Wir Hat Ein Audi Gekaufte!

Das ist mein Audi. Es ist grün. Es muss eine ordentliche deutsche Name. Vielleicht werde ich es Lars Namen. Oder vielleicht Johann. Ich weiss es nicht.

The last thing I thought I'd be doing in law school is buying a car. However, the car above is not only sweet, and was not only a super-sweet deal, it was an opportunity that we could not pass up. Kate's dad was selling his old Audi, since he bought a new one, and I happened to see it last week when we went out on Kate's boat.

I mentioned it to the boy, he said "sure, let's check it out!" 90 minutes on the phone secured the financing and the insurance, and three hours later, I shook the man's hand and we were the proud parents of a 1999 Audi A6. (Which according to Arthur Miller is a VW with a glandular problem. That's a civ pro joke. If you got it, you've been to law school. If you didn't...ehhh... move on.)

I have high hopes for this car - though it has high mileage, I think it will last at least another 100-150K, and if we switch off driving it, it should be fine. Plus, I would not be embarrassed to show up to work at a law firm as an attorney driving this car. Audis have a timeless look to them - and they are fuuuuuuuuuun to drive. The 2.8L V6 might have a little something to do with that.

In any case, we'll sell one of our cars, and we have a short term loan on the car so it'll be paid off pretty quickly. And I mean seriously... look at it:




Ich bin ein Präzisions-Instrument der deutsche Maschinenbau. Du wirst mich lieben.

Edited to add: his name is Heinrich.

Thursdayness

1. Am I the only person in the world who haaaaaaaaaaaaaaates Jack Johnson?

2. Six days til Summerfest! Mayer, come to mama... It's been waaaaaay too long, baby. And my husband won't be there this time, so... ya know...

3. Seven days til The Lou. Oh hellz yeah.

4. So about a week ago, I went to the doc and they drew about eight vials of blood and made me pee in a cup. And they told me the pee was bad bad bad, and I had to drink a ton of water and cranberry juice and do a seven day course of antibiotics and avoid certain horizontal adult fun activities with my husband, for fear of INFECTING HIM with THE INFECTION. All this, despite the fact that I had NO symptoms. I mean seriously - no weird funk, no weird goo, no burning. Maybe I just have a little bacterial alien hanging around between my legs, making raspberries at the lab monkeys at my doc's office. So NOW... I started my antibiotic course yesterday, and they are going to want to test me again after I'm done, and I'm out of town for a good week after that... so maybe I can wheedle my way into going in and peeing right before we leave for Summerfest. I hope so.

5. So without further ado... the reason I was giving the lab monkeys lots of fun fluids to play with...



Announcing... Kidney Bean Thompson. This picture was taken a few weeks ago at 9.5 weeks. I'm now just going on 12... past the first trimester and due round about the first week of January. Just another addition to the Summer of Awesome... and the reason why I'm not doing any triathons this summer.

Easy price to pay for the coolness ahead. I'll be back next year on the race course...even sweeter to do it post partum. And yeah, I'll be one of those tri-moms who grabs her kids and runs across the line with them. For me - one big, one small, and all happy. The girl will be six when the bean is born. I was six when my sis was born - pretty cool. She'll be an awesome big sister.

For the next six months or so, I'll be gestating, and telling the boy to carry my backpack to school for me, and probably getting all pregnanty-looking, and hopefully figuring out if the bean is a girl or a boy... and having a perfectly lovely excuse to send the boy out for all manner of weird foods at all hours of the day and night, and hopefully telling my mother and in-laws and family to lay off with the visitation. (That's another thing I'm not hip to - the whole WE NEEEEEEEEEED TO SEEEEEEEE THE BAY-BEEEEEEE NOWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW! thing. Geez. Let me get my stitches out and establish a damned breastfeeding pattern before you invade. A week is NOT too long to wait to see a new baby!) (And yes, stitches = c-section. I had one last time and my track record on going into labor on my own is 0-1. I'm told my docs won't induce a v-bac, so yeah. Most likely headed for the OR again.)

I'll update on this when I feel the need - so far I have to remind myself I'm pregnant and, with the exception of a low back ache, a little growth cramping, and one rather nasty occurrence of puking up an empty stomach, I've pretty much sailed through these first few months. Trust me when I say I'm not a touchy-feely pregnant lady, nor do I wax poetic about the whole "magic" and "wonder" of "new life."

Frankly, I prefer knocked up.

Oh, My Gosh... SO Much Awesome

Nashville recap:

1. Nashville was cool. Loved seeing the in-laws, and the FIL continues to make progress - he had back and knee surgeries awhile ago. Not easy to keep working on when your lifestyle is sedentary. But I'm proud of what he's done and how he has kept his spirits up.

2. Got to see Candi - an old coworker, former carpool buddy, and more importantly - a good friend. I'm astounded we've not lost touch, but with friends like Candi, all you have to do is drop a line every now and again and you can pick right back up with life and laughs. We met for lunch at Opry Mills and I brought the girl with me. We even let her ride the carousel in the food court, and got lots of visiting done. Candi was my carpool buddy when I was pregnant with the girl, so she went through all my ups and downs with me - and I was so grateful for her companionship. She's such a great person and I wish we could see more of each other.

3. Played lots of Euchre. (That's YOO-ker for you non Midwesterners.) It's a family tradition - my in-laws played with my husband's grandparents, and we now play with them. I have no doubt we'll teach the girl how to play - and it's a fun, fast paced game. Even better - we always play men v. women, and the women almost never win! Well, this go-round, the women DOMINATED 7-2. Even better - we got to watch them grumble and squirm... which is probably the best part. :)

************

Since Nashville, I've gotten some more cool stuff under my belt. Jen informed me that Matt Nathanson is playing in Milwaukee the night I'm supposed to drive back through after spending the 4th in St. Louis. My JM tix for Milwaukee arrived on Friday, and my STL stickets are sitting at the post office awaiting my pickup (which will happen in a few short moments.) I downloaded the tape from JM's Amsterdam concert last night and... just... guh. I didn't know it was possible for him to sound even better than last summer, but WOW. Amazing. The tape quality is amazing too - so much respect for the fan who got that tape (and posted it so quickly!!)

Hmmm... what else?

Went boating yesterday with the girl, Jon and Julia, on Kate's parents' boat on the St. Croix. It was really fun - and the girl had a huge grin on her face when she sat in front of the boat and Kate opened up the throttle and really let the boat go...she wasn't scared at all. (If this is an indication of the girl's capacity for thrill seeking, I'm doomed.)

AND! A theatre up in Coon Rapids is playing "Where The Light Is" on June 30... theatre-style. So not only do I get to see it before the DVD release...I get to see it ON THE BIG SCREEN and listen to the music in surround sound. Oh man...am I GEEKED!

This week? Academia rears its ugly head as I must work ahead on P.R. and get my Theories paper written by Thursday. However, the payoff will be sweet as next week the girl and I head out on our road trip - Milwaukee, hometown, St. Louis, then home. Fourth of July, here we come!!

Restatement 2nd, Summer of Awesome

In an effort to stay current on the happenings of the Summer of Awesome, I am restating the Declaration of Awesome. (A restatement in legal terms is a book of commonly accepted theories and rules applicable to a portion of law, written by an expert in the field, such as a professor or other legal scholar. They are regularly used in court opinions and insofar as they are not legislation, nor are they court opinion, they define the law.) Here then, the 2nd Restatement of the Summer of Awesome:

I hereby declare the upcoming season, colloquially known as summer, lasting generally from Memorial Day Weekend (commencing on or about May 24, 2008) through the middle of September (ending on or about September 8, 2008) to be the Summer of Awesome.

The Summer of Awesome shall involve the following events:

1. A visit from Jordana and Todd. CHECK.

2. A trip to Phoenix. CHECK.

3. A quick bout of summer school, ending on or about June 5. CHECK.

4. A visit to Tennessee to see the in-laws. CHECK. (Entry forthcoming.)

5. A roadtrip to Summerfest to possibly see AKeys on 7/1 and DEFINITELY see JM 7/2. On deck. If you just heard a fangirly "squeee", then you are in the right place.

6. Continuation of said roadtrip to the S-T-L to party with the sister, see JM 7/3, and watch the fireworks over the Mighty Mississippi from Gateway Park.

7. A quick return home, then a roadtrip to Danskin Chicagoland with Sooz 7/12-7/13.

8. A girls' weekend in Chicago, with many girls from all over the nation, flying in to meet up in the Windy City for JM 7/18. I am now flying to Chicago rather than driving. Who needs a car in Chicago anyway?

9. My first Olympic tri on 8/2-8/3 in Duluth. On hold.

10. My 2L year starting on 8/9. Possibly 8/16?)

11. Y camp for the girl at a drastically reduced rate (and only when we need it!) approximately three days a week, and getting to keep her at home with me twice a week to do fun mom/daughter stuff. Started today. She looked happy to be there and like she would have lots of fun.

12. Campaigning for Franken, hopefully for a bit of law school credit. No credit, but some volunteer time is definitely on the radar screen.

13. Minnesota State Fair the last weekend of August, winding up on Labor Day.

Addendum

14. The possibility of seeing Matt Nathanson in Milwaukee on 7/5 as I drive back through from St. Louis. Love Matty Nay. LOVE.

15. Flying down to Florida over Labor Day weekend to see JM with Jen in Tampa and West Palm Beach. (Yes, that brings my Mayer show total to 5 this summer.)

16. Seeing the girl off to kindergarten on September 8, 2008. (Incidentally, J&T's first anniversary.)

The awesomeness just keeps adding on!!

Packing and Laundry and GAH!

Sometimes, the life of a domestic diva is not all it is cracked up to be.

Like today.

I must:

1. Do laundry
2. Pack family of three for a plane trip, involving: NO checked baggage, ONE booster seat, enough toiletries to last 4 days, my school stuff and my laptop, and enough stuff to keep the girl occupied on the trip - OH, and it must be carriable and manageable because we have a connecting flight...
3. Clean the house and kitchen - mostly because I can't stand the idea of leaving the house in anything other than what passes for clean around here.
4. Probably run to Target so I can get a smaller version of our toiletries.
5. Convince my husband that grabbing a pizza probably isn't a bad idea for dinner tonight.
6. Take out the trash
7. Make a parking reservation for the airport.
8. Get everyone to bed on time
9. Get everyone up by 4:30am
10. Make a 7am flight.

Yeah...parts of the summer of awesome? Not so awesome.

Summer of Awesome, Part Deux

An update, if you will!

The Summer of Awesome is going just swimmingly!!! With three of four grades in for spring break, I can say confidently that I did MUCH better this last semester than I did in Fall. Add in the experience of been-there-done-that as well as a serious uptick in effort and assistance request, and school is looking better than it ever did. Here's an update on my Declaration of Awesome for the summer.

I hereby declare the upcoming season, colloquially known as summer, lasting generally from Memorial Day Weekend (commencing on or about May 24, 2008) through Labor Day Weekend (ending on or about September 1, 2008) to be the Summer of Awesome.

The Summer of Awesome shall involve the following events:

1. A visit from Jordana and Todd

CHECK. J&T made their way to the TC just before Memorial Day weekend, and a lovely time was had by all, including a free meal at Joe's Garage (with the most insanely delicious tall chocolate cake evaaarrr...

2. A trip to Phoenix with Kate, the girl, the mom and the sister for four days' respite, sleep, pool lounging, spa pampering, shopping and general laziness in order to shake off the rigors of a year of law school and the Most Stupidest Winter Ever.

CHECK. See entry below, re: Pa-Hoe-Nix.

3. A quick bout of summer school, ending on or about June 5.


CHECK. I have yet to write the paper, and I have committed to an additional on-line class, but nothing I can't handle.

4. A visit to Tennessee to see the in-laws.

Up next...we will have liftoff on Friday morning. (Note to self, check on parking alternatives.)

5. A roadtrip to Summerfest to possibly see AKeys on 7/1 and DEFINITELY see JM 7/2.

6. Continuation of said roadtrip to the S-T-L to party with the sister, see JM 7/3, and watch the fireworks over the Mighty Mississippi from Gateway Park.

7. A quick return home, then a roadtrip to Danskin Chicagoland with Sooz 7/12-7/13.

8. A quick return home, then yet another roadtrip to Chicago to meet up with girls from all over the nation, flying in to meet up in the Windy City for JM 7/18, and a girls' weekend downtown to follow.

9. My first Olympic tri on 8/2 - 8/3 in Duluth. On hold for now, for reasons to be explained at a later date.

10. My 2L year starting on 8/9.

11. Y camp for the girl at a drastically reduced rate (and only when we need it!) approximately three days a week, and getting to keep her at home with me twice a week to do fun mom/daughter stuff.

Check - she's registered and starts next week!

12. Campaigning for Franken, hopefully for a bit of law school credit.

13. Minnesota State Fair the last weekend of August, winding up on Labor Day.


There are now a few additions, which will make the summer even MORE awesome (as if that were possible, really...) And on a completely unrelated note: our stimulus check arrived! Woo! Now I get to deposit it...and write a big fat check to school for my summer school tuition. Oh, the joys of paying for school out of pocket!!

Also on deck: exciting news on the homefront, possible additions to the live music schedule, and eight more weeks of unadulterated AWESOME!!!

Faith and Sex and God (and Banana Bread)

That's what we talked about this afternoon. I also baked two loaves of banana bread and the house smells heavenly right now. And the boy is happy to know that they are for US and not for Other People. (Apropos of nothing, the grocery store had lovely purpley pink roses on sale, and they are sitting next to me on the dining room table, also smelling heavenly.)

Adam stayed over last night and he's staying again tonight to save gas and get a bit of studying done before heading back north to hearth and wife. We finished class last night and had a lovely bit of conversation, and this morning, after I took the girl to school, we talked most of the morning on a number of subjects ranging from potty training to labor to the "boxers or briefs" question. I don't think I've had quite as much good conversation in a long time - but Adam is not only intelligent, he is well spoken and as such, knows how to argue constructively.

(He's also an ace houseguest, not only because he pitched in and Swiffered my kitchen floor but also because he bought me lunch at the Chinese buffet while we waited for his car to have four new tires installed.)

One of the things we discussed at length was faith and religion. Adam is a fairly confirmed atheist, whilst I, a fallen Catholic of the highest order, maintain a Christian faith. The thing I loved about our discussion was that it was not passionate - it was quite logical and philosophical, bordering on intellectual. We weren't trying to convince each other of our individual veracity - merely that we had divergent views and that those views could coexist. I told him that I thought he was a better Christian than most Christians I know, due to his sensitivity and caring - he is the sweetest guy on the face of the Earth and I can't imagine a more giving and gracious person.

I told him I thought that faith needed to be coupled with good works and a well-examined life. Living your parents' faith isn't living, unless you've determined that it is your faith as well and you can defend it. And even then, a constant questioning must arise - when you become complacent in your faith is when you have no faith at all.

Our discussion also reminded me of an old song by XTC. Here's a Youtube link, and the lyrics:

Dear God,
I hope you got the letter, and I pray you can make it better down here.
I don't mean a big reduction in the price of beer, but all the people that you made in your image, see them starving on their feet 'cause they don't get enough to eat from God
I can't believe in you

Dear God,
Sorry to disturb you, but I feel that I should be heard loud and clear.
We all need a big reduction in amount of tears and all the people that you made in your image, see them fighting in the street 'cause they can't make opinions meet about God
I can't believe in you

Did you make disease, and the diamond blue? Did you make mankind after we made you? And the devil too!

Dear God,
Don't know if you noticed, but your name is on a lot of quotes in this book, and us crazy humans wrote it, you should take a look, and all the people that you made in your image still believing that junk is true. Well I know it ain't, and so do you, dear God, I can't believe in...

I don't believe in...I won't believe in heaven and hell.
No saints, no sinners, no devil as well.
No pearly gates, no thorny crown.
You're always letting us humans down.
The wars you bring, the babes you drown.
Those lost at sea and never found, and it's the same the whole world 'round.
The hurt I see helps to compound that Father, Son and Holy Ghost is just somebody's unholy hoax, and if you're up there you'd perceive that my heart's here upon my sleeve.

If there's one thing I don't believe in it's you....dear God.