Loving a summer Friday afternoon

Today was our company picnic. I’m loving company picnic days because I get to leave early! But before that, I had to plan and set up said picnic. Ugh.

There was a water balloon toss, volleyball and some awesome St. Louis-style ribs. Mmm! I think the staff had a good time, even if most of them ate and then left for an afternoon off.

I will say this as a public service announcement - if you’re going to use water balloons for a tossing game, don’t get the ones labeled “water balloons.” They are made with some magic NASA-strong rubber that WON’T break, no matter how hard you toss it to your partner over a THIRTY feet span of grass.

Photo by kaibara87

It was RIDICULOUS how much abuse these balloons took! Last year we had a few tosses and most everybody was out – and wet. This year, I think it went on for at least twenty minutes and people were fifty feet away from each other, still tossing and catching these balloons. Insane!

Glad that everyone had fun, but I’m hoping that someone else can take over it next year! It was a lot of work.

This Week in Law School: Did you know that money doesn’t grow on trees?

Apparently, it doesn’t. Who KNEW?!    

Hubs went to campus this morning to buy his law school books. We knew it was going to be painful, as he had scoped out the prices a few weeks ago. But it had to be done.

I think the publishers of these books think the pages are lined with gold. Almost all of his books are over $150, and I think most of those are used prices! He was able to find mostly used books, thank goodness. Or else we’d  have to sell his kidney. But I think he needs that.

We thought ahead and guestimated the costs of these books and added them in to our loan request. Or else we’d be up a creek!

So Hubs still has to go back in the next week or two and get the remaining three books on his list. Turns out they didn’t have all of them in stock. I’m guessing that means those will be new and won’t have the used option. Oh well – it’s only money!

Can you believe the hidden costs of going back to school?

Sabrina Fair

On Tuesday night, my bestest friend Thebes and I went to an audition at a community theatre. It's for a production of Sabrina Fair - you know, the play that inspired the movie? Well, technically, that movie is based on the movie from the '50s with Audrey Hepburn. And that's the best part! I mean, who doesn't want to be involved with something that Ms. Hepburn thought worth her time?

We sat thru about 50 different women and men reading from the script (that's called a cold reading, different than prepping a monologue that has nothing to do with the show you're auditioning for). Then they set us downstairs while they deliberated.

Thebes and I were called back upstairs with about 20 other actors to do a second round of reading. It was kind of odd, because they had my friend read a few times with various guys in the opposite role, but didn't ask me to read.

When they were done, they sent us back downstairs again! This is when it starts to get frustrating. It's almost ten o'clock and I just want to go home and go to bed! Working a full day and then doing theatre can be really tiring.

The director came into the room and announced that we had the part! Thebes will be Sabrina and I'm playing Gretchen. Yay! We walked out of the theatre with scripts to learn and schedules to juggle.

Thebes and I haven't been in a show together since college. 2005 to be exact. She played another Audrey roll, Eliza Doolittle, to my Mrs. Higgins in My Fair Lady. It's going to be so much fun working with her again.

We open in six weeks. Let the acting begin!

This Week in Law School: Schedules

Apparently, SLU Law divides its class into sections and gives each section its own schedule. Hubs was assigned section D. And it sucks.

He's got Legal Research and Writing every M-W-F at 8 am. The other icky part? He has every single one of his five classes on Mondays. Basically, he'll be in class all day on Monday. But the schedule is ok overall. It'll give him time to do his work study job at the International Center answering e-mails, plus time to hang out and study in the library.

We're thinking of taking the plunge and actually carpooling. It'll save some gas, and we get to spend 15-20 minutes together each way! He'll be so busy with studying that it may be the only time we get to see each other. I'm kind of excited about that one.

News will be forthcoming about where we'll be living come January - we're looking at condos both in the north and southern counties around St. Louis. We've only been out twice, but we already have narrowed down the options. I know we'll just find the perfect one soon. There isn't any rush, but I'm anxious to pick a place! I'm always like this when we move.

This Week in Law School – A Different Kind of Test

Before leaving for the Land of the Mouse last week, Hubs wanted to clear off some Law School items from his to-do list. There is still a lot to do – but the main items this week were loans and medical records.

We signed our Master Promissory Note online with Wachovia – and were pre-approved for our requested amount on the Stafford and the Grad Plus. Yay for being able to pay for books in August!

In any case, Hubs sent SLU the requested copies of his immunization and medical records to the Law School. Not sure why they needed another copy of these records – he did go to the same school for undergrad. Couldn’t they just call the Business School and ask them for a photocopy? Oh well.

After our vacation, Hubs had an e-mail from the school that said they were missing a few pieces. But that wasn’t all. Turns out he needs to have a new TB test and a tetanus booster in order to release the hold on his accounts. Apparently you have to have a recent TB test and the booster, well, given Hubs’ boyish activities, I’m sure he would benefit from the extra protection.

It’s off to the doctor for my dear husband. Let’s keep our fingers crossed and hope that the insurance pays for these! SLU wanted to charge us over $100 for them!

So for this Week in Law School – make sure that you know what kind of documentation is needed for your school. You might need a medical test and who knows how long it may take to get those done. They’ll keep a hold on your account while you take the tests, and therefore won’t be able to register for classes until you do!

The Final Answer – or was it?

Now it’s early March and we still don’t have an answer. SLU has had his application since February – weeks now! – and we hadn’t heard anything. Not even a peep!

We had a few false starts – remember that silly envelope incident? Would you believe that it happened again a few days later? The second batch of applications. I thought hubs was going to have an aneurysm. Oh dear!

In late March, there was finally an answer. Hubs received an envelope addressed to him this time. Unfortunately, it wasn’t a big envelope, it was a small one, with only one piece of paper in it.

We couldn’t believe the answer – he was on the waiting list.

Now, this wasn’t as bad as it seems. At least he wasn’t out and out rejected! That would have been the worst outcome.

We knew that he had the merits to get in, or else they wouldn’t have given him a place on the waiting list.

We were told that they would start reviewing their waiting list in mid-April. That was three more weeks of waiting. Three more weeks of not knowing if we had to secure thousands of dollars in loans. Three more weeks of not knowing if hubs would have to quit his job in the stockroom and end up pursuing the career of his dreams.

One afternoon, when we were both home, the phone rang. I thought it was the cable company calling about the new box that wasn’t working, so I had hubs grab the extension.

He said hello and then wandered into the other room for some privacy. I thought nothing of it, and continued to read my blogs (as I am wont to do :)).

A few seconds later, he comes back into my craft room, looks at me, looks at the phone in his hands, and says, “I got in.”

With those three little words, our world was turned upside down. We were both crying and jumping up and down, it was like when he proposed all over again. But we were both so HAPPY!

It was finally happening. Actually happening.

We set our sights on a dream and we accomplished it. I think I was even happier than he was. And oh so proud of him, I thought my heart would burst.

This is what being married is about. Putting both of you to work on a problem and solving it together. It makes the success that much sweeter.

He was going to hate me for this one…

So where we were?

Ah yes. Hubs had checked the mail only to find a large envelope waiting for him.

But it wasn’t addressed to him. It had MY name on it. Why would SLU Admissions be sending something to me?

Turns out that a few weeks earlier, I had offered to sit on a panel to help critique potential scholarship recipients for our alma mater, SLU. The mailing envelope was their applications I was to review before the panel. I had totally forgotten about this until the thing came in the mail.

The look on my husband’s face when he told me this afterwards made me want to shrivel up and die. I couldn’t BELIEVE that a piece of my mail got his hopes and then dashed them on the rocks.

But honestly, that wasn’t my fault, now was it? I still felt bad. :(

We still weren’t any closer to law school.