What I've learned in Law School

We have five more days of law school, and I have to say that I've learned quite a lot. While I haven't attended a single class or read any legal textbooks, I'll share with you what I will be taking away from law school.

#1: How to tie a tie.

I won't ever be a pro at this, but I can do it. I hope I never have any situation that I'll actually have to wear a tie, but if Ryan ever breaks both of his arms at the same time, I'll be a great caretaker.

Tying a tie is clearly a valuable skill to have if you want to be a lawyer.

#2: How to multi-task.

I have learned how to watch football and study flash cards, which is very helpful since I do both of those things so often. The key is enthusiasm in both tasks. Then if you get a little off task, no one will notice. Jumping up and shouting is a great way to show your enthusiasm.

#3: How to ask the difficult questions in life.

Okay, I didn't make this up. I found this card in this week's study pile, and I didn't write it myself. I did make a notecard with a mustache on it to put in the middle of the pile: you know, like "I mustache you a question." Never mind...exam week + packing makes me lose some of my sanity.

What is perfection? Not sure yet. I just know how to ask the questions, not answer them. You'll have to talk with the one who's actually receiving the legal degree to answer that one for you.

No, I cannot give legal advice. But Ryan will be able to very soon!

Days left

As our move gets closer, I'm finding myself less and less interested in packing. It doesn't help that our spare room has turned into a packing war zone. Now when I have to go in there I squint my eyes tightly so I can't see anything in the periphery and get out as quickly as possible.

Ryan is, of course, unhelpful in the packing field. Today, in fact, he's been entirely unhelpful since he received his birthday/graduation present in the mail:

Don't be fooled. He's not doing homework. Homework has never kept him distracted from lunch.

As for me, I have found all kinds of distractions. My coffee table, for one:

Isn't it just beautiful? After the legs on our coffee table broke a second time about 2 months ago, I decided to turn it into a piece of art-- middle school style. Just like those old desks without the threat of detention. Everyday, I've been carving out little pictures into the scratched top.

Just so you don't feel like I'm devaluing my furniture in any way, here is the view of the underside. It really needs a short, one-way trip to the dumpster.

However, carving into the top of the table is really a great stress reliever.

We've decided to toss it when we move, of course. But the more I carve into it the more I'm becoming attached. I'm thinking that I may have a harder time leaving it at the curb than I thought. It may be a sad goodbye.

Well if nothing else, we have definitely gotten our $15 worth out of this goodwill purchase.

Washing machine update:

After thinking about the walking down the street to do laundry for the next six weeks, I decided that I couldn't give up on my washer. So I convinced Repairman Ryan to help me look a little more closely to see if we could at least find out what the problem is.

What we discovered was that there was a little plastic box that controlled the lid switch that was breaking off. Which means that my washer thought the lid was always open and so, to protect me and my arms, it shut off after filling with water each time.

We were able to secure the box back where it belonged, although after we move we'll probably have to buy a replacement. Which means that we didn't have to call an appliance fixer! And my washer still works!

As a result of my adventure, I have learned more than we would ever like to know about my household appliances. And I had no idea a washer looked so frightening underneath.

Now I need to go do some laundry.

Days left:

packed: 8

I obviously haven't been packing that much lately, but that is the beauty of starting the packing early. I can pack when I want and ignore the packing when I want. I am good at ignoring.

In the mean time, my house has found out that we're moving and started to revolt. Two weeks ago it was my shower that decided to retire early. As soon as I got that fixed the bathroom scale quit (which I decided we didn't really need anyways). And this week it's the washer.

Clearly, the washing machine breaking down is the biggest problem. Thankfully, it was on the last load of the day that it stopped working. Unfortunately, it quit after filling completely with soapy water. Which led me to my romantic Saturday evening: scooping out washer water 16 oz. at a time until we could easily move it away from the wall without scratching the floor. And then mopping up the floor after learning that I do not have the coordination to hold a bucket under the washer drain.

I then tried to be the ultimate appliance repair person, which translates to me screwing off the top panel and looking at all the colorful wires. You're supposed to cut the red one first, right? Then the blue one? That's what they always do in the movies.

No I didn't cut any wires: Ryan stopped me before I had a chance to.

Turns out that that little folded paper in there is not a magic map to help you fix your broken appliance. I looked.

It also turns out that there is a nice old man online who is willing to help me fix it via webchat for $34. Ryan wouldn't let me try that option either. We decided that if you were an online repairman you would automatically upload a picture of your grandfather to your profile because who wouldn't trust their grandpa to fix their washer?

The thing is that we paid less for the washer to begin with than it will cost to get a real person out here to fix it. So for now we're enforcing a strict test to all clothing items before they go in the laundry basket and collecting quarters. And counting down the days till we move.

Current countdown:

Packed: 4

In the midst of cleaning out one of my closets I found something that I didn't know I still had: my paper doll collection. I've gotten rid of all of my other toys and random things from when I was a kid, but for some reason, these are still hanging out in my closet.

I don't think these are all mine. The princesses definitely are, but I'm pretty sure that some of these styles were from before my era.

Like these...is this the 80's?

Then I found another set that dates back even earlier. Back when Barbie was still friends with Midge and Skipper.

These bring me back to the days when my mom would let us play with some of the toys she had saved. Such as these play-acting paper dolls.

Well I think that's all the packing I'm going to do today. Although I should probably try to pack as much as I can while it's still fun.

shoes

I've been working a lot more the last couple of weeks so I haven't had a chance to share my latest crochet projects.

This one was inspired by a baby shower that I went to a while ago. There were so much adorable baby stuff that I had to try some of my own. Thankfully there is an abundance of babies in my life these days so I know nothing will go to waste. Just to clarify, none of these babies are mine.

So this is attempt #1. A cute slip-on (there are laces attached underneath the front part for a little extra stability). This idea came from a pattern for baby boy sailor shoes that I modified.

I made this with my friend's little baby Elyse (who should be joining us any day now) in mind.

Once I got the hang of making the sole, I got a little carried away in the creativity department. This is an attempt at some cute sandals. I saw some similar ones on a crochet blog, but there was no pattern. To be honest I got kind of bored about half way through, and so it turned out a little sloppy in the end. Also, without a baby foot to size, it was hard to gage how long the straps would need to be.

Notice that there is only one of each. I like to think of myself as a finisher of projects, which most of the time I am. However, after I finish a project I usually like to move on to something new. This becomes a problem with shoes. I finished one of each shoe. I currently have not completed either pair. I also have moved on to other projects.

There is a bug living un-er my keyboar-. Currently he's hi-ing un-er the letter -. I'm afrai- if I push that key he will get squishe- an- never come out. I'm not sure if I can be okay with that. I even trie- vacuuming him out, but I can't tell if it helpe-.

It's going to be a rough morning...

My latest project:

I pulled out some rags that were once t-shirts and pillowcases and converted them into twisty flowers. It would have been a whole lot easier if I had a hot glue gun, but unfortunately, I left my miniature princess hot glue gun at my mom's house when I moved about 6 years ago. Instead, I used a thread and needle to stitch these together. Still turned out pretty good I think.

This one I put on a stretchy headband.

The bead is from a pair of earrings I took from my sister's garage sale. By "took" I mean grabbed before she could even put them outside on the tables. It's called revenge from the days that she passed down her lace-collared floral dresses that were 8 years past their prime.

And these ones are just on bobby pins.

By the way, I actually had a place to go wearing this black dress (which has been hanging in my closet for months).

I think I might have to put hot glue gun on my Christmas list, right after sewing machine, job for Ryan and new house.

Happy October!

October is one of my favorite months for several reasons. The most important: Pumpkin. Pumpkin pie, pumpkin bars, pumpkin milkshake, and the newest addition: pumpkin cornbread.

Add a little butter and syrup...and may I say, it is fantastic. Cornbread happens to be another of my favorite foods, so this recipe is a perfect marriage. It's a little heavier than regular cornbread, and definitely more filling. Perfect for our cool, cloudy, October Sunday.

Here is the recipe for pumpkin cornbread. Try it.

We are back into our school routine, which means that I spend my time listening to legal excerpts. Well, listening probably isn't the best word to describe it. I'm not a very good listener, especially when it comes to criminal procedure or bankruptcy. But I should probably work on that. I always forget that when Ryan finishes law school it doesn't mean that we get to leave all the legal jargon behind. It's going to be around for a while.

Also, for future reference, two laptops don't really help you do your homework twice as fast. Sorry.

Ryan's three step plan to combat stress:

Step 1: Get a bowl.

Step 2: Take out the ice cream.

Step 3: Scoop the ice cream into the bowl.

And that's why I love him.

I may or may not have already started a countdown for the move. No paper chains yet, though.

I also may or may not have started collecting cardboard boxes and other moving supplies. Those recycling dumpsters are just so tempting!

Especially since I seem to find so much time on my hands these days. Turns out the job situation is not so hot. Not that it ever was, but is seems to be even less now. Especially if you are going to be moving to an undisclosed location in a just a few months.

If only I had taken up my in-laws on that Granny-sitting job. I really never should have passed that one up (Just so you know, none of my in-laws are a granny who needs sitting, they just know some nice grannies). Although, I imagine that Ryan would have gotten sick of eating hot dogs on white bread after I was gone for a few months. My cooking isn't good enough that he would miss me too quickly.

Although I did make some pretty amazing cinnamon rolls this weekend. After the storm took our power for a day a few weeks ago, my frozen bread dough was all stuck together. I tried pulling and sawing, but ended up just letting the whole pile thaw out together. However, I found that I didn't really need all that bread. So I rolled one of the loaves up into some pretty tasty cinnamon rolls.

Did I mention that I'm available for hire? Think cinnamon rolls.

Everything is back to normal after the storm. We are so thankful that we had so little damage here.

Now that we're a full week into the semester, I've decided its time to start thinking about moving. Ok, it might be a little early, but it doesn't hurt to be prepared.

I started researching some different moving options: like trucks and moving containers. Of course, when you're moving through time zones, you can't just get a straight cost on a website. You have to call each company and talk to their sales people to get a quote. I called one company an handful of times before I actually got to talk with somebody. When I told her what information I was looking for, she laughed and said, "Well, you're looking at moving about as far as you possibly can in this country." Thanks. I didn't know that.

Of course, she made it clear that it was of utmost importance that I book with them immediately. I tried to explain that I still didn't actually know exactly where I was moving, much less the exact dates. "Okay," she said, "I can hold this price for you for exactly 7 days." Again, thank you, because 7 days is really going to make a difference in me knowing where we'll be moving.

Overall, Ryan and I learned that its really too expensive to move. One of us suggested that we should just get rid of everything that doesn't fit in our car and then use the cost of moving to buy all new when we get there. We both thought about it for a few minutes, thinking: can we actually do that? No. Of course not. But a little tempting.

We decided that we'll just be staying here forever. If anyone wants to see us they can fly out here. That way we don't have to move. If you have any objections, you can talk to our donations department.

We have power!

We're definitely some of the lucky ones today with our power on around noon. We were actually only without power for about 16 hours or so. Enough to melt our ice cream a little, but not much else.

I have to thank God that the tall tree near our house did not fall. It was about the only thing I could think of last night as I tried to sleep, especially since it was right above my head.

Looking out the window this morning, we had very little damage. There were a lot of small branches down, a few larger ones, and one or two small trees. Surprisingly, the sun has dried up almost all of the water: it hardly looks like we had a storm.

Except for this poor little tree. It clearly did not survive. But other than that, we have a beautiful day.

...Whew. We had a little 1/2 hour blurp of no power there, about 30 seconds before I hit Publish for this post. It made me a little worried because I was really looking forward to using the microwave to make my lunch. But its back now. Hopefully for good.

Waiting for the storm

We've done about as much preparing for the storm as we can.

Now we just have to sit and wait.

Our power flickered once this morning. I feel like I need to use as much power as possible, just in case I don't have any for the rest of the week.

Our BFF Irene

Our weekend is getting more and more exciting every day. Well, actually, every three hours--that's when each new weather update comes out.

At this point, we're basically smack-dab in the middle of the path of our lovely friend Irene.

Right now, we're not planning on evacuating or taking any major steps to avoid the storm. There have been some mandatory evacuations ordered in our area. However, those are mainly in the low lying areas that usually get the most flooding during storms.

We rarely get any flooding at our house, so we're not too worried about that part of it. Of course, we will definitely get a lot of rain and wind, so we'll probably lose power for a few days.

While we're not evacuating, we are going to be storing water and ice. I've already gone on my survival food grocery run. This time I did get more than oreos, I promise.

The only thing I'm really concerned about is my windows, and maybe the car. Our bedroom window faces a sort of wind tunnel anyways, so we may be moving around some furniture so that I don't have to sleep within two feet of a possibly broken window. That is, if I sleep at all.

For now, its not worth freaking out about. So here is something a little more fun to think about for today:

Luna, Ryan really misses you. If Mom and Dad don't want to visit us this fall, you can come by yourself.

End of Summer

After our long vacation, we have successfully moved into our new house. Having a lawyer in the family isn't so bad after all.

(And yes, by the way, we are wearing dorky sunglasses. That would be because a certain person who I married can't control his blinking.)

Don't you just love the view from our back yard?

Ok, just kidding. We didn't move anywhere. We don't have a pool or a view or even a lagoon in front of our home. Oh, and we also don't have a mansion and we don't live on a lake. But I can dream can't I?

I'll have to go into detail about all of our adventures this summer, but for now, it's back to school for Ryan. He's had his last first day!

Doesn't he look so excited? Sadly, he didn't have his first-day lunch box to hold on his way out the door. And the countdown to graduation begins!

So it turns out that when I'm not working I spend money, which is in addition to the money that I'm not making since I'm not working. It seems to be a problem.

But it's just so easy. I go to the library to drop off some books and then stop by the shoe store because I drive right past it. And then when I don't find a whole lot that I like, I think, well I have time so I'll drive down to that other store. And then that store is right next to a bunch of other great stuff. And well, I have all day, so why not? Today I had to stop myself from driving to the mall, after I picked up some flip flops and some tank tops and oh, you know I would love to find another pair of shorts. Thankfully, I had melting food in the car to keep me focused.

It's a good thing that I'm not going to be spending my entire summer sitting around at home. I'd definitely be better dressed, that's for sure. But I'd probably get tired of eating white bread and top ramen for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.

A month and a half later...

The summer semester and my job and the Mid-Atlantic heat are almost over for us. With the next two months stretched out in front of us, I've realized that I'm going to have a lot of time on my hands. Ryan is going to be busy shaking hands and giving out resumes, but I haven't even taken the time to think about what I'll be doing.

Of course, we'll be spending lots of time with friends and family. Also, my sister has graciously invited me to take cuttings in the field with her. I'm not sure if I will be taking her up on that offer.

So with this in mind, I've decided to compile a list of summer projects, as well as a list of food that I would like other people to make for me :)

One of the projects that caught my eye recently was a new form of crocheting: Amigurumi. Apparently it originated in Japan, and it is basically making all kinds of animals and objects from yarn.

So my first attempt was an owl. Let's just say that it wasn't exactly blog-worthy. Then I tried a few others before reaching this:

It's a hedgehog; well almost. It still needs some eyes and some work on the flower accent, but it's still a step up from my first few tries.

As far as the food, I'm adding anything homemade or fresh from the garden or not made by me.

It's going to be a great summer!

On my way to work, well I was almost on my way to work, I got a call from my coworker that the lock on the door was not working. She said I might as well stay home at least until the locksmith showed up. She had been waiting at the door for an hour and a half.

So here I sit. Enjoying my morning. I am hoping that there are a lot of other locks that the locksmith needs to fix today. But I'm also trying not to get my hopes up. Its a little like the days when they would forecast snow. I would go to bed dreaming of all the things that I would do the next day with a snow-day. It would make it so much harder to get up and get ready for school the next morning when there was no snow on the ground.

I never get to sit at home at this time of the morning, and I'm loving it. I don't even mind hearing the noisy, little baby birds who live somewhere in between our wall and porch roof. Ryan, who spends a lot more time near their nest, has started pounding on the wall to get them to be quiet. It doesn't last very long. Instead their momma comes back and they all get very excited again. We are hoping that they learn to fly soon.

Still no call from work...maybe I should make some cookies.

Today we finally made our way home. But first we had to cross the bridge tunnel. The big bridge tunnel. Actually there's several miles of bridges as well as two tunnels. Basically, you drive straight into the ocean without being able to see where you'll come out.

Are you starting to understand how I feel about bridge tunnels?

This is how our crossing went:

Ryan: Ooh this would be more fun if there were no guard rails.

me: Please don't talk.

Ryan: Look! No hands!

me: You need to drive! Put both hands on the wheel. Now! Stop! Just stop!

Ryan: You want me to stop? Should I pull over?

me: NO!!! Drive.

Ryan: Skipper, prepare to dive. All systems ready? Up Periscope! 30 degrees downward!

me: Please just drive.

Ryan: DIVE. DIVE. DIVE. BRRRRRR! BRRRRRR! DIVE!

me: I don't like this. I don't like this. I don't like this. Slow down.

Ryan: Maintain Speed!

me: I don't like this. Can you please slow down.

Ryan: The sign says maintain speed... Look, we made it. Oh, that was just a practice one, the next one we have to do with our eyes closed.

me: Can you please stop talking?

And you get the idea. I, for one, am happy to be home.

Overall, we had a wonderful weekend. But I forgot my camera, so there won't be any picture posts, sorry.

On our second day of our trip, we started off by heading out towards a Revolutionary War sight. As many of you know, war sights are not usually my top pick for vacations. However, we didn't have to listen to any engaging battle talks. But we did tour an old train station and a house where George and Martha stayed one winter.

We then headed for the city. Ryan, always prepared, had pulled up a variety of maps to help us get to our hotel. Let's just say that I think we're going to be investing in a gps one of these days. Navigation is clearly not one of my strong suits. Turns out that I used my spending money going back and forth over a toll bridge. It would have been a fun bridge to go over, except that it was going in the wrong direction.

It all ended okay though. We had been riding on E in our gas tank for about 1/2 hour of traffic into the city, and as soon as we crossed the bridge (on accident) we found ourselves right next to a gas station. AND we got to experience the only other state that does not allow you to pump your own gas. We hadn't planned on traveling into New Jersey, but having our gas pumped for us was definitely worth crossing the bridge twice.

Oh and I got to take part in my first Philly cheesesteak. It was delicious.

Day one of vacation down. And we're ready to sleep all day.

We had carefully planned our day to take advantage of as many freebies as possible. Free parking included. The only unfortunate part was that the amazing free parking that we found near the mall in DC was in the exact opposite direction that we wanted to go for the day. So in DC style we walked. And walked. And then walked some more.

We were extremely thankful for the beautiful 65 degree weather that was such a contrast to our last trip up here (which was over a hundred degrees). But we didn't expect to get just as tired.

Our favorite part of the day was the free zoo. That's the wonderful thing about DC: so many things to do for free (you just have to work for the free parking). The zoo started out a bit disappointing: the animals were no where to be found. But then we had some luck with the Giant Pandas. One came into his little indoor area and cooled off in the pool right as we walked by.

Then we lucked out with a few other animals moving around just as we came by. And finally we saw two adorable families. The first were the Apes. One little guy was just a troublemaker that was determined to pick on his older brothers as well as his big hungry papa. The cool weather also led a pride of lions to pursue all kinds of antics. From the head of the pride pacing the pool to the 7 cubs tackling and biting each other and the lionesses.

By the time we were finished looking at all the animals, we thought we had a quick shortcut back to the metro station, but instead found ourselves on a very long hiking trail through the woods (yes, in the middle of the city). Good thing Ryan and I love each other so much, because otherwise we would have been very upset at whichever one of us decided to take the so-called shortcut (I won't name any names).

Now we're on to our next adventure.

Exams are finished! I have a husband again. And I'm going to enjoy this next week before he starts the next term. Starting with some tennis in the beautiful afternoon weather and then a nap.

But first, we have to clean up the aftermath.

res ipsa loquitur

It's that time again. Stacks of hundreds of notecards are covering every surface of the house. I think right now we're studying Evidence. But I can't ever be sure.

So far this week, Ryan's had a study buddy so I haven't been drafted to read notecards. While I am thankful that I can avoid the study process, I'm only going to let the study buddy mooch one more dinner this week. Unless, of course, he brings me ice cream like he promised.

Last night they were using a different set of notecards with all different kinds of scenarios, or hypos (if you want to talk like a law student), on them. While I never knew the answer, or usually what they were even talking about, the characters made the guys' conversation interesting.

If Daffy Duck murders Elmer Fudd and then Bugs Bunny testifies....

Or Ashley came to Rhett and told him that Scarlett was cheating and then he pulls out a pistol...

Or Olive Oil goes to Dr. Sea Hag but kept the information from Popeye...

Or Mary Poppins opens up her umbrella...okay, I have no idea how that one related to evidence in a case.

I didn't really pay that close of attention. I just enjoyed the conversations that followed:

"What exactly did Jiminy Cricket say to Pinocchio? Was Geppetto's statement hearsay? Is it offered for the truth of the matter asserted?"

After about a hundred of these cards I fell asleep, thankful that I do not have any exams this week.

It's a countdown day today.

86 more days until my birthday (and my mother-in-law's), which we get to spend together this year

98 more days until we fly to the best place on earth, no not North Dakota

57 more work/class days until our summer starts

257 more days until Ryan graduates! Not that he'll have an actual graduation then, but he will get the part that counts: the diploma

2 more days until the weekend

In an apartment building, everyone is allowed to be loud every once in a while. Everybody does at least one thing that is louder than it should be.

Some people have a baby who cries at night. Some people talk way too loudly on their phone in the middle of the day. Some people get a bit too excited during football games (guess who that is).

I understand that. But some people go above and beyond. Some people vacuum at night with their door open for two hours straight. Let me tell you, we don't have that much carpet in here. Seriously, it takes me about 15 minutes. Granted, I don't usually get into all the corners every time I vacuum, but I still get it pretty clean. I'm not sure what one would even vacuum for 2 hours.

This is our neighbor. Every time it gets quiet and I think he's finally done, he picks right back up again. And again.

Wait... I think he might finally be done for real this time... or maybe not.

Ryan's talking to the muffins he just made. Giving them a pep-talk really.

I think he's pretty excited about finally making the raisin bran muffins he's always talking about.

We'll see if these muffins really are all he's ever hoped and dreamed of.

They'll probably turn out better if he doesn't open the oven to look at them every 20 seconds. Like I said, he's excited.

Coupon of the Day

My co-worker gave me this restaurant coupon today:

Congratulations! This coupon is good for one free kid's meal for $1.50.

Wait...what? Is it free or is it $1.50?

I think there's going to be a little confusion with that one.

This isn't a food blog. I promise. Let's face it, I wouldn't be a good food blogger. I just like food. Especially when someone else makes it.

This post isn't about food to make. Instead its about what not to make.

I have officially decided that after Ryan finishes law school for good (287 days and counting), I will not be eating boxed meals again.

After college I took out mac'n'cheese out of my life forever. Now hamburger helper will be soon following. No more cheese powder! I just can't eat it anymore. We will be adults and we will skip that aisle in the grocery store.

I realize that by taking out the easy, prepared meals, I am forcing myself to make meals that require time and preparation. I may regret that decision. But I won't miss eating cheese powder; that I know.

Did I mention that that is what I had for dinner. The cheese on top was less than the creamy goodness that cheese is meant to be. I won't go into any more detail.

And now I'm going to eat a cheesecake brownie.

Fondue and Daffodils

Its Spring Break! Well, break for Ryan, not for me. But I still get to enjoy the rest from homework and stress.

We started the vacation with a fondue party. Ryan wasn't so sure about a meal entirely dipped in cheese, but we won him over. And of course the chocolate. The chocolate and everything we dipped in it made me want to make my fondue pot a permanent fixture on my dining table.

On the second official day of spring break, I spotted our first daffodils. When I saw the first bunch, I almost caused Ryan to hit the curb with my shouts of excitement.

Unfortunately, we don't have any daffodils growing at our house, but this first sign of spring still promises lots of blooms coming soon to the trees outside our windows.

I finally was able to get the pictures off my camera this week (well technically it was Ryan--he's the smart one).

Now I'm able to share my amazing superbowl recipe:

It's a cream cheese ball rolled in oreos. I was a little worried about making something I hadn't tried before and bringing it to a party. I mean, I liked it, but I like just about anything that includes cream cheese and is rolled in chocolate cookies.

When I had it all set up, I was rather proud of myself. Especially since usually my highest level of baking creativity includes sprinkling chocolate chips into a boxed brownie mix. I probably shouldn't admit this, but before we went to the party I cut out a wedge of cream cheese to snack on and then squished the ball back into a sphere shape. I felt a little guilty, but my mother always taught me to taste-test. Plus, the beauty of a ball is that you can just push it back together and no one notices.

Ryan promised me that if no one tried it, he would keep coming back for more so that it looked like it was popular. Wasn't that so self-sacrificing of him? Turns out, he didn't have to.

Ryan and I tried to hide our disappointment that we wouldn't have any left to take home for ourselves. But I had to be happy because it was voted the favorite of the evening.

Sometimes I tell myself that I should bake more, like when I'm talking to my sister while she is making homemade granola. But then I look at the dirty dishes on my counter and decide that I'll eat a piece of chocolate instead.

When I was in fifth grade, there was a boy whose desk was right behind mine. This boy had a yellow and green jacket. He had a yellow and green binder. He had yellow and green clip-on tie. I could go on, but I think you've got the idea.

As a fifth grade girl, I could hardly tell the difference between a football field and a baseball field, but I knew how to make this poor boy angry. When this boy would tap his packers pencils on the back of my head, I would turn around and say, "The Packers' volleyball season is going really good this year, right?" or "That team you like, they're a cheerleading team, right?"

This usually brought on a 5-6 minute rant about the superiority of his football team which generally caught the negative attention of our teacher. Which was my goal. I don't know why this was so satisfying to me. Something about those green pencils waving through the air day after day.

Now fast forward about 10 years. I don't know where that boy is. I haven't talked to him since then. But I know exactly what his face looks like tonight.

I never thought I'd marry a boy like that. Thankfully, I'm smart enough now to keep my mouth shut during the big game. And to be excited when they won.

It's 72 degrees outside (I'm not complaining about this!) but it's going to be 37 tomorrow. Does that make any sense?

Makes me homesick for a place that only changes about 40 degrees the entire year long.

a little cheering up.

So this week I've been trying to get past lack of sleep and cold, cloudy weather, and a stressed out law student who lives at the library, and craziness at work. All I've really wanted to do was climb back into bed until its Friday again.

But it turns out that spending lunch time listening to a little "love me do" and "do you wanna dance" have made me feel much better. I'm ready to go back out and face the world.

The post that I had planned for this afternoon was one long overdue. It was about the second loaf of bread that I made with my new bread machine. The bread turned out much better, by the way.

However, the lovely picture that I have on my camera of the loaf of oatmeal bread straight out of the oven is stuck on my camera.

I haven't decided whether to blame my camera or my printer. The little memory card just isn't getting along with the reader in my printer. And since I lost the usb cord probably about 6 months after I got the camera, the printer is my only option. I slid the card in the slot and pushed and wiggled and blew and hit buttons. Nothing happened. I tried to slap the side of the printer, but all that did was relieve a bit of my frustration.

Now, I generally try my best not to throw things off my balcony when I get frustrated. For one thing, Ryan's too heavy for me to lift. And for another thing, I feel like I would probably regret it later.

But right now, that's where I'm at. What is the point of a camera that won't share it's pictures?

I guess next time I'll just have to send my fresh bread itself to all of you. It probably won't be warm and soft after sitting in the mail for a week though. Or I'll have to go back to my webcam pictures. Sorry.

About a year ago, my sister came to visit me and travelled with me to the western part of the state. Along with visiting some historical sites and enjoying the mountains (It still doesn't seem quite right to call those things mountains: they're not rocky, or snowy, or even very high), we visited some friends my sister knew from college. Now, this couple that we stayed with were packing up to move to a yurt in Alaska and were trying to get rid of anything that wouldn't quite fit in their flimsy dwelling up in the arctic. (Okay, so I have no idea what a yurt even looks like, it just doesn't seem like it could be all that sturdy).

So the point of this story is that before my sister and I came back home, I was given this:

It made me very happy. 1) because it reminded me of the one year that I had my very own room all to myself and got to decorate it with palm trees and lucky bamboo, and it was quiet and beautiful and the door had a lock. and 2) because I had no plants at my new apartment.

Here I am a year later and now I also have this:

These are one of the gifts in my mini stocking (interesting that stockings get smaller as you get larger) this Christmas. Little slimy water beads. Actually they're not really that slimy, just wet and kinda squishy.

Anyways, they're a beautiful orange (which matches my kitchen). I also took the chance to pull out this vase that I love but haven't really used at all since I got it.

If you haven't already guessed it, I'm thinking about putting these two together. But I'm nervous.

First of all, I don't want the bamboo to die. Second, it has a bunch of brown roots that might make the pretty orange into a not so pretty color. and Third, it might just look stupid.

I think I'm just going to sit here and stare at them for a while. Its so much easier than making a decision.

footnote: I have been using my photobooth/webcam to take blog pictures lately, which doesn't exactly take awesome pictures. The truth is that my camera is past its prime and since I lost the usb cord approx. 5 years ago its hardly worth the hassle. Also, all the little symbols and words on the back are rubbed off, so I can't ever tell if I'm making a video or zooming in or what.