Going to the Zmayhems for brunch. OK, guys?

::starts more coffee::

We're going ice skating after, okay?

Awww, look at the teachers blissing out in the sunshine. I hope Fay and Kat are getting some rays too.

I'll watch, and fortify the skaters with brandy-laced coffee...'cept for Emmett, who will get thick Mexican hot chocolate with cinnamon. (Remember, I fall down on normal ground. Ice skating + Erin = Deadly)

Kristin, received and insent!

Thanks, dollface. It was a great speech. I bet you made her cry.

Erin, maybe it's the opposite! Maybe you fall down on normal ground, but on ice you are suddenly graceful?

It is much warmer out than I'd thought, but not quite warm enough to sit on my balcony. I did open up my blinds, though. I want to be back in Miami, sitting on the hotel room balcony in the sun, listening to the surf. Sigh.

Thanks, dollface. It was a great speech. I bet you made her cry.

We both cried. The last paragraph was a watery mess. Glad you enjoyed it, though!

Erin, maybe it's the opposite! Maybe you fall down on normal ground, but on ice you are suddenly graceful?

It's a lovely thought, but...no. On ice, I resemble a whisky-addled mongoose.

I've been fairly productive today, I guess. I went and looked at an apartment. Great neighborhood, nice building, the apartment itself is small but liveable, but it's on the ground floor, and it's a bit more than I wanted to pay, and the bus stop on the school end of the commute that I'd be using is further from school than I'd thought. So, if the ones I'm looking at tomorrow and Monday don't pan out, I might call this guy back, but as of now, it's got a few too many strikes against it. (And being on the ground floor might totally rule it out -- I need to think about that.)

I went to the bookstore, spent too much and ate cheesecake(Man, I should know better...nobody goes to a crackhouse to window-shop. )Hoped for flirtage, but the clerk was kinda "Just Jack" and we ended up sitting next to a man with the following titles. "Brag!: How to Toot your Own Horn without Blowing It."

"Families Pray Together."

"Think Like A Billionaire by Donald Trump"
Um, no. But I did get to say "Yasou!" to Mr. Pelecanos again. ETA: If Norton found and quarantined a worm on my computer yesterday, I'm safe, right?

Gronk. I owe taxes this year. Turns out that they didn't deduct the right amount of tax when I cashed out an IRA to pay off the credit card bill. It's not horrible, though. Also, the tax penalty is much less than I would have wound up paying in interest and ongoing stress. Still, it's disappointing to have to shell out $ when you were expecting to get $.

At least I can save my online return and file it April.

Edit: Back to painting. This has been a fun day.

I've opened a couple windows -- to air out the apartment and allow the cats to smell the smells.

They smelled the smells for a while then got bored and left the windows.

It's just gorgeous!

A little venting...

I have spent the last 2 hours filling out my application for the bar exam. For whatever reason, North Carolina feels the need to have 38 fucking pages of information about me. The few other states I've checked ask for maybe 10.

They want to know:
1. Every place I've ever lived
2. Every place I've ever worked
3. Every debt I have, to include student loans
4. Transcripts from every college I've attended
5. And a copy of every law school application I have submitted

So far, it seems reasonable, but they also want 4 character references and 8 regular references from people who have known me for several years but aren't a) relatives, b) supervisers, c) law students, d) in the same household, or e) mentioned anywhere else in the application. I don't think I know that many people.

I can not believe I am paying them $850 for the pleasure of filling out this insane amount of paperwork. And this is the easy part!!!

editted because I never get this formatting stuff right on the first try