My new best friend is Epsom Salts

My hand is not happy.

Both last night and tonight I've soaked my writing hand in a bucket of water w/ epsom salts. It has helped.

I can't believe I have more tomorrow.

I will be so glad when this is over...it won't come a minute too soon.

The cat is not pleased with me having gone from being home all day to being gone again. In fact, he's made his feelings quite clear.

Okay, my hand is hurting from typing. I hope to be next updating when I'm D-R-U-N-K! Wish me luck tomorrow! And good luck to everyone else still going tomorrow...

Starting to feel a wee bit on the woozy side...

So I'm not going to stay at a hotel...I can't really justify the cost when I live so close to where the test is. I think with traffic it will only take about a half hour to get there. At least that's what it took when I did the test run last week.

I sort of feel like I should have a glass of wine, but I'm afraid it will just give me a headache...both tonight and tomorrow morning. And starting the exam with a headache would really blow.

I'm in that bad phase where I feel totally antsy but I can't relax. I know tomorrow morning will come way too fast...I'm going to try and go to bed in 2 hours...I SAID TRY. I'm absolutely taking a sleeping pill tonight. Only half of one, don't worry. Which is why I'm going to bed in 2 hours - I want to give myself plenty of opportunity to sleep if I can.

One of my bestest friends sent me a Good Luck Bar Box full of fun gossip magazines and fun lotion and a fun candle and CHOCOLATE. Oh, and one of the most fun things ever - a s'mores kit! I think I'll save that for celebratory purposes.

I can't believe the bar is already going to be tomorrow. How did the past few months go by so quick? Holy shit.

GOOD LUCK to all of you going through this with me this time!!! Let's go kick some ass!

Bar exam? What bar exam!?!

Screw this, I'm going swimming. And I might be taking a cooler full of cold, alcoholic beverages with me. But I'm not telling.


Saturday I went to Starbucks to escape the stifling heat, and I saw another girl there who was studying for the bar. My first clue with the foot-tall stack of flashcards. The second clue was the Bar/Bri essay book. Even before she pulled out study stuff, though, I had her pegged - I think it was probably that air of quiet desperation we're all emanating right now. Yes, quiet desperation. Although for some of us, perhaps not so quiet.

The crazy brigade is coming to get me.

It was so hot in my apartment yesterday that I thought I was going to die. D-I-E. When Husband got home from work he promptly declared it too hot to stay, so we went drinking at Red Hook brewery. When we got home it was still so hot I couldn't sleep. Every time I fell asleep I woke up 2 seconds later sweating. Did I mention how hot it was? We have no air conditioning, either. We have 2 fans that were going full speed and it still wasn't helping. At one point I was so overtired I started doing that laughing thing where you can't stop but you're not laughing at anything. And then I got Husband going. And then we got into a water fight IN the bed.

I think I maybe got 3 hours of good sleep last night.

This does not bode well for me being productive today. In fact, it doesn't bode well for me being anything other than a lump on the couch. Good thing there's good movies on TV today.

It's supposed to be hotter today. Goody. I think I just may take the entire bottle of sleeping pills tonight.

Things to look forward to...

While I'm looking everywhere for my Motivation (where did you go? why did you desert me NOW?), I now have something very exciting to look forward to: my friend who was in South Korea for a year and is now back is coming to see me the day the exam is done!!! In fact, I'm going to the airport after the test is over to pick her up. Crazy, I know - why am I going straight to the airport after the bar? Well, the ticket was such a phenomenal deal we couldn't pass it up. It's totally going to be worht it. I haven't seen her since a year ago April, so this will be a big, exciting weekend! We have lots of drinking to do...I predict it's going to be a very fuzzy weekend. Which is totally warranted after the bar.

That's all the news I have.

Oh, and tomorrow is my anniversary - I'll be married for 3 years. Crazy. We don't have any plans yet...maybe dinner. Which wouldn't be a problem for my study schedule..."study" schedule. Starting on Sunday I've been writing 9 essays every day (ok, I'll be honest - my hand wears out so I'm writing a few, outlining a few - issue spotting) but by the time it hits about 4:00 or 5:00 pm, I'm D-O-N-E for the night. And yes, I feel guilty about it. I mean, there are HOURS LEFT IN THE DAY...I MUST BE PRODUCTIVE. But I. just. can't. I really wanted to sit and look over my memorization sheets...but it's already just after 8:00 pm and the night might as well be over as far as my brain being worth anything. Tomorrow morning I'm planning to get up at 6:00 and start nice and early. The day is starting with a bag: 6 P.R. essays. Sooooooooo excited!

Not gone...just abducted...

So today started my simulated exam schedule. It's not fun. I supposed "fun" really isn't the goal here. I am hoping that by spending 5 days in a row writing 9 essays every day that next week the test will feel like a piece of cake. The only thing I am slightly concerned about is the fact that when I woke up this morning, my hand was sore from writing yesterday. It's only going to get more sore as this week progresses, so I'm thinking I'll have to start rehabilitating it by holding a cold beer every night. It's medicinal!

This week I have off of work (thank god), and I'm not sure how I've managed to work AND study for the last few months. It has totally sucked. And lo and behold, today I feel like I've actually made visible progress. Take for example how in the first set of 3 essays I wrote this morning, I encountered a commercial paper essay and, well, let's just say there wasn't any angel choirs singing my brilliance. However, the second set of 3 essays I got another commercial paper essay, and I did blow it out of the water. It felt good, too. I guess my memory is back to functioning. Hooray!

I don't really have anything else to say...just study, study, and more study. I'm so glad this will be over soon!

life is SHORT!!!

I was already at work when I read about the bombings in India.

I have a very good friend who was dropping off a co-worker in front of a train station where a bomb went off. She and the co-worker are fine.

I am so glad she is okay.

My thoughts are with all of those not as fortunate as my friend...

Since North Korea is going to nuke us, I don't have to study...right?

I am tired.

I feel good about my progress today, so that's something.

I'm not really looking forward to this week...although I just have to get through 5 more days of work and then it's bar time 100% of the time. Oh, yay.

Everything seems like it's coming together...or at least will cooperate and come together in the next 2 weeks.

Ok, I have 3 minutes to brush my teeth, take my sleeping pill, and go to bed. I know, I know - how anal can I be, right?!? The more stressed out I get, the more my life is married to a schedule. Hey - it helps me cope.

IT'S PANIC TIME!!!

Holy cow. I cannot believe I have to work the rest of this week and next week. Talk about performing under pressure...

I'm having a freak-out tonight. I sat down to re-visit Crim Pro and I apparently had it wiped completely out of my memory. Fantastic. This is not the time for this sort of thing to be happening. Although better now than in 2 weeks, I suppose. I really don't need anything extra unraveling my confidence right now, you know?

I'm trying valiantly to maintain a positive and focused attitude, but tonight it's not working. And the fireworks are NOT HELPING MY NERVES. I already feel like crying and shouting and impaling myself all at once, the last thing I need are explosives going off RIGHT OUTSIDE THE WINDOW.

ALONG WITH THAT SCREAMING INFANT IN THE APARTMENT BELOW ME. Argh!

At least I've got sleeping pills. Ha ha!

Let's play a game...

Guess how many hours I've spent today memorizing, re-memorizing, property?



No really, GUESS!



Come on, it'll be fun...



Give up yet?



5 hours and 15 minutes!!! I think I'll take a sharp stick to the eye now, thanks.

Herein lies the problem with trying to be superwoman...

...eventually, you burn the f*ck out. No, you know what? You burn the fuck out.

I started the official countdown 3 days ago...I figured I needed some extra motivation AND something to look forward to, as in: thank fuck this will be over in x days. It's helped.

And the sleeping pills have helped to.

Except tonight I'm tired. T-I-R-E-D. Tired of working. Tired of studying. Tired of working and studying. Tired of losing roughly 1 1/2 hours every day COMMUTING on the bus. Tired of trying to deal with Husband. Tired of living in an apartment building where I hear people below me and OUTSIDE YELLING IN THE MIDDLE OF THE FUCKING NIGHT. (Not unlike the experience E.Spat had - and yes, I'm too TIRED to link it properly, sorry.)

And what is the last possible thing I need to have on my plate right now? Worrying about money. Yes, I'm working a lovely job and getting a nice paycheck with a fabulous 401K and health/etc. plan. However, because of this bar exam, I have to take time off. I'm actually taking 2 weeks off work (well, 9 days, but I don't really count the Friday after the bar exam because I can go in hungover and just have to get through the day)....and because I don't have enough vacation time accrued, I'm taking it UNPAID. Which basically means I'm missing 1 paycheck next month. Which in turn COMPLETELY SUCKS because rent & my whopping student loan payment are both due the first week of August. Fantastic. I'm planning to call Direct Loans tomorrow and see if they'd take a raincheck on my firstborn...or they could have Husband...just not the cat. I'm hoping I get a human with emotions and we can work something out...like let's re-commence the bending over every month in September, say.

And now I've lost some study time when I'm supposed to be getting Agency/Partnerships memorized & down cold tonight. LE BIG, FAT SIGH.

Let's all hold hands in a circle and sing kumbuya (sp?).

Are you serious? It's almost JULY, already?!?

Where have the past few months gone? Why has June decided to fly it wily ass on by?

I was supposed to nail down Evidence tonight (i.e., do more memorization sheets to make sure I have it all memorized) but my tired brain decided I needed a night of & a glass of wine. So I said "okay". It took a lot of arm twisting, let me tell you.

I was planning to go to bed at 10pm, but have gotten sucked into a re-airing of a Frontline episode about the 9/11 commision, Cheney, etc.... and getting ANGRIER by the second.

I may need more wine.

I'm throwing a pity party - wanna' join?

I am T-I-R-E-D. As in my brain is tired of thinking and memorizing.

It's really hard, harder than I ever imagined it would be, to work full time and try to study full time. I wouldn't recommend it. My day starts at about 5:45 am (depending on how snooze-happy I am) and I don't get home until about 12 hours later. Then I have to try and get a few hours of studying in, eat, work out, and not go to bed still vibrating (which reminds me, I need to go take my sleeping pill).

I'm not even really watching ANY TV.

Over the weekend, Husband accepted the fact that if he wants the apartment to be clean, he's going to have to do it himself (he's LUCKY I'm still doing the laundry!). I'm still surprised this went down without a fight. It always seems like we have one really knock-down, drag out super-fight when I'm studying for the bar. I still think it's coming, though, because it's one thing to get Husband to agree to clean. It's an entirely different thing for him to actually do it. And I'm sorry, but putting Dawn on the dishcloth and running it over the entirety of the sink does NOT count as cleaning it. He could even use the Clorox spray, for pete's sake.

What's really starting to grate on my nerves is the RIDICULOUS AMOUNT OF HOURS HE SPENDS PLAYING GAMES! GAMES! People, I'm talking about mindless, non-productive, GAMES. Jeeeeeeeeeeezus. With all the time he spends playing games, he could probably have already solved the whole world peace issue. I've been told this is a "guy thing", but he gets NO SLACK right now.

Seriously, it really feels like I'm working 2 jobs. And it TOTALLY SUCKS my hypothetical left nut.

I have, however, started working out again. Well, maybe I should re-phrase that. Yesterday, I ate really well, got my study goals accomplished, and even worked out - I let the elliptical machine kick my ass and then lifted weights. Today, I had 2 little pieces of dark chocolate (FIBER! BONUS!) but still went and let the elliptical pummel me. Someone at work said: "maybe you should tackle one thing at a time - first the bar, then working out when that's done". That doesn't work for me because I like to be on a schedule. Routines are my friend, we go way back. So I'm proud of myself for yesterday and today. Just gotta' keep building on the good days.

As I start to take longer and longer pauses (I'm tired and am about to go brush my teeth & go to bed for SLEEP, SLEEP, WONDERFUL SLEEP), I will leave you all with a good movie suggestion: Kiss Kiss Bang Bang: hysterically funny dark comedy. Val Kilmer & Robert Downey Jr. have excellent comedic timing; not only are they excellent actors, but they're great to watch together. Watch it when you need a break.

Sleep well, everyone, and those of you going to Bar/Bri in the morning remember this: as much as it sucks to be sitting in a lecture, AT LEAST YOU'RE NOT SITTING AT WORK FOR EIGHT HOURS BEFORE YOU GET TO GO HOME AND STUDY. Gosh, don't you wish you were me?!?

The bar gets blamed for alot...and it deserves it.

I've been holding off on posting because I just feel so whiny lately. Working a full-time job and trying to study for this damn bar exam is a b*tch. Seriously. I can think of a thousand sharp objects to the eye that would be more enjoyable.

The tough part for me is the volume of stuff I have to memorize, and since there's no MBE (which I'm ecstatic about), the memorization is basically just rote. It sucks. It's really hard to work a full day, ride the bus an hour home, make dinner, clean up the kitchen (because Husband is really being LAZY right now - more on this in a minute), and then get all revved up to study for a couple hours and not only be productive, but be able to FOCUS...that magical thing. Writing essays is fun compared to sitting and doing my memorization sheets.

I am now sleeping! I am falling asleep and staying asleep the entire night. It's beautiful! Now if I can just get myself up at 5:00 am to go work out... sigh. If I don't work out in the morning, it just doesn't happen. I've been taking walks during my lunch but that's not the serious ass kicking type of exercise my body needs right now...and I'm not talking for stress reduction, just size reduction.

Husband ... what is there to say? At least he'll go buy me Godiva dark chocolate (my fave) and sneak up and just shove it in my mouth while I'm studying. :-) That's actually quite nice. Of course it adds to the reason I need a body boot camp. He always gets cranky when I'm studying. We already have a cat, I don't need another child! And for chrissakes, please just keep the kitchen cleaned up! I can't study when the house is a mess - not because I'm open to distraction but because my Type A self can't handle it. I've really tried to cultivate the art of letting things sit until he does it during the last (almost) 3 years of married life, but when I'm studying for the bar, I don't have the extra patience for that.

Satuday night we went to see the Black Crowes. It was an excellent concert! I won tickets (I'm having deja vu - did I already write about this?) and even the parking was free (non paved, big whoop), so it was a free night. Husband had a nap Saturday afternoon and he woke up in Grumpyville and proceeded to spend the next several hours picking fights (yes, plural) with me. When we finally got to the concert and each consumed a beer the evening was fine. The cool thing about this venue was that we saw Mt. Ranier and then it was a full moon and it looked like one of those print-type framed pictures you'd find in an art gallery. Gorgeous. The actual performance of the Black Crowes was awesome - they're really great live! I never really listened to them prior to going to the concert (it was free, why not go?), but I left a fan. Not a fanatic, but a definite fan.

Oh, and Husband bought me a concert t-shirt...perhaps to make up for picking fights with me?

I decided last week to order a whopping stack of books from the library. Why? Because obviously I have plenty of time to do fun reading. The one I started this morning (on the bus - didn't have study stuff with me & had to run to catch the bus so there wasn't time and NO I DIDN'T PACK MY BAG THE NIGHT BEFORE AND PURPOSEFULLY PUT THE NOVEL IN AND NOT THE UCC SALES MEMORIZATION SHEET IN THERE. THE CAT DID THAT, OKAY? JUST BACK OFF) hmmm....someone feeling a little guilty, perhaps? Anyways, I started "Me Talk Pretty Someday" by David Sedaris. It's very funny - had me laughing out loud on the bus.

And now it's time for me to take my sleeping pill (I take it an hour before going to bed) and do some studying while sitting in bed. Which really means reading my David Sedaris book as the thought of having to memorize any more than the uh, 20? minutes I already did tonight makes me want to stab things. I don't even want to sit and watch TV (too much input)...I just want to sit. Just sit and do nothing.

How about a little motivation: I only have 6 weeks. AUGHHHH! Crap!

I'm still going to read the fun book while laying in bed. I'm a tired girl...I mean, with all the studying, working, and cleaning up and taking care of the cat I have to do (because somebody is too busy being a Master Gamer)...

Given the right circumstances, I could definitely be a pillhead.

I have had insomnia for about the last 1 1/2 - 2 weeks. I went to the doctor today. I was prescribed sleeping pills. HOORAY. No really, hallelujia.

I'm generally not a pill-drug-etc kind of person (aside from alcohol, of course), but being this exhausted has changed my mind. I haven't been able to study at all this week because my brain just can't focus. Last night I was trying to memorize and literally felt my brain grinding to a halt.

What really sucks is I've gone to bed earlier and earlier every night and I can't sleep. I'm exhausted, and I just lay there, trying to get comfortable. Once I do get to sleep, I wake up several times a night. And nothing makes Jane a grumpy girl like interrupted sleep combined with lack of sleep.

The doctor said that if the sleeping pills work and I sleep the entire night tonight, I'll feel worse tomorrow because my body will be crashing. Yeah.

I'm going to just sit here and let my brain zone out until time to take my pill and go to SLEEP, SLEEP, BEAUTIFUL SLEEP!

Calling all you sympathizers and empathizers...

Warning: this post is a very selfish, bar-studying-induced-crazy rant. I just have to get it out or else things may get thrown and I may become catatonic.

I'm finding it so depressing and just SAD that 2 years after graduating from law school, I am *still* studying for a damn bar exam. Granted, this is my first time with Washington, but I'm so disenchanted with myself for not being able to accomplish being licensed yet. I'd really like to frame my diploma, but I can't because I made a deal with myself when I got it that I wouldn't frame it until I was licensed, because it means all of squat without a license. And where am I 2 years later? Spending another summer studying. I'm not stupid; I understand the amount of hard work this requires and I've never been afraid of hard work. I worked hard in law school and believe it or not, I worked my ass off all three times I tried California (even though my ass is bigger, so unfair!).

I know California was a character building experience, yada yada, and I'm probably ahead of the game as far as preparing and going through the experience of taking a bar exam, but I so wish this bar exam was happening 2 years ago. I feel like I'm the only one left from my law school class still not licensed. WTF is up with that. Of course I don't know that for sure because I haven't kept in contact with everyone (or very many people, actually) and I know the bar exam doesn't define me and I'm lucky to be in a position where I can take it... BLAH BLAH BLAH. Regardless of all that, I still feel like a loser for not having passed yet. And that is the suckiest thing of all. It's starting to feel embarassing when people at work find out I went to law school and am studying for the bar and ask when I graduated. You know, it's almost like I'm turning into that person that everyone rolls their eyes about because "she's still trying to pass the bar".

Is this really about becoming an embarassment to my family & friends or just to myself?

Okay, rant over.

Today has been my first serious, gung-ho, no-messing-around study day. I have done 2 1/2 topics, with memorization and essays for 2 of them. I say 1/2 a topic, because this last topic is kicking and screaming the entire way. I can't get anything to stick in mybrain - the memorization is just not happening. I started at 8:30 am and now it's 10 1/2 hours later, so perhaps I'm a little burned out. Of course I did take a few breaks in there, so it's more like 10 hours. I had planned to go for 2 more hours, but just don't see that happening...which will totally throw my whole schedule off for the month of June, and that is unbelievably irritating. (And not just because I'm type A. Okay, well, maybe...)

A few hours ago I was laying on the floor memorizing and singing my own words to Aerosmith's Crazy: cra-a-a-azy, cra-a-a-a-azy, baby, I've gone cra-a-a-a-a-a-a-azy... From there I've gone into a crash...perhaps something to do with the fruit juice and lemon heads I was popping like a crack addict earlier? Note to self: no sugar tomorrow while studying!

My real dillema is this: I don't think I can do another 2 hours tonight, although I still have 1/2 of one topic to memorize and an essay to do. I just think it will turn into an exercise in frustration and meltdowns. So how do I give myself permission to say I've done enough today without feeling guilty?

OUCH!!!

So today's big discovery at work was the purpose of those little yellow warning stickers in the insides of copy machines. You know, the ones that have a triangle with an exclamation mark and a person holding out a finger over heat waves.

Of course, this discovery came after I'd thoroughly scorched one finger and lightly burned 2 other fingers.

I somehow jammed the copier, and was trying to fix it when I decided my right index finger was one burn + blister short of a perfect day. I just so happened to be copying these memorization sheets for bar study when the jam happened...which is, I suppose, karma's way of telling me I ought NOT be using company resources for personal stuff. Naughty.

In any event, my index finger blistered within a whopping 2 minutes, a personal record for me! The time it has taken for me to type this entry out is probably also a record, given that I'm a finger short on the typing front.

I'm just glad it's raining and univiting outside.

Why, you ask? Do I have a fixation with rain? Not necessarily, although I am a big fan, which is good considering where I live. No, the real reason I'm glad it's rainy today (and forecasted for the whole weekend) is because this weekend is "no really, I'm going to start seriously studying for the bar, really". Sigh. Today it felt like I put in about 15 hours but only produced 3 hours' worth. At least it's a serious concerted effort.

My chiropractor sent me home with an exercise ball on Thursday. I sat on it almost the entire day, and my back was nice and loose. I'm hoping that this is the nice little low-effort magic key to flat abs. Ha.

Anyways, I'm revving up for a nice, cold beer and some poker playing with Husband. I'd better win, that's all I have to say.

My identity thief stole my motivation!

Well, if you think finding out that someone has your social security number, date of birth, and mother's maiden name sucks, try dealing with the aftermath!

I have so far logged between 4-5 hours on the phone, an evening filling in forms/signing affidavits, way too long filling out an online form with the FTC, and longer than I care to admit attempting to file a police report.

And just let me tell you about trying to file a police report. I first went to my city's police department website, and in a shining tribute to the effectiveness of local government, not ONE SINGLE PHONE NUMBER worked. So I then proceeded to go to the main Seattle police department website. To make a very long, painful and extraordinarily frustrating story a bit shorter, I got bounced from automated system to automated system. Once I got through a live person, I kept getting transferred to different precints and departments before I was actually able to make a report.

And I'm fiercely behind in this month's study goals, and I think tonight Husband & I are going to go out and get a margarita...after the ending of America's Next Top Model, that is.

I'm me, no really, I'm ME.

I discovered yesterday morning that I am a VICTIM OF IDENTITY THEFT.

I wish I could add something snarky, like I saw someone who has my exact outfit! or looks just like me!, but alas, this is a very serious, take-10-years-off-my-life reality.

Before I launch into the terrible details, I am ordering all of you to PROMPTLY go and order your credit report RIGHT THIS INSTANT. Pay that stupid $25 fee to have a year's subscription to all 3 reports - IT'S WORTH IT.

I happen to have the year subscription, and have been getting emails from them for the last week that I have "alerts" on my credit report. I finally logged in yesterday morning (after having to call them to see what my password, etc was) and to my absolute HORROR, I saw ELEVEN NEW CREDIT CARDS HAD BEEN OPENED IN THE PAST TWO MONTHS!!!

No, I'm not kidding. I so wish I was.

After spending THREE hours on the phone to the different credit card companies and credit reports (I'm glad it was a slow morning at work), I found out the following:

*Whomever opened these accounts did so from MY OLD APARTMENT in California. We (yes, you too) are now wishing heap of heinous evil to happen to HIM. (I like to think that if it was a girl so badly desirous of money, she'd go find herself a sugar daddy.) I of course had to physically restrain myself from driving down to my old apartment and taking this fellow DOWN (because of course I could actually inflict any real damage).

*This obviously upstanding citizen and contender for the Most Ethical Human Being of the Year award not only has my name, my date of birth, and my mother's maiden name, but also has my social security number.

*I do not know how he got my social security number, but WE (you too) are blaming the terribly inefficient and not-fully-functioning post office branch from there. (I had problems with getting my mail the ENTIRE time I lived there, and they have NOT forwarded all our mail up here.)

The good news, and what perhaps makes me the luckiest identity theft victim ever, is that only 1 credit card had a balance - a whopping $26. One of the credit card companies surmised that because all these accounts are so newly opened, this Model Human Being was just lining up as many credit cards as HE could before going crazy.

I now have a 7 year fraud alert on my credit, so anytime anyone tries to open up an account under my name, they have to call me at my home phone. Oh, and there was a Discover card application that was in the middle of being processed that was, of course, immediately shut down. HA. HA HA. HA. Take that.

I really just wish and hope (as do YOU) that he gets taken down in an extraordinarily emarassing and humiliating way. And I sooo wish I could be there to see it and then jump out from behind the hidden camera and say something witty and evil. Yes, witty and evil. Like YOU GO TO HELL, YOU GO TO HELL AND YOU DIE. You know, something mature like that.

I WANT MY MONEY BACK.

Tonight Husband, the in-laws, and I went to dinner and a movie. What movie did we so foolishly pick? MI:III. I KNOW, I didn't want to give any money to that crazy Tom Cruise either, but the in-laws treated us, so I justified it as empty entertainment. WE ALL LEFT EARLY. No, not kidding. It might have been more effective to just take dollar bills and tear them up.

At one point, I actually LAUGHED OUT LOUD at the reveal of the "plot twist". Don't go see it, wait until it comes out on video. And then wait until they show it on TV...and there's nothing else you'd rather be doing.

Because I'm STUPID, that's why.

Last Friday night I indulged in a piece of carrot cake with cream cheese frosting. Saturday morning, I woke up with a cough. It has gotten progressively worse. The cough, that is. While I have sounded like I'm losing both my lungs on a regular basis, I have felt absolutely fine.

Until this morning. As soon as I got to work and sat down, my sinuses decided it was time to get in on the fun, and decided to permanently attach me to a kleenex box all day. Wowsers did my nose run all day. I still feel fine...aside from the elephant sitting on my sinus cavity and the fact that whenever I cough I sound on the verge of death.

So, why did I eat that damned cream cheese frosting? BECAUSE I'M STUPID, THAT'S WHY. Hmmm, maybe you're wondering what I'm talking about? Well, this is why I'm basically vegan - whenever I eat dairy products (except if eggs & milk are baked) I get an almost instantaneous respiratory/sinus infection. So yes, I'm stupid.

Oh yeah, and when did my over-the-counter cough suppressant wear off? EXACTLY WHEN I GOT ON THE BUS. Yes, I was that loud, obnoxious, hacking person sitting behind you on the bus. I couldn't hardly stop coughing long enough to take some more cough suppressant & pop 15 coughdrops in my mouth. Miserable. I'm sorry if I coughed on you - I was trying to make sure I only coughed into my kleenex, but I AM SICK, I couldn't help myself! I completely understand if you went home and bathed in Clorox. I would have, except I haven't yet made it off the couch.

Oh yeah, and what else is this little dairy-induced respiratory crap hit just in time for? My in-laws are coming tomorrow night. Hooray.

Phase I: complete!!!

I have now finished phase I of my study plan. This entails(ed?) making a 1 page sheet for each topic with everything I have to memorize on it (no margins, small font, etc.). Some topics were a bit attitudinal with this plan, ahem, Property, I'm looking at you, but I'm all done. I'd get up and do the Happy Dance if I wasn't so tired...and enjoying a glass of wine.

Tomorrow starts with phase II: memorization. Which means if you see some crazy girl on the bus tomorrow morning appearing to talk to herself, it's just me memorizing. Be nice - maybe buy me some coffee?

I do have superb news: I GOT HIRED! I found out Friday morning, although it isn't quite official because the HR girl was on vacation and will be back tomorrow. But I got an offer and it feels damn good. Now I'm officially no longer "that temp girl". Tomorrow will be interesting as far as seeing what all the benefits are and how much of a raise I'll be getting over what the temp agency was paying me.

I was incredibly productive today: cleaned, went like gangbusters through 4 topics (I'm superwoman, didn't you know?), and got 3/4 of the way through the laundry. And now I'm looking forward to going to bed in a 1/2 hour. I'm sure this week I'll update more - most likely driven beyond frustration from trying to force knowledge into my head. Sigh. Hope you all have a less brain-intensive week than I will.

Craigslist: where couples find other couples to date.

I know I owe some sort of explanation as to why I ended up ridiculously hungover on Saturday. And yes, I realize I'm finally getting to this on Tuesday night.

Here's the short story:
I went sniffing about on Cragislist in the tickets section, because there are several concerts I would love to see (Fiona Apple and Pearl Jam among the many), and saw a posting for 2 free tickets to a Mariners game. Turns out this couple had 2 extra tickets, and didn't want any money - just beer in return. I called Husband, who thought it sounded potentially very shady, but we decided to go anyways: (1) we were meeting at a brewery across the street from the stadium, so if they looked crazy, we could just be a no-show; (2) they were taking just as much of a risk as we were.

We ended up going and had a surprisingly nice time - the tickets were fantastic, the game was fucking cold, and the couple was very nice (can't think of another adjective starting with "f"). Except the guy was completely blotto...I mean, I'm not sure I've ever seen someone that drunk still functioning. We ended up leaving the game early (it was so cold people were walking around with sleeping bags wrapped around them - & it was too cold to properly hold a beer) and went to this cool place called The Garage (incidentally owned by Eddie Vedder's brother).

We ended up leaving there when we got kicked out because the guy was so drunk he passed out while we were sitting at one of the tables. Husband & I put up a valiant effort to keep up to how much they were drinking, and ended up getting quite drunk ourselves. In fact, I got so loopy I'm fairly sure I have her the info on this website - which I NEVER do!!! Well, hardly ever do. I certainly don't go around advertising this, so I'm hoping that I really didn't give her the website. Oh well.

***
I still don't know if I'll get hired, and at this point I care more about knowing the outcome than the actual outcome. My gut tells me they probably won't hire me, and I'm actually okay with that. If they don't, I guess it wasn't supposed to be, and there's probably something better out there...at least I keep telling myself that. I'm also still studying - although tonight hasn't been as productive because Husband coerced me into going to Target. COERCED. I swear. I mean, he totally had to suggest it twice and everything...what a bully, huh? Both of my bosses are gone tomorrow for all-day meetings elsewhere, and since I anticipate a fairly dead day, I'm taking some study stuff with me. It can't hurt, and you never know - I just may learn secured transactions after all. But let's not get ahead of ourselves...

hung.o.ver.

At this point in my hangover recovery, all I have to say about last night can best summed up like this:

BEER!
BEER.!
Beer.

uh, beer.

(N.B.: This would be entirely more effective had the font option decided to actually work.)

I just sent Husband out for the big hangover reinforcements - gatorade. It's come to this.

Just hand me the bottle of wine and nobody gets hurt.

I have lots of things to say, but am super tired so a few of these things may come out in list form (cut me just a wee bit of slack, Roonie, please!).

1. My inner chocolate addiction has GOT TO CALM DOWN. I think it's a problem when you're having no-sugar-added hot cocoa packets several times per day. I can't keep this up much longer, or the food police are going to be knocking down my door, no-sugar-added or not. Not to mention the fact that I really don't have the expendable funds to be getting a decaf-soy-medium-no-whip-mocha from Seattle's Best Coffee every morning.

2. Between Saturday and Tuesday, I made my short outline for 4 topics. Now I just have to get through the other 50234 topics and then memorize the short outlines. And I'm thinking tonight is going to turn into the second night in a row of not being able to remove myself from the couch.

The bigger issue for me this week occurred when I found out that although I'm doing a bang up job in my current position, and was told just last week of all the possibilities for upward movement within the company, apparently my law degree may prevent me from being hired on permanently. I'm quite frustrated. I hate being in limbo - from the start, everyone there has told me they selected me with the intention of hiring me on permanently, but then one of my bosses mentioned to another co-worker in our group (who nicely clued me in) that they would hire me in an instant but I am taking the bar exam and am leaving...oh, and apparently there now isn't anywhere to move up in the company.

So if I get this situation right, I'm doing a fabulous job, knocking the socks off everyone, but my law degree may prevent me from getting hired and now there's no possibility of upward mobility when last week there was? This, this is rich. WTF is really all I have to say...WTF.

Of course it's not over until it's over. And I really am trying to keep a good attitude - if it doesn't happen, there's something better out there, but IT STILL SUCKS. Words of wisdom? Anyone?

Yes, cat, you now have my attention.

The cat is most emphatically NOT a fan of me studying in the evenings. Actually, he wasn't at all pleased with me studying yesterday. I think it's safe to say that he's just not on board with this whole studying plan at all. I tried to explain to him that this is what has to be done, but he's not buying it.

I'll be sitting at the table, and all of a sudden I see his little head pop up, peeking at me over the top of the table. Now, I ask you: how can I possibly study with such unbearable cuteness like that?

And we're off to the races...

I have officially started studying for the WA bar exam. Actually, I started yesterday evening. I know this may seem a big aggresive, but remember I'm still going to be working up until maybe 2 weeks before the exam, so it's all about maximizing the time now.

Through a fellow blogger (E. Spat), I was able to buy a girl's study materials from last summer, and boy are they fabulous! I actually met up with both of them yesterday, which was quite nice. E. Spat was just as cool as you'd think -actually, more so.

And cool as it was, it's quite jarring to realize that the stuff I write here doesn't just go off and dissapear into cyberspace. It's there as a permanent record. To those of you who have met fellow bloggers, what was it like? Did you find that you had inadvertently already decided what they should be like? And for those of you who already knew me - is this site a fair representation of ME?

Don't you just hate that...

...when you happen to be walking by the glass doors of a filled conference room just as you are adjusting the waist-line of your pants.

Splendid.

So that's what it's like when you get your back cracked.

I went to the chiropractor today.

I finally figured out that the pain that shoots down my leg is from a pinched nerve, and today was so bad I finally reached my pain threshold. And you know that it was pretty bad for me to decide I needed to go get fixed today.

I went after work, and I think I found a great chiropractor. He's more of a sports medicine guy, and attractive to boot. He took 2 x-rays of my lower back, and shock of all shocks, my spine is CROOKED, which is PINCHING MY NERVES. Instead of being straight, it curves to the right. He thought it was a combination of: law school (HA!), some crookedness as a child, bad posture (naughty!), and then the rollerblading incident a few months ago just made it worse. The look on the chiropractor's face was disconcerting at best. Seriously, it's frightening to see your spine curving to the right more than just a little bit when it should be straight and you're only 27.

Needless to say, I'm seeing him again tomorrow and Wednesday, probably every single day for a while. He did some adjustments today, and mentioned that I'd probably be sore tonight. Uh, YEAH, that's one way to put it. Erg.

Tomorrow I'm pulling out the Wonder Woman suit.

Today I accomplished everything on my list. Seriously, everything. I got every piece of laundry done, the entire apartment cleaned, some mail taken care of, my sister's birthday present ready to go, my WA bar exam application filled out & my character references contacted, a pasta salad made for lunches this week, and my nails done.

Holy cow. Maybe tomorrow I'll take on world peace.

Yesterday Husband & I went shopping. We started at The Sharper Image...apparently we were both feeling like Big Spenders! We walked out with this awesome ambience/soothing noise radio alarm clock (the "ebb tide" soothing setting rocks) which was way too expensive, an emergency battery/uv/hand crank radio/flashlight/clock (we've decided we should put together some sort of emergency kit), and a new umbrella for me!!! I can't tell you how excited I am about this umbrella. It's got a vent so it's wind resistant & won't turn inside out, which totally pisses me off, and has a button to make it open and close automatically. Yes, we're talking luxury in umbrella-land. I'm so excited I actually hope it rains tomorrow so I can use it! And it's got a super nice handle - very comfy.

Right now I'm watching a What Not to Wear marathon and this chick has a black obsession that is making me itchy because as Husband says, I'm not allowed to buy ONE MORE PIECE OF BLACK CLOTHING!!! I don't care what you say, Stacy and Clinton, you'll have to pry my black and white wardrobe from my cold, lifeless fingers.

Doing the happy dance.

This morning in the shower I realized one topic I will not be encountering (yet again) on the Washington bar this summer: REMEDIES.

HA HA HA HA HA!

Happy dance? Yes. More like Happy STOMP!

Despite the fact that I encountered remedies 3x for the California bar, AND the fact that the Washington bar has Article 9 on it, I'm still savoring this realization. Of course, all happy dances will stop tonight because Article 9 makes me cry. It's such a bully.

Uff-dah...uff-dah indeed.

Thank goodness tomorrow is FRIDAY! I am so tired I think I could sleep for a week straight. I should also give you a warning that because I am so tired, don't expect this post to flow.

Yesterday I decided to pull Miss Sanguine out of the closet and go to a bar with a coworker and a bunch of her friends after work. I usually have a great time once I go out, but I have to pull my own teeth to get myself out. So it's impressive I even went. And I had a great time - I drank good beer, met some cool people, and had fun. Of course when I finally got home last night, the cat really let me have it because I was home late. Naughty me! He must have gotten over it by this morning, because he woke me up at 5:00 a.m. giving my hand a very thorough bath. At least I was clean today.

I am interviewing with one of my two bosses (boss #2) tomorrow for the job I'm already working - so I can be a permanent employee & make more moolah instead of still being through the temp agency. My other boss (boss #1) opted not to interview me because she wants me for the job. Which is great - it's always nice to be wanted. I'm a little nervous about interviewing tomorrow, though, because I haven't had nearly as much interaction with boss #2 as I have with boss #1. I'm sure it will go fine, but I'm annoyed that I even have to go through this. And on CASUAL FRIDAY. Erg. I'm totally taking jeans and changing afterwards. If everything goes well, I hope to report soon that I'm a permanent employee and making a nice chunk more than I currently am. So, keep your fingers crossed!

What else....OH YEAH. Yesterday morning I missed my bus. Barely. I even ran after it, but the bus driver evidently hates me. So this morning, in my zealousness to NOT miss the bus again, I ended up catching the earlier bus and got to work at an impressive 7:15 a.m. !.

One of the attorneys at work brought me her bar stuff today. It's from 2002 and she's loaning it to me, but it's a great start. I found a girl through the VERY AWESOME Ms. E. Spat over at Will Work for Favorable Dicta (too lazy to link, look at my favorites list) who is selling me all her bar stuff from last summer. I can't believe how I've lucked out! Thanks, E. Spat, YOU ROCK!!!

I'm sure I have more to say, but I'm totally fading away (and it's only 7:22 p.m.). I think I'll just lay here listlessly on the couch flipping through channels until time to go to bed.

Ciao.

It looks like someone has a case of the Mondays!

Somehow I lost my mind last night and convinced myself that because of the time change, getting up this morning would feel like I had slept an extra hour. Um...NOT SO MUCH! Then I got to work and ended up printing like 50000 pages and then stopping to think if I was supposed to. I was, as it turns out, so it was all okay. But for a minute there I about had a hissy fit at myself.

Today began the carrot takeover; I'm back on the Healthy Eating/Fat Camp bandwagon, and I fear I may just turn orange by Thursday. And no, I'm not eating only carrots, I'm just only allowed carrots if I want to snack...and since today was the start of yet another diet revolution, I wanted to snack all day. Good thing I had a huge bag of carrots with me.

I think I've decided to go with used study materials. Especially after I called Bar/Bri to see what the so-called "alumni discount" would net me. WELL, after you factor in the total cost of the home study program costing $2100.00 (yes, I said TWO THOUSAND, ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS), it will cost me $1650.00 for some fucking Bar/Bri books. ARE YOU SERIOUS?!? The other main study company will cost me in the neighborhood of $1200.00 I DO NOT FUCKING THING SO. I posted a want ad on Craigslist, and a girl is offering to sell me her 2005 Bar/Bri books for $250...and you better believe that I'm going with that. Jeez. Talk about it all being a big, fat money making scheme. Seriously.

(By the way, I had this much to write about b/c I kept notes today whenever something popped into my head...as I'm just not sure how either the company or the temp agency would feel about me blogging while at work. Oh, and I've applied for the position as a permanent employee, and I feel pretty good about it - but keep those fingers crossed for me!)

Still dealing with writer's block...

I realize I've ignored you guys this past week. I'm sorry. I'll try to keep it up better, promise. I'm still having serious writer's block - probably the biggest reason I haven't written anything for a week.

I decided to take another foray into baking tonight - spritz cookies with my cookie press I got for Christmas. Well, my cookie press is a piece of shit. I couldn't get the cookie dough to separate from the cookie press after I'd pushed it through the shape disc. I finally got so fed up I quit. I'll just use cookie cutters on the rest of the dough later.

Another slightly more successful task I took on today was finishing the rest of a bottle of red wine. 1/2 of the bottle, in fact. I think I made all alcoholics proud by drinking it straight out of the bottle, and made the French happy by eating sourdough bread with it.

In the next few weeks I have to sign up for the Washington bar exam and decide what I'm going to do about getting study materials. Do I want to buy/borrow used books? Or should I give myself the full advantage of getting new stuff? If I decide to buy new stuff, do I go with Bar/Bri or Rigos? And I'm absolutely not going to a class so I can keep working, not to mention the fact that I don't want to waste time sitting in a class. I know what I need to do - I just want to get books so I can start memorizing now. The beautiful thing about the WA bar exam is there is NO MBE!!! HA HA HA! I know this will sound a little crazy, but I'm actually excited about starting studying, because I won't have to divide up my time between essays and MBE - just essays.

This last week Husband & I finally watched Walk the Line. I thought it was really good. I haven't seen Capote yet, so I can't really say that the right person didn't win the Oscar, but I was mightily impressed with Joaquin Phoenix. We're thinking of signing up for Netflix - any horror/love stories out there?

How to hang pictures the Negligent way.

1. Start with a rubber mallet. This is very important. Using a regular hammer will result is massive amounts of damage to the wall, the nail, and YOU!

2. Screw rulers, measuring tape or levels; eyeballing it is the way to go.

3. Select the first point in the wall.

4. Hang the picture.

5. Swear profusely, as the picture is 7-8 inches too high.

6. Pull out the nail and select a spot on the wall about 3 inches lower than your first attempt.

7. Hang the picture.

8. Again, swear profusely.

9. Again, pull out the nail and choose a spot about 4 inches lower than the last misguided selection.

10. Hang picture.

11. Swear profusely again, because the picture is still about 2 inches higher than it should be, but decide you've had enough pounding on the wall and GIVE THE F*CK UP and leave the picture where it is to mock you everytime you walk by it.

12. Repeat this process SIX more times.

*SIGH*

As you can see, the day that started with a lovely gash in my finger from my adorable (yes, adorable) Ikea wineglass has not gotten any better. On top of that, I've been feeling very uninspired when it comes to posting, but still feel an obligation to write something. I've just felt very stilted and blocked. Maybe I need to go back to doing lists?

That's certainly one way to justify lazyiness.

This morning as I was washing a wine glass, it decided to break. On my little finger. It's really quite a nice, deep gash. This was about 3 1/2 hours ago. If I don't move my finger, it doesn't gush blood. But I still have to clean, especially since I gave myself a "pass" last weekend due to being sick. Husband thought that perhaps I should go to the emergency room, but I'm stubborn.

Last night Husband & I went to see the movie V for Vendetta. He was convinced it was just going to be another Batman, but he ended up loving it. I did, too, although it did get a little gory at the end. But I thought it was great. Everyone should go see it.

Our pizza is here now (cheeseless but delish), and I'm not feeling very chatty, so that's all for now.

Thank god today is FRIDAY, that's all I have to say.

The alarm is on Husband's side of the bed. This morning, instead of pressing SNOOZE, he pushed OFF. Yeeeeeaaaaaahhhhhh.

I woke up when I was supposed to be leaving the apartment to catch my bus. I suppose that's not so bad for oversleeping, I mean it could have been hours. Still, not good when you're new on a job and hoping they decide to hire you on as a permanent employee.

As soon as I realized the time, I went like gangbusters and was out of the house in 15 minutes, showered and everything. 15 minutes. I think that's fairly impressive! I ran to the bus stop (which fortunately is in front of my apartment complex), but just barely missed the bus. And then I had to wait for twenty-five minutes for the next bus. Except I didn't realize I would be waiting that long, or I wouldn't have ran out of the house like I did. I ended up getting to work a half hour late. Sigh.

I had 2 different training sessions today. Ugh. And I still have another session to go on Monday. Where I work on Fridays is super casual - as in jeans and t-shirts. Since I was running so late this morning, I grabbed the first t-shirt I found in my closet, which just so happened to be a Beatles shirt (oh, I'm such a rocker-cool chick). Well, after the 5th or 6th person asked me if I "liked the Beatles?", Mz. Snarky in my really wanted to respond: "ACTUALLY, NO, I HATE THEM." Of course I didn't, new job and all. It just kills me, though, how so many people feel the need to be Captian Obvious.

Ooooohkay, I think it's time I take my inner bitch and buy her a beer or two. Actually, I'm taking Husband on a surprise date to the Red Hook Brewery tonight. I'm very excited, as we really like their beer. So glad tonight is Friday!

Ahem, why don't you suck face the ENTIRE bus route?

I caught an earlier bus today, and was treated to a couple playing serious tonsil hockey the entire time. It was the type of making out that you did back in high school - where there's no room for breathing. It was almost cute for the first 30 seconds. But after twenty minutes of seeing tongue action (don't make me go into it), I felt like I should take up a donation on the bus for a hotel room.

In non-teenage-hormone-induced news, my cold has moved down into my chest and now I'm producing quite impressive coughs. Soooo much fun. Tomorrow is my first day of doing this job all by myself. And I'm not fully trained. The ensuing chaos should be FUN. It is nice to be getting back into a routine again. I'm very much a routine person...I like having a schedule. Actually, I should say I THRIVE on a schedule. It helps me manage my life better.

Hmm...I guess I've run out of things to say. Now it's off to hunt down supper...

Update: I forgot to mention the most disturbing part of the makeout story: it wasn't 2 teenagers. It was 2 adults having this little slobber session.

TWO

Two what, you ask?

Two, as in the number of kleenex boxes I've gone through. Yes, TWO.

Any ideas for repairing my poor, chapped nose?

Yes, I'd love a heaping side order of GUILT with that decision.

I didn't go to work today.

I am still HIGHLY miserable. The gnomes in my sinus cavities are still doing tequila shots. When they refused to leave, I tried to flush them out by drinking 89 gallons of orange juice, but they're pretty tenacious little buggers.

I doped myself up on Nyquil last night, and I think after 10 hours it finally wore off. And now I'm lovingly stroking the Dayquil box.

The lotion-y kleenex that we got yesterday are making my hands softer, but my poor nose is about as raw as it gets. Sigh.

Sympathy may now be forthcoming.


***
UPDATE: WHY do they make cold medicine so hard to get into? I mean, you already have to go to the pharmacy and sign your life away to get anything that actually works. Or maybe they should just include a pair of scissors in the box of the cold medicine?

This makes things interesting.

My first day went well - I'd go into it, but I'm instituting a policy of silence when it comes to my job. If anyone wants to know more details, email me.

And now I'm sick. Yes, sick. It started yesterday afternoon, and this morning I'm entirely sinus-y. And miserable. I can't be sick tomorrow. Or rather, I can't be going through training like this. Augh. And I don't think not going to work is an option.

Crap.

***
UPDATE: we have NO kleenex in the house, so guess what I've been blowing my nose in? Toilet paper. Better than napkins or paper towels, sure, but I still can't wait to see what shade of red and irritated my nose is by tomorrow morning. At least I'm trying to keep things fun - whenever I get sinus congestion, I sing the song I Feel Pretty (is that the title?). Altogether now, I feel pretty, oh so pretty, I feel pretty and witty and SNOTTY...

***
UPDATE 2: I think I'm going to die. DIE. My entire head is congested. Not even Monty Python can break through, I'm afraid. I dragged Husband out of the house with me to go get Kleenex, cold medicine, orange juice, and a battery for at least one of my (many) watches. Everything except the watch battery was accomplished. Apparently, it's fairly damn hard to get a freaking battery for a watch these days. I am beyond annoyed, because I find my Type-A personality requires wearing a watch when I work. And I am SOL. Sooo frustrated. Yes, I realize I could have gone to a jewelry store (we're talking about Swatch and Eddie Bauer watches, here, nothing fancy...yes, I own many Swatch watches and if any had working batteries I'd wear them). However, by the time Target completely disappointed me by not giving me batteries, I wanted to just come home and die. So I've come home to do so. Now I'm just waiting.

Have I mentioned I'm incredibly whiny when I'm sick?

The final indignity

I just got a lovely reminder of HOW GLAD I am to be OUT of our apartment in California. The people in the leasing office are MONKEYS, and not even the kind they let play with kittens. They were supposed to send us our security deposit back 30 days after moving out. Which would have been roughly 2 weeks ago. Last night after I got back from Wisconsin, Husband mentioned the absent check to me.

So I decided to call them today and see what's going on. WELL, after living there and dealing with these primates, I don't know why I am surprised by the fact that there are issues with this. Here's what really gets me: the least intelligent ape in the office gave the apartment's corporate office the WRONG address. Granted, it was only off by 2 numbers, but still. I KNOW I wrote down the address correctly. Being the nice person I'm trying really hard to be, I said "I'm sure I wrote it down correctly, but my writing can be a bit messy, so it probably looks like 2 different numbers than I wrote". This ape says "no, it's ZZ, not XX, and I can fax it to you if you want ot see it". Me: "well, I'm not going to dispute this with you, so what is the outcome of this?"

(I realize I'm not being very pithy right now, but I'm a little worked up over this, so bear with me.)

Long story short: since she gave the wrong address to the corporate ofice, they sent the check out to the wrong address on May 1st. And now they have to wait 30 days before they'll put a "stop payment" on it and re-send it to the proper address. ALL BECAUSE OF THIS STUPID APE-WOMAN.

*sigh*.

IN OTHER NEWS...I just got a call from the agency and I start working tomorrow. While I was looking forward to having another day to catch up on sleep (my niece & nephew's handiwork), it's kind of nice to start a new job on a Friday, not nearly as brutal as a Monday morning. So wish me luck...

Going on a trip.

Tomorrow I am flying to Wisconsin to surprise my dad for his birthday. This plan was hatched about 5 days ago. Short notice, I know, but when someone else is footing the bill... My family isn't really known for being the planning type. Which could perhaps explain my Type A personality.

Since my sister lives near my parents, I will get to see my niece and nephew. I haven't seen my niece since she was about a month old, and she'll be 1 years old at the end of April, so I'm very excited to see her!

I don't think I'll be able to post until I get back on Wednesday night, but just to keep you coming back for more, I might. There's your carrot. I'm not sure how what kind of withdrawal symptoms I'll have from not being able to check all the websites I visit daily, but this is probably a good weaning period for when I start working and behaving like an adult.

Oh, look who went and got herself a job

I just found out about an hour ago...I GOT A JOB!!!

It's not the non-legal job I interviewed for earlier this week. And it is legal. So I guess I won't be running away from law just yet.

I'm so excited to be a productive member of society again!

When will I learn?!?

My apartment complex has a nice perk: in addition to having a workout room, there's free tanning.

Yes, you probably know where this story is going.

I decided after my workout today that a nice little tanning session would be just the thing. Now, I have very mixed feelings about tanning. On the one hand, I love the feeling of being in a nice, warm cocoon. On the other hand, I always feel like I'm frying not only my skin but my innards.

Take today's tanning session for example: the first few minutes the tanning bed was creaking and I kept wondering what would happen if the glass broke and I fell onto the bulbs themselves. And then I started thinking that if they suggest covering your eyes, shouldn't you cover your vital organs? And what about my uterus? Shouldn't I have some sort of x-ray blanket over it? Then I got to a nice warm point and was finally relaxing and it was over.

Yes, I realize I'm ruining my skin. I know, no lectures necessary. It's not so much about getting a great tan but instead about the warmth and heat. And today was chilly here...which I know is a rationalization.

But here's the thing: this was by no means my first foray into tanning. During lawschool back in the Midwest, I went here and there. So why did I think it would be smart to start with 7 minutes? I DON'T KNOW. I'm an idiot, I realize this. And now my skin has that lovely slightly itchy/tingly feeling. Grrr. Maybe someday I'll learn. *Sigh*

A new addiction, producing a rabid fan.

I'm not yet ready to talk about the finale of Project Runway. I need to process what I consider to be a very anticlimactic end.

Since I dabble in baking (NOT COOKING), I stayed tuned for the first episode of Top Chef. OMG. I'm completely addicted. I know some people will say this is a knock-off of the PBS cooking show (that I cannot, for the life of me, remember the name of), but I never saw that one (1/2 of one episode doesn't count).

And I totally just zoned out for like 20 minutes. I think it's time to go to bed.

Do I smell a job in my future???

Friday I sucked up the rest of my ego and went to a legal temp agency, where I was plied into submission with tales of the many jobs and good hourly wages to come. Of course all of these things remain to be seen. And now I have to get up every morning on the off chance I'll get called in for a job. Which totally sucks, because who wants to get up early and just wait around for the phone to ring? Alas, this is now what I've been reduced to.

I do have an interview tomorrow, and it's NOT through the temp agency (HA!). I'm really excited about it. It's not a legal job, but it's something I'm very interested in and really enjoy and would love to do instead of law. Yes, I said it...INSTEAD OF LAW. I'm usually great in interviews, but I'm a little nervous about tomorrow because I'm so excited.

So wish me luck that I get this job. I don't think Direct Loans will accept homemade baked goods as payment on my law school loans.

I got a haircut today. It was beyond time, and I figured I should look good for tomorrow. I have a terrible track record with getting really bad haircuts, but today's cut was AWESOME! It was more expensive than I normally go for, but totally worth it. Now I will have to go back to the girl who cut my hair today...which I guess means now I have, uh, a stylist? This is impressive, especially for someone who has always gone to cheap-o places because I'm THRIFTY. (No, I'm not calling myself a cheapskate.)

Ok, now I feel like I have to discuss the Oscars. I don't really understand all the Jon Stewart backlash. I thought he was funny. But can I just ponder: since when did MTV invade the Kodak Theater? Or was that just me?

Funny tidbit of the day

Husband & I just saw a promo for the new TV show The Unit.

Husband: Isn't that a gay porn movie?

Me: hardy har har

The name game.

This summer, Husband & I will have been married for 3 years. I haven't ever changed my last name. Initially, it was because I couldn't have my last name different from what I'd already put on my loan application. Then I applied for the bar exam and didn't want to deal with the paperwork. And then I decided I liked my last name and didn't want to change it.

Well this morning Husband & I went to the DMV. I discovered that to change my last name, all I needed was my marriage license and voila! I went home to get my marriage license and got a massive case of anxiety. Although I absolutely consider myself a feminist, I am by no means rabid about it, so I wasn't trying to make any statements. Before getting married I didn't think twice about changing my name.

I never anticipated having so much anxiety and, well, putting on the brakes when it came down to actually changing it. I mean, what's in a name? It's not like my last name is my whole and complete identity. It's just a name, right?

The entire way back to the DMV, I thought about it. Husband & I talked about it, and he said that he would support whatever I wanted to do. I ended up playing the hyphenation game. Yes, now I'm one of those women. Brother. But honestly, it felt right. It didn't really feel right to continue to not change it, and I really wasn't okay with dropping my name entirely, or even just adding it as a middle name.

So now I get to adjust to to a whole new, hyphenated signature.

They sure know how to pick 'em, don't they?

Tonight I ran across the first episode of the next Real World. I think I just may have to tune in to see just how this season's drama unfolds.

My initial thoughts after this first episode:

*MAN, do I feel old!!!
*The anorexic chick needs some intensive inpatient therapy...and meds.
*The obligatory hot, fiery chick (who happens to be "Russian Mafia") is currently with boyfriend, but you all know how that's going to turn out.
*The token gay boy is SO CUTE!
*There are 2 jocks who are just typical.
*The other guy and girl are sort of nondescript for me.

Last night I watched The Amazing Race and it was awesome! I already know who I want to win, but am not ready to commit it to blogging history because I'll probably change my mind. The frontrunners are: "the frosties", those crazy kids from San Fran, and the nerdy couple.

Big spender, that's me.

I watched Dead Poet's Society again this afternoon. That ending always gets to me and makes me cry. But it's such a great film! Sigh.

Husband & I are adjusting to live here in the Seattle area quite nicely. He's working and I'm still...looking. I'm starting to get a little frustrated. Now that the Olympics are over (yes, I'm having withdrawal, thank you for asking) I'm spending literally hours everyday looking for jobs and applying. And so far, I've come up with squat. Yay for progress, ha. Any ideas?

I've also been working on getting our taxes done. The deadline was today, but I think it's quite obvious that's not going to happen. I also started looking up bar review courses (yes, I'm taking the bar exam in July) and they all seem a little whacked out expensive. And I don't know what course to take - do I take Bar/Bri? Do I do Rigos? Do I do something else entirely? Do I just try to find recent books on ebay or Craigslist? I mean, do I really want to drop $2,000 on a course when all I really want are the books? Will doing an entire course make me write essays better when I'm already a good essay writer? Ugh. Help.

Curiosity killed the cat

So curiosity has finally gotten the better of me...I just wanna know what you guys think I'm really like. So go here and tell me what you think.

File this under: Effective Weight Loss Strategies

Last night Husband & I decided to dine at the Cheesecake Factory. I should preface this story by saying that since I'm essentially vegan, I typically have 1-2 options per restaurant. Well, at the Cheesecake Factory, they have this Chinese Chicken Salad, that I really enjoy (of course sans the poultry). I got a craving for the salad, so we decided to go there. Being vegan, I also do not eat cheesecake, so I really was going just for this salad.

I order the salad such: "I'd like the Chinese Chicken Salad WITHOUT CHICKEN." He repeats back the 'sans chicken' part of my order, and I think everything will be great. I continue sipping my wine, excited about the impending yumminess awaiting me.

WELL. My salad comes, and I'm happily eating the first 2 bites. Then I suddenly realize on the 3rd bite that I'm biting into something that is definitely NOT lettuce. I should insert here that I've never eaten meat - not fowl, poultry, or anything that ever had parents, swam, or walked. Now that we have that clear, you'll understand that my brain suddenly stopped working and I went into panic mode when I realized that what I was chewing on was tasteless, rubbery, slightly stringy texture.

WELL WELL WELL. I have never lost my appetite so suddenly. It was instantaneous. The server felt terrible, and immediately took the offending plate away and said that he'd put in an order for a chicken-free salad, but the thought of eating anything else was just unbearable. So instead, I had another glass of wine.

I know some of you may question how the hell I missed that there was chicken in my salad. Well, it was sliced very thin and in the sneaky dinner-time lighting of the restaurant, it looked like a piece of lettuce. And I wasn't paying that close of attention because I figured my salad was sans meat. And for the rest of you that may not think this was a big deal or that I'm overreacting, I'M NOT. Remember, this was my first introduction to chicken.


In other news, I made these fantastic peanut butter, chocolate-chip, oatmeal cookies (from Matha Stewart, of course). They are so yummy. However, I ended up burning the side of my arm on one of my cookie sheets. It's quite the sizeable burn, and it hurts like a b*tch. Husband wanted to know why I burned myself, and I said "because I like pain, of course".

Fashion police, now issuing tickets.

THIS needs to be banned from all things figure skating.

'Nuff said.

Putting those rubber gloves to good use.

What's worse than not having a dishwasher?

Having a dishwasher that does NOT work.

Not only do I have a sink full of dirty dishes, now I have a sinkful of dirty dishes and a dishwasher full of still dirty dishes. *Sigh*

Dick Button is pleased as punch, and so am I.

I'm watching primetime Olympic coverage of Ice Dancing. Of all the winter Olympic sports, Ice Dancing is my favorite. I love everything about it...well, almost everything - those costumes are pretty terrible! But I still love it. I don't think it would be the same without the terrible costumes. I've also gotten quite addicted to curling, thanks to CNBC's serious coverage of it.

On a completely different note: GOOD LUCK TO ALL OF YOU TAKING THE BAR EXAM THIS WEEK! You're all superstars!

The cat is testing out that whole "9 Lives" theory.

The cat has just tonight discovered he can jump up behind the TV and flip the power switch. While I am watching the Olympics. In the span of the last 6 minutes, he did it twice. He is now sitting in solitary confinement. NOBODY messes with mamma's Olympics.

And don't you say this serves me right for watching 75 hours of Olympic coverage everyday.

Ha ha ha

Husband told me this joke tonight, and I'm still cracking up over it (like I am about Heather's pirate joke):

Two potatoes are standing on a street corner. How do you know which one is the prostitute?

The one that says: "Idaho".

HA! Ha ha!


Yes, I am still watching 75 hours a day of Olympic coverage. It's fabulous. I finally have my phone hooked up so I can dissect the games with my sister. And NO, I do NOT want to talk about Bode Miller, our men's hockey team, or the scoring debacle that was the men's figure skating long program. Don't even get me started on that last one.

A big shout-out to the MIDWEST!

This is just because I'm from the midwest. And yes, I know where Muncie, Indiana is. I've even been there. So there.

Emotional investment gone awry.

*Sigh*

Oh, Johnny Weir. What could have, might have, should have been.

I'm more sad for what could have been, how you should have been at the end of your free skate. You should have been holding your head high, smiling ear to ear. You should have been proud of yourself.

The snowboard cross is F-U-N! It makes me want to invest in a snowboard and go hit the slopes tomorrow. Of course, the men's hockey USA v. Latvia also made me want to pick up hockey. Our phone gets set up tomorrow, and I'm going to be calling the ice rink just down the road to see if there's a free skate. Yes, I've been skating forever, although never any lessons. My parents were too interested in music lessons. And now we're getting a little revealing.

Ok, back to the CSI. Yes, I know - shocking! I'm watching non-Olympic TV!!! Go ME!

Well now I'm playin' with the big kids.

Tonight I finally decided to sign up for a site meter. I had been on the fence about this because do I really want to know how many people look at my site? If I know how many people are reading, will I then feel pressure to have to perform? I guess my curiosity won out. So no more hiding, lurkers. And I guess this means I have to accept the fact that when I'm unemployed, I am obsessive about checking the blogs on my list. Which I suppose could make me look like a stalker. Hmmmm.

I'm gonna' need an activity intervention when this is over.

I have figured out something that, were it not for the subject matter, would be downright embarrasing. Ok, even with the subject matter, it's still embarrasing. I figured out that I am watching somewhere in the vicinity of 10 hours a day of Olympics. My friend says I am in the throes of an OVERDOSE. I'm not arguing. I just can't help myself.

Good timing to be laid up with a pulled muscle in my back, huh?

I just finished watching the MOST exciting men's hockey game EVER - USA vs. Latvia. Phew - I thought I was going to hyperventilate by the time it was over. I won't do any spoilers in case there's anyone out there who wants to see it and hasn't, but suffice it to say: in the hockey game of Life, I want THIS MAN as my goalie.

I realize that is probably one of the worst and cheeziest analogies ever. I think all this Olympic-induced TV watching is truly rotting my brain. I may just need to read something super cerebral after the games are over. Any suggestions?

Crashes and wipeouts and mistakes galore!

It's a bad day to be competing in the single women's luge. Also not a great day to be a woman downhill skiier. Yikes! It makes me glad I'm not really even slightly athletic (oh, I'm an amazing skater in my head).

I am feeling better this morning, as in I'm actually able to move, although something still feels pinched down into the top of my right leg. I hope I can avoid going to the doctor (it's the money, or should I say lack thereof?).

Newfound empathy...

...for people with back pain.

I bent over (at the waist, naughty) to pick up the cat this morning. My cat is NOT heavy, probably somewhere in the vicinity of 8 pounds, probably less. Well, as I was straightening up, I felt something pop/burst in my lower back and had IMMEDIATE ACUTE WHITE HOT PAIN!

I have spent the rest of the day laying on the couch in my pajams, icing my back, requiring help to even go to the bathroom.

A few months ago, I was rollerblading on the beach and did one of those almost fall moves, where you lean forward and then snap back to catch your balance...well, that's when my lower right back initially got tweaked. I consulted with my sister, a physical therapist, who suggested ICE IMMEDIATELY. Which I did, and the pain went away.

Then, with packing and moving boxes, it has flared up again. Well, now I can hardly even move without sounding like someone is runing me through with a butcher knife. And I don't think it's a good sign that the pain is radiating down into my butt.

I'll be calling doctor's offices first thing in the morning and update when there's something to update about. Hopefully I'll be given DRUGS! DRUGS! DRUGS! Why did this have to happen on a Sunday?!? At least there's been Olympics on TV for me to be occupied with.

So sad it's heartbreaking.

Michelle Kwan has withdrawn from the Olympics.

This is just so sad. I mean I'm glad she's not going to end up skating terribly and go out that way, but the whole thing just seems so unfair. She was supposed to go out on top. Sigh.

Does it make me an evil person if I hope that Sasha Cohen doesn't even medal?!?

Oh, our ladies ROCK!

I'm watching our ladies hockey team RIP the Swiss team a new ass! With a 5 on 3 disadvantage, we STILL scored!!! The only bit that's a little disconcerting is that our ladies seem to be a bit penalty happy. I hope they can keep the shoving to a minimum to get through to the medal rounds.

Because I'm an Olympics junkie, I watched NBC's re-airing of the opening ceremonies last night. Mostly I just wanted to see our athletes. And my, oh my, wasn't Bode Miller just looking cool as a cucumber? He's such a cool kat. I think it's about time that Bob Costas went to greener pastures. I mean I know you can't have network coverage of the Olympics without Mr. Bob, but last night he really pissed me off. He said something to the effect of: 'most of these athletes don't really have a shot in hell of getting a medal, so the opening ceremonies is the only time they have to really shine'. See, BOB, the thing is, that's just MEAN. I know there are lots of longshots, but that's what makes the Olympics so exciting - the possibility of the unknowns and longshots making it! That's the beautiful thing about the Olympics. And BOB, you are just full of mean beans.

In other news, I spent a good 1/2 hour last night trying to figure out how to change my location city on my site's description. Obviously, I lost patience with trying to figure it out. But yes, I do realize that it needs to be changed. I also know that I need to update my blogroll. Sigh. I'll get to it eventually.

I love my cable!

So apparently living this close to Canada nets you a Canadian cable channel...which just so happens to be broadcasting the opening ceremonies of the OLYMPICS L-I-V-E!!!

I am sooooo stoked. And "stoked" isn't even a word I've ever used. I should just warn you all now: I am an Olmpics freak. These next 2+ weeks will be entirely filled with Olympics. I am watching absolutely every single event that is shown. And maybe with this cool Canadian cable channel, I'll get to watch stuff LIVE, instead of hours later when you can go and find out results online, which is totally not cool.

Finally: the 4 Things Meme

Heather: I didn't forget!

Four jobs you have had:
*Editor at my undergrad’s writing center
*Law clerk
*secretary/receptionist at a chemical company outside Chicago (thank you, temp agency)
*sales assistant at Southern Living magazine in Chicago, which was by far the coolest job I’ve ever had - my boss had a liquor cabinet in his office and we had happy hour every Friday afternoon. It was awesome. Plus I had lots of free time, so I got paid to surf the internet.

Four movies you could watch over and over:
*the remake of the Thomas Crowne Affair (hot hot hot)
*When Harry Met Sally
*Love Actually
*Ferris Bueller’s Day Off

Four places you've lived:
*Alpena, Michigan
*Ogden, Utah
*Marshall, Minnesota
*Valparaiso, Indiana

Four TV shows you love to watch:
*Grey’s Anatomy
*Boston Legal (love me some James Spader)
*America’s Test Kitchen from Cook’s Illustrated (yes, I love PBS)
*Sex and the City (except now I can watch it unedited and uncut WHENEVER I want! HA!)

Four places you've been on vacation:
*Ojai, California
*Florence, Italy (favorite city)
*Norway (in high school my parents & I went all over the Southern half of the country - my dad is Norweigan.)
*Park City, Utah (AWESOME skiing)

Four of your favorite foods:
*Broccoli (yes, seriously)
*Mashed Potatoes
*Oranges (does orange juice count?)
*Wham (it’s a faux lunch meat product made by Worthington Foods and it’s DAMN good, so no mocking!)

Four places you'd rather be right now:
*In Wisconsin with my sister & niece & nephew
*Skiing in Utah (best snow on earth, yo, seriously)
*Chicago
*Does “Employed” count?

Four sites I visit daily: (only 4?!?)
*CNN
*Go Fug Yourself
*Defamer
*all the blogs I read

Four Bloggers you are tagging:
*Ms. 1,000 Words
*Cari G
*Ms. Utopaforia
*and: anyone who hasn’t already done this?

HOO HAH!

WE NOW HAVE INTERNET! AND WE NOW HAVE TV! YAY FOR CABLE!

Of course, we don't get our phone until the 17th. Why? I have NO idea. But whatever, we at least have TV and the internet!

I have lots to say, but I can't because we got this super duper deal on cable where we have just about every channel (not the movie channels), and I have been completely SUCKED into a marathon of Project Runway for the entire afternoon. I was even planning to make myself my birthday cake (albeit a bit late!) today (an angel food cake, from scratch yo), but I can't TEAR myself away from the design mayhem! It's just fantastic. I can hardly break away for food and drink.

So kids, I'll write more later. Maybe I'll liveblog the grammy's. We'll see.

Back in action...sort of

I'm up here in Washington! We arrived today after 2 1/3 days of driving. I was totally planning to do one of those "I'm on my way" sort of posts, but our internet got disconnected way earlier than I thought it was going to. And then I couldn't ever blog from the hotel at night b/c we stayed at ghetto-ass Motel 6's, because they accept pets. And right now I'm scamming one of my new neighbor's internet connection, even though it's super slow and sucky.

Comcast is supposed to come and give us a phone, cable, and internet at some point, but the cell phone kept cutting Husband off right when the Comcast people were about to tell him what day/time. So it'll be a fun little surprise whenever they get here.

Our stuff is supposed to get here Saturday morning, and I can't wait to get everything organized and set up. Oh, and I'm totally doing laundry right now and it's F-U-N!!!

K, we gotta' go grocery shopping. We dropped $300 at Target this afternoon, which was WAY FUN. I got some super fun cleaning stuff and other goodies. Oh, and there was a fire at another one of the buildings this evening. Fun times!

I'll post all about our trip up here and moving in as soon as Comcast sets us up.

all ready to go

I am done! Everything is packed and ready to go for 9:00 am tomorrow morning. I can't believe it's all really happening tomorrow.!. Even though I checked all the cupboards and closets and everywhere, I have this nagging feeling that tomorrow after the movers come, I'll discover a treasure trove of shit I forgot to pack. And if that happens, I'm going to just THROW IT ALL AWAY.

I am incredibly tired, and I think I'm going to go to bed. Everything aches.

oh. just oh.

Apparently I decided to have 37 beers last night.

And my head feels like it was in a soccer match.

Happy birthday to me.!.

Husband reports I was a fun, happy drunk but not really functioning by the end of the night. And you should see the pictures. We met these two Australian guys who had just flown in yesterday and came straight to the pub, and apparently I invited them over today (with beer)...which will be tricky if they actually show up given that we've got to finish up packing because the movers are coming TOMORROW MORNING.

Yes, I invited two random Australian guys from the pub (we were at a British pub) over. It was just a lovefest last night.

And I just want to know, how long does Tylenol take to kick in? Seriously. I think I'm going to go eat a piece of bread.


UPDATE: finishing up packing completely SUCKS when you're hungover. Ohmygod. I just want to feel human again and I don't even care about packing my crap anymore. Ugh.

My Husband R-O-C-K-S!!!

I decided to start celebrating my birthday this evening...I call it: birthday eve!

So, wanna' know why Husband has won himself a years' worth of brownie points?

He got me the COMPLETE Sex and the City set for my birthday! HA! I'm in SATC heaven! It's an orgy of SATC episodes tonight! It's just fabulous.

I still can't get over it. I own the complete Sex and the City. How much do I rock?!?

Tomorrow for my birthday the plans include: going to my favorite breakfast joint for the best belgium waffle in town; going to the beach to bake myself silly; going to our favorite Italian restaurant for dinner; going to this awesome British pub in Santa Monica for awesome beer on tap. Of course, "breakfast" is relative considering I'll probably be staying up all night watching my AWESOME new birthday present. 'Cuz that's how I roll. Yeah.

Going on STRIKE

I didn't pack anything today. I had ENOUGH. I just couldn't take any more boxes or packing tape so I decided to go on strike and give myself a break. I still think I'll make my goal of being done tomorrow, so it's all good.

I am incredibly exhausted. I think all the stress from moving is finally hitting me. I'm just ready for it to be done already.

Oh, it seems my brain has gone to bed ahead of my body. I think I'm going to follow my brain.

Hey genius...

TIP: when packing your kitchen, be sure to make sure you've taken all tupperware containers out of the refridgerator first.

I tackled the kitchen tonight, and just when I thought I was pretty much done I opened the refrigerator and saw 4 tupperware containers staring back at me. And here I thought I was done with the kitchen. Grrr.

I now have 40 boxes packed. FORTY. That's right, I've been busy, bitches! And I've been rockin' out while packing to good ol' classic '80's tunes. Nothing like a little Madonna and Duran Duran to make packing fun.

Those are tears of HAPPINESS.

Right now I am doing the last 2 loads of laundry: (1) in a community laundry room; and (2) where the machines require quarters to run.

Why is that, you ask? BECAUSE MY NEW APARTMENT HAS ITS OWN WASHER AND DRYER. HOORAY!

I didn't want to do any more laundry, but I had to do just enough to get us through to next week...where I will be able to do laundry WHENEVER I want without having to get QUARTERS or racing other people to the laundry room. HA HA HA HA HA!

This fills me with glee.

5 days and counting...

Well, things are starting to feel like warp speed.

I have successfully hired movers and coerced Husband into posting a few things we want to sell on Craigslist. The Craigslist items include my car. I don't want to drive it up to Washington without a side mirror and with the plates expiring, and we don't want to pay $500 to have the movers ship it. And the insurance company is just being a pain the rear - I called them yesterday and they said they'd try to have somebody come out by the end of the week. I told them we're moving on MONDAY, but they of course don't really care. Hopefully we can sell the car so we don't have figure out what we're going to do with it.

I still have lots of packing to do, but it's coming together nicely. I'm less than amused by how packing boxes is like playing Tetris in real life. And I've got lots of experience with moving, having done quite a lot of it growing up (no, my dad's not in the military, but is a pastor).

Oh, and Miss Eve, yes this move is happening quite quickly - from decision to packing. We knew we wanted to leave California (especially LA), and once we settled on a place I knew it would be a quick move. Once we got up to the Seattle area, we kind of knew immediately that it was a good fit for us. I'm the type where once I know what's going to happen, let's make it happen NOW. I'm really excited to get up there and settled in...and organizing everything in our new place.

Ok, got to get back to packing. Yes, Heather, I saw that you tagged me for that meme, and I'll do it but probably not until after we move. And for those of you emailing me wanting to know more info, I'm going to respond...just probably after the move, as well.

Why my expiring plates may not be an issue...

I walked out to my car this morning, all ready to run errands (which included a trip to Ikea, always a fun time). As I walk towards my car, parked on the street, I notice a side mirror laying on the side of the street.

Then I walk around to get into my car and discover that THE ENTIRE DRIVER'S SIDE OF MY CAR HAS BEEN SLAMMED, BUMPER TO BUMPER.

My side mirror is now just hanging from the side of my car, the actual mirror piece entirely gone.

The trim from both the doors is LAYING IN PIECES ON THE STREET.

When I say that the entire side of my car is destroyed, I mean the entire side is dented. And I'm fairly sure it was a silver car that destroyed mine, because there are huge patches and scratches of silver on my car, from bumper to bumper.

EVEN MY FRONT WHEEL COVER IS CRACKED. CRACKED. How fast was this asshole driving to CRACK my wheel cover?!?

And what makes this even more outrageous is that this asshole didn't even leave a note. NOTHING. Destroy my car and run, bitch. This happened sometime between 8:30 last night and noon today. Both Husband & I are convinced it was a drunk driver that swerved into my car and then kept going.

And get this: no other cars were touched, JUST MINE. Talk about shit luck.

Depending on what the insurance offers, it may not even be worth it to get my car fixed. So we may not even have figure out what to do about my expiring plates.

I still can't believe my car was sideswiped. At least the asshole's car got destroyed, too.



* * *
In other news, I packed 10 boxes tonight. I got these great file boxes from Staples and Trader Joe's gave me 10 wine boxes, with the dividers still in them. I packed all our wine glasses, and the rest of the dividers will be excellent as dividers between plates and bowls.

I need boxes NOW, not on Friday!

I couldn't get out of bed to get to Target. My bed & pillows were just so comfy after the crap hotel pillows.

I had this great idea of ordering boxes & packing supplies online, so it would be cheaper. However, because today is Sunday and apparently all box wholesalers are on the East coast, I wouldn't get anything until Thursday or Friday. I can't wait to start packing until Friday! I need to start packing NOW.

Of course all this hinges on a moving company being able to come on the 30th, which is when we need to have our crap out because the final walk-through is on the 31st. And our move-in date is February 2.

There's also another potential problem: my plates expire this month, and since we're moving there's NO point in renewing them here in California. But do I really want to risk driving through Oregon and Washington with expired plates? Or do I pay the moving company to ship my car and then just register it when we get to Washington? Augh! I'm starting to feel completely overwhelmed!

I'm going to go search out boxes. And damn it, I'd better be able to find some today! I need to start packing!

(Now would be the time to send me calming words of wisdom.)

can't sleep...too much to do...

I've got so much going on in my head I'm a little worried this post will come out psychophrenic.

In fact, I'm so scattered I'm not sure I can even commit to writing a real post.

Suffice it to say:

*The packing madness has begun.

*I've become a box whore. Tomorrow at 8:00 am I'm going to Target to get boxes and then at noon to the liquor store to get boxes.

*I've been consumed with making lists. Really, it's the only way to be truly organized. But I've been having trouble sleeping because I keep thinking of everything I need to do. Of course the absolutely craptastic excuse for pillows at the hotel were probably also to blame.

*I got home and had 18 messages on my answering machine from moving companies.

*Tomorrow I'm going to Ikea to get those fabulous, cheap magazine storage holders. Gotta' preserve my Real Simple and Martha Stewart Living.

*Husband brought the cat home from the sitter. He's looking a little pissed at having gone from a 3 bedroom house back to a 1 bedroom apartment. Of course in just 2 weeks, we'll be upgrading to a 2 bedroom apartment, and his royal fuzzy highness will get lots of space.

*I think I'm stressed about getting everything done...my nails are starting to look like they're in a war.

*I was reading some tips on moving with pets, and came across several suggestiong to get a cat a harness & leash, so the cat doesn't run away. At Target tonight I got the cat a harness and leash. I put it on, just to get him adjusted to it, and WOWEE, I've never seen a cat jump and thrash around like that! I think it's safe to say that he HATES the harness and this may be turn out to be completely and entirely unsuccessful.

*Tonight at Target I bought a bottle of wine. As I was checking out, the cashier looked at my license and said "Happy Birthday on Saturday!". And my initial reaction was to SHUDDER. Holy crap, my birthday is a week from today. It doesn't even feel like my birthday is in a week. And since we'll be packing and about to move, there won't be much celebration. I think I'm pretty okay with that, though, because I'm not sure I want to turn 27. I was suppose to have my life all figured out at age 27.

I think I need a glass of wine.

SEATTLE, HERE WE COME!

We have absolutely fallen in LOVE with Seattle!

There are so many trees, it's like we're experiencing tree-gasms! And it's so green! And the scenery is just beautiful. We just can't get over it. And we can't stop gaping at all the beautiful trees. Have I mentioned the TREES?!? And the rain does not bother me. In fact, I LIKE IT. I haven't gotten ENOUGH rain in LA the past 2 years. And the sun just came out and it's even more gorgeous!

The second apartment we looked at yesterday we fell in love with. We slept on it, and SIGNED THE LEASE THIS MORNING! It's a gorgeous apartment, and soooo much cheaper than what we're paying now!

And here's an even MORE exciting bit: WE'RE MOVING IN 2 WEEKS!!! (Told you we'd want to move right away!)

I've got to go start the moving process! YAY!

I see a sleep-filled flight in my future...

It's almost midnight, and I just finished packing. We have to get up at 5:30 tomorrow morning to get to the airport on time. Yipee. Despite all the tiredness in my near future I am SUPER excited about our trip. Actually, almost too excited to sleep.

I still have to wash the remaining few items in the sink, finish my glass of wine, and go to bed. I packed more than I wanted to, but still in carry-on size. I refuse to check luggage for a 3 day trip. I'm bringing an extra pair of pants & shoes in case of, uh, excessive wetness.

We took our kitty to his sitter tonight. The person who's watching him has a nice, big house, and as soon as we let him out of his kitty carrier, he ran to explore the house and never looked back. It was a little sad for me because when we left, he didn't even want to say goodbye. At least he'll be happy terrorizing the sitter while we're gone.

Ok, I have to finish watching Boston Legal (and my wine) and then go to bed! Husband is taking his computer, so if the internet isn't too expensive at our hotel, I'll post from Seattle!

See ya' on the other side, kids! And wish me luck that it all works out for the best!

Seattle: ? or !

This week Husband & I are going to Seattle. We're leaving on Wednesday and coming back Saturday. I'm really excited!

If this: "?" becomes this: "!", then we want to move RIGHT AWAY. As in we'll start packing when we get back. Yes, I am incredibly excited to be moving away from LA.

So, any ideas/thoughts/tips/wisdom/anecdotes any of you feel compelled to share about Seattle/moving/etc., consider this your invitation to share away!

Quick, somebody up my meds!

Today as I was coming out of Trader Joe's with groceries, I went to my car. The first thing I notice is that my minnie mouse antenna topper is gone (this helps me identify my car in a parking lot). I frown a little at this discovery, but think that it may have just gone to antenna topper heaven, and it was old so that wasn't an entirely unplausible thought.

I put my key in the trunk and I'm trying to open it. The key isn't really wanting to turn, and I'm still thinking it's my car because my key is getting a bit wonky. THEN I notice that there's a sticker in the back window that ISN'T MINE. OHMYGOD, this is NOT MY CAR! To my defense, this other car was only 1 row away from mine, the same make, model, color, and year as my car.

And of course, this whole time there's a woman waiting for this spot. So my medication-free moment had a witness. At least she was nice enough to roll down her window and throw a "it looks just like your car" sympathy comment my way.

Sheesh.