Final Spring Break

I'm in my final hours of my final spring break, so I thought I'd give a bit of a recap.

The first weekend of the break, I flew to DC for Denaye's shower and bachelorette party. It was a fantastic weekend including a stunning shower hosted by the Matron of Honor, Alicia; a fun night out with the ladies celebrating Denaye; and not nearly enough time getting to catch up with my best lady. It was also fun to spend some time with Miranda and Stacie, two friends from high school who I hadn't seen (in person) in years, but who I "see" often thanks to Facebook.

As you may know, I was supposed to fly from DC to London for the rest of the break. However, about a month ago, my competition partner, Josh, and I qualified for the ABA's National Client Counseling Competition in Waco, TX. It was scheduled for this weekend. So, instead of flying to London, I returned to Seattle. I got a few hours of down time and a chance to do some wine tasting with some of my law school friends.

On Thursday, Josh and I flew to Waco with our coach, Sharon, to compete in the national competition. Twelve teams competed; six teams went to the semi-finals; and three teams went to the finals. We made it into the semi-final round where we were eliminated, thus placing us among the top six teams in the country.

With a few hours before our flight, we were able to take in some "tourist" attractions. First, it was the Dr. Pepper Museum for a look at old bottles and a ton of posters and an old fashioned float. Then, we drove out of town for a look at the Branch Davidian Compound.

All-in-all, it was a nice spring break. I'm thankful that I'm not sitting at Heathrow caught up in the BA strike, and I'm actually excited to head back to work and school this week. There are just a few weeks of classes remaining and a couple of exams after that. Bring it!

A Good Day For A Walk

We've had a particularly mild "winter" this year. I have to put winter in quotes because, with the exception of about a week in December, we've only had a handful of frosty mornings and zero flakes of snow at our house. It seems we're also going to get away with a short winter as spring is showing up all over the place. The azalea bush in our backyard is in full bloom; the crocuses have popped up and are showing their beautiful purple petals; and sunshine is becoming more frequent.

So, with a forecast of sunny skies and 60-degrees (15.5 C), we had to take advantage of the weather yesterday. After considering our options, George and I decided to spend a good chunk of the day wandering around Washington Park Arboretum and its Japanese Gardens. Here's a snapshot of our day:

This view (Lake Washington and Mount Rainier) slows traffic on a sunny day on SR-520:

Even when there's a crowd, the Japanese gardens are serene.

Many of the flowering bushes are blooming.

Moss is everywhere.

I'm hungry.

It's no secret: George and I love food. I'm pleased to see that some of our local favorites (specifically Canlis, Kevin Davis, Cafe Juanita, and Tom Douglas) have been nominated for James Beard Awards and have reached the semi-finals.

http://blog.seattletimes.nwsource.com/allyoucaneat/2010/02/18/james_beard_awards_chefrestaur.html?cmpid=2628

I can't wait to see who wins the final awards and to try out the unfamiliar places on the semi-final list. YUM.

Olympic Fever

I should be prepping for tomorrow's classes, but - instead - my eyes will be fixed on the TV tonight. I already know that Lindsey Von is going to do her thing on one of my favorite trails at Whistler. And I can't wait to see what Shaun White pulls out of his snowboarding helmet.

I've loved the winter Olympics for most of my life, but I wasn't always such an alpine fan. Instead, back in the days of Nancy, Tonya, Kristi, and Oksana, I was absolutely obsessed with figure skating. I knew every skater and recorded VHS after VHS full of ice skating competitions. Occasionally, my mom would join me in watching the majestic routines, and she would usually comment on Dick Button's critical commentary. I was reminded of these fond memories when I ran across this story in my headlines. Nothing is quite as effective as the Olympics at bringing out critical commentators.

Ah, well. Looks like Louie Vito is about to shred the halfpipe...

New Email Address

I've (finally) acquired a new gmail account to reflect my new name. If you did not receive my email with the new address but you would like to stay in touch, please send me an email at my old gmail or sadlier account, and I will send you the new address.

Thanks for your patience. :-)