Happy Holidays!!!

Well, tomorrow morning Husband & I depart for a lovely skiing holiday. We're going to Park City, Utah and will be seeing his mom, step-dad, a step-sister & her family - which includes 3 kids, ages 4, 6, and 8. I think it will be great fun to see the kids open up presents.

I am planning to ski, and Husband is going to snowboard. He wasn't ever really a skiier, and although it'd be fun to enjoy the mountains together, I really can't handle the thought of being in such pristine snow conditions and not being able to truly enjoy it by skiing! So I'll be skiing...he'll be somewhere getting lots of bruises snowboarding. Husband & I went on a walk tonight and as we were walking up a hill, he said "at this rate, I figure I'll be able to snowboard for a good 10-15 minutes." It certainly will be interesting to see how 2 out-of-shape people will fare in higher elevation after 2 days of serious exertion!

In any event, I hope everyone has a simply fantastic Holiday season - regardless of what you do or don't celebrate. See ya' next week!

Help!

I've become afflicted with a serious problem: no motivation. I don't want to do a fucking thing.

Any known cures?

Queries

Have you ever stayed up past your normal bedtime & then gotten "stuck" wherever you happened to be (i.e., glued to the couch watching TV), and couldn't get up to go to bed?

Have you ever realized that you can reach a point where you are too old to be out at the mall as you look weird/creepy if you don't have a baby/small child with you?

Have you ever gotten to the point where your house/apartment/living space is driving you crazy because it's gotten messy & needs straightening up, but it's made you so crazy you don't even want to deal with it?

Have you ever been studying for a bar exam and decided that perhaps you should look into the life of a gypsy?

Have you ever waited past the regular wet food feeding time for your cats and then realize that if you wait an hour or so, the cats stop whining for food and go back to sleep, and wonder what would happen if you just ... didn't feed them wet food tonight? After all, you are stuck on the couch and are tired enough to go straight to sleep after getting in bed...if only you could get to bed.

Have you ever cheated and found out what your Christmas presents are before Christmas?

Have you ever gotten annoyed with yourself for watching too much TV and wanted to just not watch any TV at all but again, you're stuck on the couch and can't move your arm over 2 feet to grab the remote?

Do you remember your favorite Christmas gift (okay, favorite present)? I don't from childhood. I think from adulthood it would have to be my Patagonia down vest Husband surprised me with (it was a complete surprise), tied with the SATC complete set he got me for my birthday that same winter. He claims he got me a gift-to-top-all-gifts this year for my birthday (which will be tough, given all the T&Co. jewelry he's given me over the span of our relationship, not to brag) and only spent $60. He keeps talking about it & it makes me want to smack him because I cannot handle not knowing something. I'm the type that wants to know everything about the movie BEFORE I go see it. I know, so anticlimactic. So ... un-endorseable.

Have you ever been thirsty for water but because you're lazy (okay, stuck on the couch) and the glass of juice is closer than the water, you drink the empty-calorie-laden beverage?

Have you ever gotten a nice, complement-garnering haircut and then shortly thereafter (say, 2 months) decided it's "not working" and that you have to break up & grow out your hair again? Not because you want it to be blah, but because short doesn't really work for your life - I mean, it'd be nice to be able to employ a ponytail when you're out of power for 3 whole days & can't wash your hair because the water is so cold you'd risk hypothermia. Not that I want to grow it out to my arse (yes, it's been that long - a long time ago) or not have a style, but would it be so terrible to have a longer style?

Have you ever wondered if perhaps you set out on the wrong career course and maybe you should just give up this whole "bar thing" already? Not that I'm considering doing that, I'm just so annoyed that I have to be doing this again because I missed 12 fucking points. Okay, I'm a little angry, too.

Have you ever gotten to the age where you realize that the Holidays really are more fun when kids are involved? This year Husband & I will be spending Christmas with his mom & step-dad and one of his step-sisters and her family. She has 3 kids - 4, 6, and 8 years, and I think Christmas morning (or Christmas Eve, as is the case in their family - which is just wrong!) will be so much fun to watch them open up gifts.

Speaking of Christmas morning vs. Eve, who out there falls where? My family was ALWAYS Christmas morning (unless it fell on our church day, then we had to wait until after it was over which was unbelievably rotten when you're 6 years old). Husband's family is Christmas Eve. I don't think I'll ever adjust to that - it makes Christmas morning seem so anticlimactic! This year I'm going to take a few small gifts from my family (sister, etc.) in my suitcase so I have something to open up on Christmas morning. Seriously.

Okay, I think that's about all the queries I have for now. I think it's really time to get unstuck from the couch, feed the cats their wet food, and go to bed.

POWER! IT'S A WONDERFUL THING!

On Thursday night at about 7:00 pm we lost power. We didn't get power back until last night, roughly 72 hours after we lost it. Holy moly, is it ever nice to have heat and lights again! You don't realize how automatic it is to walk into a room and switch on the lights until you can't. We were able to take hot showers on Friday morning, but that was it...until last night. I think I washed my hair twice and face about 3 times. No, really. There is something so nice about a hot shower.

There are still lots and lots of people without power...I hope it comes back soon. The apartment building behind us is apparently on a different power grid as they didn't get power back until this morning. I would have been so pissed if I lived there! Because we live in an apartment & a generator is not really an option, we did keep the fireplace going (thank goodness we can burn wood!). We also played a lot of poker, blackjack, rummy, uno, and monopoly. By yesterday morning we were both starting to crack up a bit. We do have an emergency radio/flashlight/blah blah blah thing - it can be either battery-powered or hand-cranked powered, so we did have some Christmas music, which was nice. But still - "cabin fever" really can happen!

Yesterday we did go up North a little ways to where there was power restored just to be inside somewhere with heat. We walked around a mall, & I started having evil thoughts about everyone who did have power. Of course you could tell the people who didn't have power - the greasy hair and "I'm so over it" expressions - but the people who didn't have greasy hair were on my shit list. Not really, but it was to the point where Husband & I tried to get our hair cuts just to get a hair wash. SERIOUSLY.

We went to 2 movies yesterday: Borat and Apocalypto. Borat was hysterically funny. Seriously, go see it! Apocalypto was awesome - not at all funny, but excellent. It was such a great story. It's a little violent, but it doesn't feel gratuitous.

Since I work for a very large company, I get three paid days of Bereavement Leave per year. I'm taking that leave today, tomorrow, and Wednesday. The service was on Saturday, and in some ways it was nice to have a quiet, media-free weekend so I could take pause.

So what do I have planned for these few days? Oh, something very exciting - studying. That and getting all the Christmas presents sent out and Holiday cards written out and sent...oh, and packing since we're moving next week after Christmas. Sigh.

I hope everyone is enjoying their Holiday season. We had a tree up (fake, I would never tempt my cats with a real tree, yet)...but it didn't last long. It was only up for 2 days, and in that time it got taken down approximately 12 times. No, really. Apparently my cats hate Christmas. Little grinches. We decided it wasn't worth the fight this year when we're not even going to be home during Christmas weekend. If we were, I might have considered nailing it to the floor and/or tying it to the walls with fishing line.

Well, it's about time for me to go back to sleep for a spell before I get up and commence studying (*sob*). Have a jolly day.

Life is beautiful

My grandfather passed away last night. He wasn't really in much pain, which I'm very grateful for. He was also my last grandparent. I am so glad I was able to go when I did.

Those of you who still have grandparents, cherish them.

In which the Negligent Gnomes broaches a very serious topic.

On Friday I had to take an emergency trip to Michigan to see my Grandfather. He is dying. Almost all of us grandkids came. I am exhausted. I am emotionally drained. I'm not quite sure how I'm going to get up and go to work tomorrow morning.

It was very hard to go and see my Grandpa, who was a farmer, looking so frail and bedridden, hardly able to speak. He was aware all of us grandkids were there, and it did make him smile and cry to see us. I'm so glad I was there, although it was so hard. He is ready to die, and kept saying "I'm ready to die", "why can't I die"... I don't want anyont to interpret this as me being heartless or cruel, but I can see where there's a time and a place for helping people die. Would it really be so terrible to be able to hand someone a button they can push where they can just quietly go to sleep? My grandpa isn't eating, he's hardly drinking, and he just wants to die. Yesterday he said my grandma was there with him, and she died about 8 years ago. He also called each of us in one at a time to impart his final words of wisdom.

All in all, I don't think I've ever cried so much in so few days. But I'm so glad I was there.

Open Letter to the Gentleman Sitting Next to Me on the Bus this Morning

Dear Sir:

I'm sure you are an upstanding, decent, well-liked human being. In fact, you appear to be at least mildly successful in your career of choice. I'm happy you dress well and seem to act like an adult, unlike other bus riders Who Shall Remain Nameless. And you do seem to be a genuinely nice person.

However, I have a small complaint. It's regarding your arse. Or rather, the noxious odors that were so frequently emanating from your arse this morning. Sir, it would seem you have a rather serious gastrointestinal problem judging from the toxic smells your arse was emitting. Now, I am not completely hard-hearted; I understand that occasionally you may eat a few too many flatulence-inducing items for dinner. I myself am a vegan and eat lots of vegetables and soy products, which do not always lend themselves to a sweet odor wafting from my rear. However, sir, you did not smell as if you'd merely had a big plate of broccoli and onions for dinner last night. You smell as if you are on the verge of needing to have some serious colon work done.

Sir, if you are in the same state on a future morning wherein you may contemplate sitting next to me on the bus, please don't be offended when I either (a) get up and move as far away as open seating will allow, or (b) pull out my handy-dandy gas mask. It was all I could do this morning not to vomit.

Thank you ever so much for your future kind consideration of my nose.

Sincerely,
Me

Pfffft

Sigh...Happy Monday everyone.

The weekend is already over? Really?

At least it was somewhat productive - Husband & I got all! our Christmas shopping done. DONE! We are so on the ball this year. We even did Holiday postcards! Look at us go! Now we just have to wrap & send everything. The optimistic goal is to get that done next weekend. But I'm not going to hold my breathe.

I officially started studying last night. Big Sigh. I really didn't want to, but was in that icky place where I was feeling itchy because I hadn't yet started, so I just decided to bite it and get started. And I started with a doozy - Civ Pro. Hooray for titillating topics! It went fairly smoothly, so I hope this is a sign of things to come with studying this time.

I hope everyone's Thanksgiving went swimmingly well. I'm assuming you're all still in food coma as I haven't had ANY visitors for the last two weeks (according to my site meter)! It's shocking!

We put up the Christmas tree last night. It's a fakey, but with two cats (both of whom could still be classified as kittens), a real tree is definitely not worth it! I did decorate it, but only with lights. Husband & I took bets about how long it would take the cats to knock down the tree, and I won. They knocked it down at about 2:30 am on Sunday morning. Which is precisely why I opted for no ornaments & just lights - I don't want to have to collect ornaments every night when I get home from work.

We're moving. Ugh. Because we've just decided in the last few months that we wanted to buy, we not ready to buy immediately - we want to spend some time looking and watching the housing market here - we're moving into another apartment unit. We would have loved to stay in our current unit, but they're making everyone move out at the end of their lease term to do renovations (read: increase rent) on every unit. So we decided we'll probably be further ahead financially if we stay at this apartment complex, so we're going into a renovated (read: more expensive) unit sometime around Christmas. It's supposed to be done around the 20th, but I'm not moving on Christmas (we won't even be here!), so I'm anticipating we'll be in the new unit by the 1st.

Anyways. I am listening to Christmas music at work to keep myself in the Holiday mood. It certainly helps, as I've lately become disenchanted with my job. Ahh, but that's for another post.

Hooray for Snow Days!

What's better than a snow day when you're in elementary school? A snow day when you're an ADULT!!! Hooray! Although perhaps it's technically more of an ice day. The road I live on is blocked off because there's a hill that's a sheet of ice (hmmm, ice sledding, anyone?) and there are 2 Metro buses stuck at the top of the hill from last night! And speaking of last night, it took me 2 hours to get home - miserable.

So I get to stay home today! Hooray!

I hope all of you find something equally joyous today.

Well isn't that interesting...

Maybe I should go back to not updating...visits here have completely dropped off since I started posting again!

In other news, what are all of you doing for Thanksgiving? My dad is currently in town, and tomorrow morning bright and early we are heading down (in a Southerly direction, that is) to my sister's. I'm very excited to see my 7 year old nephew and 1 1/2 year old niece, who is now saying "MINE!" to everything! Oh, and it'll be nice to see my sister, of course.

Anyways, I hope you all have a great Turkey day (or Tofurkey day, as the case may be). I'll be back on Saturday night. See you all then.

Hooray!

This morning I received some delightful news: the tech guy that was trying to extract stuff off my bad hard drive was successful! I am so thrilled! Of course now I have to procure somewhere in the vicinity of 20 CDs to burn this stuff to, but at least I haven't lost anything! Hot dog!

I hope you all have a great day, too!

Blech

Today is the type of day where your shoes eat your socks.

Change is a' blowin'...

Hmm. I feel like we went through a bad breakup but are now forced to be friends. I'm not sure where exactly to start or what to say. I could revert to doing a list, but wouldn't you feel cheated out of a "hey, I'm back" real post?

Let's start with the obvious. I decided the site needed a little revamping. And I'd been away for so long that I didn't realize the changes Blogger had instituted. Not that I'm complaining. I like it. And I think I like the new look to this site. What do you think? (That is assuming there are any of you left as loyal readers given my unexplained, totally un-called for disappearance.)

I finally got my computer back with it's brand-new, empty, wiped-clean harddrive. That's really the rub, there - my laptop is completely free of anything I ever put on it. One of the computer tech guys at work is angelically and heroically trying to extract whatever he can from it, but it's extraordinarily disheartening to not have anything left. If I ever want to put a new CD or new music on my ipod, doing that will (at least as far as I'm aware now) erase what music I no longer own. This doesn't mean I'm a big music thief, it just means that one of my CD cases was stolen (still not over that one) and I'd purchsed iTunes music, that I don't think they'll let me download again just for free.

In craftsy news, I now know how to crochet. You can call me Harriet Homemaker, it's okay. And yes, I even crocheted on the bus on Friday - and I did feel like a 58-year-old woman, but it's fun. I'm currently making dishcloths for Christmas presents. It keeps me occupied (and not studying, hee!).

Husband & I have decided to enter into a very adult activity: buying real estate. We've started looking with the aim of buying in 6 months to a year. It's very exciting, although I found a townhouse I love, but we're not ready to buy yet, and it's a little more than we could afford right now. I'm hoping that by the time we are ready to buy, I'll be making lawyer money and we can afford something like that.

OK, now it's time to go get one of the cookies I made last night - Dark Chocolate Peppermint. Divine.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

Life has gotten kind of crazy. I know that's not really a good excuse for why I haven't been updated, but it is what it is.

Let's start with today and move backwards, shall we?

I found out TODAY that there is a DSW opening up on FRIDAY in Bellevue!!! Hooray!!! I absolutely cannot wait for it to open! And since I'm a DSW Rewards member, I got invited to a preview on Thursday night - I'm SO going to be there!

I am currently engaged in a serious battle of germs in my sinuses. Now that we've moved into the new building at work, it's like an incubation tube for germs... or like working in an airplane cabin. Fantastic. So many people have been sick last week. I'm sure the candy corn I'm currently cracking out on is helping the germ warfare.

I entered into new territory yesterday: I dyed my hair. It's actually not completely died, but instead I got 3 different colors put in with foils. It's very subtle, but I really, really love it! I think next time I'll do it a little bit more obvious.

This last weekend, Husband & I went to see his mom & step-dad in Vegas. It was a quick weekend trip - we flew there Friday night, flew back late Sunday night. But it was so much fun! We went to Red Rock Canyon on Saturday afternoon, then to see Cirque du Soleil's show Ka Saturday night - it was AWESOME!!! We did gamble a little bit, but only on the nickle slots. And I won $8.62! Sunday morning we got up and all went to the driving range - it was my first time hitting a golf ball...let's just say that I'll be checking into lessons come Spring. :-) Then the Mother-In-Law & I went shopping! It was fun! We went to DSW!!!

In the ongoing saga of my poor little laptop-with-the-dead-harddrive, I am still waiting for my system replace disks from Compaq. They were supposed to arrive on the 16th. Apparently, Compaq still doesn't have them from their supplier, and they don't know when they'll get them. This is awesome. Tonight the tech guy offered to give me a deal on a brand-new laptop because this current situation is "ridiculous" (I wholeheartedly agree!) - he said less than $600. While a great deal, I just want my damn system disks so I can have my computer back. That and I'm wondering how low they'll go when I don't have my disks in another 2 weeks. :-)

I have also waged a very serious war with Verizon Wireless. I think I won, but does one ever really know with cell phone companies? They're all out to screw you one way or another, I suppose. I don't think I have the energy to go all back into details, but they were trying to screw me by making me either stay in a contract extension they never told us about or pay through the ass. I think I have gotten the $100 charge reversed, but in any event my contract is up on November 6th. So only a little over 6 more days with them, then I can shop around. What a pain, though. All I have to say is once you sign a contract, NEVER EVER change ANYTHING on your contract or else you'll be getting yourself into a heap of trouble.


This coming weekend I am going to San Francisco to see my two of my bestest friends from college! It'll undoubtedly seem way too short, but regardless, it will be so good to have some quality girl time! The weekend after that my aunt & uncle are coming to visit from Chicago - I can't wait for their visit! Then we have something like 5 days and then my dad is coming for Thanksgiving. It's going to be a busy month! And of course at some point in there I'll start studying again...sigh.

So, how are all of you?

Guess who's having THE BEST WEEK EVER!!!

Let's just have a short recap, shall we?

Saturday morning: I find out I only passed half the bar exam. We're thankful for the bits and pieces.

Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday: At work, we moved into a new building, a brand, spanking new building, and Tuesday was the first day in the building. We have these new Mutli-Function Devices (or, rather mother f*cking devices as we prefer to call them) that I have jammed every single day this week...jammed to the point that the technician had to call the back-up technician. Lovely.

Tuesday night: after being on hold with Best Buy's Geek Squad for 40+ minutes, I find out my laptop's hard drive is beyond dead. Dead, naughty, gone to hell and burned up, never coming home, GONE. My laptop is less than 2 years old. Stupid piece of Compaq CRAP. I'm just glad I bought the 3 year warranty. In any event, if they can't recover anything off my DEAD & GONE hard drive, I'll have lost: all my pictures, all my music (as in CDs that were stolen, iTunes music I bought, etc.), everything I ever did for any bar exam I've ever taken, everything I did for law school (there are a few things on Husband's Apple computer) ... sob ... GONE.

Wednesday: I went and picked up my essay answers and found out that I missed passing the bar by 12 (TWELVE) points. If I had gotten 10 more points, I could have appealed not passing. At least I was very close - I'd rather be super close than way off the mark.

Thursday morning: I found out some potentially really bad health-related news about Husband's mom. She's probably going to be okay, but we won't know until next week. Sigh.

Thursday night: I take Husband out for dinner & beer, and as we're coming out of the restaurant, I slip on the gravel/small rocks and take a lovely, BIG, HARD fall. I land on my lower back/upper arse and elbow. You should see my bruises. I've got 2 separate spots of bruises on my ass, and my elbow is looking delicious.

Today: I decided to cough up $595 dollars for an bar essay course that is essentially 1-on-1 tutoring. Hopefully exactly what I need.

I think that about covers it...

The proper way to recover from half-disappointments...

I say "half-disappointments" because I half-passed the bar. I'm not complaining - I'm VERY glad I passed part of it, don't get me wrong, I'm just still not over not having passed the other half. Grrrr. At least come February, I only have to re-take the naughty portion. I say "naughty" 'cuz I'm going to kick its ass.

Ok, so, the proper way to recover:

1. Take Monday off. If you're lucky like me, you got today off as a PAID holiday. I know, I know, too cool for school.

2. Sleep in. Only get out of bed when you are good and ready to.

3. Call massage place and make an appointment for an hour and a half hot rocks massage.

4. Go get your eyebrows waxed.

5. Go enjoy the absolute bliss of the hour and a half hot rocks massage. Awesome, by the way, truly awesome. I've been relaxed all afternoon!

6. Go downtown and meet a friend for drinks at this cool wine bar.

7. Come home, eat naughty food, watch bad reality TV (or anything on MTV), cuddle with the cats.

8. Go to bed early. Hot dog - extra sleep!

Apparently we're doing this in baby steps...

Thank you, Bob Wiley, I see your therapist's book "Baby Steps" has jumped from the DVD to my real life. Awesome. I passed half the bar. Seriously. Half the fucking exam.

I can't believe I didn't pass the entire fucking piece of crap exam. I know, I know - at least I passed half of it. We're taking a minute to get to that whole glass-half-full outlook.

Yes, I'm a little angry. I suppose this is normal after all the abuse California put me through. I thought the WA bar would be a more considerate... ah.. lover - more polite, less demanding, more sensitive, less throwing the blame my way...

Apparently, we're only 1/2 way there...now...la la, ...

And yes, this reminds me of a certain Bon Jovi song... and yes, you're all very welcome to sing that particular song to me. In fact it might even be welcome.

I think it's time for another glass of spiked cider - with top-shelp Jamaican rum. Hoo-hah.

I also have to ask - do you any of you know of a good essay tutor?!?

and I also have one more thing to say: LOOK OUT, YOU STUPID PIECE OF FUCKING CRAP EXAM, COME FEBRUARY, YOU'RE GOING TO MEET YOUR FUCKING MAKER! COURTESY OF ME, BITCH, COURTESY OF ME! YOU'RE SO GOING DOWN! (And you might want to put down a piece of padding to cushion your fall, just an FYI.)

You never realize how bumpy a bus ride is until you have to pee...

Tomorrow I am probably geting bar results.

Holy freaking crap, people, holy freaking crap.

Shit shit shit f*ck shit.

That's about all I have to say about that.

Perhaps an R.I.P. for my laptop...

Last night my laptop decided it didn't want to fully boot up. It got part way through, and then decided to go to this very ominous looking blue screen with all sorts of scary code and message that said it was erasing all the physical memory. I've had it less than 2 years... stupid piece of Compaq crap.

So I'm on Husband's iBook G4... I'm afraid the inevitable is finally coming to fruition - am I really going to become a Mac convert now?

Husband & I are currently enjoying all the fruits Halloween has to offer - we're getting into our Halloween movie list. Tonight we're watching The Nightmare Before Christmas - very cute! We have already watched Psycho, Night of the Living Dead (the original), and this one. Yes, we are a little slow...but thank goodness for Netflix! And I am chock full of Halloween spirit - my apartment has been decorated for about 2 weeks now. Hooray for Halloween!

And yes, along with all the Halloween lovliness, there are plenty of those little bite-size candy bars. My thighs are happy to say the least. And of course all my nerves waiting for bar results this weekend has me eating without really thinking about it. Ugh. But I. CAN'T. STOP.!!!

In all seriousness, I think the reason I'm so Halloween-crazy is because I wasn't allowed to celebrate Halloween growing up - I had a very Footloose childhood, but without the fun dancy ending. So naturally I rebelled and am gung-ho into holidays. Especially Halloween. At work we're moving to a new building this weekend, so on Tuesday (I have monday off, lucky dog that I am) I am going to bring in some little Halloween desk decorations. Very excited.

The only thing is that I want to know from you guys about your favorite Halloween costumes. So spill it!

Trying to rack up last-minute karma points...

Blogging has been hard work for me lately. And instead of writing something half-assed, I'd rather just not write anything at all. Stuff has been going on - I got my hair chopped off by a friend who works at a very hoity-toity salon (very cute, short, graduated bob, which has led my stylist friend's husband to call me "Bob"), decorated the apartment for Halloween (hooray!), and made some travel plans.

I think I've come to a conclusion about my job. If I get good news next week (yes, already next week - more on that later), I'm going to begin quietly looking for another job . Don't get me wrong - I really love working for my current employer, but given that it's a fairly enormous corporate gig, my ability to move up from current menial secretarial position to hot-shot attorney isn't exactly mindblowing. I mean, there are opportunities for upward movement, but I'm not sure I'd be able to be patient enough to wait out the process. So I think I'll start seriously looking at options after Christmas - I'm going to try and stick with my verbal year commitment - and hopefully find something perfect. Despite the fact that my job isn't very cerebral, I'm not in a huge rush to leave it willy-nilly. I have really great benefits, and it's paying my student loans...so why leave that stability for anything that isn't a good fit, you know?

Yes, so by next week this time, I should have my bar results. If the postal service is running well and the gods don't hate me. I REALLY don't know how I feel about getting results via the mail, where I'll have to hold an actual envelope and decide whether I want to tear into it or open it slowly with the aid of Vodka. And speaking of vodka, Husband & I just got a very big bottle of vodka and a very big bottle of top shelf rum this weekend. Hooray for liquor! I've been used to getting results in California, where you get your rejection in a more instantaneous fashion. At least I'll have serious confirmation so there'll be no doubts.

If any of you want details about WA bar results, email me & I'll let you know. And may all of us still waiting on results be blessed with lots of good karma...

Apparently you guys aren't joiners...

So either I've gotten really boring and nobody comes to visit anymore, or you're all a bunch of wallflowers.

I saw SARAH JESSICA PARKER!!! She was here promoting her perfume Lovely. I didn't buy the perfume, so I didn't actually get to tell her how much I love her, but I did go up & down the escalators to watch her. And man, is she ever gorgeous in reality! It was so cool!

Of all the people I've seen when I lived in LA, I think I got the most excited about her! So it was a great week!

Who's LOVELY?!?

Guess who I saw today?

No really, GUESS!!!

Here are some hints:

1. She's an actress with a very successful TV show behind her, and she's in films
2. She lives in NYC
3. She's LOVELY (no, not de-lovely, lovely)

What's been going on with me?!?

Dude. I don't know what's been going on with me. I have felt very absent when it comes to writing. Maybe my muse is a little caught up in the stress of waiting for bar results. Maybe I'm just in a lazy spell.

Work is going well. I'm not really challenged, but it is what it is. I do have some crazy co-workers that I will write about... eventually. I just haven't had the patience for sitting down and writing. I think it's more of a general feeling of restlessness. If I find out good news next month, will I be able to be patient & stay at my job until upward movement is possible? Or will I eschew the benefits/fun co-workers/cool corporate culture for an attorney position?

I have recently become totally addicted to Nip/Tuck. We didn't have cable until we moved here, so when Tivo decided to record a few episodes, I gladly watched. And WOW! do I love it! That and Project Runway have been my obsessions. Oh, um, and Rockstar. I can't help myself. A co-worker & I have bet a cup of coffee over who's going to win. I'll not spill yet who I want to win, but I'll let you know if I win the bet.

The cats are doing good. Cooper got snipped on Saturday and had a rough recovery. Now that he's back in full pouncey form, he & Jiminy are doing great. I think Jiminy had been feeling threatened by Cooper's manliness because Jiminy has been very affectionate and sweet since Cooper's surgery. So things are good on the fur front.

A few weekends ago at dinner, Husband and I allowed ourselves the true luxury of imagining what life will be like if I do pass. I'm trying not to waste energy on thinking about results, but sometimes I can't help it. And it certainly doesn't help when people at work ask me when results are coming out. Believe it or not, that STRESSES ME OUT!!!

OH - I almost forgot to share some very exciting news: we are currently enjoying a 2 week free trial of Netflix. And IT'S AWESOME. We got the first movie today - Fun With Dick and Jane. The movie was funny - I'd recommend it. One of the best parts was at the very end when they thanked all the defunct companies - that was a riot.

Anyways, kids, I'll try to keep up more with posting, but maybe my heads just a little too caught up in Sudoku?

Martha Stewart and her cookies shall be the death of me.

I made Martha Stewart's Double Chocolate Cookies tonight, with Dutch-process cocoa, that my in-laws brought me from the Netherlands. Yeah, 'cuz that's how I roll.

I got the itch for cookies after we'd gone out to RedHook brewery, come home, & gotten my arse beaten at Scrabble... as soon as I said "Double Chocolate Cookies," Husband was on the bandwagon. Nevermind the fact we had to go to the grocery store for more chocolate (in addition to the Dutch processed cocoa, the recipe called for 4 oz of finally beaten and 4 oz of finally chopped "good quality" baking cocoa - of which I decided to mix semisweet & bittersweet), he was on board.

And oh my gawd...we are both going to explode from the chocolatey gooey goodness. I said the cookies were the perfect post-nookie treat, and Husband said "POST?!???", so I guess you know what he thought of them...

The mixture of semisweet & bittersweet, in case you wanted to know, was like C-R-A-C-K. Holy cow! I shall not be leaving the house until Tuesday morning to go to work...

Lucky?

Yesterday, on the 1st of September (not to state the obvious...), I found FOUR pennies, all HEADS UP.

I feel this is going to be a good month - lots of people will find out they passed the bar!

Oh yeah, I still got it.

How do I know I still got it? I got hit on. After the Mariners game on Friday night (wherein they kicked some Boston Butt!) I was waiting for Husband & my cousin to use the restroom when this guy came up to me & said something (ok, so he was maybe a bit drunk...hush!). I didn't understand, so he said "my friends & I are going to this bar, wanna' come?" I said "oh, um, I'm waiting for my husband" and pointed to the bathroom. He then smacked his forehead with his hand and said "OH, OH MAN! I'M SUCH AN ASS!!! I can't believe I'm one of those guys...I just hit on a married chick! I'm so sorry!!!"

Of course I said "that's okay... no really, THAT'S OKAY!" Unsaid: "keep going...no really, tell me more..."

I had a great weekend with my cousin. We went whale watching (awesome - there was a super pod of Orcas!) and ate great foods and spent a day on Bainbridge Island (where I'm moving when I'm a millionaire). It was so nice to be with family!

The cats are now chums, I'm happy to report. That's not to say they don't still fight...they have nightly brawls at 3:30 am on the bed...on top of ME. But there's cuddling. And cuddling is good.

I know I've not been writing very much...and I do feel badly about that, but I've just not been in the mood. And yeah, I suppose I have to be in the mood to write.

Meet Cooper Rufus!

As you can see, Jiminy has taken to bathing Cooper. I'm not sure if Cooper should be offended or not, but he still enjoys it at this point!

Okay, now leave plenty of comments about Cooper's ridiculous cuteness. 

What a WEEK!!!

WELL.

Tuesday night, Miss Brilliant (that would be me) decided drinks after work with 2 co-workers would be a brilliant idea. Happy hour turned into all night. Seriously. I think I caught the last bus home, and somewhere between the bus stop and my apartment, I ate the sidewalk. No, I ATE THE SIDEWALK. Both of my knees are completely scraped up (very badly) my left hand and wrist are completely scraped up, and the SIDE OF MY FACE got scraped to hell. Wednesday I had the hangover. from. hell. I didn't think I was going to actually survive the day. And the rest of the week, people were asking me what the hell happened to my face.

Not one of my more shining moments of brilliance.

Yesterday I decided that since we're living in this great state, we need to go out and enjoy it. So, we went on a 6 mile hike UP A MOUNTAIN to this gorgeous lake - Snow Lake. The elevation gain for the first 1/2 of the hike was 1,300 feet. Yes, we climbed up 1,300 feet to the top of a mountain. Oy. I almost didn't make it up to the top, but I think that was equally due to the elevation bothering me as much as the fact that I've become a "cheese puff", as Husband so eloquently put it. No, he didn't call me a "cheese puff", as we were both huffing and puffing up these switchbacks on the mountain, he called both of us cheese puffs - just really out of shape, apparently. But once we got up to the top and saw Snow Lake, it was all worth it. It was so gorgeous! I'll try to post some pics this week.

Today we were coming back from going out to breakfast and decided to stop at a pet store because they were having a huge tent sale. We suddenly found ourselves at the back of the pet store standing in front of the only kitten for sale in the store. An adorable short hair orange tabby...with the cutest face EVER...and the most adorable feature: a tail that is only about 3 inches long (apparently he was born that way). I held him in the store, and he didn't stop purring and started doing that "making biscuits" thing on my chest - how could we say no????

He is 11 weeks old, and we've named him Cooper. He is adorable.

And how is the adjustment going with Jiminy, you ask? Well, they did a lot of playing today, so I think they'll get along perfectly and become the best of pals. However, Jiminy is more than just a little pissed at us. Seriously pissed.

It'll be interesting to know how this all turns out...

Any tips you'd like to share on making sure the transition goes smoothly would be muchly appreciated.

still alive....

No, I haven't been hijacked.

My computer is sick and has been at the doctor's since last week.

Husband lets me use his computer, but he's so territorial...and I prefer mine, anyways.

I got a haircut. When I say "haircut", I lost about 5-6 inches, and I have a completely new style. People at work couldn't stop raving about it! Which was nice...but then it made me feel like perhaps I looked like crap before?

I'll be back to more regular posting once my computer comes back...and until then, I'm going to keep feeding my newly found obsession with sudoku.

I admit it: I'm a pen thief.

I had a fantastic weekend with my friend...it was so awesome to have quality girl time.

I'm glad the bar is over & that I survived. We're not talking about the exam itself, though, deal? And believe it or not, but my hand is *still* sore.

Something really fun: I'll catch myself thinking/feeling that I have to go home & study/should be studying and then I'll remember that I don't have to!!! And I get excited! It's an awesome feeling.

I spent all weekend enduring serious mocking because the bar scrambled my brain and I couldn't talk appropriately.

OH, pizza's done...gotta' go indulge.

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?