Sorry About the Drought

For the few people who read this, my apologies for not writing since September! This second-to-last semester of law school has been determined to monopolize all of my time. One class in particular has been very time consuming. I spend roughly 20 hours a week on my Gift and Estate Tax class. That class is worth only 3 of the 16 hours that I am taking this semester. Add to that the fact that I am still working for the Judge on Monday and Friday mornings, my law review editorial board duties, and the fact that I try to make some quality time for Boyd as often as I can, and that I am trying to find a post-graduation/bar exam job and you have one very stressed and busy lady.

Now finals are coming up, which means I either give myself up to procrastination or I study for hours on end before dissolving into tears because I think I am going to fail whatever class it is that I happen to be studying for. Yes, the good news is that I have not yet failed any class. But because I am a pessimist, I tend to think that just because it hasn't happened doesn't mean it won't.

I plan on posting tomorrow so that I can talk about a new pet peeve that seems to be showing up and following me around where ever I go: People who are not nice to waiters/waitresses and who think that they are so cool/nice/better than you.

Funny things I read in law school

From time to time in my mountain of law school reading that I do EVERY DAY, I come across something amusing. Most of the time it is found in a footnote that most students may overlook in their haste to finish the assignment and move on to something else. This is one that definitely bears repeating.I was nearly done with my reading for Wills, Trusts, & Estates (the second to the last case) and I came across this footnote for the justice who wrote the dissenting opinion:

"Justice Musmanno was a striking individualist, sometimes injudicious, always colorful. In dissenting from a majority holding that Henry Miller's Rabelasian Tropic of Cancer was not obscene, Musmanno wrote:

'Cancer is not a book. It is a cesspool, an open sewer, a pit of putrifaction, a slimy gathering of all that is rotten in the debris of human depravity. And in the center of all this waste and stench, besmearing himself with its foulest defilement, splashes, leaps, cavorts and wallows a bifurcated specimen that responds to the name of Henry Miller. One wonders how the human species could have produced so lecherous, blasphemous, disgusting and amoral a human being as Henry Miller. One wonders why he is received in polite society...from Pittsburgh to Philadelphia, from Dan to Beersheba and from the ramparts of the Bible to Samuel Eliot Morrison's Oxford History of the American People, I dissent.'

I could only hope to be this articulate. Even though I do not wish upon myself all of the attributes of Mr. Justice Musmanno.

Blessed

Well, we survived IKE. On Thursday morning last week Boyd and I decided that we would rather not "hunker down" as Judge Ed Emmett put it, so we packed up the cat (with a small dose of dramamine) and our other belongings (mainly Boyd's Wii and our wedding picture proofs...still haven't ordered!) and hit the highways. It was a long trip, at one point it took us 45 minutes to get 8 miles!!! Thankfully, Boyd and I are still country enough to know the value of backroading it, so that is what we did. Let me tell you, next time we will do that again! There were maybe 7 cars on the back roads and we kept a top speed of about 65 mph (they are curvy and hilly and only two lanes after all). So after about 4 hours in the car, as opposed to the usual hour and forty-five minutes, we arrived at Tutu's. We spent most of Friday watching the weather channel tell us that if you lived in Galveston you were dead meat and helping Tutu get the house prepared for strong winds. We also went to lunch with Gary and Gale, which was great! When we went to bed on Friday, we were fully expecting to wake up at some point and hear howling winds and rain...no such luck. It was a little windy and it did not rain at all! Saturday was spent watching the TV to see what had happened to Houston, but mostly they showed what happened at the coast, with the exception of the glass blowing out in Downtown. We also found out that Boyd didn't have to be back at work until Tuesday. I finally settled down to spend about 4 hours on my Estate and Gift Tax Homework and Boyd played Wii. Sunday we found out that our apartment HAD POWER!!! One of the very few places in Houston to have power back already, Tutu and Jim have family here that might not have power for three weeks. So, Tutu and Jim took them some generators. Sunday, I finished up my homework and watched the news and found out I have school on Wednesday (today). We decided that we would go home on Monday. We bought some groceries in La Grange, because we had seen the long lines on TV and hit the road. It really didn't take us that long to get back, we were surprised. And when we got to our apartment.....everything was fine. Down limbs and some trees and bushes fell over, but no damage to us. Our lights had been out for less than 18 hours so everything in the freezer was fine. We have electricity and running water! We have air conditioning and TV! I feel so blessed that we are able to have all of these things when just a few blocks over people have none of them. God is really watching over us!

WHAT?!?!

You know, I really don't like the fair all that much. It is a time to see people that you never see otherwise that you went to high school with! It is "always on Labor Day Weekend." This means that it is stinking hot and either muddy or dry and dusty! So, Boyd and I are making the rounds because it is the thing to do and we run into an old classmate (no names). We make small talk for a bit, both Boyd and I taking part of the conversation. All of the sudden, he looks at Boyd and says (while gesturing in my direction): SOOOO, is she producing yet??????

Me (aloud): AHEM, uh, no we aren't having kids yet.
Me (to myself): WHAT?!?!? Am I "producing yet?" I am not a heifer nor am I an oil well!!!!! Who asks this kind of question. I mean, personally, I think Boyd made a good investment in marrying me. I mean, I am an asset I guess (at least most of the time). But, why not just ask if we are having kids like a normal person!

Am I right?

Only me...

This semester on Tuesdays and Thursdays I try to be at school by 8AM, because I have class at 8:40 and I must be on time or I will be counted absent. At that early in the morning, I am sometimes barely awake. This morning I parked my car in the garage, had a decent conversation with my office mate, Kellen, about the Palin acceptance speech last night and went to class. (Where I was called on to recite.) I go on about my day accomplishing various tasks until about 6:05PM, when I was ready to go home. When I was walking with my backpack full of my 3 Gift and Estate Tax Books and my laptop, I realized "I don't remember on what level of the garage I parked. AW MAN!!!!" So I decided I thought I parked on level six on the right side of the garage. I ride the elevator up to six and walk down the right side of the garage, hmmm no car! Maybe it was on level five. So I take the stairwell down to five (the stairwell smells like bat guano). I look down the ramp on the right side of five, no car. WHAT?!?! What was I doing this morning, not paying attention apparently, how did I even drive here? Maybe, let's try seven. So I elevator up to seven because my stuff is really heavy and my back is starting to hurt. I look down the ramp on the right side of seven. NO CAR. Ok. This is DUMB! What to do, what to do? So, I did the only thing I could think of. I elevator up to nine (9!!!) and start walking down the ramps and peeking in on the pass throughs for my car on each level. Eight, no car; seven, no car; six, no car (Oh crap) five.........................................CAR. Where? On the left side of the garage, not the right. DUMMY! AHHH! At least I found it, even though it is 6:19 PM. Throw stuff in the back seat and climb in, start to close door. OOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCHHHHHHHHHHH! My toes, my toes, my toes!!!! I shut my toes in the door. I tried closing the door before my foot was all the way in the car!

Yes, people! I graduated with honors from Texas A&M (some may say this was my first problem...only an aggie) and I am in Law School. How amazing am I?

I Love the Olympics

I pretty much spent my last free Sunday of the summer watching the hours and hours of Olympic coverage. Boyd was getting tired because it was nearly 11 PM and we had been watching for about 12 hours, but I wanted to see the men's 4 x 100 free relay because of all the smack the French were talking. So we watched and and found ourselves caught up rooting for Team USA, near the end of the race I started to feel like we had lost, it seemed that the French anchor would just be too much. But then by some amazing swimming USA anchor Lezak caught the French team and just surpassed them and set a world record. This was the most exhilarating thing I have seen in a long time. I was so thrilled and excited I had a hard time falling asleep. It is funny how the Olympics foster feelings of American pride and the spirit of competition. I love it. I just hope that my neighbors don't hate us for screaming at the TV at 11:00 at night! I think the picture says it all!

Can You See Me...the Girl in the Pink?!?!

Hey look...it's me!!!!!!!! Oh, yeah and the Osteens

Osteen Trial

In case you didn't know, the Osteen trial is taking place in my court which means that for the next few days I will be sitting across the room from Rusty Hardin, Victoria Osteen and Joel Osteen. This means that the local news media will be trying to capture various portions of the trial on camera for the various news hours that occur in Houston each day. I am not important and am in no way a part of this trial, but I can't help to get excited if a camera man accidentally got a clip of me while he was trying to get a compelling shot for the news. I checked the local news media websites and all but one, (I won't name names) had a shot of me in some form or another. I think it is cool even if you can see my hair or half of my face. This makes me a nerd, but in the words of Mike from Monster's Inc.: "I can't believe it...I'M ON TV!!"

This is the closest I will ever get otherwise, so allow me to bask in the lime light because my moments on the screen will likely be few and accidental.

Tropical Storm Edouard (insert raspberry sound effect here)

So, as you read in my previous post, we were all ready for a BIG, SCARY TROPICAL Storm. It really was more like a tropical breeze. Boyd and I pretty much slept through the whole thing. I don't even think we heard one crack of thunder. Yes, Edouard had nothing compared to the pop-up summer storms that we have weathered previously. So pretty much it was like not going to work on a rainy day. We even ventured out to our favorite sandwich shop for lunch. Props to Jersey Mike's for being open in the face of nature's fury! So, that said I am not sure we have achieved true Houstonian status because I think Tropical Storm Edouard was more like Tropical Reject Edouard.

Tropical Storm Edouard

Boyd and I are prepared (somewhat) to weather the storm tomorrow. We finally got word at 10 PM that Boyd's work will be closed. I just hope that we don't lose power for too long if at all. If we can keep electricity, I think it has the potential to be a nice work week break! It's like a SNOW DAY! HOORAY. I will keep you informed and let you know if it goes as well as I would like. I am encouraged because the traffic map is clear of traffic so that means most people are staying in town. Also, since our apartment is on the second floor our belongings should be safe from any flooding. I will let you know how it goes, I am excited and scared this is our first storm as Houstonians, kind of a rite of passage I guess!

PS - Boyd may resent the fact that I refered to us as Houstonians, but for the time being we are.

Gross! People should watch their kids!

This is going to be a short rant. I love kids (for the most part). Boyd and I are not to the point of having kids just yet, but it is something I think about often and I sigh whenever I see babies at the supermarket. That aside, people should really pay attention to their kids at restaurants. Boyd and I went to lunch at a Houston restaurant yesterday and I saw something that unnerved me: a child took glass bottle of ketchup (which her mother had just opened for her and handed back: great job, mom!) and after finding that the ketchup wouldn't come out after a few shakes (big surprise), STUCK HER TONGUE INSIDE THE BOTTLE OF KETCHUP AND WIGGLED IT AROUND!!!!!!!!! Her parents never even saw her do it! EWE! Now, I love ketchup, I mean ask anyone who knows me, its my favorite condiment! But I love to think my ketchup is unadulterated and germ free. The thought of some germ infested toddler (really, do you think they wash their hands that often? and have you seen the things they eat?) sticking her tongue in my ketchup really dims the love. So now I am thinking of carrying around my own ketchup! Does anyone know where I can get a big box of ketchup packets? I really would rather not engage in a theft campaign everytime I go to a fast food restaurant, just to stock up on clean ketchup. I will think twice the next time I get ketchup out of a bottle at the restaurant. I bet you will too...I'm just sayin'....

Law School Graduation

I am so excited because, today STCL announced the date of my graduation! It is so close that they can now officially put it on the calendar! Can you believe it? This last year is going to be so busy I don't know if I will have time to breathe. The good news is that the graduation is set for a week later than it usually is, which means that Boyd and I will be able to move when our lease is up, rather than having to pay the astronomically high rate of a one month lease for an extension. AWESOME! It does kind of suck that it will put a cramp in everyone's Memorial Day plans!


Oh well, the end is so close I can see the light!!!!!

Two Year Anniversary!!!

"And wuv...twu wuv, will fowwow you forevaaaa...."

Today, Boyd and I have been married for two years!!!!!!! It is hard to believe how fast the time has flown by and how much we have grown up. I think the major lesson from this year is that you have to really work to make time for each other. Before this year we always went to the same place together, we could see each other often (if not always) through the day and rode home together. Now because he is working at Rice as a manager and I am still going to law school downtown and am active in Law Review time together is at a premium. But we are learning and making it work. We are still very happy to be married. He got me the sweetest card, that was funny, but so perfect! We posted this photo from our wedding as we remember how special that day was and how much we have loved every minute of the last two years! (Also because we still don't have any other pictures from that day because we have been too busy to order them, maybe I should work on that in the next few days!!)

Galveston Pictures

Finally some fun in the sun!

Kisses!!!!!

It was early and bright...

Sunny Morning!

Bananas Foster!!!!!

Boyd on the Cloudy Beach

The Gross Port-a-potty

The Cloudy Day at the Beach.

Galveston Trip

So a while back...a long while back, Boyd and I took our first summer trip to Galveston. It was the weekend of May 19th. The weekend right after finals. It had potential. It was important because I thought "exactly one year from today law school will be DONE and I will be graduating!!!" So we watched the news all week, the weather man promised sun by noon on Saturday so we were going to the BEACH. We woke up about 8AM on Saturday and were greeted with a mist fallling from the sky...A MIST!!!!!!!! I checked the Galveston.com website it said the temperature was 75 and sunny, PERFECT. So we set out. The whole way to Galveston I kept saying to Boyd: "It will clear off any second now...we will see the edge of the clouds." Well, it didn't and we didn't. I was resolute, I wanted to go to the beach. So to the beach we went. (Boyd suggested a movie or maybe some putt-putt, but I wouldn't consider it. Pretty much I thought that by sitting on the beach in my polka-dotted swimsuit that the sun wouldn't be able to resist...I was mostly wrong about that.) So we set up shop on the Pocket Park Beach. Man, it was windy and the water was cold. We decided to walk up and down the beach to keep warm. The shelling was excellent and every now and then there would be a warmer wave. Before long, I had to pee. Well, over the years this Pocket Park Beach has gone down hill in the bathroom department (we all know how I feel about those situations), so there were only porta-potties that worked. Well, I hunted down a fresher looking one out of the bunch and took care of business as quickly as possible without touching anything! It was still gross.

By this time it was noon and no sign of the sun. The Galveston.com website had lied to me...LIED. I was still insisting that the sun would appear. So we had our tuna fish with apples sandwiches and took naps. I was shivering because it was so cold and windy, but then i saw it the sun trying to burn through the clouds. I could slightly feel its warmth on my body, for 20 glorious minutes there was SUN. Then, more clouds and wind! Boyd had enough and so he convinced me to pack up, check into the hotel and then see about some putt putt. Well, by the time we got to the putt-putt place, it was bright and sunny; we're talkin' like not a cloud in the sky!!!! Of course, the Murphy luck strikes again. On the upside, I did beat Boyd pretty badly at putt-putt!!!!! HEH HEH HEH!

When we got back to the hotel I looked in the mirror and I was RED!!!! RED as a lobster. It didn't feel like a sunburn, do you know what it was...WINDBURN!!!! WIND!!! I shivered all day and the WIND had burned me. Well, with my ugly red face, Boyd still took me to dinner at Landrys!

AH, Landrys! It was probably the best meal at a restaurant we had in a long time. Our waiter was attentive but not oppressive. He even got us our Banana's Foster Dessert to go, because we were so full. (And he told Boyd that I was beautiful and to take good care of me! He wanted that tip really bad, but I'll take the compliment anyway!)

We went back to our hotel and ate dessert outside on our balcony overlooking the gulf, then passed out. The next morning it was a beautiful sunny day! OF COURSE!!! So, we went to east beach determined to spend some time in the sun and it was fun!!!!!!!! YAY!!!! I got the beach day that I wanted, albiet covered up so my windburn wouldn't get raw!

I Made some Pasta Salad...a lot of Pasta Salad!

Every Father's Day there is a Winchester Tradition: the Father's Day Picnic. Personally it isn't my favorite thing to do because it is just so hot usually. But for the picnic, the men they make the Bar-B-Q all night long and the women, we make the sides. I, being the good wife that I am and Tutu, being the wonderful grandmother-in-law that she is suggested that I make pasta salad so as not to be empty handed at the picnic. I happily obliged. I made 3lbs give or take of Grandma's pasta salad. It turned out delish, but it was impossible to mix with a spoon. Take a look for yourself.

NOTE: I HAVE SUBSEQUENTLY DELETED THE VIDEO BECAUSE OF THE NERDINESS, IF YOU WANT TO SEE IT THAT BAD, I CAN ARRANGE ALTERNATIVE METHODS.

There was more than this in the bowl, I was still in the process of mixing!

P.S. - I think I look like a dork or like I was having an ugly day, please ignore that as well.

Boyd's Crawfish Dinner

This is my first post on our blog.

My goofy wife seemed to think that the crawfish weren't good enough to eat, but were plenty good enough to make films about when we got home. Score 1 for the misuse of technology.

Here is crawfish and my wife, who (perhaps unfortunately) found her phone video camera today.

Kacie's Take on Crawfish

I don't like them. I didn't touch not even one.

I think I have a problem with dead animals that you are supposed to eat when they still look like....well animals.

Here's what I thought.

More thoughts

Boyd's Answers (because you can't hear them):

K: Did you like them, Boyd?

B: Of course.

K:Did you suck the brains out?

B: I didn't.

K: Do you think that there was poop on the inside?

B: From time to time.

K: Yuck!

What I found in my area.

Emeril took my spot.

I am Studying and Freaking out.

How Emeril feels about my studying.

My Area


Junk food

What I see all day long.

AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH! How will I learn all this?

WHAT DO YOU WANT? HMMM?

MMM.

UMMMM.

Pondering the answers.

It's Study Time

Well, its that time of year where I lock myself in the house, wear my pajamas all day, eat junk and study A LOT. I have been doing this everyday since Tuesday (the 28th) and today I got a little stir crazy and a little lonely. Here are some videos of my study area and stuff (my phone rocks!). Enjoy my craziness!

Obvious Procrastination, hopefully it won't cost me grades!

Washcloth

Here is my finished washcloth, you can't see the details, but you can see that it is done!

A Wish

I don't have a hardbound Dictonary or Thesaurus. One might think I need one of these, being a new AE and all. Must remedy this soon. But how big a nerd walks into a Barnes and Nobel and walks out with a Dictionary. Most people that have one already won them for being in the top 10% in high school. Does anyone know if you just go in the store and buy one or what?


PS - Boyd, you will find "unwieldy" in the dictionary under the "u's"! Such a shame I had to look it up in Emily's instead of my own!

Newsflash

THE MURPHY'S ARE STAYING PUT!

This may come as a shock, but for the first summer in about 6 years we aren't moving! You should all be happy people who have helped us move our heavy and cumbersome, some may say unwieldy (YES IT IS A WORD BOYD!) furniture. Our apartments did raise our rent, but we decided to stay because it wasn't enough of a hike to make us save money by moving anywhere else. So we are staying in our apartment and I don't have to pack. Oh and we might be getting either an electronic thermostat, a ceiling fan for the living room or an accent wall. Yay.

Which Wich for Lunch!!!!!

HOORAY!!!!!!!!!! THERE IS A WHICH WICH IN HOUSTON!!!!!!!!!

During Spring Break when I was shopping for suits at the Galleria in Dallas, my dad and grandparents and I had lunch at a WHICH WICH! It was delicious...double delicious! We had never heard of one before and I was left pining for one to open in Houston. Last night when Boyd and I were on our way to the movies, I (by pure luck) saw the glorious yellow WHICH WICH sign gleaming in the night! I started shrieking and pounding on the dashboard because I was so excited. Boyd, who was not on my shopping trip had no idea what which wich or which ich was! Poor man, he must really love me because I can get really crazy and incoherent at times! I called my dad, the only one who could share in this moment of excitement! Alas, I woke him from almost sleeping and his tone also indicated that he thought I was a bit off my rocker. Which to be honest, I probably sounded like! But I did ask if he was sleeping and he didn't say YES, he said ALMOST, which encouraged me to continue!

Anyway, we ate there for lunch today and it was awesome!!! Boyd liked the ice too!!! So if you haven't gone there yet, I will be happy to go with you! Now I really have to study. Enjoy our photos below chronicling our lunch at WHICH WICH!

Which Wich Pictures

The Sign!

Me, acting silly

Boyd Liked it!!!!

I am happy that there is a Which Wich here!!!

Awful Day/Counting Our Blessings

Well, things have been very stressful around the Murphy house as of late. Boyd has been very busy at work (inventory and graduation) and I should be studying for finals, but I had a massive article to work on which I needed to get off of my plate. (Just a second ago I spelled of "ov." Obviously I need help or therapy!) Anyway, Friday was the culmination for me of just how bad things could get. I worked on my article all day, went to class and then worked on my article until about 9:00 pm at school. Most of the day I was in a bad mood and freaking out about when I would study for finals. I had just finished checking the footnotes and Boyd called to tell me that he was ready to be picked up. So I packed up and walked out to my car.

Let me preface the rest of the story by giving you background info: At the beginning of this year and during my first year of law school, I parked in a lot about two blocks away from school. You have to fold up your dollars and put them in the numbered slot that corresponds with the spot that you parked it (usually I obsessively park in even numbered slots, but that's another story for another day). Anyway I stopped parking in this lot because they raised their rate from $2 a day to $3 a day. What, its only a dollar, you say? Well, the school has two lots also about 2 blocks from the school (in a different direction) that are $2/day. $3 was a 50% rate hike, too rich for my blood. So I have been parking in the student lot for most of the semester.

On Friday when I got to school, both of the $2 student lots were full...FULL! So, it was between the $3 lot or the $5 garage. Having already explained that a $1 rate hike was too much to pay, it is likely obvious that I wouldn't want to fork over an extra $3 to park in the garage (unless I am wearing a suit, but let's not get sidetracked). So I found my old lot, with the $3 rate pleasantly empty with plenty of even numbered spots. I pulled into spot #14. Got out my $3 folded them and put them in slot #14 and went to school.

NOW it is 9:15 PM, it is dark, it is downtown houston and there is no Rockets game to keep the homeless people away or at least not bothering me. I walk to the car, on my phone with Boyd because I am scared, with my keys gripped in my hands so I can stab any would be accoster with it either in the eye or in the soft spot of flesh right below the ear. (Yes, I have thought about it! Thanks, Mom and Dad for teaching me to be aware of my surroundings). I get to my car and WHAT THE?????? MY CAR HAS BEEN BOOTED WITH AN ORANGE BOOT AND AN ORANGE STICKER STUCK TO MY DRIVERS SIDE WINDOW SAYING TO CALL THIS NUMBER AND I HAVE TO PAY $100 TO GET THE BOOT REMOVED!!!!!!!! This was the straw that broke the camel's back. Here I am in a dark parking lot in downtown houston boohooing and yelling on the phone that I did pay to park here...I did!!!!!! Boyd can't come and get me because I was supposed to come and get him. So I call Emily, still crying and she says that she will come and get me right now! Then I call this number so I can get the boot removed. The lady on the phone was mean to me. It should have been obvious that I was in distress and was not at that point moving on to the anger stage...but she pushed me there. So I call. I go immediately to being on hold and then am disconnected. I call back, immediately put on hold and then finally a person comes on and she asks me make, model, year and color of my car. I tell her. She asks me where I parked. "Umm in your lot." She asks on what street. (I am horrible with streets in downtown, I know where to go I just don't know what they are called.) "I know one of the near cross streets is Caroline." In a testy tone, "Caroline and what??" I tell her I don't know and she asks if I want to call her back when I know. I say "NO, I don't want to call you back when I know" (I'm crying again at this point) and I ask "don't you know where your lots are?" She told me not to take that tone with her and then put me on hold, where I was disconnected again!!! WHAT!?!? (I mean you are about to make $100 off me, at least you should know where the lots are when I tell you a close proximity and make, model, year, and color of my car!). So I call Boyd and tell him what happened and then call the company back. This time I get a lady, who asks me if I am in Georgia or Texas! (ummmm-to my self) "Texas." What city? Houston, downtown. Again I tell her make, model and year and she tells me that someone will be there in 20 minutes. (I did not have to tell her any streets either!!!!) I did ask her what I had to pay with if i needed cash or what. She DIDN'T KNOW!!! How can you not know???? Luckily my school has an ATM machine and also luckily I had $100 in my account!

I call Boyd back, but I don't know what to do because I am not waiting in a dim parking lot for 20 minutes by myself in downtown at night! Not a chance. So I wait near the school for Emily to show up. She gets there and I tell her we might have to wait, but she has a movie at 10:30. We drive over to the lot and the boot guy is already there with a woman who was also booted. This might be a good time to mention that 5 other cars were also booted!!!!! She was angry and swore that she put money in. He had a video camera and stuck it in her face and said see...NO MONEY. I thought to my self, he better not stick that thing in my face...he will be sorry. She continues promising that she did put money in the slot. He asks if I was the one that called dispatch, I said yes and that I also put money in the slot when I parked around 12:30. He told me that I might be a different story and makes a phone call. 5 minutes later he said that the guy that checked the lot before him marked the tires in a different place than usual so it was all his mistake! AAAAAAAAAARH!!!!! All of this for nothing. He takes the boot off and is like, well umm sorry! Sorry!???? SORRY!!!! You just commited the tort of conversion, dummy!!!!!! My husband is waiting on me and I am starving and almost had to pay you $100!!!!!!!!!!!! (I kept it to myself). I also asked if he had anything to do with dispatch because they were rude and I was obviously in distress, his answer: You have to understand that they get lots of angry calls and just get jaded. (again to myself: SO?!? You have to understand how to do your job and look real good for chalk marks and not boot people who paid for their parking!) This was a futile conversation.

So I hugged Emily, told her sorry and thank you over and over and got in my car and drove away. With my $100 still in my pocket. I still cried for like 5 minutes because it was so scary and stressful and I needed a release after that day! Also I had a really bad headache!

Blessings:
1. A Patient Husband who knows how to deal with his boohooing/angry/stressed out wife.
2. An awesome friend, who dropped what she was doing to come rescue me! Thanks, Em.
3. That I had enough money in my account.
4. That my school has an ATM machine.
5. That I have a cell phone.
6. That I didn't actually have to pay $100
7. That I learned my lesson and will either pay $2 or $5 so I never park in that lot again.
8. That I can take 3 Advil when my head really hurts.

Ketchup Pictures

Boyd and Me

Emily and Me

Emily and Rufus

Rufus

Ketchup (aka Catchup, I just like Ketchup better! It's my favorite condiment.)

This will be a long post because a lot of things have happened since I have blogged a substantive post. (I'm not sure if that is grammatically correct but I don't feel like changing it!)

So the first reason I haven't blogged much in a while (besides the hurt finger, which is much better now and down to its normal size) is my new responsibility...Articles Editor (AE, see Lingo Blog below)! This means first of all that I will get a $6,600 scholarship for my last year of law school! WHOO HOO!! That is money I don't have to pay back. But it also means a massive amount of work. In fact right now I am working on a 1030 footnote article with 6 other AEs/AEs-elect. A normal article is about 350 footnotes, so it is massive!!! Not to mention that finals are right around the corner so my motivation to study after doing everything else is very low. So if my blog posts are few and far between for the next month, that's why. I will blog more about being an AE later, but for now I am very happy and also very swamped.

Right before I found about the AE position I also snagged a job for the summer and possibly continuing into the next year. I am going to be a clerk for the Honorable Judge Patricia Hancock, in the 113th District Court of Harris County. It is a civil court (no criminals) in a really, really nice building. I will be running her docket and her interns! I have to get a badge to get in the building and I get to sit next to the judge in court! Best part of all, this is a paid position $10/hour!!! It isn't a lot considering my profession, but I have never commanded that much an hour in my life! This will help us pay rent/other bills during the summer. YAY!

This past weekend was my LSBFF's (Emily's) Birthday. She got a cute kitty for her birthday, I played a part in convincing her parents by proxy (i.e.-her parents would voice a concern and she would ask me about it since I have Emeril and then she would tell them what I said. I also had to promise to watch him when she goes out of town this summer for a family reunion.) His name is Rufus! I also have shown her how to medicate him and other random things but she is a good mommy!

Also an interesting thing that happened: Boyd and I went up to my school last night and we were there until almost 10. On the way home we stopped at Ben and Jerry's Ice Cream because we thought they closed after 10, turns out they closed at nine, but were still inside mopping. The owner saw us outside and told us he would get us what we wanted, just to tell him. So we took home a hand-packed pint of Ben and Jerry's Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream even though they were technically closed! That's what I call a sweet deal!!! It would have been sweeter if it were free, but we still paid for it. But it was definitely better than no ice cream at all. So, shout out to the nice owner of the Kirby Ben and Jerry's, you are a great man.

In TV news I am so happy that the writers' strike is over! That means that in addition to Dancing with the Stars (Gramma, I'm sorry about Priscilla - now you can vote for Kristi!), The Bachelor (which is boring this season), Hell's Kitchen (amazing), the Hills, the Real World, America's top Model (all mindless and silly) and Top Chef, I get to watch my other shows! If I list them it will shock you, but I have never actually done it so:

1. Desperate Housewives

2. Brothers & Sisters

3. House

4. The Riches

5. Dirty Sexy Money (cleaner and better than the name implies)

6. Big Love

7. Til Death

8. Back to you

9. Grey's Anatomy

10. LOST

11. Friday Night Lights

12. Best Week Ever

There are more but my brain hurts and this is embarrassing. All I can say is, thank you TIVO! One of the best inventions ever! And a huge time saver because I never watch commercials.

Ok, that's enough for now! I should be doing my FAFSA and watching my mock duck! I hope you didn't get bored reading all of this randomness! Ciao.

PS - FAFSA is done and Mock Duck was delish!

Hurt Finger

This will not be a long post because I hurt my pinky finger on my left hand on Thursday night and it is still sore and swollen which makes it hard to type very well. I will write more about my new Articles Editor Position and the new Law Review Board soon! I just wanted every one to know that I have not forgotten about you and I will write as soon as my finger can take the typing.

PS- I am almost done with my washcloth...I think it looks really nice!

Obsession

So the last few days and the next three days only one thing has/is likely to be consuming my thoughts...BOARD ELECTIONS. I have done almost everything that is required of me, save the interview. So by 2:00 pm on Saturday there will be nothing else I can do besides sit around and wait for a phone call that will say "yes, you're in" or "thanks but no thanks" which may come Saturday or Sunday. I think the waiting around is the worst. There are 15 applicants and 11 spots, of the 11 spots I have applied for nine!!! (1 - Managing Editor; 5 Articles Editors; 3 Note & Comment Editors) I think those are good odds, but it also means that 4 people will get NOTHING!!! Now, everyone that knows me says that I have "nothing to worry about," "of course you will get a spot" blah blah blah!!! I am all for self confidence, but I have never been the person to walk into a room and immediately say to myself "yeah, I'm awesome, of course I am the best/smartest/prettiest etc person here." Sure, I do my fair share of "judging" (a bad habit and weakness of mine) but I also feel that I rarely find myself at the top when I am doing said judging. I can think of a reason that every person in the group that I am interviewing with on Saturday deserves a slot. But I was talking with my friend Bryan Hanna (an old Ag, who is also interviewing for some of the same spots as me) and he said that it is just humility and not necessarily a bad thing, it is something that makes people want to be your friend and root for you, rather than turning them off by getting on a high horse. (On a side note, we were doing a mediation clinic today in my class and I was playing a role of a licensing company for a franchise who was placing blame on the franchisee for the lackluster sales, the mediation professor told me as a client I was "uppity" then looked back and winked and said "but there's nothing wrong with that." We call this professer Uncle Bruce, he is the most laid back lawyer I have ever met...I will do a whole entry on him later)
Well, as you can tell this Board Election process has been a part of about 85% of all my conversations this week and it will likely continue into the weekend. Sunday night I will either be very happy, or in mourning. But I know that whatever happens, GOD has a plan.
Incidentally, Boyd has said he thinks I have nothing to worry about, but he will be here for me no matter what! Good 'ole Boyd, he loves me no matter what, I love that!
So we wait and see what happens...I will keep you posted.

SIGH!

Well, we are back from Spring Break! We had fun getting to spend time with Grandma, Grandpa and Dad! But we are really sad to be back in the swing of things and it will take us some time to get motivated. I've got to hit things really hard for the next month and a half so that everything can get done and then I can rest some...maybe!

Spring Break was fruitful for me! I did get two new suits (Shout out to Dad for one of them!!!) and a new pair of shoes (Shout out to Grandma and Grandpa for those!!!). Now I just have to practice walking in them. I also got my homework I needed to done while Grandma cooked and cleaned, Dad worked and Grandpa went visiting so it was nice and quiet. I also learned how to knit washcloths so I am going to practice with that when I have time. Grandma also made me some pillows and pillowcases to match my cute ducky blanket pattern that I picked out the last time I was there! I also left Grandpa a present! I hope he likes it.

Boyd also had a nice time and was able to relax...we both were! I think that is why we were sad to be getting back to the city. Well, we should probably get some rest for the big week ahead. Once we get back going I think we will be ok.

Now its back to work...

The Cat Hates Me

I am convinced that little Emeril pretty much hates me as a human. For the previous three days IN A ROW he has bitten me on the arm while I am sitting on the couch. I wasn't teasing him or anything, he just jumped up from the floor put his teeth on my arm and then ran and hid under the bed in a place where I can't reach him. I don't know if it matters, but this biting has occured at approximately the same time. (Don't worry he doesn't break the skin, more like he rakes his top teeth across my skin to make a red scratch mark). When I got home just now I found a nice present sloppily wrapped in my bath mat...a GIANT CAT POOP!!!! The bath mat is now being washed and the floor bleached. I think I gagged a little when I was cleaning it up. Also he likes to try and put his head in between the blinds and the window to our balcony door. When we clap our hands loudly and yell his name (he used to run away and stop when we did this) now he just crouches down or keeps doing what he is doing until we pretend we are going to get up to make him stop or squirt him with our spray bottle dedicated just to him. We also actually have to spray him to make him stop, if we don't he just closes his eyes and stays right where he is. Also every morning about 30 minutes or so before the alarm goes off he either climbs in the window curtains, claws at the curtains or starts yowling LOUDLY. Or maybe a combination of all three. So yes, I think the cat hates me. Right now in fact he is glaring at me with his ears turned back, in fact, it's about time for my daily bite....

To Do...

I don't have very much time, but I will be continuing this post through the week. It is a list of things to complete before I get to have some much needed Spring Break!

Monday Classes: COMPLETE
Read for Marital Property Tuesday Class: COMPLETE
Read for Professional Responsibility Tuesday Class: COMPLETE
Tax Homework for Wednesday: COMPLETE
Tuesday Classes: COMPLETE
Board Election Application: COMPLETE
Cover Letter for Board Election Application: COMPLETED ON SPRING BREAK
Look over Resume for Board Election: COMPLETED ON SPRING BREAK
Start Optional Editing Assignment for Board Election: COMPLETED ON SPRING BREAK
Attend Board Election Meeting: COMPLETE
Get Pedicure with Em: COMPLETE
Wednesday Classes: COMPLETE
Read for Marital Property Thursday: COMPLETE
Read for Professional Responsibility Thursday: SKIPPING!
Look over Mediation for Thursday: COMPLETE
Assistant Assignment for Kovach Cite Book: COMPLETE!!!!! FINALLY!
Thursday Classes: COMPLETE
Tax Homework for Monday after Spring Break: COMPLETED ON SPRING BREAK
Friday Classes: COMPLETE
Rodeo with Clay Walker (maybe): NOT GOING, BOYD HAS TO WORK. BOO!
Laundry: COMPLETE
Clean House: AS GOOD AS IT WILL GET
Get Boyd set up for "cave time": PRETTY MUCH DONE FOR ME ALA MARCH MADNESS
Edit Completed Comment: MOSTLY DONE
Resume and Cover Letter for Judge: COMPLETED ON SPRING BREAK
Hair Appointment:COMPLETE

Now I have to go to class, but I am sure there is more! Check back to see how far along I am and if anything else is added to my list!

OH NO HE DIDN'T!!

I thought I was done, but then we started to watch American Idol. If you sing "Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go" by Wham! you better be able to hit that "HIGH" note, or else don't even try! I mean come on people!

Some Lingo...

So, I was thinking about the things that I talk about everyday and being in law school I have developed some lingo, such that if you are not Boyd or one of my law school friends you will not understand really what I am saying. I'm not talking about legalese...they actually warn against using a lot of that...but just my operational, day-to-day lingo. Since I have a blog now I thought I might sometimes blog about these things and you might want a reference point. So here goes:
1. Civ. Pro. - Civil Procedure
2. Crim. Pro. - Criminal Procedure: a class I am currently enrolled in taught by professor Gershowitz (aka. the Gersh)
3. My tax class - right now that is U.S. Taxation of International Transactions; a mouthful I know!
4. Marital - Marital Property: a class I am also currently taking.
5. My Comment - It is my big writing project that is a requirement for law review and graduation, when it is finished it will be 45 pages with 175 footnotes.
6. The Board - Law review has an editorial board made up of student editors, a position to which I aspire.
7. PPM - Policy and Procedure Manual: the guide to all things law review!
8. Bluebooking -the skill of accurate legal citation the guide book is called the Bluebook, hence Bluebooking.
9. ACE - a collaborative editing process done by the members and editors of law review. We check the bluebook cites and the grammar, form and style.
10. ACE Group - a group of students to which I am assigned, we in turn are assigned to an AE who gives out our assignments (a portion of an article, usually 20 footnotes or so to edit).
11. AE - Articles Editor and member of the Board.
12. Source Book - first part of the member's ACE process; we make entire copies of all the sources that appear in the article, there are usually about 100-200 of these depending on the length.
13. Cite Book - this is where we make a binder that follows the footnotes of the article, each numbered divider corresponds to a footnote with the same number; we make sure the author's propositions are supported by the materials he cited. Compilation of the Cite Book is also part of the ACE process and the most time consuming. A few weeks ago it took me 36 hours to check 20 footnotes!
14. Tracey - Tracey is an AE, I am her assistant this semester. After her ACE group completes a source book or cite book I, along with my fellow assistant Mike, check over the work to make sure it is complete and accurate. Then I will also edit a portion of the article after the ACE group has given it a once over.
15. Andy - Andy is another AE, I am in his ACE group. I have to complete Source Books and Cite Books for him. (The same kind of work that I check over for Tracey, except that Andy has his own assistants.)
16. Katie - Katie is a Note and Comment Editor (another board position), she looks over my comment when I have deadlines and makes sure it conforms to all requirements and then gives feedback about its form and substance.
17. LSBFF - "Law School Best Friend Forever" this is Emily Edwards. She is the best! Usually I refer to her as Em. She is one of the smartest people I know and she is in my study group! We also watch TV together when we have time...or when we don't and just are lacking motivation (a common ailment).
.
I saved the best for last, but most people know these two already!
18. Mister - this is what I call Boyd; though it is interchangeable with Babe.
19. Misses - this is what Boyd calls me, he has called me this since before we were married.

This is my lingo! There will be a test...I have blogged enough for now!

A Neat Example

On this last Friday Boyd and I both took the day off, except we planned to do a lot of running around and made several appointments around town. One of which was to get Boyd's truck inspected (shame on us we still haven't gotten that done). When Boyd went out to the truck that morning his parking brake was stuck and he wasn't able to move forward or backwards. After several tries we gave up and went to get some breakfast before his doctor's appointment. We went to Chick-fil-A to get the chicken biscuits (phenomenal!) breakfast. Boyd was pretty sour about his truck and kind of mope-y. While we were there a older couple (probably mid-50s) came in and sat side by side in the booth across from us. They were so sweet and said good morning to us. We noticed that the man had something wrong with his arms and hands; his arms were very short and he was missing most of his fingers. But they sat there and he ate his breakfast without a problem. (Before you wonder if we were taught better manners than to stare...we weren't staring, it was just something we noticed). They finished before we did and the wife went to get more soda while the husband went to throw out the tray. While the wife was waiting for the cup, the husband came up behind her and fluffed up the back of her hair where it was flat and messed up. She turned and smiled at him and then they walked out. He got into the drivers side of their truck and they drove away. I smiled at Boyd and said that they were sweet. Boyd said something quite unexpected, he said that we were supposed to see them because we needed to see that some things aren't always as bad as we make them out to be! Isn't that right? Don't we all do that sometimes? That couple was a good example for us and we never even said more than good morning to them. I hope that Boyd and I can be like that some day...

In case you were wondering we got the brakes working again by whacking it a few times with a crescent wrench! At least we didn't have to pay a mechanic for that!

Welcome to our (my) Blog

Well, we decided to start a blog. Our schedules are so crazy lately with me in law school and Boyd working so much that we have been keeping late hours. It is hard for us to keep up with our family members and friends and for them to keep up with us, so voila--a blog. I call it "my" blog because I have a feeling that I will be doing most of the blogging, when I have time that is, but I will write about us, so it is also our blog. I thought it would also be fun to have this to look back on to see how much we've grown and matured as we continue to grow together in our marriage, that is if we keep up with it like we should...no guarantees.

So check back often and enjoy!