a minute. While these moments may make you want to shout on the inside, keeping a calm, gentle demeanor outside will help reduce tension for your kids before they head off to school and set a strong example of how to react under pressure. Frustrating situations are inevitable, but how we respond to them is our choice. By remaining calm and showing compassion even in challenging times, we comfort our children as much as we show them how to comfort themselves.
Despite his rightful place in history books as one of the world’s greatest minds, legendary inventor Thomas Edison was a consistent failure … and that was a great thing. By the time Edison died in 1931 at 84, he had experienced a life steeped in as many devastating defeats as world-changing ambitions. That he’s remembered today for his scientific milestones and not his epic misfires represents the spirit of “failing forward,” the concept of embracing failure as an opportunity to pursue new ideas and directions for success. EDISON’S IRON WILL From Rock Bottom to Reinvention
“I have not failed,” Edison famously insisted. “I have just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”
Here’s one example of how he turned a significant misfire into an unmitigated triumph.
From Iron to Insolvency Edison held more than 1,000 patents in his lifetime, and many of his inventions toward the end of the 1800s relied heavily on iron as a source material. When the cost of the metal began to rise, he attempted to address the problem by investing more than 10 years and $2 million in his own iron mining operation in northern New Jersey. Unfortunately for the maverick inventor, several other iron plants launched around the same time, which caused the value of iron to drop considerably and led to severe financial losses. Cement Seals Success Instead of accepting defeat when his iron operation went under, Edison turned his attention to another critical material: cement. While running his iron mine, he regularly sold waste sand to cement makers for additional revenue. Seeing an opportunity to expand further into this market, he launched the Edison Portland Cement Company, repurposing
equipment and technology he had used for iron mining. The venture was a huge success, allowing Edison to pay off his massive debts and become one of the leading forces behind the use of cement in American infrastructure. While the catastrophic failure of his iron mining endeavor would have crushed most entrepreneurs, Edison thrived by pivoting to new ventures. He never gave up. His inventions proved his brilliance, but his fearlessness in the face of failure demonstrated his resilience.
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There are several ways to become a millionaire in this country, but suing a fast-food chain over a napkin isn’t one of them. In 2014, a McDonald’s restaurant in Pacoima, California, became the focus of a national discussion on how the legal system addressed frivolous lawsuits. It all started with a customer named Webster Lucas, who complained to the manager when he discovered that he had been given only one napkin with his meal. Lucas claimed the manager had “developed a nasty attitude and mumbled a few words” before cursing at him. He also alleged that the manager’s behavior was racially motivated. The verbal altercation prompted Lucas to file a $1.5 million suit against the McDonald’s Corporation and the Pacoima store’s manager and general manager for (as reported by NBC News at the time) mental anguish, emotional distress, and discrimination. Despite being offered free food from the corporation to make things right, Lucas moved forward with his litigation. Interestingly, this wasn’t the first time Lucas had sued a major restaurant for an unsatisfactory experience. According to court documents obtained by NBC News, he had previously filed two separate suits against Jack- in-the-Box without receiving an award for his claims. Additionally, he filed suits against Denny’s and Walmart, which were ultimately dismissed. Fast-Food Folly A Napkin Sparks a Legal Storm
TAKE A BREAK
SLOW COOKER BIRRIA TACOS
Due to his habitual
• 3 dried guajillo chiles • 2 dried ancho chiles • 1 medium onion, chopped • 4 garlic cloves • 1 (14.5-oz) can diced tomatoes • 3 lbs beef chuck roast • 2 cups beef broth • 2 tbsp apple cider vinegar Ingredients
use of the California legal system, Lucas became known as a “vexatious litigant.” To earn this dubious designation, one has to file a minimum
• 1 tbsp dried oregano • 2 tsp ground cumin • 2 bay leaves • 1 tsp salt • Pepper, to taste • Corn tortillas • Fresh cilantro and diced onion for garnish
of five non-small claims suits that have been settled against them or have been pending for at least 24 months without a hearing or trial. Additionally, an individual can be deemed a “vexatious litigant” by repeatedly filing or relitigating meritless cases. Despite online reports to the contrary, court documents confirm that Lucas’ case against McDonald’s was dismissed by the end of 2014. Unsurprisingly, little has been heard of him in the California legal system since.
Directions 1. Soak dried chiles in hot water for 15 minutes.
2. Process chiles, onion, garlic, and tomatoes in a blender until smooth. 3. Place beef in a slow cooker and pour the chili mixture over it. 4. Add beef broth, vinegar, oregano, cumin, bay leaves, salt, and pepper. 5. Cook on low for 8–10 hours or until the beef is tender. 6. Shred the beef using forks, then mix back into the sauce. 7. Fry tortillas in oil until crispy, then assemble tacos as desired.
Inspired by SimpleWhisk.com
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(281) 351-7897 BoltonLaw.com 2441 High Timbers Dr., Suite 400 The Woodlands, TX 77380
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
My Determined Dive Into Spanish
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Parenting to Empower Emotional Calm in Kids
Cement Saves a Scientific Legend
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Slow Cooker Birria Tacos
A Laughable McLawsuit Misfire
The Legal Minds Behind Moon Missions
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Who Makes the Rules in Space? COSMIC COUNSEL
The phrase “space lawyer” may conjure images of an intergalactic courtroom setting in a “Star Trek” film, but the term and profession are rooted in reality here on Earth. Simply put, space lawyers are legal professionals specializing in international law and drafting agreements between countries regarding their activities throughout our galaxy. Instead of brokering peace treaties between humans and Klingons, these attorneys work to establish policies that outline rules and obligations nations must follow when conducting themselves beyond our clouds. For example, treaties negotiated by space lawyers were instrumental in getting the Soviet Union to spend millions to clean up radioactive debris deposited over northern Canada by its Cosmos 954 satellite in the late 1970s. Utilizing Article 7 of the Outer
Space Treaty (via the 1972 Space Liability Convention), the Canadian government argued that the Soviet Union was on the hook to cover the majority of the cost of Operation Morning Light, an extensive cleanup operation by the U.S. and Canada
to remove nearly 50,000 square miles of hazardous material dropped from space.
Thanks to space lawyers, no nation can claim ownership of Earth (or any other planet), the moon, or any other entity discovered in the galaxy. However, recent debates have raised an intriguing question: Who would own the resources derived from the moon or another planet? If Russia were to one day discover a life-saving nutrient on the moon’s surface, would it have the right to claim exclusive ownership of this medical marvel? Would this discovery need to be shared with other nations involved in space-related treaties? While it may take years (or the invention of a good time-traveling warp drive) for us to resolve these questions, it’s clear we need space lawyers to tackle these and other questions in a legal frontier that no Earth- bound lawyer has pondered before!
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