Quotes from today

"Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! Tell me the story about the antarckatists and the bomb!!" Meg
Note: this is the Paulsgraf case. From law school. About anarchists who bomb a train. It's one of her favorites, and sometimes a Judicial Wookie makes an appearance.

"Meg, can you put the spices back in the cabinet for me?"
"This sounds like a job for the AMAZING MEGGIE!"

"Oh look, a whole bookstore full of books appropriate for Meggies. I'll go shopping."

Fancy-lettered day

Today, finally, Jonathan received his official certification for the Virginia state bar!

He was sworn in October 31, so right at six months ago.

Congratulations!

Birthday and Christmas all rolled into one

No, seriously. My parents came to visit and they brought my last birthday present and a load of early Christmas presents so they wouldn't have to ship them. We also had a party full of old friends, went and saw Jonathan get officially licensed before the Virginia Supreme Court (congratulations, esquire!), dressed Meg up as a mouse even though we didn't have a single trick-or-treater, fixed my crock pot, and visited the ribbon outlet in Hagerstown and bought disgraceful amounts of ribbon. It's definitely been a successful visit.

I've been baby-proofing

Yikes, I haven't posted much this month, have I? Graduation really knocked it out of me, getting ready for it and then recovering. Also, now that Jonathan is home doing bar-prep full time, we're having to re-work our house arrangement. Specifically, we both want to keep our computers on the desk downstairs, which gets cozy.

This is made more interesting by another necessary round of baby-proofing. Meg has learned to climb up onto chairs and the couch! I'm just busting out with maternal pride. I remember loving to scramble around when I was younger, especially outside on convenient rocks and trees and things. However, inside, Meg now wants to climb further up the chair back and take everything off the shelves and probably fall off and land on her head, which as a conscientious parent I can't really allow. Hence baby-proofing. What we really need is a full set of built-in bookshelves with lockable glass doors, but I think they'll have to wait. Anyway, the point was it's been harder to compute and therefore blog. We'll find a rhythm soon.

We are graduated

Jonathan finished up law school and graduated last weekend. Congratulations! As of tonight we know that he passed his toughest class - of course he was going to, but it's good to hear it for sure. His parents and my sister and her husband were all able to come out for it, and we had a party. We strung up paper lanterns and made ice cream and everything.

On Sunday, we took Emily and Ryan to Maymont to see the otters and gardens. I've been wanting them to see it for a long time, because those otters are just that awesome. While we were there, we took gorgeous photos of each other (including some mushy ones of me and Jonathan!), which was pretty entertaining.

We spent the rest of the week recovering. We found some necessary clothes on good sales, including jeans and black pants for Jonathan. Nana watched Meg and let me go to the post office all by myself - ooh, the excitement! I even got to go to the library and check out grown-up books. On Saturday we split a giant cinnamon roll at the mall, and in the evening went to a surprise birthday party through a massive rainstorm. On Sunday I wore a new hot pink maxi dress (with orange polka dots, yes indeedy) to church, a young marrieds lunch, and the beach - loved it.

And then today, Meg and I did laundry and grocery shopping, and Jonathan got started on his bar prep course. So that's what we've been up to.

Daydreams

Me: "Someday, we will have a house where we can sit at the table and open the fridge door at the same time."

Jonathan: "And a little running water [i.e., a stream], and very lax local ordinances on the subject of trebuchets... Heck, I'll even buy trebuchet insurance. I bet homeowner's insurance would cover that, though maybe not if they knew we were using the trebuchet. Hmm! I'll have to think about that."

A duck hath charms to soothe

Jonathan, scooping up a wailey Margaret: "We're going to go hang out with ducks."

We've all been kind of sick-ish lately, and this morning his class was canceled (BLESSINGS on that professor!), so we actually got to sleep in! And come down and eat a proper breakfast! And now I'm going to go upstairs and get some work done.

The only downside is that Meg doesn't feel good, hence the wailies. And further hence, the soothing properties of rubber ducks.

Snow day green chile soup

Richmond makes me smile. They were predicting some snow and then sleet and freezing rain for today, so last night they closed the schools. We got up this morning - no snow. It started about 9:30, and as of 1:00 we've got maybe an inch and the entire town has shut down. Jonathan's campus is closed, and while his office is technically open, his boss told him not to risk coming in. Not that I'm complaining, mind you! Never complain about a snow day!

So for lunch I made a lovely simple green chile soup.

2 stalks celery, diced
1 green onion, sliced
1 green chile, peeled, de-seeded, and diced
1 can of Campbell's cream of chicken and mushroom soup
Shredded cheddar cheese

Saute the celery, green onion, and chile in a little olive oil. Add the canned soup and a can of water, and heat. Top with cheese. Serves 2.

I never said it was gourmet, but it really hit the spot. :-) And the snow is still coming down.

Wow...

Jonathan is researching alcohol regulation for his big project this week. It turns out there are three exceptions to the "must have warning on it" rule. These are:

-Alcohol for export
-Alcohol for ships' supply on international trips
-Alcohol for the armed forces.

So apparently the three groups of people who don't need to hear about the dangers of drinking are foreigners, sailors, and soldiers. Um, okay...

General update

Yipes, I hadn't realized it had been so long since I posted. Sorry, all (those of you who still check).

I have, of course, been busy. Jonathan's started classes and a law clinic thing downtown, which basically ate all his time and was trying for the soul too, and somehow mine too, but that seems to be better now. We like our souls where they are, thank you. (You know it's been quite a week when I have the law school dreams.)

But then we got to go out to NM for Labor Day! That was a lot of fun. My grandparents were having their 60th anniversary party and we got to see a lot of relatives, and even meet some of their friends we've heard about all our lives. We also spent quality time with the cat Nefret, who may behave like a warthog but she's so cute about it somehow you adore her madly. Even Grandma likes her.

Then we trotted back to my parents' house (a mere jaunt of five hours on NM roads, which is SO much more tolerable than an hour on I-95), where the church ladies put on a baby shower for me! It was a beautiful little party, and everybody was so sweet--and generous, too. Golly. We also stopped by the Finneys' house and chatted with them briefly. Then on the way to the airport the next day, Mama took us by the Coffee Booth, and we ran into more people we knew. It was very good to see everyone.

This weekend we did a few things that needed doing, and have resoundingly failed to do others. Ah, well. The most exciting thing in the first category: we bought a baby chest of drawers/changing table off Craigslist! It was very reasonably priced, and we brought it home and scrubbed it well, which cleaned off most of the marks, and sanded it down, which got off most of the rest, and painted it, which dealt quite effectively with the remainder. It's so cute. It was decent wood construction and I think it'll hold up well -- and if we decide we hate it, we aren't out that much. I'm meditating adding pink-and-chocolate trim.

You know you married a law student

...when he bends over a new section of notes and says, "Forcibly resisting arrest, hurrah."

:-)

Nearly the half of October gone

Hullo, all,

I beg your pardon for the delay in posting. It's been an active couple of weeks. I went up to PHC for Homecoming, had a birthday, interviewed to help with Sunday School at the new church, and started a new job. I'm doing a "long-term temp" assignment, which should mean about six months, and I'm reviewing claims for a law firm, medical details and all. I am now a fifth-floor cubicle minion.

Olwen doesn't care for Broad Street traffic on the way home, but we both rather like Cary Street going out in the morning. It's green and tree-lined and there are nifty shops and old houses. Unfortunately it's one way, so we can't take it coming back. In other news, I bought a new plant for my cubicle. It's a schefflera, much smaller than Bertie Woozle, and answers to the name Nellie. Bertie didn't get to go because he's grown too much, and in any case he's comfortably esconced in the upstairs bathroom.

Merry still scampers around her cage, but her eye isn't any better. Poor mousie.

Jonathan still likes law school. He spent today writing an assignment and will probably spend all day tomorrow studying for his midterm on Friday. And now, if you'll excuse me, we're just about off to small group. :-)

Quotes of the weekend

"Come to the dark side. We have cookies." Jonathan, attributing it to Mr. Stanulis

"It's a bear! Actually, it's like a forest that eats bears and displays their pelts on its own branches. And I feel like a very small, undernourished bear." Jonathan on legal research

Upon discovering our wedding date: "You're fresh from the altar!" Liz at church

Quote of the day (well actually from last Saturday)

"When I am not losing my morality, I'm losing my mind. Ah, law school!" --Jonathan

It amused me...