In Durham

After working all day to get my stuff in order and getting the house clean, I am currently the dirtiest and foulest smelling person ever. I am sweaty, but I also have that "ZEP Heavy Duty Carpet Cleaner" smell on me too, which makes for a nice mix.

I am at the law school right now, and it is eerily calm here. They have apparently decided to make the Blue Lounge an open-air market or something by knocking out the wall that was between the lower level lobby area and the lounge. This has effectively taken a quiet place to study and made it into a loud place to hang out. I am intrigued by this logic, especially since we already have a loud place to hang out called the library.

I think I'm going to go shower now.

I'll be back in Durham this weekend so that Sarah and I can move into our new apartment. Sarah is excited that all of her stuff will be in one place at one time for the first time since she went to college.

I get paid tomorrow for the first time, which should be very nice. I currently have something like $0.64 in my checking account. Hopefully I will at least be able to double that.

Work is actually great. I really enjoy all of the people and the projects that I have had so far are really interesting. I think that Food and Drug work may be something I'm truly interested in.

Lastly, an early congratulations to Elizabeth and Shelly on their marriage tomorrow. Hopefully they will use their combined powers for good or for awesome. (Apologies to Strong Bad at homestarrunner.com)

Graduation Weekend at Transylvania

I was in Lexington this weekend for Transylvania's Commencement. I flew in Friday night and left this afternoon from Cincinnati. The ceremony itself was really good, about an hour and a half long and nobody spoke for too long. Sarah did get her diploma, which was the important part, and then we did the goodbyes to all the professors and the rest.

After the graduation and the after-party, we went with some friends to "Ten Commandments Mini-Golf," which is a Christian-themed putt-putt venue. It was fantastic. We did the Old Testament course, and there are two others, New Testament and Miracles. Each hole was themed along a day of Creation (all 7 days, with the 7th day being a very easy hole-in-one chance) or another Old Testament story, like Noah, Samson, etc. Though we ended up losing as a team to the Turner/Weatherholt Team and the Hicks/Graham team, we lived to golf another day. Overall a good graduation day, if you don't count Sarah's uncontrollable sobbing for about 15 minutes after we left the graduation reception--she's entitled, though.

I'm now back in DC and I am trying to figure out what to do for Memorial Day. I think maybe I'll go to the National Symphony concert or something, but I may also just stay in if the weather is crappy.

Sarah had another wedding shower today, which is just another event in a very busy week for her, but I'll let her talk about it.

A big thanks goes out to Aimee and Johan (the aforementioned Hicks/Graham team) who drove me to Cincinatti today out of the goodness of their hearts.

While Nicholas has been in D.C., I have been wrapping up the wedding plans. I met with the minister and started working out the final ceremony details. There were a few bumpsin the road. For instance, it looks like we won't be allowed to have guitars, which could drastically affect our music choice. I also went and tried on my dress with a third petticoat (yes, that's right) but it will still have to be taken up. The favors are almost finished and I only have a few more invitations to send.

In the midst of all this, I totalled my car. Last week, I was leaving Paducah and thought this van was too close to me so I swerved left (I was in the left lane) and overcorrected into to him. He flipped over and I ran off the interstate. We both escaped unharmed which is no small miracle considering I was going over the speed limit. Well, atleast I don't have to worry about storing it over the summer. I am pretty upset considering I've had a car since I was 16 and I'm used to the independence it affords but oh well.

I graduate in less than two weeks and I cannot believe it. I'm having a yard sale on Thursday to hopefully put a dent in the large amount of stuff I have accumulated over the last four years. It's pretty disgusting. That's aobut it...

First Day

Today was my first day at the firm. It went well, mostly orientation stuff. I went to lunch with my mentor and did the whole Lexis training, learn about billable hours, etc. I won't talk about work here anymore because I'm aware that this is a public blog and that would be both imprudent and boring, but today was good. No complaints.

My first few days of DC living have been interesting. Yesterday I came to the realization that from the White House to my house is a Very Long Way. I walked it anyway, it was good for me. I then had a chipwich, the only kind of ice cream that I will eat in DC owing to the fact that it is among my fondest memories of my first trip to DC when I was but a youth. (All the Holland children nod in remembrance, or not.) I also went by and saw the Supreme Court, which is much closer than the White House, and I've done some of the Smithsonian. Other than that, I've just been figuring out what's around my apartment and seeing how long the Metro-ride is from the apartment (Eastern Market) and work (Farragut West). The answer is 13 minutes once you get on the train.

In D.C.

For everyone's clarification, I have moved to DC for the summer. I am living on Capitol Hill, about 6 blocks from our fair judiciary and legislature. It's a small apartment, but it's bigger than I thought it would be. I may post pictures on sarahandnicholas.com later this weekend, but those may have to wait until Sarah gets here, as the only digital camera I have is a webcam. Anyone who wants to come see me can sleep on the spacious floor or perhaps on the hide-a-bed in the kitchen. For those who know the area, I live about 2 blocks from Eastern Market, which is apparently a large open-air market on Saturdays and Sundays.

I went to the National Air and Space Museum today (insert your own model rocketry/dork reference here).

In other news, you can't take your Segway on the Metro. Also, Christopher and Nicholas came in 4th and 5th in most popular baby names. Congratulations to Christopher for beating me this year, but this was a rebuilding year for Nicholas...

Lastly, congratulations go out to all of the soon-to-be Duke Law Grads. You know who you are.

AND DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME!!!

It's that time of year folks. Pick your pony and lose your hard-earned cash. My exacta pick this year: Ten Most Wanted 1st-Empire Maker 2nd. If I was actually betting I'd probably bet this ticket as well as the reverse (box it). I would also pick Peace Rules or Indian Express to Show.

Caveat, I WILL BE WRONG ABOUT ALL OF THESE. Despite having spent 4 years in KY, there was only one time that I ever correctly picked an exacta, and it didn't pay that well. I am the worst handicapper of all time. It's a good thing I never bet more than 2 bucks on anything. Post time for the Derby is 6:04 pm. Don't forget that there are races after the Derby (which has always been weird to me, it's almost like having a minor league game in the same stadium right after Game 7 of the World Series).