Quick Update
Yes, I'm still here.
My mom leaves in just over a week. While I enjoy having her here, it's also somewhat stressful. My mom is a lot more laid back than I am, so sometimes I'm worn out just getting everyone out the door. I've also discovered that I need a certain amount of solitude everyday - something that just doesn't happen when your mom and your 4 year old accompany you everywhere. It also means there's not a lot of time left over for blogging.
I'm being sworn in as an attorney later this week. Thus necessitating a whirlwind trip to the Emerald City. I'd tell you to expect radio silence for a couple of days, but lately that seems to be the norm around here. I'll work on that - after I get back.
Actually, the day after I get back I'll be driving back to Ft Wayne enroute to taking my mom to O'Hare. I'm yanking the kids out of school for the trip and we've got tickets to go see
King Tut at the Field Museum. OK, maybe not the "best" parental decision I've ever made (EC's Algebra teacher told her he was "surprised" she'd be out for 3 days), but still.... We'll be staying with my aunt over Halloween. She lives in a pretty ritzy neighborhood so I have high hopes for Halloween haul. Lil Q is quasi-allergic to peanuts, so bring on the Snickers and Baby Ruth bars!
Last week my employment plans got moved up significantly. I thought I'd get to slack off between now and late February. The Air Force had other plans, so it looks like Captain Quandary will ride again on or about the 1st of December. This is a GOOD thing and I'm WAY excited, but it also means that all the doctor, dentist, and orthodontist appointments I thought I'd have several months for must now be crammed into the next 4 weeks. Also - I have a boatload of paperwork to fill out.
I had some bizarre muscle spasms in my back this morning. I chalked this up to stress and had to do some immediate retail therapy. I ended up with
this groovy little sweater.
Expect more posting in early November.
The Cuckoo's Nest
My Grandma and Grandpa had a Cuckoo Clock hung just inside the front door of their house. Although my Grandpa died when I was pretty young, I can still picture him winding the clock every night before bed. Either Grandma or Grandpa would wind the clock again during the day, but I'm pretty sure Grandpa always wound it at night.
My father sent the clock to my grandparents while he was stationed in Germany. I'm pretty sure it wasn't something he would have picked out for himself since we never had one in our house, but I think he knew that it was a gift that his parents would enjoy and treasure.
After my Grandpa died, the clock remained in the same place. Somehow I never noticed that my Grandma never wound the clock, and that its hands were forever frozen at 5 o'clock. I guess initially I was too young or busy to pay attention. Later, I just figured that the Alzheimer's caused her to forget or just that she just physically wasn't capable anymore.
When my dad died last year and I started to clean out the house, I asked my aunt if she would mind if I took the clock. She asked me if I was sure I wanted it and then told me the story of why the clock was never wound.
Although we usually traveled to Fort Wayne as a family, my dad drove from Omaha alone as a surprise for Grandpa's 65th birthday. As far as I know, the birthday celebration itself went fine, but my dad and Grandpa argued bitterly the night before my dad was supposed to leave. As is so often the case, no one really remembers what they argued about. That night, my Grandpa wound the clock as usual. When my father stormed out of the house at 5 am the following morning, he slammed the door so hard that the clock stopped. Grandpa predicted that he wouldn't see my dad again. He didn't wind the clock that night or any other night before he died a few weeks later.
In nearly thirty years, no one else wound the clock either.
Until now. My father and both my grandparents have died. I would like to believe they've resolved their differences by now and would be happy to know that the clock now hangs just inside MY front door and that I wind it every night. And that if I don't, it's only because I forget and not out of anger.
Minimum Competence
Results are out and the news is good! At least according to the website...
Thanks to everyone who sent good wishes, encouragement, and prayers!
WOOT!
It's Official Now!
The letter came in today's mail and apparently the web folks weren't mistaken. Looks like I'll be headed back to the Evergreen state sometime in the next month to be sworn in. After I take a 4 hour "pre-licensing" course and pay my bar dues, that is.
Even so - better than a trip back in February to re-take!
Thanks for all the nice comments - maybe I'll even try to start posting more again!
Stress Bunny
I guess Bar Exam results are in the mail today.
Even if there was a snowball's chance in hell that they would get here before the Columbus Day holiday, I won't be here to get them since we're leaving in a couple of hours for Fort Wayne. Although the cheesecake is still in the oven, so how soon we leave is still kinda up in the air.
I also baked Irish Apple cake. I made one with nuts and one without, and as I placed the pans onto the cooling rack, the rack collapsed and the cake with nuts slid off onto the floor. I'm not ashamed to say that my mom and I picked it up, brushed it off, and enjoyed a couple of largish slices of it (strictly for quality control, you understand) since we could no longer serve it.
Let's just hope that flying baked goods are not some sort of an omen of my bar results.
Dear Tim Hortons,
Please be aware that someone in your corporate chain has decided that the combination of your made-from-a-powder-push-button-machine-hot-chocolate and drip coffee should be referred to as a "Cafe Mocha."
This person should most likely be shot.
Pfui.
The Face of The Earth
No, I haven't fallen off it. I've just been busy with stuff that very few people would find interesting.
A quick update on the past 10 days:
- I've joined a cooking club and attended the first meeting. Some of the ladies seem to think that preparing a
Tastefully Simple mix counts as cooking, so this might be interesting. Even so - adult interaction = a good thing.
- I watched my Cubs lose to the Reds in the Great American Ballpark.
- I drove to Chicago and back. I was gone for just over 72 hours. In one 24 hour period I drove from Fort Wayne to meet a friend for breakfast, picked up my mom from O'Hare, met up with a different friend for coffee, and drove back to Fort Wayne. My car is
so due for an oil change before we drive back to Fort Wayne this coming weekend for our family's annual Weenie Roast.
- I met with the lawyer to file the paperwork to close my dad's estate. Finally.
- I've eaten ice cream at 3 different places in the past week.
Friendly's (which was merely so-so),
Ritter's (which I like a lot, and is the only place where I prefer the vanilla to chocolate), and my new favorite -
Graeter's. I highly recommend the Hazelnut Chip (Friday's selection), but the Chocolate Coconut Almond Fudge (Saturday) was pretty yummy too. The Pumpkin ice cream is not my thing, but EC loved it. Yes, it tastes a lot like Pumpkin Pie, but the consistency is all wrong.
- I've discovered that I really like being a temporary stay-at-home mom. If this lasted more than a couple of months though, I can understand why a lot of women might take up drinking.
- I've been reading a ton of books. If anyone has any other recommendations (I read everything you all suggested last time), please leave them in the comments.
- Bar results come out this week. I was mostly ok with this until this morning when I convinced myself (yet again) that I failed. I've been flip-flopping about this all summer. On the one hand it'll be nice to know one way or the other. On the other hand, I really don't want to go through that particular experience again. Also, apparently results will be mailed out on the Friday before what is a 3-day weekend for the post office (but not for the State Bar Association) and results are posted on the website on Monday, so chances are good that I'll find out whether I passed or failed via the internet. Send good vibes this way, please...
