Coming up for air

I just wanted to come up from my constant Bar studying to say thank you for all of the birthday wishes and gifts of a week ago. I don't have much free time these days, as moving and studying are occupying me. I did get to see the Pistons embarass the Lakers this evening, but I felt guilty the whole time.

Hope everyone is well, see you on July 29th.

Lookie here...

I'm not saying that we were the first couple to have a wedding website, but this is strange:

nicholasandsarah.com

Ch-Ch-Ch...Ah, never mind...

As you can tell, big changes around here at The Best Blog EVER!!! A new blogger template means a little easier on the eyes, but I have switched to the Blogger comments, which aren't nearly as intuitive for users as Haloscan, I may end up going back if I really don't like it...(I hate livejournal's comments, and these aren't far off.)

I have begun Bar Preparation "for real" now. Unfortunately, despite being promised by the Bar/Bri people that my home-study CDs would arrive tomorrow, I have been informed that they won't be shipped until Wednesday. That's okay, I have some other materials that can keep me busy in the meantime and I can catch up on the weekends, but I wish they had let us know a little earlier...The task looks more daunting every time I look at the absurd amount of material and number of practice questions that have been provided me. If I live through this, I can live through anything, I'm convinced.

We're back to DC this weekend, with hopes of finding a house/condo that we can make an offer on. We don't want to be back and forth between here and there too many times, so we are hopeful that this weekend will be fruitful. Keep your fingers crossed for us.

Alright, back to Constitutional Law for now.

Where has all my initiative gone?

I tried to listen to some bar exam lectures on tape this afternoon and promptly fell asleep on the couch, waking only when Maggie saw another dog out the window and began barking. Even though this is pretty early to be studying, I certainly hope that I can find a little more energy for this stuff soon. Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzz............

We're having Tim and Emily in this weekend and next weekend we return to DC to look at houses, and may even be making an offer if we see something we really like--now wouldn't that be all grown up of us?

I also really want to change the template on our blog, but I am too lazy to reinsert the Haloscan comments code. Also, the new blog templates all have that annoying stuff on the side telling everyone about your interests--I don't want it. Ah, well, I guess we're stuck with this for now.

March for Women's Lives

Two weeks ago today, I set out for Washington, DC to attend the March for Women's Lives. The March held on April 25 was to protest for "Choice, Justice, Access, Health, Abortion, Global and Family Planning." Over 1,115,000 people attended the march and it was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.

I went up early to volunteer at the National Organization for Women's (a co-sponsor of the March along with my current employer Planned Parenthood) headquarters. Immediately I was put to work Friday morning helping recruit people to promote NOW's new voter mobilization called 10 for Change. It was really wonderful seeing everyone I worked for this summer especially my boss Linda. This summer one of my main tasks was to secure memorabilia for the PAC auction held every summer at the NOW convention. In a lightbulb moment, I realized the March would be stockfull of celebrities and if we could get them to sign March posters they could be auctioned off for lots of money. I told my idea to Kim Gandy, the president of NOW, who told me she like the way my mind worked but we needed someone to be charge of the poster. Well of course I volunteered and secured myself a backstage pass.

After leaving the NOW office on Friday, I went to visit American University's Washington College of Law where I am now convinced I will be attending in the fall. It is everything I want in a law school. Laid back, feminist oriented, focused on government/non-profit service. It really was exciting.

The next day, after looking at houses in Virginia with our realtor, I made my way downtown to the DC Armory for the March kick-off event. From 3-12pm, my good friend Hannah and I passed out information and sold T-shirts till we about passed out from exhaustion. I've never seen women so excited about T-shirts in my whole life.

The next morning, the day of the March, we woke up bright and early and greeted buses coming from out of town at the Branch Avenue until about noon. I even got to personally greet all my coworkers arriving from North Carolina. Finally, we got to the mall and the excitement was truly palpable. There is nothing like being surrounded by a million people who feel the same way you do. Honestly, there were so many people I didn't think we would be able to logistically march around the capital. Thinking I had more time than I did I made my way backstage but instead ended up following Whoopi Goldberg and Christine Lahti to the front of the line. Suddenly, I looked around and I was right behind Ted Turner, Ashley Judd, Calli Khoui (screenwriter of Thelma and Louise and from my hometown), Camryn Manheim, Tyne Daly, and a ton of other celebrities. I introduced myself and had them all sign my NOW round and then the next thing I knew we were marching. In the midst of the hubbub I got pushed farther and farther back but I ended up marching the entire way with Tyne Daly's three daughters Alisabeth, Kathryne , and Alyxandra who adopted me and were incredibly kind. The marching itself was incredibly surreal. We were in this group of people as far as the eye could see walking towards the capitol. The truly surreal moment came when I glanced over and saw Gloria Steinem,far from the celebrity held front, marching with us normal people. I reintroduced myself and walked beside for about 15 minutes. It was of course a top ten moment of my life.

After the march, I went backstage to start gathering my celebrity signatures. Cady Lornell, Kim Gandy's daughter and a really sweet child, wanted to meet the celebrities too so she followed me around as we met everyone from Susan Sarandon to Moby to Carole King. I had my picture taken with Sheryl Crow and Julianne Moore - two of my absolute favorites. It was just another surreal moment from the weekend to look around you and realize your next to Candace Bergen, Ed Harris, the Indigo Girls.
The whole afternoon was fantastic and I stayed until the very end at 6pm and set out for North Carolina.

The whole time I was on such an andreneline high because I knew we were truly making history. While meeting all the famous people I've admired for so long was very cool, I think my favorite thing was how connected you felt to everyone. All weekend long if another marcher identified you as "on their side" it was like you were long lost friends and you could talk about anything. As cheesy as it sounds, we were all truly sisters that weekend. My only prayer for myself and my sisters is that we can transform all the positive energy and experience into incredible change especially on November 2!

The Fix Is In

Well, since I haven't received any correspondence telling me otherwise, I guess Duke Law School is going to graduate me on Saturday. Right now I'm going to the Durham Bulls game, right after I take Maggie outside.

Maggie's Triumphant Return to Dogster

Dogster lost a bunch of their pages to a server error about 3 months ago, and Maggie's page was one that was lost. I recreated her page today. The link on the left should work, but if you're too lazy, I'll put one here, too.

Update: For those of you who don't read comments, Maximus has a Dogster page, too. Maggie and Maximus are Dogster Pup Pals!

Iron Chef America

Just finished a study break during which I watched Iron Chef America. A couple of observations that struck me while watching it:

1) Japanese actresses in translation (on the original Iron Chef) seem much smarter than American actresses. The actress that they had on from "The OC" was amazed by the taste of the wasabi until she was told that she'd probably never had it fresh because most wasabi paste you get is made from wasabi powder and water. Even J. Peterman knew that. She also did not have a very endearing anime-character giggle.

2) Alton Brown is a legitimate chef. This may seem obvious to any who have watched his show, but one of the joys of watching Good Eats is that AB comes across as just a guy who really knows how to cook instead of a guy who has an encyclopedic knowledge of all things culinary. This show allows him to show just how knowledgeable he is, without having to dumb it down for me. Of course, this sometimes leads him to come across a little like a know-it-all, especially when he constantly corrects the guy who reports from the Kitchen Stadium.

That is all.

Busy Weekend

I had my second to last exam yesterday (Trusts and Estates--perhaps the hardest exam I've ever had, and not because I didn't study). My last one is on Monday (Federal Courts), so I am studying that now. It is really hard to believe that I will have finished three years of law school after Monday ( I don't want to say "graduate," because that might jinx it, especially since exams aren't over). It's trite but true that it seems like only a few months ago that I moved in with Pete Reaves at The Forest. Of course, when I really think about what's happened over that period, it seems like it's been forever...

Sarah is in DC for the March for Women's Lives/Pro-Choice March tomorrow. She also went to look at houses in Virginia with our real estate agent up there.

It is also Benjamin's birthday, today--I didn't forget. That also means that Granddaddy's birthday is tomorrow. Happy Birthday to Both!!!!

Final Final Exams

I've started studying for my last set of finals in law school. It shouldn't be too terrible, though there is the added pressure of the fact that failing means I don't get to graduate this year, which could really put a kink in my life plans..

I also received my Bar study materials yesterday. They consist of two legal paper sized books of about 1000 pages a piece, one for Virginia, and one for the Multistate portion of the bar. The cost for this course and the multistate course I am taking is about $2500--luckily, the firm pays for it. I am sufficiently afraid of the bar exam now.

Sarah and I (mostly Sarah) did a lot of Spring Cleaning today. The apartment looks better than it did when we moved in. I also bought a basil plant today, because I was sick and tired of paying 2 bucks for a quarter cup of basil every time I needed it, which is too often. I don't have a green thumb, but maybe my "punishment garden" skills will pay off.

Hives Suck!

On Friday night, my arms started to itch. Upon closer inspection, I found a few small red bumps. Reassured by Nicholas that it was just a little heat rash, I took an Aveno bath and tried to watch Pirates of the Caribbean. Halfway through the film, I go to the restroom to discover my left eye is swollen and the bumps have spread to my back. At this point I totally and completely freak out and start to cry. Nicholas takes me to the ER where they are surprisingly quick in getting me in a bed and pumped full of benydrl. A couple of hours of doped up sleep later the hives are gone and we go home at approximately 3am.

The next morning I continue to take benydrl and steroids but the hives come back with a vengeance and I am starting to look like a science experiment. We decide not to go back to the ER b/c they are only going to give me more of the drugs I already have and tell me they don't know what's causing it. By Sunday, the hives are still in place although mainly on my arms and legs. On Monday I get into to see my dermatologist who gives me a prescription for allegra and tells me they won't be able to tell me what caused the hives either. They're pretty sure it wasn't anything topical but beyond that I just have to pray I don't encounter whatever the hell it was ever again. Like I said...hives suck!

The Sloganator

I'm admittedly the last person to blog about this, but this slideshow of posters created with the Bush-Cheney sloganator is one of the funniest things I've watched in a while.

Calling all Georgians!

Get your senator UNDER CONTROL!

Georgia Senator Stumps for Bush

This however does not suck. In fact it is dang near awesome.

GAS BUDDY

I want to be really clear about this. It completely and utterly sucks. I don't know what else to say.

http://www.365gay.com/newscon04/03/031704fedWorkers.htm

Now that I think about it...

Last night I chased Maggie around for five minutes trying to retrieve a razor blade from her mouth that she had dug out of the bathroom trashcan. Once I caught her, she ran to the corner and promptly took a shit on the carpet which she hasn't done in months. Did I mention Nicholas had just taken her outside?

In other words, maybe one dog is plenty.

Two is better one?

Well people are starting to complain so I suppose it's time for a new post. Although, everyone might want to get used to sparse posting as we are entering a very exciting but stressful period. In the next six months, one of will graduate from law school, one of us will enter law school. One of us will leave our first real job and the other will start their first real job. Nicholas will take the biggest test of his life. We will both be in a wedding a piece. We will be moving from North Carolina to Washington, D.C. where we will buy a house and a car. It's a darn good thing we just went on vacation. (We had a lovely time by the way)

On top of everything else, we (well mainly me) are considering getting another dog. This is the primarily the result the vacation Maggie had while we were in Wilmington. My wonderful boss, Karen, agreed to keep her. Karen has two dogs, Rudy and Haley, who weigh about 60lbs apiece. You would think our own little 12lb dog would be frightened or anxious but oh no! Maggie can definitely run with the big dogs. Karen said she ran and romped with Rudy for hours on end until Rudy finally gave up in exhaustion. And she is the same way at the dog park. She runs and chases other dogs and just has a grand old time. Being the lazy jerks that we are, we could never give her the physical exercise and fun another dog could. So there it is...now I'll just set back and let the warnings come from my mother and grandmother who didn't even want me to get Maggie. I wonder if this is the same reasoning people use when having more kids?

Bleahhhhhh....

I don't feel well today, I've got a head cold. I'm also trying to figure out all this Bar preparation stuff and apply for the bar. Come to think of it, maybe I can get some help from you people. $0.75 per answer to anyone that can answer any of the following questions. One winner per question.

1) What's the number for the Dekalb County Traffic Court?

2) What was the last year that USA Pools ran the Decatur Pools? (I will take the first year that Alpha Pools ran them.)

3) What was the date of my suspension from DHS?

4) Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?

Me and Cars, Part II

Last weekend, I visited one of my best friends Elizabeth Ferrell and her new little baby, David (better known as Punkin'). Aimee Hicks (another close friend) and I set out on the long seven hour trip to Louisville, KY at about 4:30pm on Thursday afternoon. Aimee was concerned that her engine was running a little hot so we decided to stop in Auto Protocall for quick check-up. Unfortunately, we got there at 4:50 and they close at 5pm. However, the man at the front generously agreed to come look at our car in the parking lot. He established that we had plenty of coolant and that nothing on the service seemed terribly wrong. He also informed us that as long as the temperature gage on the dash didn't pass into the red we were fine. Now, I'm pretty hard on cars (perhaps why I've already been thro two) but Aimee leans more toward safety or paranoia which ever you prefer. She wasn't comfortable just turning on the defrost and therefore cooling the engine so we decided to try Walmart. (I know I know but it's not my car)

Upon pulling up we quickly established that this was only a Tire and Lube Express. However, I decided it wouldn't hurt to ask for some help. I did decide it would hurt to ask the purse-lipped lady inside at the desk so I yelled at one of the mechanics in the garage. He informed me they couldn't do the work at Walmart but he would be glad to take a look. So Duke (our new best friend) came outside and quickly established that Aimee's thermostat is broken. He then informs us that he can call his cousin who could come over and fix it in about 15 minutes if we could get the part. Meanwhile time is ticking away and we decide to ask our respective fiance/husband if we can borrow their cars and both our respective fiance/husbands say no. Well Aimee gives up but I kick and cry till NIcholas relents which is about the same time Duke says his cousin is on the way and Johan (Aimee's fiance) volunteers to rent us a car. We decide to have Nicholas go get the new thermostat (which the people at Autozone say they have but then change their mind but then find it again).

By now it's about 7:00pm and Duke's cousin has still not shown up. Everyone is getting anxious including Nicholas who has shown up with the new thermostat. Finally, Derrick the infamous cousin shows up and goes to work on Aimee's car - in the middle of the Walmart parking lot. He works and works and works. Finally about an hour later he's finished and he says wants to take it for a test drive to make sure everything is working. After instructing us to remove our pocketbooks(his word not mine), he takes a couple of laps around the parking lot and established the fans still aren't kicking on. Seeing our desperate faces, he explains he can cut some wires and hook the fans directly to the battery or we can trust that the high speed wind will keep the engine cool. We chose option two. We thank Derrick and ask how much we should pay him. He instructs Aimee to pay him "whatever you think is fair" We give Derrick as much money as we can afford and the promise of our firstborns. Around 9:00 we set out, Derrick's girlfriends phone number in tow "in case we run into any trouble."

We arrive in Lexington at 3:45am and spend the night there. We go to Louisville and spend a lovely weekend with our friends and the baby, who are just glad we're there. Although my friend Erin asked in amazement, "Where do you find these people?!?"

As Expected

Maggie now has her own Dogster page.

Ed.note: The last post about what I've been doing lately disappeared for some reason. Rest assured that it wasn't that interesting, and most of the links can be found on the left hand side of the page