Gators in the Final Four!

Or, as Cody likes to say, they're going for a Back to Back to Baby Back. I thought that was pretty cute. Get it? Baby back? NIT? Pretty funny, huh? Anyway, now we're resting all our hopes for a season that was pretty dismissal in a tournament that we are still relatively embarassed to play in. Being the Gators - with the Back to Back Championships - people give you a lot of crap. Around here I've heard more then once "so, where are the Gators in the tourney?" I assumed they were asking this because their team (usually University of Missouri) was actually in the NCAA tournament (since the Gator's aren't in it I've pretty much ignored it). Well, NO! Mizzou (that's what they call the University of Missouri) isn't even in the NIT! If only I had checked this out I would have had such a great retort with all the Gator jokes about not being in the Big Dance. Well, at least now we have some hopes for a Back to Back to Baby Back and I've learned that there really are teams that don't even make the NIT (I sort of assumed everyone made it). :)

Aside from this, life is, as usual, nutty. More rain and storms. We lost power for a bit while Cody was at school (which is where he lives - over 9 hours of school a week plus working 40+ hours - doesn't sound like fun - better him then me) and I was freaked out and he wasn't here but now we have power (hense the computer and internet to post this) so life is good again. I'm just curious to see what floods next.

The flooring saga continues. You would think you'd just decide what you want, go to a store and buy it. Well, not us. We are obsessed, as always, with getting ALL available information, getting the best people to do the project for the best price (we refuse to overpay for things - okay, so we're thrifty (read: cheap)) and absolutely tormented by options. But we are moving forward. :)

Better start building the Ark!

St. Louis, being a river city, tends to have a tenacious relationship with water every spring. Every so often (by "every so often" I mean at least once a year, sometimes twice) it rains and rains and rains and rains and then combined with some sort of snow melting or rain upstream causes all the rivers around here to flood. Obviously the Mississippi is pretty well contained by a number of locks, damns and flood walls but there are still portions that are "allowed" to flood. The Riverfront is one of those. Cody and I drove down to the Arch and the Riverfront yesterday to gawk (with the rest of St. Louis - obviously there is just SO much to do here in the spring) at the rising water.

This is a photo of a statue of Lewis and Clark. Can't see the statue? See the thing poking out of the water? That's the top of the head and the arm of either Lewis or Clark waving a hat in the air. The rest of the illustrious statue is under the water - that's just an example of how deep the water is.

I just thought this was funny. Follow the sign for Arch/Riverfront Parking. If you have a boat.

Anyway, while the Mississippi wasn't terribly flooded (while this looks bad, it's not half as bad as it could be) the Meramec was, causing whole roads to be shut down, a major part of an interstate to close and several feet of water in homes and businesses - one Steak and Shake had 7 ft of water - not that I could care less if Steak and Shake floods.

Anyway, that's most of the excitement around St. Louis. Oh, and it SNOWED on EASTER! I think the weather man must have gotten Christmas and Easter confused because this was just not right. There is an old saying in St. Louis that if you don't like the weather to just wait five minutes and it will change. :)

Happy Spring Equinox!

12 hours of sun. And 12 hours of night. That's sure better then 18 hours of night. :) There are some days I just like and this is one of them. I like the feeling of spring on its way (even if we're still lucky to see a day over 60 degrees). It's just a happy thought.
When we were younger my brother and I were convinced that you could balance and egg on its end on each equinox. Whether or not this is true is still speculation but I think he claims to have done it one year. I think my mom and brother even have a photo where they claimed to have balanced an egg on its end. If it were me I would attempt for 30 seconds to balance a Cadbury egg and if I couldn't do it then I would just eat it. :)
Happy Spring everyone! One day closer to summer. I really think I could live in St. Louis forever if I could just discard winter.

Runner Up University

Okay, so this is really mean and I try really hard not to be a really mean person but this is just too funny. So everyone knows UF beat Ohio State for the 2006 Football National Championship. And then beat them for the 2007 Basketball National Championship. Well, this year neither UF nor Ohio State made the big dance and both have been relegated to the NIT (which people fondly refer to as the ¨Not In the Tournament¨ bracket). Anyway, as luck would have it for good old Ohio State, if both UF and Ohio State continue to win in the NIT (both won their respective first round games) they could face in yet another championship. As they say in Gainesville, ¨The Ohio State University - Property of The University of Florida.¨ :)

Cody's Fur Coat

Now I know why Cody is comfortable leaving the heat at 58 degrees - he always has a nice warm scarf around his neck. This cat is seriously obsessed with my husband. One day her and I will have to have a nice long chat. If I go over to sit by him she will swat me away - crazy jealous cat. :)

Why Gators and Roadtrips Rock.

This past weekend our local University of Florida Alumni Association group - the St. Louis Gateway Gators - went on a road trip to Kentucky to watch the Gators play UK in basketball in Rupp Arena. We don't get to see many Gator games being so far north and none of us had ever been to Rupp - plus it wasn't impossible to get tickets as usual because neither UF or UK are that good this year.
The trip was fabulous. We had such a great time. There are so much funny stories to tell there isn't even enough room. We left here Saturday morning with one car and one rented minivan (me driving since the rental was in my name) for a total of 11 people. The car ride, as usual, was hilarious enough in itself and then we got to talking about what we missed about Florida - which led to Chick-fil-A. We have one Chick-Fil-A in STL -it's in a mall that is about 15 miles from us and now that they have a huge stretch of the interstate shut down until 2010, there is absolutely no good way to get there - for any of us. So a recent Gator addition to STL called her brother and found out there was a Chick-Fil-A in Louisville Kentucky. Another recent Gator addition to STL got out his GPS (aka Bitching Betty) and found the Chick-Fil-A on there. We were psyched. So we got off the interstate - in the cold, snow and ice (in Kentucky where they are NOT prepared for such things) - and kept driving and turning and driving and turning. Finally it tells us to turn left and we realize that the Chick-Fil-A is in a mall - so that was funny. So we got out and ran our hearts out into the mall food court - but no Chick-Fil-A - apparently Betty was no updated and the Chick-Fil-A had shut down and had moved. In any event, the Gator Club finally found Chick-Fil-A and we were happy. It was just a really really funny event - especially since by that time the van had finished about a half a bottle of Segrams 7 (not me- I was driving).
There were just all sorts of funny stories - Cody fell twice pretty hard on the snow because he was drunk. Then we got back to the hotel and Cody had found himself a bottle of A1 and was eating it on his salad that he had leftover from Chick-Fil-A. A group got kicked out of the hotel bar for trying to bring in beer and then some 12 year olds asked them to buy them some beer. All sorts of fun stories - it was a great time by all. I forgot how much fun roadtrips can be. :)

The Ups and Downs of Living in an Old House

Living in an old house in the greatest thing in the whole world. Living in an old house is also the biggest pain in the butt in the whole world. The current trials and tribulations: flooring.
We moved into our house close to three years ago. Downstairs we had beautiful super old wood floors (original wood) except the addition which had carpet (it was put in the last 15 years or so) and the bathroom and kitchen. Upstairs we had the same carpet - carpet that I HATE. Absolutely hate this stuff - it's super gross because the lady before us never cleaned it and had a really dirty dog so I never feel comfortable even walking on it - for three years. Since we moved in it's been one excuse after another as to why we haven't finished the flooring the way we liked. But now I'm done with excuses - we've been here three years and while it will be an absolute pain to deal with the floors, it either needs to get done or I need to accept that it will never get done and get it off my darn "to do" list. :)
So I talked Cody into jumping off the perverbial flooring cliff with me. There are a number of issues - for instance we have carpet upstairs but know there is at least to some degree old hardwood underneath the carpet. We have stairs that are currently carpet (I cannot stand carpet on stairs - while it is gorgeous in other people's homes it is WAY too much work for me to keep clean) and are unsure if underneath is hardwood or plywood or plywood painted (and likely with lead paint). So tonight we got started figuring all this out. We went all around upstairs with a razor knife and just started cutting the carpet up all over the place. The verdict? Our spare bedroom is 90% good old hardwood that just needs to be finished and 10% plywood where they had to fill in places for old vents, etc. The hallway is hardwood - yeah! The stairs are wood - but not the same hardwood or plywood - but a wood that I think they can "finish" and while the size won't totally match the rest of the wood I'll be happy enough with it because it will have a runner over it. Our bedroom on the other hand looks like it is about 50% hardwood and 50% plywood - basically they used the bedroom hardwood to fill in spots in the downstairs wood when they rehabbed the house. So the good news is we get a new hardwood room and hardwood stairs (two less places with yucky carpet!!), but we will still have two carpeted rooms - but I guess that's okay because we are getting the hardwood rooms really cheap because they don't have to put anything new in, only finish what is already there.
So the next few weeks are an exciting dance of contractors and us painting trying to get it all right at the right time. We are going to try to get the wood guys out first for the spare room while we finish painting our room and the hallway. Then the wood guys can do the hallway and lastly the carpet people can do our room after the painting is done. This is a lot of things that have to happen perfectly in the right order - I'm crossing my fingers. :)

Who is this man?

Do you ever look at your mate/spouse and wonder who in the hell that person is? Well, I usually don't. While I by no means of the imagination know everything about Cody, or ever will, we know each other pretty darn well and can foresee a lot of what the other one does - at least to the point where the other's behavior is ever "shocking." Well, today I had two "shocks."
First - while I was in the bathroom changing out of my workout gear and into my going to Home Depot gear (which includes the first pair of pants I can find on the floor and a shirt that doesn't have too much cat hair on it) Cody came in and was looking in the mirror. He said "I think I'm going to take my earring out." Just like that - all simple, calm and matter of a fact. But back up a minute - this kid has had this earring in longer then I have known him. When we first met he actually had another earring and then I lent him one of mine that he lost so my grandma actually got him the earring that he has been wearing for 10 years now. I seriously don't even notice it at all anymore - I've never know Cody without the earring. People ask him all the time when he is going to take it out and he snarks back "when you stop asking me" or something equally "leave the hell alone" attitude. Which I adore - he's his own person and everyone should just leave him alone about whether he likes the earring or not. People asked if he would take it out for the wedding pictures and I hadn't even thought about it. Anyway, I thought the day he took it out would be this big event, but no, just like that he took it out, put it in the jar with all my earrings and said that he was going to try without it for a bit. I just stared blankly at him, like "WHAT? Are you kidding. That was it? Just like that?" My jaw dropped. He had just changed something that he had been holding onto as "his" in just a split second, just like that. I'm still a little floored.
Second - and this one is equally "shocking." Cody and I cannot make decisions. Everyone knows this. We cannot pick dates, where to eat, what movie to watch, what game to play, where to go on trips, etc. We typically procrastinate until the choice gets made for us - and usually that is just fine by us. This is why almost three years after buying our house, it is still not all the way painted- we could not pick a colour for our bedroom. First we wanted it a nice blue, but then I got over that. Then we were going to paint it generic tan like the rest of the house - plus we had that paint already. But then during the wedding planning process I really fell in love with the colour green. No clue why. I had never been particularly fond of green over any other colour - but all of a sudden I loved it. And I still really like it. So on a number of occasions we have looked at dozens of paint swatches and tried to find a perfect green. No success yet. So while we were at Home Depot buying our "greenhouse" supplies, we took a trip through the paint department to get some more paint for our hallway (Cody's parents are coming to visit - YEA - and people visiting always gets me moving off my butt to get things done - in a very good way). While we were waiting for the hallway paint (same tan as the rest of the house) we started looking at green. I kept saying "look at this one," "what about this one," "do you like this one." I never really expected us to actually pick a colour - after all we had done this dozens of times. I figured we look at a few, kill some time and maybe take some home to hold against the wall and then eventually throw away. So he looked them all over and then I showed him one and all of a sudden he said, "yeah, let's get that one." I was floored. "You're kidding? Just like that? Let's get this one?" Yup - just like that. A process that has been dragging on for three years now was over just like that. He just picked one. That was it. Since a decision had just been made and I would potentially have a painted bedroom shortly I was all about this - I grabbed the paint, we took it to the guy and ever so confidently said "we want this one." Just like that.

I am still sort of floored. He (and 'we' and 'me') never makes decisions like that. We're so insanely annoyingly overly cautious so many times. But, nope, not today. Just like that my husband has no earring and I have a bedroom paint colour. Just like that.

It's not what you think. . . .

It's not what it looks like - seriously. Cody and I have become totally nuts. It all started when we first moved into our house. I've always wanted a house so that I could have a garden and when we finally got a house I couldn't wait to start one. The next spring (since we moved into the house in June) I forced Cody to the stores around town looking for veggie plants. So we both picked out a few - me some tomatos and an eggplant and him a lot of peppers. So I sort of forced him into helping me plant them and then it just took off from there. He loved to check on them and make sure they were okay and then when they started producing fruit you would have thought we hit the lottery.

So last year he couldn't wait to get the garden started. We waited until we got back from the honeymoon (I cannot believe we have been married almost a year - damn does time fly!) and then went on our hunt for plants. We planted a few different varieties last year -some worked great, others not so much.

So when we were at the store the other day we ran across the seed packets. I told him seeds are a pain in the butt and we'll just wait until April/May like everyone else and buy our little saplings to plant directly into the ground. Well, apparently that was just not good enough. He thought the idea of planting seeds was just fabulous. So we each picked out some seed packets, bought our little peat pots and went to town. We got them all planted in their little pots and got them set in these little tin things to make watering easier. Our theory was that we would put them in front of a sunny window and let them grow until spring. Little did we realize that we live in MISSOURI and there is no sun here in the winter. So for the last few days our seeds have been sitting on the ironing board by a window but with no sun. So we did what all inteligent people do - we got on the internet. And we found that most places (Missouri included) do not get enough sunlight through windows to support seedlings. But "sun lights" do.

So off we were to Home Depot where we found a balast and two "grow lights." We already had the set of shelves so we went to town. We took the treadmill downstairs (we were meaning to do this anyway because when Cody runs on the treadmill it shakes the chandelier and walls downstairs) and set up the shelves where the treadmill was. Then we set up our light and loaded up our seedlings. We made the bottom two shelves "cat friendly" in the hopes that would entice them to stay off the shelf with the seedlings - we'll see if that works. So anyway, our plan is to rotate them daily, raise the light as the plants (hopefully) get bigger and bigger and if all works out right, by the time spring ever comes the plants will be ready to move outdoors into the veggie garden area (bigger and improved from last year). Cross your fingers or else I'm going to have a very upset husband on my hands. But we are really learning a lot about all this and are having a hell of a time with it. Plus we get yummy veggies. :)

A few photos.

Here is my own personal "winter wonderland" -

This is our backyard - or it was before someone covered it in cotton balls. That little house looking thing is our garage - we debate back and forth whether that was an old house back in the 1800s or something (our house wasn't built until the late 1800s or early 1900s). Anyway that thing on the right is my raised flower bed I built - except you can barely see it - and the snow hadn't even ended by the time I took this photo. The little arcs are the border to our vegatable garden - barely visable under the mass of snow. READY FOR SPRING!

Winter Wonderland My Butt

Snow, snow, snow. When I first moved here it was a novelty. Even back in November/December it was neat - the first snow of the season, sledding, snowball fights, snow angels, getting exercise shoveling the stuff. But itś MARCH now and I´m gosh darn tired of the stuff. People say itś so pretty and itś a ¨Winter Wonderland"- maybe if you live in the North Pole and Santa is your neighbor, but not in Missouri. I´m just plain tired of the stuff. Yesterday it started ¨icing¨ - yeah, like on a cake, but not as sweet. Rain turned to freezing rain turned to sleet which later turned to ice. I now know more about the process of precipitation freezing then I ever wished to know. Anyway, it simply involved some elbow grease and a ice scraper. Then over night it started snowing. And snowing. And snowing. I think the weather failed to switch its calendar to MARCH (Have I mentioned itś MARCH and itś supposed to be not crappy anymore?). So it was snowing. And of course we all have to go to work because us making Corporate America money is more important than our lives. If we die in the snow/ice they just find someone else in Corporate America to take our places - we are not indispensable. Anyway, so we mosey into work. Where it continues to snow and snow and snow. Finally I make it home in the ice and slush and dirty nasty snow/slush/water stuff in a car barely a foot off the ground so it gets stuck in snow very easily. When I got home I fell only twice (which is an improvement over the last few months) walking from the street to the house (not a far distance). I brought out my handy dandy ruler stick and measured the snow around the house - between 6-8 inches. Not too bad for MARCH.
Anyway, it really is pretty if youŕe inside and don´t have to go to work and can sit under the covers, watch Oprah and sip hot cocoa (spiked with Baileyś preferably). I´m just getting really tired of the winter. I tried to be patient and understanding. I tried to feel blessed by having all four seasons (people ask me if I was sad in Florida not having all four seasons - the answer is NO - I was not sad - we had quite enough change of season for me - plus when your supposed one ¨season¨ is good, why do you need three more?!?!?). So I´m doing my best to grin and bear it but I really wish spring would get here already!
In other news, I´m back to normal at work - no more being sick or bar studying. While the worst part of being a lawyer is billable hours (that and spending your entire life getting yelled at) it was actually sort of fun to be back in the billable hunt these past few days after such a crummy month in February. I´m sure that exciting feeling will wane by the end of the week though. :)

In like a Lion, Out like a Tiger.

I know it's March that is in like a lion, out like a lamb but it felt like February was in like a lion and out like a bigger tiger. The month started off bad with a foot of snow, got worse with the worst sickness I have likely ever had (other then having pnemonia when I was younger), then proceeded with crummy because I was behind at work and had to study for the bar, then it ended with the worst bar exam of my life (granted it was only out of three - but still, it was pretty crummy).
But now it's March. So far it's been the best weekend of the year. Aside from the unseasonably warm temperatures (we got into the 70s for the first time since September - I even had on shorts and a tank top!) it was just so nice to relax and hang out with Cody. Friday night I was invited to see the new Court of Appeals judge in Missouri get sworn in so that was awesome - got to meet the governor (he's much shorter then I thought - and young) and the mayor and a ton of other judges and congress-people. Then went out with some friends afterwards. Saturday we just relaxed. As in really really relaxed - for the first time in a very very long time. We didn't jump up in the morning screaming "we've got so much to do! Get up now!" We lounged. And hung out. We picked up the house and then ran some errands. We didn't really even "run" errands - we honestly leisurely went about the things we need to do and enjoyed ourselves ("enjoy ourselves" and "shopping" usually are not in the same sentence). Today since it was so nice we worked in the yard- for the first time since we finished the tomato harvest back in October!!! It was the most fabulous thing ever. It felt so much like spring I wanted to sing. But alas, it will only last a day as tomorrow it will freeze and we are to get a ton of freezing rain, ice and snow. Not kidding. But we had a great time in the garden. We turned over the veggie garden and actually even expanded it. I worked in my flower bed a bit and was thrilled to see a lot of my spring flowers coming up (tulips, narcissus, paper whites, etc.). We just had a good time playing around outside. Then we started all our vegetable seeds inside in those cute little seedling cups - since it's March we started onions, bell peppers, jalapenos, brussel sprouts and spinach. So that will be fun in the next few weeks to watch those start to grow. Then we grilled out - well, Cody grilled out - and made delicious pork chops. He's really a great cook -and fabulous with the grill.
Anyway, it was so amazing to really get to relax. My life really is wonderful right now. The bar is over, another HUGE project that I've been working on is now over so now I can really enjoy life again. I'm thrilled - except tomorrow is Monday. :)

Sometimes you need to sweat the small stuff.

I know we're not supposed to sweat the small stuff. First off, I'm pretty bad about that in general - I sweat everything. Except apparently what I need to sweat. Like the Bar Examination. So here's the deal. I busted my butt the last few weeks studying - really - that's all I did was study and go to work - fun life, huh? So by the time I walked into the exam on Tuesday morning I felt pretty good. I was feeling okay. This was my third one, I felt I had studied well enough and I was ready to go. And then the exam was passed out. And I thought to myself "what in the hell is this?" You see, historically there are two topics on the morning essay exam and six questions on the afternoon essay that can be pulled from a list of about 12 subjects. Then on the second day (all multiple choice questions) there are six more subjects. So you study the day two subjects different then the day one topics because one you have to do multiple choice on and the others you have to be able to spit back verbatim what the law is. Well, apparently, unknown to me, they changed the examination. Now the second day topics are fair game on the first day - obviously I did not know that. I swear I did a "due diligence" (a nice legal term for you there) search for information on the bar exam and got myself a list of topics together. I was using bar study books from 2003 (I borrowed then from a friend because the bar study course is about $1500) but as far as I knew the test hadn't changed. But it did. So needless to say I was pretty upset. I felt like I paid a lot of money for this, put a lot of time into it and really put my life on hold to study and prepare myself but because of my own negligence (legal terms everywhere) I'm likely not going to pass. There is still some hope if other people didn't know either, but most lawyers pay a bit more attention to that stuff then I do apparently. So I'm pretty bummed but I guess it's one of those lessons learned in life. I'm happy as hell to be back in St. Louis and out of freezing cold Chicago (never ever ever go to Chicago in February if you can at all help it) and done with the exam and back to my normal life, but I'm bummed I really blew this and I have no excuse. If I had studied and then didn't make it because my flight was grounded that would suck but it wouldn't be because I'm an idiot. If I had gotten really sick and didn't do well, then again, it would be beyond my control. But this really wasn't. And while I swear they hid the information deep on the website, I should have made a better effort to find it. So that's the bar news. I don't find out until forever, but I'm not holding my breath. I can still hold onto some tiny hope but it's not looking good.
Good news is I'm back home and can get back to life. I kept promising my friends that Stupid Lame Studying Missy will be gone soon and Fun Missy will be back. I'm back. :)

Three Days and Counting.

Saturday. Sunday. And Monday. Then the big test begins. Three days to learn over 20 subjects to such a degree that you can answer any number of questions on those subjects at moments notice. You have to memorize all the little nit-picky things because they don't test you on the broad topic (which you better know better then you know your name) but on the minute little exceptions. You recognize in a question that something is hearsay - then you realize that it's admissible because it's not hearsay because of an exception - but you better know if it is really an "exception" to the hearsay rules or something that is classified as "nonhearsay" and you'd better know whether or not that "exception" requires the "declarant" to be "unavailable" or not. So no matter how much you know what hearsay is - you'd better memorize the 18435 exceptions. One of the worst subjects is "Secured Transactions." I don't understand this subject to such an extent that I don't even understand what the name of the subject means. For instance "Constitutional Law" - I know that has to do with the laws surrounding the Constitution. "Evidence" deals with the laws of evidence. Etc. But "Secured Transactions"? What in God's green earth is a "secured transaction"? That's what I hope to learn in the next three days because apparently you've got a 90% chance of having one of those questions on the bar. My only real hope at this point is to hope and pray I get lucky and there is not a Secured Transactions question.
On another note, isn't it funny as you get older you just know yourself so well? On one hand I've been totally freaking about about this exam for the last few days but on the other hand I know that I go through this process before every Bar Exam (or any big stressing event). I know that I'm lazy and put it off thinking it won't take half as much time as it really does- and then it takes three times as long. Then I go through a good bit of freak out mode - nobody talk to me, try to communicate with me or otherwise distract me from my mission - learn this crap as much as humanly possible. Then I go through a study as much as I can but realize there's only so much to do and you've only got three days left. So that's where I'm at now. I'll do my best the next few days but the real freak out is over. Then I'll sort of freak out before I get on the plane on Monday thinking "I'm totally going to fail this" (because while I am working really hard on the enjoy every day thing, I am still really really failing on the positive thinking thing) but by the time I get to Chicago I'll have a nice sense of peace. At that point I'm like "bring it on." I am ready to go, ready to get it over with and cool as a cucumber. I'm not insanely nervous shaking or cramming, I just want it over with. For the first time in weeks I'll really be able to laugh again and I truely will get to a point where I don't care one bit if I pass or fail, but just that it's over with. Then I focus and get throgh the exam. I do this EVERY time I do anything that takes preparation - and exam, a test, an interview - same process. So now at least when I go through that freak out phase I know that it will be over soon and I can make it through it. It's cool how the older you get the more you realize how predictable you are (at least to yourself).
p.s. While I have this whole "process" figured out when it comes to scholastic/professional things, it obviously doesn't always apply to personal matters - case in point: the wedding - there was no amount of convincing me that I wasn't going to be indefinetly stressed about it and that I had a chance of enjoying the day - but had I paid attention to my history I should have known that come the big day, I would be cool as a cumcumber, ready to go and just want it over with. :) Almost to one year already!

When Pink is Bad . . .

When it is ice and it's coming your way. Last night, during my brief 30 minute break from Bar studying so I could clear my head and run on the treadmill, I was concurrently watching the evening news (two birds, one stone). Mr. Weather Man said that we would be getting ice/snow/hail/sleet mix beginning at 1pm today and getting heavier overnight and then taper off tomorrow. LIAR! It came early so this morning my car, the sidewalk, the steps, the roads and any other stationary object was covered in ice. But we perservered because we have to work regardless of the risk to life or limb. It took Cody over an hour to get to work because of traffic and me almost 30 minutes (much longer then my typical five minute drive) - the roads were treachorous - they were icy and slick and the entire time you're just slip sliding around. But we both made it to work under the assumption the worst had passed. Again, wrong! As you can see by the pink (by the way, Florida people, since you never see a map like this, the pink = ice) we are in for a bunch more where that came from. Lovely. Did I mention ice is slippery? Because it is and it's darn near impossible to walk more then a few feet without falling. Sounds fun to you? Then move to Cold Corn Country (Missouri). :)

Word for the Day.

Pejorative. I just think it's a neat word and I aim to use it more. Just a heads up. :)

In other news, while Bar studying totally and utterly sucks and I really fear I will fail, life is otherwise all rainbows, sunshine and kittens (three to be exact) - by the way, I totally stole that phrase from Melissa - I also steal her phrase "hampster sized snow" when it snows big fluffy flakes. I just couldn't be any happier then if I won the lottery. Life is just turning out the way it should. Speaking of - my mom often quotes things that as a kid you get tired of hearing by the 254th time - but one of those is from Candide (Voltaire for anyone who hasn't read it - if you're bored it's actually a decently good read) - it's something like "all things happen for the best and this the best of all possible worlds." Basically - don't bitch about anything because life is evolving exactly as it is meant to be and you'll realize how and why later. For once I actually see how this plays out perfectly.
However, even today, after I've lived more then a few years and in certain areas of life I feel like I've figured out where I stand and what I really "believe" and can really stand on my positions - destiny is still one I debate within myself. In some sense I do think we have a destiny but on the same note, I also think destiny is a bunch of crap, it's a big excuse for stupidity and we all make our own destiny by the decisions we freely make each day. I think blaming destiny for laziness or otherwise lack of initiative or desire is a big cop-out - in case anyone was interested. So still wrestling with that one.

Maybe there can be world peace . . .

So maybe there can be world peace. Maybe we can all get along after all. Maybe the world just is a bit better off then we think it is.

Case in point: all cats, touching and no one is getting hissed at, bitten, sceatched or otherwise irritated, picked on or maimed.

As most know, we have three cats. If you ask Cody that's three more then we need. But he really does love them - I even hear him say so. But they don't so much get along all the time. They don't fight per se but they certainly aren't all "buddies." It sort of goes like this:

First there is Wiggles - if I didn't list her first she would probably try to kill me in my sleep. She is a little brat and co-dependent and a snot. But Cody loves her like crazy. She follows him around insanely pathetic like. When he sits down, within four seconds (we've counted a number of time) she is in his lap. And then she climbs up on his shoulders and wraps herself around his neck and won't move. He absolutely cannot resist her "cuteness." I find it irritating. She is like that girl in high school who pretends to be really sweet and cute and everyone loves her but she is really a conniving backstabbing bitch.

Next there is Bumpis. She is the funny cute one that everyone loves. No one can help but think Bumpis is just cute, fuzzy and funny - though she's dumber then a box of rocks. She gets along fine with Wiggles because Bumpis "follows" her - like following the popular girl around to be "cool" but the only reason the popular one keeps you around is because you're funny and look cute and are stupid as a box of rocks. She gets along with Pickles - but only when Wiggles isn't watching. When Wiggles is around then Bumpis is too "cool" to hang out with Pickles. Cody says Bumpis is his "favorite" because she is funny and cute and stupid - just what a guy is looking for. :)

Finally there is Mr. Pickles. Pickles is more like the awkward geek/nerd who is trying to find herself in the world - sort of goth/alternative and very unsure of herself. She really just wants to be loved but it's difficult because when you try to be sweet to her and pet her she is very hesitant and wants to be petted in her very specific way - you can't just start scratching all willy nilly - you have to sort of baby Pickles so she can accept love. Wiggles, the strong "leader" picks on her like crazy. Not mean, but just irritates Pickles. If Pickles has the good, sunny window spot, Wiggles will jump up and kick her off and Pickles will sulk off to find another decent spot - until Wiggles decides she wants that one and kicks Pickles off again. She gets along fine with Bumpis and is more then happy to have someone to play with but as soon as Wiggles comes around Bumpis is suddenly too good for her so she goes and plays chess by herself somewhere in a corner.

The nightly ritual is this: Bumpis sleeps at the foot of the bed on the fleece Gator blanket where she doesn't move unless you physically kick her off the bed. As soon as I lay down under the covers Mr. Pickles runs up, I lift the covers and she sleeps under my side of the covers. She doesn't want to be in the open or to be petted, just to sleep near someone. Wiggles is the more domineering - she sleeps right on top of Cody. If he's on his back, she sleeps right smack on his stomach. If he's on his side, she sleeps right on top of his hip.

Needless to say, to make a long story short, they love each other in their own special ways but they don't "cuddle" often together. Very rarely do you get them all three together like a little family. Tonight was one of those days - So, maybe there can be world peace one of these days. . . either that or Cody keeps it entirely too cold in our house so they huddle together for shear warmth. :)

This picture was just funny. I was studying for the Bar and the only way I can study is to write everything I need to know on notecards - needless to say I have hundreds of them. So I decided to see if I could cover Bumpis in them. Maybe she can learn some Wills, Estates and Trusts by osmosis. Too bad you can't bring a cat with you in the exam - at least it would be more enjoyable that way. But considering you can't bring a watch or even a coat, I doubt they will allow a cat. :)

Countdown.

I know we´re all supposed to live every day to its fullest and enjoy the beauties and bounties of every day and not preface every day with ¨tomorrow I will . . ." or ¨I can wait for next week/ month/ year and then I will be happy/ fulfilled/ relaxed/ etc." I do try to do that most days - enjoy the day for today and not live in what is coming or what has passed. I might add, however, that this is a constant, daily struggle for me. I tend to look in the past quite a bit and dwell on what I should have done, should have said, or should have refrained from. Other times I focus so much on the future that I fail to enjoy today - sometimes I can´t wait for the weekend for a party, an event, a nap - sometimes I can´t wait until next month for a vacation, a project to end or a nap. So I really try to get over that tendency to let today fly by in the anticipation of tomorrow (which, as we all know, is not ever guaranteed) or fail to enjoy today while I´m busy focusing on yesterday.
But not right now. My life right now is a countdown and I´m not apologizing for it. I could care less about these days and are just hoping they fly by quickly. I am waiting, not so patiently, for, first, the 27th of February at 5 p.m.. I take the Illinois Bar Exam on the 26th and 27th up in Chicago and can not wait for it to be over. This is my first bar exam where I really, honestly, feel like I have a decent chance of not passing. Florida I could not have failed - I put in tons of time and even took the course youŕe supposed to take to pass the bar. Missouri I only had to take one day of the two-day exam and given my second day score from Florida (which I could transfer), I pretty much just needed to show up to pass that one. But now since my second day score has expired I have to take both days again. I seriously cannot remember this stuff like I thought I would. There are some subjects (commercial paper and secured transactions) that I have simply given up trying to learn because no matter how much time I spend I still will not get those and will waste time studying for subjects that I can get better at - my only hope is those subjects are not on the exam. So right now I have a zillion hours of studying to do (this has literally been my life lately) and only 9 days to do it in. Yikes. So, yeah, I could care less about these next 9 days - just get them over with - get me to the Bar and get this over with. If I don´t pass itś not the end of the world - only $1200 and three days wasted in the arctic tundra that is Chicago this time of year.
Second, I´m just waiting for February to be over. And damned if it wasn´t one day longer this year. At my job (and most legal jobs) we don´t work a certain number of hours a week - we don´t punch a time clock - we work for billable hours. So I have to bill a certain number of hours a month - or else. I can sit at work for 10 hours and if I only bill 2 hours then I still have to sit there until I get enough for the month. Other times you can get 2 hours in 30 minutes. It all depends. Well, usually it´s relatively doable if you put your mind to it. This month, however, I was out sick for three days and while I tried to do as much work as I could from home, it certainly wasn´t enough to get me to my hours. Add that to the three days I´ll be gone for the Bar and there is no way to recover. My hours are shot for the month. It´s embarrassing and I´m sure I´ll catch slack for it, but it´s just something that happens sometimes. So I just want the month to be over, I can get this crummy billable month over with and recover in March.
And, finally third, I just want March to be here. The beginning of Daylight Savings Time (one of my favorite days of the year), longer days, the official beginning of spring (though I swear we do not get actual spring weather here until May), St. Patrick´s Day (one of the more fun holidays), Easter (another fave - mostly because of Cadbury Creme Eggs), and just a general sigh of relief that the end of winter is coming.
So, sorry if I´m not living for the day right now - I´m just ready to get these few over with.

My ducks.

Great news! My ducks are finally all getting in a row! You see, for a while now my ducks have been wandering around aimlessly and lost. There was one duck in the middle of the interstate trying to get across. Another was at the lake but it was frozen solid so he was confused. Another was in vacation in Florida while yet another was stuck in a snow storm in Wisconsin. One duck just slept all day and in his waking hours watched daytime tv - Oprah, Dr. Phil, Judge Judy and the sort. Another doesn't sleep at all. I think another one of the ducks was eaten by the cats. You get the point. I couldn't figure out where my life was going, what I wanted, or even where I was presently. There were so many questions and a lot of general confusion. I felt like I thought things would settle down and fall into place once the wedding was over and while they did for a little bit, there were still a lot of other questions out there - I had only solved one of them. And lately (well, a bit more then just "lately") they've just been nutty.
But yesterday all my ducks lines up in order and I am SO happy - and light - and happy. Unfortunately I can't quite say why yet - it can't be public for a while (in case you're in a guessing mood, no, I am not pregnant or even trying to get pregnant - trying to avoid that for the time being). It's one of those things that have to be kept under public wraps (at least on the blog since it's really "public") for legal reasons for the time being. Anyway, but I finally feel like my life is lining up the way I want it to. I'm finally figuring out what I want - and actually getting it! I finally feel like I'm getting all my ducks in order. The last 24 hours have literally been life changing - in a really great way. Not only have new things come up but I've learned a ton about myself in the process.
Anyway, happy happy happy ducks are in a row!

Sad.

Anyone who has ever had a long distance relationship can relate to this. Or someone who doesn't live close to family. When you're visiting the other person (like when I would fly up to visit Cody before I moved here and when we visit Tally) there is always this crazy sadness the night before you leave. For instance if my plane left at noon on Monday, then on Sunday is when you go around the house, make sure you have all your stuff, pick up the house after your weekend/week of fun and together time, pack everything up and get ready for leaving. It's always a really quiet, sad process. You never know quite what to say because if you start talking about leaving then you might just start to cry. You just get ready and dread the next day. When we're leaving Tally to come back home it's the same thing - the night before we leave we always try to pack and get everything in order - that is always the worst part of the trip. If I even try to talk to someone or ask where something is or say that we had a good time then I start to cry. For me, I just have to get to the business of packing and try to make it to the next morning.
That's how I feel right now. We've been staying in our spare room (since it has a TV) while we've been sick so it was something different then normal. Today I've been cleaning up as much as I can. Picked up the spare room and returned it to its normal state - moved us back upstairs (because that's where the alarm clocks are). And it's sad to see our little vacation end - even though we didn't really "enjoy" it because we were insanely sick, it was nice to at least suffer together. Tomorrow is back to the "real world" just like when you leave visiting someone to go back home to your "real world." I know it sounds weird, but we've literally been quarantined in our house the last few days because we didn't wnat to get anyone sick and so we've really gotten to just get used to just hanging out together all day. It will be sad to go back to the "real world" tomorrow.