The Bar

We've been so busy this week that I haven't had a chance to share the good news with everyone. AJ passed the bar! I am so proud of him and also so relieved that we don't have to deal with a high stakes exam ever again.

We had a bunch of things going on this week, and they all turned into celebrations. Everything was so fun!

Champagne the day we found out...


Jeff Dunham with one of our friends on Thursday...


Dinner and a hockey game with a group of friends on Friday night...


A dinner/dance with my family last night...


Today we had lunch with my family, then came home and watched football all afternoon. It was SO necessary to just relax after being out almost every night this week!

Let's take a ride on my emotional roller coaster, shall we?

We closed on our house on Friday, May 6th. Getting the keys and stepping foot in our house was very exciting. We spent the weekend completing projects and made a lot of progress on the house. I cannot WAIT to move in for good.


I attended Mother's Day brunch last Sunday, and I am really glad that I did. It was difficult at the time, but the few pangs I felt were totally worth it. I was able to spend time with my grandmother, which ended up being very important, because she passed away unexpectedly on Wednesday at the age of 77. After brunch she (and the rest of my family) came over to our new house and we gave her the grand tour. She was so happy for us and called all seven of her sisters afterward. They all told me about her calls at her wake on Friday. Her death was very shocking and I miss her so much already. She was the most wonderful, caring lady and a joy to everyone that knew her. We did not take any pictures at Mother's Day brunch and I am so upset about that. I can't remember the last time our picture was taken. Here she is with my grandfather, father, and brother on my wedding day and one of AJ and me with all of my grandparents:


After attending my grandmother's funeral on Saturday, AJ and I drove back to DC so that we could attend his law school graduation on Sunday. It was very difficult to leave NY and switch emotional gears, but we did, and we enjoyed the day as best we could. I am so proud of my husband and all that he has accomplished in the last three years.

While we were in NY, I received phone calls for two interviews in two different school districts in NY. I am flying back to NY tomorrow night for my first interview on Wednesday morning. I am really hoping to land this job. It is in the town next to where we will be living and in the same town as AJ's law firm. The other interview is next Friday, also known as moving day in this household. We haven't quite figured out how we are going to fanangle that, but somehow we will make it work. Best case scenario...I land the first job and don't even need to interview in the other district. Fingers and toes crossed!

So that is my life in a nutshell. You understand why I haven't posted in a while now, right?

Countdown

As anyone who works in a school can tell you, the weeks following spring break usually involve a countdown to the end of the school year. Everyone is excited that the school year is almost over and we can't wait for summer break. I am definitely excited for the school year to be over because so many great things will happen this summer and fall, but there is one thing I am dreading that has me wishing time would stand still....

AJ starts his summer job on May 3rd.

In New York.

And I will be working here until the end of June.

I'm trying not to be a wuss, but I cry thinking about being away from him and being on my own. Then a small part of me also gets upset that I am so sad because I feel like I should be more independent and self-sufficient. Ugh. Clearly I am overly emotional about this whole situation!

Luckily we will only be apart for two months. We will see each other Memorial Day weekend for a wedding and my friends and family will be visiting throughout May and June. Kona will stay here with me and she will help keep me company. I have great neighbors and friends in DC and I know I will get to spend a lot of time with them as well.

At this point I'm just trying to stay calm and keep it all in perspective. It really isn't that awful, especially when I think of the women who are away from their husbands during a deployment. He is just going to New York, not a war zone. We will only be apart two months, not a year. We'll be together again before I know it.

It looks like I will have multiple countdowns this school year. First, a countdown to the day AJ leaves. (sad face) Then a countdown until we see each other in May. (happy face) And finally a countdown until the school year is over, which means I can head up to New York and spend the rest of the summer with my husband!! (super happy face)

Good Times & Bad

Wow. I can't believe my post about going off the pill got so much attention! I think it received more comments than any other post I have written in the year and a half I've had this blog. Crazy!

I want to thank everyone for all the supportive and informative comments and emails. I was so nervous to post about my decision, but I am glad I did. I love that blogging opens up communication about various topics. Many people were not familiar with NFP and/or FAM, but are now interested in learning more. A lot of people also mentioned that they would like to know how my experience goes. I will definitely keep you all updated when I have more to report! I imagine I will have a lot to say in a month or so. If in the meantime anyone has any questions, feel free to email me.

Moving on....

Today was not good. The morning started out fine, but around 9 o'clock I got a message from AJ alerting me that his locker at school had been broken into and every single one of his law books was stolen. He was so upset. I hated that I was at work and couldn't be there for him. So far there is no word from the school or the police, but the bookstores in the area are on the lookout for anyone that tries to sell them back. The police will also be checking the surveillance cameras they have throughout the law school, so perhaps they will get a lead from there. I can't believe someone would steal his books, but they are so expensive that someone probably wants to make a quick buck. SO UPSETTING. Not only is there an obvious monetary loss, but AJ took a ton of notes in the book margins and those are all gone too.

In an effort to make him feel better (because the walk/run/walk we took wasn't cutting it), I whipped up some pumpkin cheesecake while dinner (chicken and biscuits...perfect for this fall weather) was baking in the oven. I posted about this super easy recipe last year, but it is so short and simple that I will post it again.

Mix one tub Philadelphia Ready to Eat Cheesecake filling with a 12oz. can of 100% pure pumpkin, two teaspoons of ground cinnamon, and a half teaspoon of ground nutmeg. Pour into graham cracker crust and top with cinnamon sugar. Refrigerate for an hour. Viola!

I'm also letting him control the remote tonight. I know, I'm the best wife ever ;)

Here's hoping tomorrow is a better day!

So Stressed

It has been one of those weeks where I am so stressed I can't handle anything. I am once again on the verge of tears.

Why?

Comcast didn't install the right kind of land line for our alarm system. Today was their fourth visit since moving day. AJ had to leave work early to meet them because otherwise they wouldn't come out until next week. They finally got the system hardwired so it could be activated.

However, ADT could not activate our system and couldn't figure out why. A few phone calls later and a raised voice from AJ and they realized they had five accounts for our address and were looking at the wrong one. They finally figured it out and now the system is working.

I am officially back to work and am currently going through orientation. The same orientation I went through last year as an intern. I am talking the same handouts, same powerpoint slides, and same lectures. For 7 hours a day. To make matters worse, I have been working there for a year and have been DOING everything they are teaching us for the last year.

I'm PMSing and am an emotional wreck.

I am so stressed about boarding Kona. We have a wedding to go to next weekend and will have to board her for a night and then AJ's sister's wedding in CA in three weeks, for which we will have to board her for five days. I wouldn't be freaking out if I could find a place I feel comfortable with, but every place I've researched seems to have horror stories attached to it and they freak me out. I miss the place we used to board her in NC. She loved going there and I know they treated her well!

AJ is beginning to interview for summer associate positions. He scheduled his first interview today for early next week. I'm stressed about buying a plane ticket and/or figuring out how two of us will use one car in different parts of the northeast (did I mention the interview is in my hometown in NY?). Plus I'm freaking out about being alone (for the night and potentially for next summer). I should be happy about his first interview, but the stress of it all is just making me crazy.

I hate being sad and grumpy. Hopefully I will snap out of it soon. Luckily I went on a power walk with Landlocked Mermaid at 6 am this morning, and that made me happy for a few hours. Speaking of LM, she has decided to go private, so if you want an invite email her. If you need her address leave me a note in the comments.

Few Things

I've had a super crazy week, and am still crunched for time, but I wanted to give a few shout outs!

As you can probably see, I got a super awesome blog makeover courtesy of Danielle at The Design Girl. She is currently having a big sale on basic and standard blog makeovers (they are both $20 off) so if you want a blog makeover too, click on over!

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The finalists for the the Boatman Geller preppy alligator naming contest have been chosen! Thank you everyone that submitted name suggestions!

So without further ado, the three names are...... Mitch, submitted by Wearing Mascara, Van der Chomp, submitted by Prep-E Girl, and NOLA, submitted by Elizabeth KS. Yay! Now go to the Boatman Geller Facebook page, and vote for your favorite! Voting ends May 10th.

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Yesterday Alson had his last final of his 1L year! Congratulations to my amazing husband for surviving what was most certainly a difficult experience. Last night his class had a big celebration, and of course a few beers were had by all. If you've ever had or seen Molson Canadian, you know that they have silly labels on the back. Last night Alson had one that said:

Answer Honestly
Would You Prefer

To be a vampire
-OR-
A werewolf?

Epiphany

I had an interesting epiphany just now.

But first, the back story....

Tonight at midnight, Alson has an appellate brief due (whatever that is), so most of the weekend he has been working on that. On Friday night we had dinner with my mom and brother (they were driving back to NY after spending the week in NC for my brother's spring break), Saturday morning we had brunch before my mom and brother headed out, last night (and this morning) we watched Twilight, and today we went to the grocery store and the dog park. Other than that, the weekend was pretty uneventful, especially for me.

Alson is again working on his brief (final edits, yay!) so I, of course, was browsing Facebook in an attempt to entertain myself. While on Facebook, I was looking at a friend's pictures from the weekend. She was a year ahead of me in grad school, and we both worked in the same office for our assistantship, so we were friends and still keep in touch. She is a little bit older than me (she was a teacher for a bunch of years before going back to school), so I guess a little (or a lot) wiser. Her husband is in the army and is currently in Afghanistan or Iraq (I can't remember), but she by no means is sitting around at home all the time while her husband is away.

And this is when it hit me. Umm hello, why are you not out doing stuff!!! Just because Alson is stuck at home doing work doesn't mean I have to be stuck at home doing nothing. Granted, our situations are a little different, but essentially it boils down to a similar issue.

I guess part of the problem is rooted in our apartment being small, and doing work is kind of muddled with hanging out (even though I don't really distract him or anything) because he does his work in the living room, the only place we can be, unless we're in bed or the bathroom. It's like we are "hanging out" even when we aren't really. I think it would be different if he had an office to do work in, but alas, we don't. I dunno, does that make sense? Also, we are on a tight budget, so a lot of the things my friend goes out and does, we just don't have the money for right now.

Actually, these are just excuses. There are plenty of things that are cheap and/or free to do in DC, and we aren't hanging out when he is doing work because, well, he is doing work!

Moral of the story.....I am really going to try and make an effort to get out of the house and hang out with friends and do things I want to when Alson is busy with school.