Frequent Citations

Ten Thousand Five CDs

I'm staring at my our CD collection. It's not small. Currently they're stacked all over our dining room, smashed into nooks and odd shelves, stashed wherever we could cram them after we sold our china cabinet that held a goodly portion of them (all those cds in the bottom--I'd forgotten about those).

Our thought is that we don't want to move these hundreds (seriously, at a rough guess at least 600) of cases with us right away. We're going to be living in a walk-in closet somewhere. So we're going to try to be diligent and make sure they're all on my laptop, good old Johnny D., before we go.

Um. I'm really not sure if they'll all fit... or what I would do when Johnny eventually gets replaced and is allowed to retire in honor. The thought of indulging some has crossed my mind, but I waffle.

So if anyone has any thoughts or good ideas, let me know.

In Which We Contemplate Paralysis

I have so much to learn for the bar exam, at any given time I have no idea what to study or how. I keep plugging my way through the study plan, trying to catch up and hoping the sheer torture of it will drill enough into my head that I'll pass. As I get issues (almost every single one) wrong on the essays, I make flashcards for the points of law I've missed. The stack is growing at an alarming rate.

Then there are all the things that need doing as part of regular life, and in preparation for moving. None of it is happening. This strikes me as problematic, maybe extremely problematic. 

So I made myself a cup of green tea. I'm going to call Boy, and then do multiple choice. Because life didn't hand me a study guide, but BarBri did.

Now Don't Be Silly

We got on "offer" on the condo. I use the quotes because I think that it was actually a joke. Is today April 1 or something? Full moon?

Our first reaction was to laugh, our second to say try again. Because they weren't even in the realm where a counter-offer could have been reasonable. True, the economy stinks and houses aren't moving much. But we're a block from the lake in a stable neighborhood (with lots of men with ear pieces floating around trying to look inconspicuous). So if you think you can offer almost 20% less than the already highly reasonable asking price (and in this price bracket!) I am afraid you are in for disappointment.

My third reaction: woe.

Nibbles?

We've had showings two days in a row and another tomorrow. Our realtor tells us we're her busiest place.

Still no offers, though, so I'm still forecasting doom and gloom. I just don't understand how people can walk through and not make an offer. We fell in love at first sight and it looks SO much better now than it did when we moved in.

Well, as TFL keeps reminding me, we only need one person to make an offer. Keep your fingers crossed, everyone.

In other news, my passport does not expire this month. It expires in December. I promptly postponed my plans for reapplication as soon as I realized that. Yes, that means I had put it off until pretty much the last possible day except for the fact that I had the month wrong. Are we surprised? No we are not.

Shedding Stuff

If there's one thing moving is good for (and it's not good for much) it's getting rid of stuff.

TFL is actually throwing out some of his archives!! Those of you who know him and have seen our storage space know what a red letter day it is!

As for me, I'm selling a ton of law books on Amazon and Craig's list. And my first one already sold! Whee! Of course, I only make pennies, but the bonus is clearing shelf space. We're also selling furniture on Craig's list, and getting some good response so far.

Random Fireworks

I was blanching around, doing a little cleaning this evening in preparation for some people coming to look at the place tomorrow. All of a sudden I started to hear a roar of explosions--loud enough even to drown out the neighbors who are partying in their back yard. TFL came in off the back porch and we looked at each other in some confusion--so TFL being, in fact, the Fearless Leader, picked up his phone and headed out to see what was up.

Fireworks, it turned out. He called me a few minutes later to say they were going off over the museum. So I wandered down to the end of the block and we stood there enjoying the surprise show. It was a pretty spectacular one, too.

This neighborhood is a great one. I'll miss the proximity to the lake, and the beautiful setting for the museum. And sometimes I'll probably miss the enormous amount of space we have in this flat. But I hope we sell it soon anyway. Fireworks notwithstanding.

The Obligatory Whither Now? Post

Lots of law school bloggers find themselves wondering, whither now? Do we keep blogging when we can no longer complain about professors? Is there much point to blogging when we can't say one word about work, which will consume 110% of our waking hours?

I started this blog to keep my family apprised of my continued existence while buried in the non-stop fun and games that is law school. I don't see my life becoming less hectic, even if it becomes less share-able.

One of the main benefits of the blog for me has been the way it forced me to look up from my mound of work sometimes and find something else to say about life. Whether it was noticing that the trees were, in fact, blooming again, or ranting about some current event, I would occasionally break out of the law school mind set and that was good for me.

So for the moment I think I'll continue. I'll regale you with the thrills of my Bar preparation adventures, agonize over the unsold status of our flat, keep you up to speed on our progress to the new and improved location.

Bonus picture: GirlChild's wall pocket with a flower.

Possibly Progress

We got the flat sufficiently mucked out to bring a realtor through. She did not fall over laughing when she heard when we need to move, and the estimate she gave was was not horrible.

So perhaps we actually will get this place sold and move on to the bigger city. Hope springs eternal.

Guerilla Home Improvement

We've been--ever so gradually--getting the flat ready to sell. And yes, we need to get it on the market some time last month. Let's not discuss that. Anyway, one of the last major(ish) projects was to do a mini renovation of the front bathroom. Ditch the old sink and medicine cabinet (beyond hideous) and put in a nice white (cheap) porcelain pedestal sink, a smaller white medicine cabinet that would be (brace yourselves for craziness) low enough for the women in the house to see themselves in it. We're going for a radical change with that one.

A few weeks ago TFL and I trudged to the Home Despot to get the stuff. He called his friend with the contractor guys, and after the usual number of false starts got a firm date--tomorrow.

Naturally, 5 minutes after TFL left this morning and while I was still in a coma violently resisting the notion of getting up with only 4 hours of sleep because of course I didn't go to bed as early as planned last night the doorbell rang.

What the...?

I threw on a robe, too sleepy to curse, and opened the door a crack. Yep, the contractor guys. Uh?

The guy didn't call you?

Uh? One sec? I closed the door again, threw on I don't know what kind of clothes, and let them in before they vanished. So we weren't ready for them, so the place was a disastrous pit, so what--never ever turn away the contractor guys. I stumbled around, showing them where the bathroom was and the supplies (which they could hardly miss, as they were stacked up in the front hall). A few minutes later TFL walked back in--the guy had called. Nice timing.

I left the contractors in TFL's competent hands and skedaddled, and when I got home I had a new bathroom! Yay! Now only 3,999 more things to do. But first I have to recover from being woken up that way.

Moving And Shaking Loose

It was a packed weekend.

Friday I moved from one studio to another about 8 blocks away and a million times nicer. The new studio has no creepyness factor and that's a big improvement.

I had moved in for all of about half an hour and was still unpacking when TFL arrived. Hurrah! That was the end of the unpacking--we took off and wandered about, stopped for a leisurely dinner at a nearby bistro, wandered more.

On Saturday we walked a million miles, had lunch outside at a big tourist trap but somehow avoided long lines and rip-offs and had a lovely time (and a tasty lunch--chopped shrimp salad). We took care of a few errands and then eventually made our way to an extremely nice restaurant where we had a four course meal of which we could only manage three. It was fantastic. The restaurant only had about 20 tables, maybe fewer, in a large room. The staff knew exactly the right amount of attention to give us and the food was scrumptious. I had mushroom pot pie and she-crabs on a bed of wilted greens. TFL had a seafood sausage and lamb with amazing polenta fries. Then we had just a smidgen of five different cheeses, but by the time we were done with that we couldn't face dessert. So they wrapped up petit fours for us and sent us home with them. Charming.

Sunday we scoffed at some new architecture and spent most of the day at a family BBQ. It wasn't our family, but a friend of TFL's from when he was out here before. It was a lovely day, replete with adorable aunts and delicious food including some spectacular grilled cantaloupe.

I did not once open my computer or even think about work. It was a fantastic weekend.