Yours Truly, JD

Hi there! Well - it's official! My last exams of law school, EVER, are now completed, and after a weekend of celebrating and relaxing, I am BACK!

Since the last time you heard from me, I pretty much have done nothing but study.  I managed to get a horrendous upper respiratory/sinus infection right after Thanksgiving and it has taken me a FULL two weeks on three-times-a-day antibiotics to fully recover.  This happens every year around finals...my first year of law school I took my exams with pneumonia. Lovely. Pierre and I have pretty much been living on the couch with outlines and tissues, but we're back up to full speed now.

On Friday night, Eric and I headed to Boca, one of my favorite restaurants in Tampa to celebrate me being done with law school!  Their cocktails are ridiculously good, and the food is fantastic too.   As soon as I finished my Criminal Procedure exam, I called Eric and then headed immediately into the bathroom to re-curl my hair. And snapped this photo because I think everyone should have a photo of the moment that every ounce of stress leaves their body. Hopefully I still look this put together after I finish the bar exam in February...the reprieve is brief. Bar study begins the day after Christmas.

After a couple of cocktails, we started dinner with the braised bone marrow appetizer because, well, I'm not sure if I have ever had bone marrow or not?  It had wonderful flavor, albeit a bit fatty, just by nature. Then my entree consisted of spaghetti squash and clams - delicious.

Boca is located in an extremely dog-friendly area of Tampa, so I didn't feel too strange asking for a box to take one of the bones home for Pierre. The waitress offered to box up all three, but trust me, one was plenty. To say he was in heaven is an understatement - over three hours of entertainment the next day for that little nugget.

Action shot, sorry for the blur. He wasn't interested in posing.

After dinner, we headed to Brass Tap, a favorite craft beer bar near our house.  I have been wanting a Delirium Noel on draft for weeks now, and finally, mission accomplished.  There was a wonderful band there, so we ended up staying a bit longer than expected to hear them. There was no point in me just telling you that because I have no idea what the name of the band was.

Eric spent Saturday morning golfing, and Pierre and I lounged at home - writing Christmas cards, sipping coffee, watching Today Weekend, and doing all the things that I never got to do when I was a law student - you know, past tense, way back when.  Pierre enjoyed the lounging the most because he got an early Christmas present from Santa Paws in the mail on Saturday morning.

To say that he loves his new bed is an understatement.  However, it's basically a California King of dog beds. We probbbably should have done a few more technical measurements because this thing is large and in charge. But every time he gets on it, he stretches out in all directions as far as his chubby little basset legs will go - I think he likes the extra space.

Eric and I finished up the last of our Christmas shopping and then headed to our church's Christmas presentation - which was PHENOMENAL, per usual. I think it might be my favorite one that we've ever seen. I'm always amazed by the amount of talent within one church.  As always, if you are in the area and ever want to join us on a Sunday morning, you are more than welcome. For real, send me an email. In fact, let's just make it a morning, and you can come over and join me for coffee and basset rubs beforehand.

Photo Credit

Sunday was filled with church and errands, and I CANNOT even believe that I found Palmetto Cheese in Walmart in Tampa. Totally made my day. And then I got in a long run for our half-marathon training (gulp, that's right, it's happening...more later). Pierre and I are lounging and being Christmasy this morning, followed by a brief routine visit to the vet. I've found myself wandering around, flitting from one thing to the next, as if I must remain busy....but I'm working on it. I'll be taking a slower approach to this week (well, trying to) and getting the house in order so everything is ready when my Mom and Nana fly in on Friday for my graduation celebration. 

AND....this is Eric's last week of his MBA. He graduates this weekend too! Y'all - we are not even going to know what to do with ourselves after it's all said and done.  This is going to be a good week, and I'm trying to remember that all of the "busy" work that I need to get done is actually FUN busyness. Hope your week is filled with cheer and all the tiny little sparkles that make the holidays the holidays!