The Amazing People I Know

I took LT home last week to DC. We're doing a decent job of things, but she is having a really tough go of it with her family in some respects. It's hard on me, and I'm not even the one who has to have the difficult and hurtful conversations, although some of the stuff is pretty harsh and pointed right at me. My xylophone friend is strong and brave; I am proud of her.

MT is once again proving her qualities as an amazing human being, fostering SEVEN kittens for the ARL until they are old enough/big enough to be fixed and put for adoption. The littlest one has an eye injury, and weighs all of 11 ounces. The patience and dedication that MT shows in caring for and cleaning up after such a herd of babies is nothing short of inspiring. And she still somehow finds time to care for her own three cats and hang out with her odd friend C.

I'm so very happy to say that GJ is finally running into some happiness and luck. She spent a long time being a sympathetic and supportive ear to my difficulties, all the while going through a pretty rough patch herself. All I hope to do is return the favor! Her door/email/phone is always open, no matter how rotten her days have been. I hope with all my heart that things keep looking up for her a bit. (But I do hope the Wings blow the Cup.) And I wish her safe driving coming to the 'Burgh this weekend!

MG has always been my biggest cheerleader and venting partner. She knows what she feels is right, and fights for it unashamedly, especially when it is a friend. She has been pulling for me in my law school journey for years--well before I even knew for sure that I was on it! Her advice has been freely given and invaluable, as well as her support.

sM and I have had an uneven path in our friendship, but his encouragement and example have been integral to the future that I now eagerly work towards. Sometimes it takes a new voice reminding you of what you are capable of to make you really see it, and he provided that voice, as well as a picture of what someone can be when they follow their heart and passion. He always take the time to see how you're doing, which is especially impressive these days for a few reasons.

AK (not your AK, MT) is an endless source of entertainment. Even though we haven't hung out in a while (mainly because I'm a ridiculously busy bastard)--she's been around as a constant source of levity and friendship. I swear, we WILL get together before I move!

MD, Maker of Lutes, McGurk (I know a lot of "M" people...), AJ, and all my other Pamela's family are just that, a family. I don't see them as much anymore, but I can show up at the back door at any time and get an immediate round of yells and hugs and high-fives and general silliness. I love you guys!

To all of you, and to everyone else who has been there for me and inspired me and comforted me and let me comfort them and made me laugh and showed me new restaurants and recommended great movies and taught me things and made me confident and made me humble, I raise my office coffee mug in a toast.

Thank you.

Find Someone Else to Gamble With

A note to all my Michigan friends:

No, I cannot afford to make bets with all of you for the Cup. You forget that I seem to be a Michigander magnet--there are a lot of you! I realize that could end up being a pretty good windfall for me, but I could also end up completely broke.

The only wager I am placing is with GJ, and it's the same bet we have for everything: one beer. I would make a special exception for this momentous event and say two beers, but at arena prices that's pretty steep...

Go Pens!!

It's Hasn't All Been Texting and Crying and Hummus

My last few postings have been kinda glum, because whenever I let myself slow down these days (read: have enough breathing room that I can do things like blog) that's how my mind goes. So I'll now point out a bunch of stuff lately that has been great. Some of them are small moments, some bigger.

- Gorgeous weather. As much as I like winter, the renewal of spring is always amazing.
- Upon learning that LT and I are likely headed different directions, a half-drunk friend getting very wide-eyed, putting his arms around both of us, and exclaiming, very slowly, "But....what's gonna....happen?"
- GO PENS!!
- During the tail end of the gauntlet which I haven't been able to blog about yet, my trip to Chicago was an absolute blast. I loved it.
- Being included on the season video for my Cincy buddies even though I'm not technically on their team.
- Tearing the leg of my jeans open while climbing a seven-foot tall fence.
- Pierogies at the Harris Grill.
- GO PENS!!
- Going to see Chris Pureka and Nicole Reynolds, I was reminded that music is the most amazingly direct path into my soul, and how much I love live performance. I could never imagine a world without music.
- Encountering someone who embodies all the coolest things in the universe: a Canadian, hockey-enthused, tattooed, gender-bending, socially conscious, violin-playing musician. It's true, the bass players are always the coolest ones. ALWAYS.
- The woman who adopted a very sweet, quiet, 10-year-old cat. It made my heart smile to see someone willing to give poor old Dottie a peaceful couch to sleep on.
- Softball!!
- Coffeeeeeeee
- The excitement - even if it is bittersweet - of planning the coming next phase in my life.
- Reconnecting with and remembering to get the support of old good friends - MT, GJ, MG, MD, thank you all so much - and discovering the support of good new ones.
- GO PENS!!
- Sitting on my couch with the sliding door open and fresh air coming in, with Tiki curled up on my lap and Whiskey curled up next to me.
- Planning my next TATTOO!!
- Did I mention GO PENS?!

The First Acceptance

I'll be posting about my trip to Lesbo Land as soon as I get a chance, but time is short and I wanted to at least pass this along. It finally happened - I got my first acceptance letter! So, I don't know where I'm going just yet, but at least I know I'm going somewhere. It was from Temple, which is pretty far down my list of places I applied to, but it's a start!

It was a bit surreal in terms of how it came. Thursday went like this: No sleep Wednesday night (long story involving a watery mess from the apartment above, combined with trying to pack), arriving at the airport at 4:30 AM, 11 hours negotiating planes and airports and four different time zones catching naps where I could, two or three hours in the sun in the middle of the desert, dinner, and an evening comedy show with a couple thousand lesbians.

At the end of all this, I checked my email in the hotel room before my exhausted body called it quits, and got the email from Temple (I had only been expecting snail mail notifications). I completely forgot about it for I think two days, then partway through Saturday asked GJ, "Hey, did I dream that I got accepted to law school, or did that actually happen?"

Weekend Gauntlet 1: Go Wings!

The way things are looking, seems I'll be out of town every weekend from this past one until May (and 7 of the 9 weekends in all of March and April). Whew! So, this past weekend was first up in my astounding run of busy-ness: a Red Wings game in Columbus, and then National Raisin Gravy Day. (Some people call the latter "Easter", but it's really National Raisin Gravy Day.)

I met my Cincy buds in Columbus to see the Wings take on the Blue Jackets. Given that the arena was half full of Wings fans, the Columbus folk were kind of cranky. The fact that the Wings won 4-1 didn't help. But, although there was some verbal sparring (some good-natured, some not). After the game we hit up a local gay bar in Columbus' arena district--after a very lame start, it eventually got good; I was happy to see a huge variety of gender expression...much greater than I typically see here in Pittsburgh on a usual night out.

And, National Raisin Gravy Day was yummy. Got to see 4 out of 5 of The Kids, and as usual got my ass kicked by the second oldest...when did he become twice as big as me? Ah well, the fun is in the fighting, not in the winning. (And it's a good thing that's the case...)

Some thoughts....

- On the way to Columbus I passed a car with the license plate SUFR4JC. Creeped me out.
- After your parents have lived in the same house for 25 years, it's weird to realize that before leaving to go visit, you need to double-check the directions.
- Yes, LT cooks more than I do, but it's all pasta, and she needs to set the timer to know how long to boil it! (pbpbthththth...) Besides, I own the aebleskiver pan!
- I'm either going to have to figure out a way to be home enough in the evening to do laundry during the week, or...well...um, there really is no alternative.

And in other news, I'm getting my ass whooped with my NCAA tournament bracket, but at least I'm doing better than Tiki and Whiskey. GJ isn't getting much of a run for her money this year though. And, my car passed 100,000 miles! (Roughly 96,000 of them with a mooshed front bumper.) Good ol' Lancer...

Coming Next Weekend: USA Hockey Women's National Tournament

Testing, Testing...

Ah....yello! Yeah, I've been a delinquent blogger. But as MT and GJ can attest, I've also been a delinquent email chatter and texter. Work has gotten ridiculously busy lately, and it pretty much feels like I've been constantly busy outside of work.

Of course, sitting here right now trying to sum up my delinquency, I can't think of anything specific. So...over the next few days I'll be trying to catch y'all (and myself!) up on what's been going on.

To answer MG's main questions really quick, though - nope, haven't heard back from anyone yet. You'll probably be the first to hear when I do!