Wednesday, February 29, 2012

Done!

I felt okay, we'll see at the end of April if I passed. I got home around 7:15 last night from Montgomery, and Curtis and I went to a fun dinner. I'm taking my time this morning before going into work and jumping back into the fray, unpacking so that I can repack tomorrow for our firm retreat in Florida this weekend.

Kenny is very funny this morning - I think I'm going to keep him home from daycare today since I'm going in late, but when I woke up at 7:45, Kenny was in the den, sleeping on the futon, with the door almost closed, and has no interest in moving from there. He's just crashed.

happy leap day!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Monday, February 27, 2012

Watching NASCAR, no joke

You may have heard that I'm a bit of a sports fan. Well, I was watching ESPN this afternoon in my hotel and had heard that the Daytona 500 had been postponed to tonight because of weather. I ended up turning it on since there was nothing else on, and after the nasty wreck during lap 2, I was hooked. I am a bit of a Danica Patrick fan, although unfortunately she was knocked out of the race in that first wreck, along with Jimmy Johnson (another recognizable driver) and later Jeff Gordon because of engine issues. (I probably sound like I know more than I actually do, I know who the popular drivers are, but I know absolutely nothing about racing, except that there is this whole pit stop thing where they get new tires and more gas - otherwise its all Greek)

Anyway it's about halfway done and I have to say that, southern accents of the commentators aside, will all the cameras on and inside the cars, the audio from the drivers, the sound of the cars going 195 mph, it is actually somewhat interesting to watch, and I've been pleasantly surprised. I might even watch until the end.

Anyway, in other news, I had the first part of the Alabama Bar today, 3 hours of Alabama Civil Procedure. It went okay, I felt like I had a good handle on the questions but we'll see. I took a nice nap today which helped me catch up on the 6 hours I got last night (I couldn't help myself, I had to see who won best actress). I had some delicious lunch from Dreamland BBQ, which is a block away from my hotel, and I've probably eaten more in the last three days than I've eaten in the past 2 months, but I'll deal with that on Wednesday.

After getting the lay of the land this morning, I realized that I don't have to get to the convention center as early tomorrow, so I'll get to sleep in. I forgot my earplugs, but I actually don't need them because there aren't very many people taking the exam and half of the people are handwriting it. Most of the people I've spoken with have already taken an exam in another state like me. Anyway, enough with the boring stuff, I'm looking forward to going home tomorrow night, back to NASCAR! (lol)


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Sunday, February 26, 2012

Here we go again...

I'm settled in my hotel room in Montgomery, AL, after a 2 hr, 15 min trip up highway 65 from Mobile, to take the Alabama Bar Exam for the next two days.

I've had some notice that I would be doing this, in fact, I knew when I was taking the exam in CA that I would get this experience again, but it really didn't feel real until I packed up my stuff yesterday and today. And let me tell you, I hope this is it for me. There has been some suggestion that I take the Florida Bar, but I think I will wait at least a year, because this is really annoying.

Here's the schedule:
Tomorrow (Monday): 3 hour essay exam in the morning on Alabama Civil Procedure and Remedies
Tuesday: morning is the "Multistate Performance Test," for three hours, and the afternoon is the Multistate Essay Exam, for three hours.

I'll drive back to Mobile Tuesday evening and head back into work probably around 11 am on Wednesday.

In the meantime, I will be studying (I didn't have three months without work this time to prepare), watching a healthy share of tv (the oscars! The All star game! The NFL combine! All the weekend before the bar... :-/), enjoying a few days without makeup or dress clothes, and hopefully performing well enough to pass, so that I (maybe) never have to do this again.

Have a good week.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Location:Montgomery, AL

Wednesday, February 22, 2012

40 (ish) Days without Facebook

I do not generally like to publicize what I am giving up for Lent, and I don't always give something up for Lent, but this year I decided to give up Facebook and since that I means I will be MIA on a site that many of you are used to seeing me on, I thought I'd provide some notice.

It is always challenging for me to decide if and what I am going to give up.  As a Christian, I place much of my own theological emphasis on the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Or, as I jokingly tell my friends, I'm a "New Testament Christian."  My favorite holiday has always been Easter, but I think it can mean so much more when I place focus on the Lenten Period and Good Friday.

My philosophy about the practice of giving something up for Lent is it:

1. Has to be something that affects me on a daily basis (or at least every few days).
2. Is something that I can realistically give up, depending on current circumstances (I decided that giving up a food would not be a good idea this year since I am in an active period of losing weight and could use all options).
3. Is not something that, by giving it up, benefits me. So for example, I personally would not give up things like cookies or chocolate, or sweets, only because I think that is essentially a diet, not a lenten ritual.  It's not about benefiting from eating more healthily, it's about suffering in some way to be closer to God.  Granted, some may say that giving up Facebook has the added benefit of making me more productive.  Today has already demonstrated that the time I am not on Facebook will not likely be added to my productive time, but rather to my unproductive time.

Facebook is not an ideal sacrifice, but I think it serves my three requirements well enough.  I enjoy the ability to be connected to friends and family and much of the news I read comes from Facebook, so I will definitely miss it.  I will not observe the Sabbath breaks, by my own personal preference.

So, long story short, for those of you who may wonder where I disappeared to, I will be back on Facebook on April 8th, and will continue to be on Twitter, Blogger, Pinterest (although that has already fizzled for me) and email throughout the lenten period.

In looking for something to add at the end of this post about Lent, and it's significance to me, I found this article that I appreciated, that included the following:

"The journey of Lent always leads up a hill to a cross. There is no other route. Lent is a time to test our willingness to walk boldly with Jesus; to give up distorted goals; to 'die' to old ways and reject new temptations; to steadfastly look beyond the cross, confident that God's love in Jesus Christ 'lives' in us, and through us, and takes hope into the future."

Saturday, February 18, 2012

Weight Loss - 10 (11) pounds!

Many of you already know that I started back at Weight Watchers in Mid-December.  Curtis is also doing it, but his news is not mine to share.  I decided in December that I would not keep my progress off the blog, but that I wanted to be able to report something substantial.  So I decided that I would post once I lost 10 pounds.  

Well today we attended a meeting and I have officially lost 11 pounds! I still have a long way to go, but it's great to be more comfortable in my own skin. 

I also thought to take my measurements when I started and have seen some results after the first 10 pounds: 

-3 in the bust
-2.5 in the chest
-2 in the waist
-2 in the hips

And other smaller changes in my legs and arms.  I have some short term goals that I'll hold off on reporting, but I am looking forward to running/walking a 5K in March, and I look forward to posting my progress as I go along. 

Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Happy Valentines' Day!


Today is a normal work day, but Curtis and I are going to make dinner at home, drink a bottle of wine that we ordered months ago, and (hopefully - if the mix arrives today) enjoy some Sprinkles Red Velvet Cupcakes! (shhh... don't tell Curtis, he never reads this blog and doesn't know that I ordered the mix!)

Perhaps it is because of my memories of V-Day in schools, giving valentines to every classmate (do they still do that?), or the fact that this is my 11th Valentines' Day with Curtis, or the fact that we are now far from our family and friends, that today I really feel quite drawn to looking at the day in the context of ALL of the people that I love, not just Curtis (no worries, he gets most of my love).  I'm thinking a lot about my friends, when I will get to see them again (some in April, some later), and of my family, both close and extended.

So, if you're reading this, know that I love and admire you, and that I hope you and your families and friends have a wonderful valentines' day.  I hope to see you soon.

Monday, February 13, 2012

Stay Tuned for Mardi Gras Posts!

We're in full-swing with Mardi Gras here, and we went to our first (and only this year) ball last Saturday night. We had a great time and have enjoyed the season so far.  Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras Day is next Tuesday, and then it is all over when Lent starts the following Wednesday. So at some point (maybe before the Bar, maybe after) I will recap our first Mardi Gras season in Mobile.