A Night to Remember...

And NOT in a good way.

So I started my job last Monday (I'll have to write another entry all about that, but I'm writing during lunch, so it'll have to wait). And last night, the firm bought Micah and I tickets to the Rangers v. Yankees game. The plan was to meet six or so other attorneys there a few minutes before the game started at 7:05. So Micah and I left my condo (which also deserves another post, but again... later) around 6:15. That should have given us plenty of time to get to Arlington. Except someone had a blowout in the left land of I-30, so we didn't pull into the parking lot until around 7:00. And, by the way, I think it's outright ROBBERY to charge someone $25 to park a half-mile away from the ballpark.

But anyway... so we park and we walk the half-mile up to the stadium, and I realize that I left the tickets in the car. So we had to turn around and come back, get the tickets, and, again, make the long walk up to the stadium. (By this point I'm feeling a lot less guilty about the fatty mushroom soup I had for lunch and the glorious hotdogs I planned to have for dinner) It's around 7:30, so I'm already late and feeling bad about it. Our tickets are in the very top level (almost the very back row, but it was free so I wasn't complaining), so we attempt to take the escalator up to level three, and the ticket attendant won't let us up. Apparently the game was delayed because of lightning in the distance.

So I'm majorly worried about being so late, but since we couldn't go up, we grab a hotdog (which wasn't so glorious) and decide to wait it out. As we're eating, we see people going up the stairs, and I felt like an idiot because I realized that it was just the ecalator that was blocked off. The stairs were perfectly accessible. So we grab the food and eat as we walk. We FINALLY get up to our section, walk up to our row, and I don't see anyone from the firm. Before I had time to really think that through, the announcer says that everyone on the third level must go back down to the second level because there is a thunderstorm warning for Tarrant County.

I'm just utterly frustrated at this point. I'm the ONLY summer associate at the firm this summer, so this whole outing was for ME, and I'm an hour late! I can't find anyone from the firm, and then I realize that the guy directing us had sent us up the wrong set of stairs in the first place, so that's why I didn't recognize anyone in our row. I don't have anyone's number, so I don't know where they would be. And I don't know how long the game will be delayed or if they would even play at all. So I just decide to call it quits and head home. We walk back down ALL the stairs we had just walked up and start to exit the stadium and see a little sprinkling. I told Micah I just wanted to get in the truck and go, so we started walking back toward the parking lot.

And then the bottom fell out of the sky. It started raining cats and dogs, and we realized that we couldn't get back into the stadium because our tickets were for a one-time entry only. So we start waking faster. And then the hail came. Yes HAIL. In MAY! And we're OUTSIDE IN IT! We had no clue what to do. It was at least a 7-8 minute walk to the truck, and we're just getting pelted with hail. We saw a tree and ducked for cover. Then I looked up at Micah and we both started laughing so hard we couldn't stop. He's trying to keep the hail off me, and so he's taking the worst of the beating. My pretty purse (which was a present from Micah) is getting ruined. And yet we still couldn't stop laughing.

I finally just decide that our wimpy little tree isn't helping much, and we make a run for it. I lost my shoes twice. But we finally made it to the truck. We were so wet, we looked like someone had thrown us into a pool. My non-waterproof mascara was all over my face. But we made it. :)

The whole way home, one of us would just sporadically start laughing. It was just one of those nights where everything that could go wrong does. But it's a night I'll remember forever. Cuddled up close to Micah under that tree, I realized that no matter what we ever go through, as long as we stick together life will be a joy. He's my soulmate, and the love of my life. And he didn't even freak out about his leather seats getting all wet. :)

It's Mother's Day...

So of course I'm thinking about my wonderful mother. :)

I know everyone says they have the best mom, but I really do. I think about growing up and my childhood, and I can see how much my Mom has shaped who I am. Like how, when my brother and I were little, I can't tell you how many times we saw the inside lof a Bookstop. Even when my parents had ZERO money, my mom would take us to Bookstop for new books to read. Reading still remains my very favorite thing to do. My brother, too. He just won't admit it.

I always had freedom to make my own choices, from a very young age. My mom let me wear dresses every day of Kindergarten. She also realized that NO one could do my hair like I wanted it, so I assumed that responsibility early on, as well. Instead of preaching rules at me, she taught me to think for myself and to think about the consequences of my choices. And, since I'm giving all the credit to my Mom, I think it's ok for me to say that I'm a pretty good decision-maker today. :)

She also taught me to love with all my heart. And anyone who knows me knows that I wear my heart on my sleeve and love with everything I have. That's all my mom. She did it. So, complain to her about it if you must.

But, SERIOUSLY, Mom. Why in the world didn't you give me your perfect Portugese genes?? I got stuck with this crappy pale skin and blue eyes... I guess, in light of everything else you gave me, I can forgive you for that. :) Seriously, though. Thanks for everything Mom.

I'm also sad today, because I miss very much my honorary mom. The woman whose house I spent half my time in growing up and the woman who raised my wonderful best friend. I'm thankful for Danna and everything she did for her beautiful daughters and for me. And God knows I miss her.

The Last Two Days...

...have not been fun, to say the least. I took my first final yesterday. Most students in law school opt to take their exams on their laptops. I always do. I type much faster than I handwrite, so it's more efficient. Occasionally, I have seen other students have trouble with their computers during exams, but it never happened to me.

Until yesterday.

I was in the middle of my Patent Law exam, and my computer died. I tried not to panic, and I just finished the rest of my exam on paper. But the stress of the computer just put me off my groove, and the part I handwrote was horribly messy and nonsensical. Well the IT department at school assured me they got all the typed portion of my exam off my computer, so I was at least happy about that.

Until this morning.

When the school called and said they actually DIDN'T recover the typed part of my exam. I took my computer up to school, and they had problems with it. Apparently the version my computer saved is encrypted. So they had to send it to the company who makes the exam software to un-encrypt it. And there's no news yet on whether anything is recoverable. So I'm resigning myself to the fact that I may have to take the whole darn exam over again.

And I think I've remained pretty positive about, and I keep trying to keep things in perspective. At least my computer didn't actually crash (what really happened is that the outlet I was plugged into wasn't working, so the computer just died). And I just know that whatever happens, happens for a reason. God's got me covered, and I just refuse to stress about it.

So... I'm going to focus on the good news! I'll be done with exams by the end of next week, and then I'll be 2/3 of the way done with law school!!! And I'm trying to keep my mind off the other bad news: that at the end of next week I'm moving away from Micah and Lilly for 11 weeks. Can I just show you how adorable my dog is? She's getting so big!



Love her. :) That's all. I'm worn out. And Micah and I are going to go get in bed and watch... you guessed it: FRIENDS!