i'm finally back from my trip from california and starting to get settled in a new apartment. the past 3 weeks have been so hectic, i barely noticed it racing by me. i know i have been lazy about updating (and i've been reminded)... so i'll try to catch up.
well... like i said before, i've put the bar (trial #1) behind me.
the whole experience was just... well, just horrible.
albany is a crappy city, the test center was freezing cold, i was struck with insomnia both nights, i forgot basic rules of law, and i'm sure i practically guessed my way around the 50 ny multiple choice. but hey, at least the hotel room was nice.
the MINUTE i was done with the mbe, i ran outside to meet paul who drove me out of that godforsaken city, back to ithaca. we had a nice greasy meal at denny's on the way back to try and wipe out any bad memories. frankly, i was pretty shell-shocked. i was neither happy nor upset about it, really. i'd already resigned myself to going back and taking it again in february. having a defeatist attitude really helped in that situation. it didn't really sting that i probably took the worst test of my life.
anyway, after arriving in ithaca we packed, spent the night, and drove out to philly the next day to see his parents.
philly was just what we needed after albany. paul's parents treated us to dinner and some birthday cake and we were left to housesit for a couple of days while they went away on vacation. we weren't due to leave for california until a few days later, so we thought we'd take advantage of a nice empty house with a pool. we spent the weekend swimming, eating, and seeing my good friend serena out in manayunk.
manayunk was fantastic. serena just moved into a condo out there, within walking distance of this great microbrewery. we heard a phenomenal cover band, munched on some good grub, shared stories from college with our respective significant others. i always enjoy my visits with her; it's like traveling back to the carefree days of college... except better, now that we can drink. we stayed out 'til late, which is unusual for us out in philly but all of us were having such a good time, we were sad to see the night end.
anyway, with the weekend behind us, on tuesday we headed out to california.
first of all, traveling with someone else is a MUCH better experience. i'm so used to flying alone across country, it was pleasant having paul travel with me. i should also say that i was treated much better having paul with me. i'm not sure if it's a racial thing... or people are intimidated because he's so tall... whatever. i didn't get the usual hassle that i get traveling. i did, however, have to take my shoes off. they wiped it down and put the paper in their little doo-dah machine to make sure i wasn't carrying explosives in my giant platform. umm... hello? do i look like i'd want to be walking on top of 4 inches of explosives?
travelling TO lax wasn't a big deal. getting a rental car, on the other hand, was like climbing the freakin' everest. you'd think that a confirmed reservation would make the process short and painless. we waited around in that stupid rental car office for 3 hours before we finally made it home. i was glad to have the car, nonetheless. being stuck in l.a. without a car is by far the worst fate you can face. you're totally immobile in that city without some kind of personal transportation.
i can't really say much else for the week, except that we ate.
a lot.
and we met family.
i finally got to meet paul's uncle, who is a complete carbon-copy of his father.
i find this highly amusing, since paul is very much like his father, also.
some kind of super gene that runs in that family, i swear.
i got to play his aunt's new piano - a beautiful sounding baldwin. i'm usually not very partial to baldwins, but the piano sounded magnificent. even my rusty playing sounded pretty darn good. i can't wait to get a real piano in my house.
mom and dad, of course, doted all over paul. they fed him probably every 3 hours and then they called every relative in korea and told them all about him.
since koreans have no notion of engagements and engagement rings, they are all wondering why we're waiting to get married. i tried to tell them that i haven't even gotten engaged yet, but it's a completely foreign concept to them. oh well. my mom said the universal response was, "marry her off before he changes his mind." marry ME off????? what do you mean by marry me off?
oh yeah... that's another thing.
i'm not engaged yet.
i thought maybe it'd happen before the l.a. trip, but it didn't.
no biggie. i'm not disappointed, really. paul practically told me that something didn't "work out" so it wouldn't happen before the trip to l.a. he keeps on saying, "i'm working on it." very enigmatic, that one.
the thing that does get me is that i was hoping i'd get to share the news with my parents in person, but it seems like whenever paul does propose i'm going to have to tell my parents over the phone.
i feel really guilty about this. i feel like i'm sharing all the big milestones in my life lately with paul and his family, but my family is totally left out. i know this isn't something done on purpose. i'd love to have my family around. but the reality of our locations, the geography, is making it increasingly difficult for me to involve my family in these big events. i shared my law school graduation with paul's parents. i shared my bar experience with paul's parents. i'm probably going to share my engagement with his parents, as well as the wedding planning, the bridal showers, etc. i made a promise to myself that i would shop for my wedding dress with my mother, regardless of where she is at the time, but seriously -- is that really going to happen? i don't know. these are the times when i wish for a very large sum of money to drop into my lap. i won't squander it, i promise. so why not? i have noble intentions.
anyway... back to the l.a. trip.
really, nothing exciting to report. i was hoping for some fantastic stories of relatives clashing and a drawn out fight somewhere in between, but everything went fairly well. nothing to complain about... nothing to report.
sorry.
i did have some great german wheat beer on the trip.
after we got back from l.a. we moved into a new apartment. a two bedroom in the same complex. it's one of those two-level deals where the bedrooms and the bathroom are upstairs and the living room/kitchen/dining area are downstairs. it's MUCH nicer than what we had before.
sure, it seems dilapidated from afar but once you walk in the doorway you can see the potential. (yeah, the outside isn't much to look at)
we've already bought some paint to freshen up the railings and some murphy's oil to shine up the stairs. we're on the lookout for some plants to liven up the place. i figure between paul's mother and me, we'll do a good job making the apartment liveable. cute, even.
also, paul received a surround sound speaker system for his birthday, so we now have a kick ass movie center. i'm looking forward to having people over for movie nights. hey, i'm looking forward to having people over, period, now that we have the space.
so the next week or so will be spent cleaning up the apartment.
then, i have to start looking for a job.
the job market in ithaca is pretty pathetic, especially when it comes to the legal market. i'm starting to seriously consider taking a non-legal job with cornell, even though i hate the thought of my j.d. being washed down the drain. it's a life decision at this point. what's more important to me... practicing law, or getting my personal life on track?
anyway... i'm extending an invite to my friends to come see me in ithaca (all two or three of you who read my blog... lol).
we'll eat some good food, share some laughs, and maybe even squeeze in a wine tour (provided that you come before the temperature gets insane). i know a place that makes the world's most amazing vegan chocolate cake (it's better than regular bad-for-you cake, i swear!).
