Rogue Slayer Law Student Lawyer with Snark Movie Fan

The ACS Convention is great, but I'm exhausted! Thursday the Student Leadership Retreat was nonstop from noon to 8:30 pm (the reception went until 9:00, but I packed it in after an hour and a half at 8:30), then yesterday was jam-packed from 9:30 am until 8:00 pm. Today will be kicking off at 9:00, so I've got to get going.

I'll give my impressions later, but for now you can check out the video and text updates at the ACS (national) Blog. Be sure to check out Senator Joe Biden's address from yesterday - it was a winner!
|

I fly from Boston to DC this evening, as the American Constitution Society's 2005 Annual Convention begins tomorrow with a Student Leadership Retreat. I'll be attending both the retreat and the convention, and I'm psyched.

You can check out last year's event on the ACS 2004 Convention page to get an idea of how I'll be spending the next few days.

I'm unsure of whether I'll have internet access, but I'll post updates if possible.
|

The Guyfriend and I watched the liftoff through tank separation after achieving a speed of 17,000 mph, about 10 minutes into the flight. I was welling. He didn't confess to anything, but he was awfully quiet.
|

Shuttle Discovery is still on the launch pad and getting ready to commence STS-114 lift-off at 10:39. The seven crew members are on board and performing final preparations in the less than 30 minutes remaining in the countdown.

Here's to an uneventful and completely routine mission.
|

A clean house = a wonderful thing.

We dedicated yesterday to cleaning, rearranging and organizing the house. Okay, it's an apartment, but it's a side-by-side duplex. We have an upstairs, downstairs and basement, front door, back door and bulkhead, so it seems like a small house. Anyway.

We've had an influx of large furniture items and many smaller sized wedding gifts that we had yet to integrate into the place. This meant that things were piled up, access was blocked to a couple of bureaus, the stacked things acted like magnets for more stacked things, and it just got out of hand.

Yesterday we got a lot done. Cleared off the couch that had become a dumping ground for stuff-we-don't-know-what-to-do-with, cleared off the stairs that were laden with things to go upstairs, cleared all the stuff that had accumulated on the kitchen island and dining room table, totally rearranged all the furniture in the guest/exercise room (which is also where all my clothes are), did many, many loads of laundry, and vaccumed the whole house including the basement. Sadly, this led to a blown fuse, but we had some spares - after that I held off on finishing the basement vaccuming until The Girl had finished the upstairs vacuuming, since apparently some of the outlets in the 2nd floor office, 2nd floor master bedroom and one of the basement rooms are all on the same 15 amp fuse. Whatever.

The Girl reclaimed her desk and shelves from the paper mound and paperback mountain under which it had become buried. I mostly reclaimed my desk and credenza, and repaired the base for the zen fountain (I set it on an unsteady surface a while back and it crashed to the floor along with all the stones and water - what a mess). I still have to tackle my shelves. We also replaced the manual scoop litter box with a high tech automatic litter box. This is very exciting. When the sensors are blocked for at least 5 seconds (i.e. when Aspen or Mischief stand in the box), it sets a timer. Ten minutes later (giving the clumping action a chance to take effect, and for the cat to get a safe distance away) a rake sifts through the clumping litter and deposits any clumps into a sealing disposable cartridge.

The Girl got all her CDs back into their cases and the cases into the racks (in alphabetical order, of course). I boxed up all my fluff novels I've been reading. I updated and ran all the spyware, virus sniffing software on both computers.

What a difference waking up to a tidy, organized, spacious house this morning! It's almost enough to inspire me to finish that 2-year-old painting project.
|

It's 6:23 am and I've been up for 25 minutes. I was awake for about a half-hour before that, lying in bed hoping I could fall back to sleep. Why can't I sleep in on weekends?

I should note that The Complimenting Commenterer has visited the side and left a compliment! In a world of flames, trolls and nut-jobs from all parts of the spectrum, The Complimenting Commenter's goal is to compliment for kindness sake.


Now I'm off to watch last night's Battlestar Galactica. The second season got off to a fabulous start last week, but I must note my one issue from the second season opener. When the Cylon vessel of previously unseen configuration crashed into one of the landing bays, the Galactica crew monitored the bay for any fires or explosions. They were very excited that none were forthcoming, so they could make their faster than lightspeed jump. Then they seemingly forgot all about it, so the last shot we get is of the Cylon raiding party going into action. I'm pretty sure that even an ass like Col. Tigh would have ordered a security team to lock down the area as soon as they determined the lack of boom.
|

While we were sitting at our window table sipping our frozen nectar of the gods, I noticed the letterboard outside of Cochituate Motors across the street. This place sells high end cars, like Rolls-Royce, along with other more high end but still manageable vehicles.

Most car dealers want buyers to come in right away when they're feeling the impulse, so they can work you over and convince you to reward yourself with a car you can't really afford. Not this one. Rather than listing their fabulous bait-and-switch price, or the name of the hard-to-get-but-they've-got-it model, they posted up their phone number.

"Please, go home and think about it for a while, then give us a call. We'll make an appointment for some time in the future so you can have more time to talk yourself out of it."

|

The Guyfriend and I decided to skip the gym today in favor of a Friday afternoon trip to Starbucks so I can try their new Green Tea Frappucino. YUM! Mine's the smaller one. Hey, I'm trying...

|

Can't they at least put a little effort into making them the tiniest bit plausible? Come on - if you're going to try to trick my money out of me, show a little pride in your work, will you?

Received today:

company Name:vollmex visa lottery inc.
DIRECTOR:olsen Nollmer

LOTTO LOTTERY
Dear Hirth,
congratulations u won a lottery visa to any
country of your choice,all that is needed from you is some amount of money
to be paid so that the company can continue with the processing of your
documents and also send it to you.
mail me with my private mail: [deleted so I'm not accused of pimping for them]
regards:francis dike.

|

He's at it again. Ass.
|

This morning on WBUR (Boston's NPR news station), there was coverage of Gov. Romney riding the Red Line yesterday to prove his faith in MBTA security precautions. One of his statements really popped out at me as I was driving down 128. Of course now I can't find the streaming audio of it (I thought it would be in this story, but it's not). But the statement was something like this:

As far as people that are threat to our society, we have to find them. We have to find them and get them out of the country.

Apparently our fine governor is one of those who hold the idea that preventing terrorism means targeting foreign citizens, in spite of the fact that the London bombings of two weeks ago were apparently conducted by British citizens. What would have been his grounds for deporting Timothy McVeigh? How many US citizens are currently under scrutiny (rightly or wrongly) under the blanket of the USA Patriot Act, which has the goal of preventing terrorism? And how many people have been wrongly targeted based largely on their ethnic background or nationality?

So much for the great melting pot.

Boston.com has an article on ways the T-riding photo op didn't go as planned. Like the governor being a few years out of touch with how much it costs to ride the T.
|

Okay, I admit it. I don't always have every last MP3 loaded into my Now Playing. My player doesn't have the handy "Load all tracks" feature, so the easiest way is to go through the Genre listing and load each one. It's a pain. But today I did it. Every last track is loaded, including the classical, the Christmas, the new age, the sounds of nature and the sounds of the stars. Let's see what happens.

Load 'em. Play 'em. List 'em. Here. Yours. Hers. His. Hers.

Thin Line Between Love and Hate - The Pretenders - Learning to Crawl (played this vinyl LOUD)

You Can't Look Away - Sloth - Lara Croft: Tomb Raider film soundtrack

The Doctor Is In - You're a Good Man Charlie Brown 1999 Broadway revival cast recording

Run-Around - Blues Traveller - The Truth About Cats and Dogs film soundtrack

Six - Natural Wonders - Ocean: Soothing Sounds

It Never Entered My Mind - Miles Davis - Runaway Bride film soundtrack

Fugue For Tinhorns - Cast - Guys and Dolls 1992 Broadway revival cast recording

Ancient Air - Dan Gibson's Solitudes - In the Midst of Angels

Clouds Dancing - Alice Gomez, Maddalyn Blanchett & Marilyn Rife - Flute Dreams

Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart - Judy Garland - Judy at Carnegie Hall
|

This just in: The Vatican today in its daily newspaper condemned Canada's new marriage equality laws.

Readers are shocked.

Here's the link to L'Osservatore Romano's home page. They only have one day's daily posted at a time, and they've already moved on to tomorrow.
|

The Guyfriend and I hit the building fitness center at lunchtime today. Our office moved into this building in mid-June, but it took a number of weeks before the building and our HR office worked out acceptable waiver forms, then we had to fill them out (including witnesses to our signatures), then wait for the forms to be processed and our building access cards updated to include fitness center acces. So just this week we finally go the okay.

Thing is, when we swiped our magnetic cards the light turned green but the door didn't unlock. The Guyfriend retrieved the building facility manager, and it turns out he forgot to click one button on the computerized card management system. All set.

So I've now taken my first step back onto the path of fitness. Hope I can keep it going. Today I did 30 minutes / 10.4 miles on the stationery bike. The program has a little pace bike against which I can compete, so that helped. Then some stretching and a tiny bit of weight training before lunch time ran out.
|

Given yesterday's late evening announcement that Pres. Bush is nominating DC Circuit Court of Appeals Judge John G. Roberts, Jr. to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor on the Supreme Court, I've retired the Hottest L Word Chick poll to the bottom of the left sidebar and replaced it with a poll regarding your initial opinions, thoughts, and/or fears regarding the nominee. Go to the top of the right hand sidebar to express your reaction to the idea of an Associate Justice Roberts.

With this poll, you can choose more than one responses - a new Pollhost feature.

On the L Word poll, Shane was the clear winner with 26% of the 212 votes, followed by Bette with 23% and Carmen with 21%. Dana and Alice were in the middle with 14% and 8%, while poor Jenny, Tina and Kit got not much love, at 4%, 3% and 1%.
|

Actor James Doohan, best known as Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott, aka Scotty, on Star Trek, passed away this morning. He announced last August that he was suffering from Alzheimer's disease, and his agent and friend Steve Stevens stated his cause of death as Alzheimer's and pneumonia.
|

Senator Edward Kennedy was interviewed by Delores Handy-Brown on NPR's Morning Edition this morning for his initial response to Pres. Bush's nomination of Judge John G. Roberts (currently on the DC Circuit Court of Appeals) for the Supreme Court.

Listen to story (Real Audio)
|

Can anyone tell me what these disgusting-looking formations are that can be found at many or all underground T stations? They don't have matching mystery stalagmites, as the platforms themselves do get mopped periodically. You can see the remnant stains on the platform from the attempted formations, though. I should have gotten a picture of that as well, but my train arrived.

This particular group was at the Park Street Station, Red Line outbound platform, at the eastern end.

These are babies compared to the ones at the New England Medical Center Orange Line station. I'll see if I can remember to capture a shot of one of those this semester.

|

Fabulous. Dark. Very grown up.

I want another 652 pages. Now.


|

SciFi.com didn't have a whole lot of nice things to say about Star Trek: Insurrection, but they do love the newly released Collector's Edition DVD for the bonus materials.

I don't care - it's still my favorite. It's an action movie chick flick for geeks. Perfect!


|

No going back now! What's a set of wedding pictures without the time-honored ring shot? Here our hands are perched atop one of our bouquets. Note the lovely manicures. Trust me, that doesn't happen often with me.

This is also a nice shot of some of the glittery beadwork on The Girl's gown. When the sunlight hit, she sparkled brilliantly. I had to move my engagement ring over to my right hand, as it's in an asymmetrical setting that doesn't mesh with the wedding band.

I have another photo with The Girl's left hand and both my hands, but I have images of some Article 8 nutjob distributing it as proof that same sex marriage is opening the door to marriages among three people!

|

Here is a shot of the tables, all set up for the wedding. We were going for what we've dubbed a formal beach feel, with colors of blue (ocean, sky) and sand (well, sand). My sisters and I designed the centerpieces.

My friend Cyndy came up with the lovely napkin folding technique, from a handout sheet her mother had brought back from a napkin folding workshop (can you believe it?) on a cruise.

We had ten of these set up, five on each side of the dance floor. The caterers had their own set of three six-foot tables under a separate awning, and the sound system was on another six-footer under yet another small awning.

|

We rented this white arch for the ceremony and pictures. My brother and sisters tried it out in a variety of places around the yard, and finally decided that this was perfect, with the way the branches and leaves draped over it from the nearby tree, and with the rock wall in the background. My brother then decorated it with lovely material he sent up from Williamsburg, VA.

|

Sunday we went golfing with a couple of friends up at Green Meadow Golf Club in Hudson, NH. The Girl was on a quest to realign the planets by beating me, after her 1-stroke defeat on St. Croix. Happily, she achieved her goal, 104-109. But that's not the entertaining part of the story (although she might disagree).

When we had loaded our stuff into the carts and were just about ready to head up to the starter, when The Girl decided she might as well hit the rest rooms once before heading out. The clubhouse is on a hill, and you can go in through the main entrance upstairs at the front or the downstairs entrance at the side. We were halfway between, and she headed for the upper entrance. When she was halfway to the door, I called up, "Can you pick up a scorecard while you're in there?" She waved and nodded. The two starter guys, who bore a striking resemblance to Statler & Waldorf, called after her, "Do you need a scorecard?" She didn't hear them, so I called up that she's fine. They call again, "Miss, do you need a scorecard?" She continues on, so I call up that she's just going to the restroom. "What?" "SHE'S GOING TO THE RESTROOM!" Well, that changed everything, because now it became their mission to let her know that she can get direct access to the restrooms by going in through the lower level entrance. By the time they got her attention, though, she was a few steps from the main entrance. They couldn't just let her go in that door and walk down the stairs, in their overzealous attempts to be helpful. Instead she wound up appeasing them by turning around and walking back past the cart where she started and down to the lower entrance. Thanks for the help, guys.

Then we pulled up to Statler & Waldorf so they could give us the day's rundown on the course. They have a "Jungle Course" and a "Prairie Course," but there was some repair work on Jungle 1, so we'd play Prairie 1 then cut over to Jungle 2 and continue on. Prairie 1 would be the only hole on which the regular cart path rules wouldn't apply, because of the whole cutting over requirement. I've played there maybe twice, and not within the last couple of years, so I inquired what the cart path rules are. "The same ones we usually have." Helpful. So I pointed out my lack of familiarity with the course, and they gave me the rundown. Then after my third request they finally gave me the precious scorecard as well, and we were on our way.

As we were approaching the green on Prairie 1, I was a bit off the fairway, atop a hill. I gave the ball a nice little whack with my pitching wedge, kept my head down appropriately, then looked up to see how I fared. Just as I looked toward the green, I spotted something emerging from the ground, rather like the periscope headed monster tentacle in the waste disposal room in the original Star Wars (or like the alien popping out of Dead Crewman One's stomach in Alien). Before it had time to register, the sprinkler system came on full blast, with an expertly aimed shot directly into my open left eye.

Everyone thought this was quite amusing until they noticed that I had slammed down my club and was busy clutching my eye with both hands while staggering about the hilltop, pretty much blinded. But after the stars cleared away and I established that I was still in possession of my much-needed contact lens, I slogged my way over to the green to join the others and to commence my long journey to dripping dry.

The rest of the day was much better.
|

Friends of ours had us up for their annual beach party at Good Harbour Beach in Gloucester on Saturday. Here's my little section of our turf. I've got my low slung beach chair that folds up into a backpack, complete with optional awning, plus a fabulous canvas summer tote with three outside pockets, our new Table in a Bag that was a wedding gift from a dear friend. You can also see the very end of The Girl's "Princess Lounger," her beach lounger that also collapses down into a shoulder-carry bag. Of course we also have an earth tone rainbow beach blanket on which to stand or rest feet (the sand was wicked - yes, I'm from around here - hot on Saturday) and several levels of sunscreen.

But of most importance, you'll note that resting on the corner of the table, awaiting my return to the chair, is Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. A small child was coveting it as he and his mom walked by. After they had passed he was walking with his head craned all the way behind him to continue viewing the cherished item. The only sound he was making was "oooooooooo." His mother told him they'll have to find one at the store after this afternoon.

Honey, good luck with that.

|

Had a lovely day at the beach today, and since The Girl headed off with a friend to a concert (I got first pick, but didn't really feel like going), I stayed surfside for several hours after everyone else went home, just so Harry Potter and I could have some alone time.

It's so worth it.

But onto other news. As if it weren't enough that Boston's beloved and much maligned over the years Red Sox finally beat history and became the World Champions last year, today another beloved but at times maligned Massachusetts figure showed what can happen if you just hang in there and keep on slugging. Comedian and geek Paula Poundstone (we saw her last year at a local theater - she's fabulous), who returns week after week to take part in NPR's weekly news gameshow Wait, Wait, Don't Tell Me, providing listeners with an hour of smart and funny weekend entertainment and who week after week goes home without the glory, today finally got the gold medal. The lightning round was the deciding factor, and she pulled an astounding seven correct answers out of her hat in order to ride the buzzer to glory.

It was a moment destined to inspire smart, funny, geeks everywhere. I was in the car on my way home from the ocean, and I had tears in my eyes. Really, I did. I'm not kidding.
|

The post title was the title of one of my favorite childhood books (which I still have, by the way), but that's not what I'm talking about here.

Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was delivered to my waiting hands by an efficient, doorbell-ringing UPS driver at 8:14 this morning. It was in a custom Amazon box, clearly labeled as to its contents and clearly marked that it was to be neither delivered nor opened until today. The shipping invoice was generic, with a note to check my e-mail confirmation for details. This enabled them to get them all boxed and on their way to customers in a rapid fashion. Apparently they also arranged for UPS and other delivery service drivers to be working from the early hours of the morning.

So it arrived in time for my trip to the beach today after all. Harry and I are going to the sea!!!!
|

Got a bit more reading done this time around, at least in Week Seven, which was honeymoon week. Lots of airport waiting, poolside lounging and in-flight time. I still have one more Star Trek: New Frontier book and two more Shatner Star Trek books to get through, along with the rest of International Law (below). Plus Harry Potter's arriving tomorrow, and Wills, Trusts & Estates: Examples & Explanations is on its way via USPS. Sigh. So much to do.


|

The good news: Amazon has notified UPS to come pick up my book and deliver it to my doorstep by tomorrow. It has a tracking number and everything.

The bad news: I doubt it will arrive prior to our departure for Julie's matron of honor's annual beach party tomorrow morning. It would have been perfect - a day at the beach with Harry Potter on the day of release! I guess I'll just have to socialize instead. Damn. Oh well, I still have International Law to bring along.

The non-news: I'm such a geek.


|

Today's Random Ten will be a random selection from the complete wedding dinner playlist and my portion of the wedding dance list. The full dance list was on The Girl's player. Sadly, I only have the titles for the dinner songs The Girl contributed. I'll figure it out if I can, otherwise I'll rely on the kindness of others to provide the info in the comments.

Load your player, shuffle, list the first ten on your blog, here and at feministe. And check out Punk Ass and TCU while you're at it. Theirs will be up eventually.

Love and Affection - Melissa Etheridge with Jewel, Joan Osborne, Paula Cole and Sophie B. Hawkins (mine)

Revelation (The Girl's)

My Ever Changing Mood - Style Council (The Girl's)

Anniversary Song - Cowboy Junkies (The Girl's)

It's Happening With You - kd lang (mine)

Let's Get It On - Marvin Gaye (The Girl's - this was in the dinner music. I included the Melissa Etheridge version in the dance music)

Les Yeux Ouverts - Beautiful South (mine)

What If I Loved You - Joey Gian (mine)

Disco Inferno - Cyndi Lauper (mine)

Come What May - Nicole Kidman, Ewan McGregor (mine)
|

This is our fabulous and ever so delicious wedding cake, graciously provided by Jen Verrill of Verrill Farms. The Girl used to be an equestrian, and she and Jen grew up riding together at the farm.

It was a carrot cake, with cream cheese frosting on the inside and butter cream frosting on the outside. The butter cream holds the decorations better in the heat. The flowers are roses and delphiniums, which matched our bouquets. This was seriously the best carrot cake ever.

|

Tonight's first hour of WBUR's (Boston's NPR News Station) show On Point is focusing on Scientology - what it is, what is its impact, how is it perceived, is it a cult or what? It will be originally aired at 7:00 pm tonight Boston time, and after that you'll be able to access an audio archive of it at On Point's archive page.

I'll be interested in this show. How is it that they've managed to suck in so many seemingly intelligent people? I should note that L. Ron never sent me any junk mail, so I'll just have to get my information from the street. Or air, as the case may be.

I'll be down in DC at the end of the month for the ACS National Convention, and staying at my brother's centrally located apartment. Unfortunately I have to walk past Scientology Central in order to get anywhere, so I'm sure they'll have quite a few beautiful and well-dressed minions out trying to lure passersby in for a consultation.
|

Along with Professor Snape, Pope Benedict is also no fan of Harry. Potter. In a series of letters in 2003 when he was Cardinal Ratzinger, the current Pope corresponded with an author whose book criticized the Harry Potter books. He told the author (Gabriele Kuby):

"It is good that you are throwing light on Harry Potter, because these are subtle seductions that work imperceptibly, and because of that deeply, and erode Christianity in the soul before it can even grow properly," the letter added.

The Vatican had no comment to the news released today, instead stating that the Pope and his secretary are on vacation. You'd think he'd be rallying the troop for this weekend's release, given the severe threat to developing souls.

I eagerly await the 6th erosive installment, which will be arriving on my doorstep this Saturday.
|

Ben Jones, fka Cooter the mechanic on TV's Dukes of Hazzard and former Member of Congress, is all riled up over the script for the upcoming big screen remake of the campy show. He feels the movie "mocks the good clean family values" of the original.

Please. Moonshine running brothers, a sister who was most famous for her skimpy shorts and tied up shirts and distracting the brothers' adversaries, incompetent police officers, corrupt city officials and lengthy featuring of reckless driving including rocket modifications that likely aren't actually street legal.

Not to mention the quality of the scripts and acting.

I'm shocked, shocked to learn that someone is mocking this show. But in case you're thinking of following Jones' advice and skipping the flick, be aware that you'll also be missing out on Lynda Carter, of that most family friendly of shows, Wonder Woman.
|

I made progress on one other of my to do items yesterday when I ordered the Wills, Trusts & Estates Examples & Explanations book from Amazon. I'm not sure I'll actually get around to reading much of it before the start of classes, but at least I'll have it at the ready.

I also ordered the casebook for Perspectives: Sexual Orientation and the Law. It lists for $92, but I got it used from an Amazon seller for $55. The seller claims it's in barely used condition, and it's being shipped from within the state, so hopefully I'll get it soon. This is the one class for which the professor has already published the book list and first assignment. I wish more would make this information available earlier than the week before classes, as it allows us to spread out our massive book purchasing liability, and provides an opportunity to locate the texts through online sellers. When we get the lists and assignments a couple of days before classes, ordering online carries the risk that you won't have the books until several weeks into classes.
|

I forgot one more thing for my to do list: organizing all our wedding photos. We've got a CD of 213 digital photos from my brother, multiple packs of print photos from our official photographer, my lovely niece Maegan, and packs of photos from the table cameras that my parents helpfully provided. Plus our own honeymoon photos.

I spent much of last evening going through the CD photos that I copied over to my notebook. They all have generic names, so I sorted them out into category folders (preparations, ceremony, guests, cake, etc.) and started the process of renaming them so the filename reflects the content. We have to go through these many, many print and digital images and pick out the ones that we want to print and enlarge for framing and distribution, or to assemble into the wedding album.

I'll post up a few tonight.
|

Okay, I admit it. I've had NPR on the headphones (cubicle life, you know) all day so I could be up to date on all the preparations for today's first shuttle launch since the Columbia explosion two years ago.

NASA has just announced that the launch of STS-114, planned for 3:51 this afternoon, has been scrubbed because of a faulty fuel-tank sensor.
|

I updated my Countdown utility in the right side-bar this morning, since the wedding day has come and gone (and all went fabulously - more later). I've changed it to how many days until the start of the fall semester, and it turns out that I'm now at the 40 day mark.

Forty days to finish International Law (about 100 pages down, about 1115 to go...), with a slight interruption for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince, which should be arriving on Saturday, thanks to Amazon's Harry Potter special: shipping for day of release delivery. I pre-ordered back in December.

Forty days to finish painting the kitchen cabinets that I started two summers ago.

Forty days to reorganize the furniture now that the new massive desk has been installed in the home office.

Forty days to dig out the basement, get rid of stuff that hasn't been touched since we moved in two years ago, and organize the stuff we're keeping.

Forty days to restart my quest to get in shape, starting with getting rid of the six pounds I gained on the honeymoon. Then I can work on the extra pounds I already had.

Forty days to finish all the thank you cards from the wedding. Okay, less than that, since we should get this done in the next week or so.

Forty days to get a headstart on Wills, Estates and Trusts by reading the Examples and Explanations book. I know, I know - I might not get to this.

Forty days to get organized for fall events for OUTLaws and ACS (starting with attending the ACS National Convention at the end of July!).

Forty days to enjoy spending time with The Girl.
|

So Monday I posted that short note about St. Croix, with the full knowledge and permission of The Wife (fka The Girl, aka My Little Coconut Berry). Then I walked away, and actually had to pry her away from the keyboard!

Tuesday morning, the following conversation:

The Wife: So, are you going to post some more on your blog?
RSLS: Oh, I don't kn--
The Wife (interrupting with glee): You're not allowed! HA!!!!
|

This is a shot of the ocean front pool, looking toward the main resort building, with a covered mahogany bar area, an indoor restaurant and a covered breakfast/lunch oceanfront terrace. Life was hard for us last week, but we survived...

|

A number of dogs belonging to staff members were in permanent residence at the resort. This is Shadow (the large black dog) and one of his minions, either Carol or Marie. There was also a little short-haired terrier named Caesar who would play chase with Carol and Marie. He sought refuge at our feet on the terrace one morning during breakfast.

Shadow followed us all around, and even showed up on our patio one afternoon as I was reading!

|

We tore ourselves away from the water long enough last Thursday to golf 18 holes at the Carambola Beach and Golf Resort. I tanked the front nine, losing 4 balls and getting a 60. But I rallied on the back nine, playing one ball the whole way and scoring a heart-stopping (for me) 48!!!!

|

Fabulous.
|