BA's Corner: Daycare, Changes, and Family

Leah is getting ready to transition to the next daycare class.  I hope the "Tiny Tots" are ready for a big Peanut.  While she's still an "Infant 1," I thought I'd share some daycare pics we got last month (most are from "beach day").  If nothing else, this proves that she doesn't cry all day long, just when we drop her off and pick her up.  Ugh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Daycare has been a bit of a struggle - one we didn't expect.  New rules, new teachers, and new routines take some getting used to, and we're still adjusting.  For some reason, it seems like Leah has never been fully comfortable in her new daycare, and neither have we.  It's a nice facility and they do many great things with the kids.  But for some reason, we just haven't clicked.  There seem to be a lot of rules and things constantly change, so maybe that's part of it.  They are trying to push the kids from 2 naps/day to 1, and it's not going very well.  Aside from that:

• Leah has started to eat everything on the menu since she's turned 1 (which is great, and fun too)
• We continue to try the straw cup with her (unsuccessfully...although she did it once a few weeks ago)
• We are still transitioning from formula to milk (she drank full milk for a few days, but I don't think her stomach was ready for it, which resulted in some extra loads of laundry.  So we are still mixing it with formula and gradually working up to full milk again). 
• Plus she now has tennis shoes, since the "T-Tots" require them. 

 

Suffice it to say, there are many changes going on over here.  But Leah is sleeping very well at night and we are managing through the changes at a pace she can handle.  Plus, it is so wonderful to have AA back.  We feel like a family again - and a family that has control over our lives!  Monday afternoon, when we returned from our mini-vacation (thank you again Nana and Papa!), we took Leah on a wagon ride up to the pool after her nap.  We enjoyed swimming and relaxing as a family again.  I know it doesn't sound like much, but it is huge.  Leah had a ball splashing and kicking with both of us there, and she especially enjoyed when I would toss her up in the air.  Water splashed all in her face, and she just grinned and giggled.  

 

In our return to normalcy, we have vowed to:

1. Take some time as a family every weekend...no pictures, no blogging, just enjoying the moment
2. Salvage as much of the rest of the summer as possible, so that we don't look back at 2012 as "that awful, wasted summer when the bar controlled our lives."

 

Bar be gone.  We're a family again.

The Other Side

The Bar.  Is Over.

I made it to the other side.  And now I'm sitting on a beach-front balcony, listening to crickets, the waves, and a guitar player, and not studying for the first time in 3 years and 2 months.  BA and I are on a mini-vacation.  We went to Hilton Head to celebrate my freedom and the survival of his single-parenthood this summer.  We left the little Peanut at home with Nana and Papa and took our first vacation alone in over a year.  It is well deserved.  We are eating as much seafood as we can fit into our bellies, and I have spent the better part of the day just staring out at the ocean and feeling the breeze.  It's a good day. 

So how did I celebrate my completion of the bar exam?  Well to kick it off I contracted pink eye.  Yes, that's right.  I'm sure I picked it up at the bar exam.  My eye was red and a little irritated on Wednesday morning (the morning of the MBE exam) but luckily I didn't suspect anything during the actual test, but by Wednesday night it was apparent that I had pink eye.  Thursday morning I went to urgent care and started eye drops.  3 days later, both eyes were full blow infected with no improvement, so on our first real day at Hilton Head I was back at another urgent care clinic.  Now I have steriod eye drops and those babies are finally getting the job done. 

So how do I feel about the test?  Not great, but I think that's how I'm supposed to feel.  I felt good after both morning sessions, but at some point during both afternoon sessions I started to feel like I knew nothing and was getting every question wrong.  To be perfectly honest, I feel that, regardless of how I actually did, I deserve to pass.  I worked so hard this summer, I studied so much, and I think I deserve to pass.  Unfortunately, that's not how it works.  I'll find out in late October if I passed.  Until then, I'm going to relax and take it easy for a change.  And after 2 weeks of taking it easy, I'm sure I'll get bored and realize that it's time to start looking for a job.  But not yet.  Now it's time for vacation.  And then it's time to spend the days playing with Leah, cleaning up the house, catching up with friends and family, watching TV, and just being happy I survived.

BA's Corner: Enough

How much can a person take? What about 2 big people and one little person?

There are many good reasons why we haven't updated the blog in a week.  Rather than tie them all together in a nice, neat story, how about some data points that help paint the picture of our lives recently?

• We're all sick. And we got Nana sick too. You should hear us all sitting around at night coughing like a bunch of chain smokers (Leah included). We each lost our voice at different times, but have gradually gained them back. It all started with Leah, and she had the worst of it.  She had this virus (the worst I've had in years) on top of a double ear infection.  She had a fever and spent 3 days panting...she was a mess, and it was a little scary.  Poor little girl. 
• Leah's now been to the doctor 7 times in 3.5 weeks.
• She is now on her 5th medication for ear infections; none has worked yet. The 3rd round was a series of 5 shots in her little legs over 3 days. She had 1 ear infection in 10 months in California. She's had infected ears continuously for the past 3 weeks here in Atlanta. We're just not sure if it's the same infection, or different ones.
• Leah's newest medication apparently results in massive diarrhea. In fact, the bottle says "diarrhea may persist for weeks or months after medication is finished." Wonderful. So now we're just sitting around waiting to wear out the diaper genie.  Apologies in advance, Leah. 
• We now have an appointment with an ENT.  Fingers crossed we don't have to get tubes yet.
• We were also "pleasantly surprised" to find some pictures online of Leah's new daycare class. My favorite are the pictures of 2 other kids sucking on Leah's pacifier.  And they wondered why we wanted to bring it home and clean it every night. 
• On top of all this, I just filed a claim for $6,500 with the moving company, if that gives you any indication as to how "smoothly" the move went.  Among other things, our goods were split into 2 shipments without our knowledge, and it took way too long to get into our townhome.  So we've been behind the ball ever since we got here. 

If we have another 2 weeks like these past 2 weeks, AA likely won't pass the bar.  So we had to make some changes. 

• First, we've had some serious help from family.  Nana and Papa came several weekends to watch Leah while AA studied and I got things done around the house.  Unfortunately, I got sick and spent most of that time in bed while Nana and Papa watched Leah AND put together porch furniture, fixed the grill, cooked dinner, etc.  Thank you Nana and Papa!
• Then we were still overwhelmed.  So Gramma drove up to watch Leah this past weekend.  I was feeling better, so I got several things done around the house and even snuck over to get my GA license and a haircut.  I felt spoiled to get my first haircut in several months.  Thank you Gramma!
• We held several conversations last week with Leah's daycare teachers about her drinking bottles in a bouncer chair, which can encourage ear infections.  We were concerned about this from day one here and watched it closely.  But with so many problems lately, we just told them no...every morning and afternoon last week, to each teacher. 
• We're still trying to figure out how to keep other babies from munching on Leah's pacifier.  Can't have that any more either.
• We've pulled the pacifier during the day....only for use in the crib.  We've read that the constant use of pacifiers can encourage ear infections. 
• And now we have pulled Leah out of daycare for at least 2 weeks.  We just can't keep sending her back into the lion's den and dealing with her constantly being sick.  Not right now.  We have to get her well, and we all have to get well too. 
• AA has to get isolated.  There are too many distractions pulling at her right now. 
• So Nana has come to stay with us, at least for a couple of weeks.  She'll be watching Leah, and she's a huge help around the house too.  At this rate, AA is sure to pass the bar.  Thank you Nana!! 
• Unfortunately, this means that Papa will be eating a lot of Long John Silver's in July. 
• Family and friends, we promise things will get back to a state of normalcy at some point in August.  We will make the rounds and spend much more time with everyone.  We just have to survive right now. 

So if you were wondering why the blog hasn't been updated in a week, now you know.  On the flipside, the Peanut has gotten to meet a lot of our loyal blog readers in person, so there's the trade-off. 

In LA, we developed "Exam Mode."  That's when AA focuses on studying and I do virtually everything else that needs to be done.  That means Leah ends up running "Aarons" with me all over town. 

We thought AA's bar prep would force us into 2 months of "Exam Mode."  Instead, we are in "Survival Mode."  We have boxes everywhere, and we have just enough unpacked and set up so that we can survive until AA finishes the bar.  At that point, we can begin to get our lives back in order.

It's really hard to concentrate on work with all of this going on.  But I'm convinced we have the best baby in the world. Given all of this, she is generally just as happy as can be. Whether she's coughing, panting, sweating, or otherwise hurting, she tries so hard to smile through it all.

The rule in our house is that when you're sick, there are no rules.  Whatever makes you feel better, that's what goes.  You can see what makes Leah feel better....and I think it makes AA feel better too!  She's been sad that Leah won't sleep on her anymore.  But Leah has had no trouble curling up on Mommy recently.

Catching a cat nap in between "Aarons."  When she wakes up, she looks around quickly to
figure out where I've taken her this time, and if daycare, new faces, or shots are involved.



We didn't have to worry about her rolling off of our bed...she didn't have the energy.





"Make the pain go away, Mommy."



Pink eye is no match for the baby goldfish I'm about to devour. 
Put down the camera, and hand them over.



On the Mend, Sort of

The good news is that Leah is on the mend.  She is almost back to her old self.  I didn't have the heart to take a picture of her when she was at her worst (Monday - Wednesday of this week) but I did snap one on Thursday.  She still looks pitiful in it but much much better than she did earlier in the week. 

The bad news is that on Thursday BA got extremely sick and I was the last man standing.  I had to send Nana home for fear that she would get sick too, and she was supposed to leave us Wednesday anyway but out of generosity stayed an extra night to help us.  Nana and Papa returned this weekend to stay with us and help out around the house, but poor Nana came back with a cold thanks to our little germ factory.  Beware other generous family members who have offered to help us out through this ordeal ... no good deed goes unpunished!  Miraculously I'm still not sick - either I have the immunity of a horse, or I'm about to get it bad. 

Here's our pitiful baby on Thursday of this week.

 Here's a close up of her arm with the little red spot where they put in the needle to take her blood.  So sad :(

 

BA is still sick - he even went to urgent care on Saturday to make sure he didn't have strep throat.  He rallied today to attend a family picnic in honor of his grandparents (because they are lovely people and we just had to be there), but he still feels like death and went to bed at 7 p.m. tonight.  So I'm on Leah-watch while trying to finish listening to a Georgia Civil Procedure Lecture tonight.  My study hours are so out of whack right now; I've been waking up around 6 a.m. because that's when Leah starts to stir.  But I have no energy at 6 a.m. because I only went to bed around 1 a.m.  Lately I've been unable to fall asleep because I'm either working on studying or wide awake for some reason.  I am exhausted.  My eye lids feel like they weigh 50 pounds.  But I'm trying to study every minute that I can because who knows how much time I'll have the next day.  I keep going because (a) I have to, and (b) in a month and a day this will all be over!!!

Really Really Sick Baby

This has been a scary week.  On Monday I took Leah to the doctor.  She had a sore throat, cough, ear infection in one ear, and temperature of 103.7.  On Tuesday she cried all day, and refuse to eat.  Any liquids I could get in her, she would throw up when she coughed.  This morning, she was still burning up, still coughing, still refusing liquids, still not eating, and so lethargic she could barely hold up her own head.  We went to the doctor.  After a mini-lecture from the nurse on why "you should always take her temperature before giving any Tylenol" I sharply said, "I guarantee you, she has a fever."  She did - 104.6. 

The doctor checked her ears.  Both of them were fully infected and had only gotten worse since Monday, even on the antibiotics.  The doctor took her blood - Leah did so great (actually the nurse is the one who did great, Leah didn't even know she had a needle in her arm - she just kept up with her constantly moan/cry and never flinched once).  So far her blood looks fine, thank goodness, more tests will be run over the next 2 days.  And she's now on antibiotic shots.  She got one round of shots today, and we go back to the doctor Thursday and Friday of this week to finish the second and third round of shots. 

She has been miserable this whole time.  A double ear infection plus a nasty virus combines to make one monster illness.  It is just awful to hear her moan, in such pain.  She hasn't fought a diaper change in three days and she no longer has the energy to fight the car seat.  Today she was barely sucking her pacifier, which was absolutely pitiful to see - she usually goes at her paci "W" with gusto and vigor.  And I am supposed to be studying, but how can I when my baby is in the other room, crying , "ma-ma-ma-ma-ma ..?"  She just wants to be held and sleep all day and has absolutely no energy.   And it's my responsibility to try and sneak liquids in her every chance I get.  So I run up and down the stairs checking on her, offering Gatorade or apple juice in her bottle, studying in short spurts, while Nana rocks and holds her all day.

I hold her at night.  When she wakes up with a hacking cough (about once an hour) she will either put herself back to sleep if it's not too bad, or it will get so bad that BA or I will run in there, scoop her up and cuddle her to try and stop the coughing.  Since fluids are such a priority for us, BA and I have resorted back to the syringe as a feeding device.  Last night at 1 a.m. BA and I were sitting on the floor of our bedroom trying to force feed Leah apple juice from a syringe.  She was refusing her bottle, but if I could get a syringe in her mouth she would usually take about 20 mL of juice before she gave up on that. 

I miss her smiling face.  I miss her giggles and the sneaky look she gives me right before she takes off crawling at full speed toward the living room (which is still not baby-proofed and is off limits to her).  I miss watching her stand up and crawl.  She has such a wonderful personality and we haven't seen it in 4 days now.  But at the same time, she is so lovable when she is sick.  She will cuddle up on whoever is holding her and fall asleep in their arms, open mouthed and panting. 

So that's the update.  She is a really, really sick baby.  Hopefully she'll be back to her perky self by the weekend, and I'll be back to Bar review lectures and practice problems.  In the meantime I expect to get some more cuddle time from my sweet, beautiful, baby girl tonight.

Maybe She's Irish?

Leah is sick.  She woke up this morning hot, with fever, and spent the day moaning in pain (she's now in bed, moaning there too).  She took almost no naps, would burst into tears randomly, and refused to eat most of her dinner.  I finally got her to eat puffs and rice krispies after she refused her sweet potatoes and veggies with pasta.  I think she just has a nasty cold and is having body aches.  In any case, today I got barely 1 hour of study time in, and I had planned to spend at least 5 hours working.  And because she had a fever today and is feeling so miserable, I won't be able to take her to daycare tomorrow.  While I love the opportunity to spend quality time with my little snuggle-munch (I've already planned tomorrow out - a walk in the park and a family lunch with daddy at the Chick-fil-A near his office), I'm stressed over all the Bar studying I'm not doing.  I lost two days to pink-eye a couple weeks ago, and now I'm losing two more to this cold.  And if the amount of moaning/crying she is doing now is any indication of what tonight is going to be like, I can kiss sleep good-bye. 

So we called in the Reserves.  Nana is driving two hours from South Carolina tomorrow morning to watch/cuddle/console my little sick baby and I am going to study.  God Bless Nana! 

On a lighter note, we've learned that Leah's favorite genre of music is Irish pub songs.  My dad (Leah's Granda) was recently featured on an Irish CD sold at the pub where he bagpipes (do you realize that there are very few people in this world who could write a sentence like that!)  He sent us a copy and Leah decided she liked a couple of the songs. When I want to get her away from something in the other room, I  just turn on one of her favorites and she'll instantly stop whatever she was doing and crawl to the speakers.

Here, her Granda is singing in the chorus on this one, her favorite, "Rosin the Beau".

Random Thoughts for a Tuesday

1. The remainder of our stuff is still not here - which means our computer is still not here - which means no current pictures yet.

2. I get an email every week from my Career Development Office listing job openings for grads.  I can usually go through the week, quietly nagging myself that I need to start looking for a job, but when that email hits my inbox every Monday, I begin freaking out - until Tuesday when I discover there are many other things to freak out about (like the Bar) and job searching gets pushed down the list again.  Not any more.  I'm resolved to find time this week to really start looking.  My motivation?  It should be the expiration of my grace period on my student loans and the impending doom of a loan balance the size of a mortgage coming my way in October.  But no, my motivation right now is a new couch.  If I ever want to buy a new couch, then I need a paycheck.  Time to find that job.

3. Leah is doing better at daycare, and I am doing better with taking her to daycare (mostly because I've now outsourced the job of actually "taking" Leah to daycare, to BA.  I pick her up, so I get to see her when she's happily playing with her friends at the end of the day and hasn't noticed me yet.  Once she sees me, it's back to crying, but I'm now convinced that she's only doing it for effect.) 

4. Leah doesn't like to wear her bib anymore.  This past week she started pulling at it and ripping it off in the middle of her meals.  This means two things: (1) she usually comes home from daycare in a different outfit than what I sent her in, and (2) she eats her meals at home topless. 

5. Why does the Bar Exam have to test on SO MUCH STUFF?!?!  (I know, Dad, "because if it was easy, then everyone would do it").  I can't believe that I am already starting my third week of Bar review.  Where did the time go?  I know nothing - NOTHING - despite sitting in front of a computer watching lectures and taking notes everyday.

6. Our house is a mess.  Luckily our house is also big enough for me to spread the mess out so that it doesn't look as bad as it is.  But it's a mess, none the less.  This drives me a little crazy.  But I don't really have the time to bother straightening up.  So it remains a mess.  And it will stay that way until the rest of our stuff comes and I can finally get organized. 

Transition Week

At Leah's new daycare, they have a thing called "transition day."  It's where the new babies come to their new classroom for two hours just to get used to the teachers and other kids, and for parents to learn the new procedures for this age level.  Well, this whole week has felt like transition week for me. 

Daycare has not gone as I'd hoped it would.  Leah has screamed and cried everyday at drop-off which she's never done before.  Couple that with the fact that I cried when leaving our California daycare because I was so sad to leave her teachers and you have a lot of daycare-induced crying going on lately.  Aside from that, the teachers here haven't been especially friendly to us.  They're not rude, they just never seem excited or happy to see us.  Maybe they're just timid, or maybe they don't expect to be friends with the parents, or maybe it's because we're new, but it seems like they take a collective sigh when we walk in the door, "oh great, here come the new people, what are they going to ask me about now."  On her first day, BA picked her up after work.  He got to daycare at 5:40 p.m. and Leah was the last baby there and she was crying.  The teacher said she'd been fine until the other parents started coming and then Leah would cry each time she realized it wasn't her Mom or Dad (ugh - knife to the heart).  The teacher said that all the other kids are picked up by 5:30 p.m. in Leah's class, even though they are open until 6:30 p.m.  What?!?!  What kind of job does these other parents have?  I think many of them are stay-at-home mom's who just want a break in the middle of the day.  And I don't have a problem with that, except that it makes us look like the bad parents who leave our kid at daycare all day, and it stresses Leah out to see all her friends leaving first.  I can't take the guilt, so BA and I switched around our schedules for the remainder of the summer.  I'm no longer going to Emory for live classes; I'm staying at home and watching all the lectures online.  He will take Leah in on his way to work (which means she gets to daycare at 7:30 a.m. - she's the first to arrive) and then I'll pick her up in the afternoon.  Right now I'll work until about 3:30 p.m. and then pick her up by 4:00 p.m.  After we eat dinner, I hit the books again until about 8:00 p.m. or until I can't take it anymore, while BA puts Leah to bed. 

Since Leah has had the week-from-hell, I decided to pick her up early yesterday take her grocery shopping.  She had a blast; smiling at strangers, bouncing up and down in the cart as we rolled up the aisles.  She made so many friends at the store.  I was concentrating on picking out blueberries in the produce section when all of a sudden I looked up and these two ladies were waving and smiling at us.  Leah had been grinning at them with her hands clutched beneath her chin.  Another patron stopped me in the aisle to tell me that "she's adorable."  A Publix employee walked by and said "hi there, cheeks!"  And the check-out lady asked me her name and then talked to Leah the entire time we were checking out - and Leah talked back. 

Despite all the transition struggles, I still really like Atlanta.  As mentioned above (almost) everyone is friendly to us, people are holding doors for me (and I'm not even pregnant - it was a miracle when someone would hold the door for me in L.A. even when I was pregnant).  BA and I have gone through a touch of culture shock in Atlanta, just as we did when we first move to L.A. and thought that everyone owned a fedora and surfed all day.  The southern accents are thick and they are everywhere (but I like them).  I have to remember to be nice on the road and not drive like a jerk.  There are bugs everywhere!  Three years out west and I forgot about cockroaches.  Two days in our new house, and I remember how big southern cockroaches can be.  Yuck!  And the trees are still lovely.  In law school, professors will use hypotheticals to teach a concept.  At Pepperdine the hypothetical would usually go something like this, "Surfer walks across homeowner's property to access the beach.  Has Surfer committed a trespass?"  But in my Barbri-Georgia class the hypos go like this, "Bubba wants to buy some shrimp from Big Momma's Gulf Shrimp Company."  Hahaha - I'm not even joking - that was an actual Barbri-Georgia hypo.  Things are different here, but good.

And back to daycare ... I really like the school, I'm just not thrilled with the classroom yet.  I haven't adjusted to their style or manner of doing things, and I have to give it time.  It's a transition week and I have to remember that.  They seem to be doing fun things with the kids - this week was "Wacky Week" where everyday the kids and teachers wear something unusual.  Yesterday was backwards day where the kids and teachers wore their shirts backwards.  The day before was tacky day, and today is beach day.  They are going to let the babies play on a water table and with sand.  These are great developmental activities and it's much more than our daycare in California provided (although we loved our daycare in California because they were so sweet with Leah).  It's just hard on me to see her crying so much, but hopefully soon, the transition will be over and the tears will dry up. 

Leah and Daddy on their way to "Beach Day" at daycare.

Moving to Atlanta

Moving to Atlanta has been stressful but worth it.  I am so happy to be here.  When we left L.A. I shed a few tears as the planed lifted off at LAX.  I was leaving so many wonderful friends in L.A. and two of the biggest events in my life took place in L.A.  It was our home for three years and as I looked down over the rows of houses and buildings, spotted palm trees dotting the streets, I couldn't help but cry a little.  Four hours later, we descended on Atlanta, and I knew we'd made the right choice in moving.  BA lifted up the sunshade and all I could see was trees, for miles and miles, and the buildings of Atlanta sprouting up among them.  I felt as though we were home.  I didn't feel that way about Atlanta during the one year we lived her before law school.  I was bored with Atlanta then.  I guess I still had some wanderlust to get out of my system.  Now, after three years in L.A. I am so ready to be here.  I think this city is going to be just right for our family at this point in our lives.  I love the trees, and the fact that the roads are wide.  I love that most businesses have a free parking lot, instead of having to park in a garage or on the street.  I love that there was only one person in line in front of me at the grocery store on Sunday at noon.  I love that I don't feel frantic here.  After L.A., Atlanta doesn't seem big, doesn't seem crowded, doesn't seem stressful at all.  I know that eventually I'll think Atlanta traffic is bad, but not now.  Compared to L.A. there is no traffic here. 

So here's how the move went.  On Saturday morning we loaded the car in Agoura Hills and drove to LAX, dropping my sister Haley off at her terminal before heading to ours.  BA had to return the rental car, so Leah and I stayed with our 10 bags plus a stroller and car seat (yes, that's right - we checked 5 of them, and miraculously were able to carry on the rest) in our terminal while BA returned the car.  Leah was great on the flight.  We bought her a seat, just as we did for Hawaii, and so she was able to nap in her car seat.  While the other babies were melting down around us, Leah slept quietly and peacefully for an hour and a half.  We were met at the airport by BA's parents, and drove to our hotel.  The next morning, Nana and Papa watched Leah as BA and I went house hunting with our realtor.  We were disappointed with the limited selection of properties in our price range, but found a nice townhouse in our desired area to rent.  We put in an application that same day and have spent the past few days running around gathering paperwork and money orders to help the lease go through.

Yesterday, we took the day off (because there was really nothing house-related left to do except wait for the lease to process) and went to the Zoo.  This is my last day before Barbri begins and so I wanted to do something completely non-academic.  The Zoo was perfect.  Leah didn't really grasp the concept of the animals, but BA and I enjoyed it.  The gorilla exhibit was may favorite because they had a baby gorilla there.  She was one year old and acted exactly like Leah - climbing all over her mother, reaching up to pull her hair, plopping down to eat something she'd found on the ground. 

And today I attended my first Barbri class.  This is the beginning of two months of the hardest, most intense studying I will ever do.  And unfortunately for the first week of classes, I'm attempting to do that intense studying in a hotel room while a moaning, groaning, mischief-seeking, rascal of a 10-month-old, crawls around looking for attention and electric wires to eat.  It's been a challenge.  I've accepted that this week will likely be a loss to me in terms of studying so I'll be putting in some serious make-up time next week once we are settled in our house.

Passed!

I got my MPRE results back yesterday.  And I passed!  I needed a 75 to pass in Georgia, and I got a 122!  Yippie.  I can cross that off my list forever.  One more step in the direction of the Bar exam.  Now if I can manage to pass 3 exams this semester, 2 next semester, and then that "little" test (haha) in July, I'll be golden.  But for now I'll just enjoy the minor victory of passing the MPRE. 

Leah and BA were super excited for me.  And just because I love this picture so gosh darn much, here it is again!

My new favorite picture of the Peanut. She really is this happy most of the time.

Today I Called the Jail

I just did something so exciting that I've never done before and I just had to tell you about it.  I called the Jail.  Granted it is the jail for Malibu/Agoura Hills (ritzy areas) but still, it's the Jail!  In my boring little world, this is hot stuff folks.

Why did I call the Jail?   I am currently trying to complete my Certification of Fitness to Practice Law Application for the Georgia Bar.  Most people think about becoming a lawyer and they think, "I'll just go to law school, take some big test at the end, and, viola, I'll be a lawyer."  Wrong.  There are so many hoops to jump through just to get to the Bar Exam.  The Cert. of Fit. goes into that category of "things that consume a ridculous amount of time and energy that no one ever told you about becoming a lawyer."  This thing is a beast. It asks for 10 years of employment history, 5 years of residential history, a complete record of all student loans, lines of credit, all driving violations, among other obscure things.  And since the State of Georgia seems determined to make sure I fail my exams this semester, they've made the due date for this enormous document next week, right in the middle of finals.  I've actually finished filling out the forms, but I still have to get fingerprinted on special fingerprint cards that only the State Bar of Georgia can send you.  But where do I get fingerprinted?

The Jail, of course!  Actually, I called the Sheriff's Office first and asked about fingerprinting.  The lady on the line quickly said, "I'll transfer you to the Jailer."  I wanted to scream, "Wait - the Jailer???  What have I done?!?!"  But instead I stumbled out a shaky "oh-oh-okay."  And then a voice on the other line picked up the transfer and simply said, "Jail."  Ahhhhhh. 

Turns out I have to make an appointment with the Jailer first.  So it appears I will be going to the Jail to get fingerprinted some time in the next 2 weeks once my special little cards come in the mail.  Crazy.  In one month I will have talked to my very first Jailer and visited my very first (and hopefully last) Jail.  Ah, Law School; what new and joyous experiences you've brought me.

Obsessed

Is it okay that I'm obsessed with this little face?

I seriously cannot get enough of her. 

 

I am a little stressed out right now because the MPRE (nationwide ethics test that all lawyers have to take and pass) is this Saturday.  Even though I am studying as much as I can, I think I'm stressing out because this is really the first step toward taking the Bar exam.  I can take the test again if I don't pass, but I just don't want to have to study for it again.  So fingers crossed that all goes well on Saturday and I can get my life back.  Until then, I'll just continue to gaze at pictures of the Peanut to keep me going.