21 months

Since I last blogged, I:

Learned how to walk in heels



Discovered I really love goat cheese and sushi (probably not together, though)



Moved to Salt Lake



Adopted a friend



Became a pescatarian



Was published



Found the perfect banana bread recipe



Forgot how to put in a zipper



Graduated law school, passed the bar, and found a grown-up job



In the next 21 months, I hope I:

Eat tons of goat cheese and sushi (probably not together, though)



Move back to Salt Lake



Adopt lots more friends



(ok, kind of kidding there)

Read a bunch of books



Remember how to put in a zipper



Blog at least once or twice



Finally see Europe



In the spirit of my cousin's inspiring blog post, stop letting fear keep me from being the person that I want to be...

(However, I am perfectly content to let fear keep me from spending a bunch of money for the privilege of jerking around upside down on little elastic cord - no thank you)

If only it were this easy...

I'm off to be productive!

So let it be written, so let it be done.

A Ramble Inspired by My Inability to Focus on Fiduciary Duties in Sole Proprietorships

At least five times over the past month (mostly when I was procrastinating homework), I thought to myself "Wow, it's about time that I wrote another blog post." I would then pull up blogger.com, click to open a new post, and sit and stare at the blank box until I got sufficiently bored to return to reading for Business Associations.

At one point, I even looked for blog prompts, but the thought of writing an entire post responding to "What does mayhem mean to you?" brought on some rather severe flashbacks to unpleasant grade school writing assignments. Me, in tears because my hand hurt from gripping the pencil too tightly and my head hurt from not being able to spell anything (at the age of nine, I still frequently used the byline "LaShel Wihte"). My mom, insisting that 20 words really wasn't a monstrous assignment and imploring me to attempt writing a word with more than three letters. As a child, I had so much I wanted to write and so little ability to express myself in writing. Now that I'm an adult, with a decently fast typing speed and a reasonable ability to spell most English words (at least with the help of spell check), all the ideas have disappeared. Well, except for the age-old fall back of writing about how you don't have anything to write about.

I thought that the answer to getting over my writer's block was to have something exciting happen to me, so I would have something to blog about. I was mistaken. Turns out, the best method for overcoming that blank stupor is to be procrastinating something you really don't want to do. Like outlining for Business Associations *blech*

Things That Confuse Me

Right now, I'm a little puzzled why the IRS would decide it was worth their time to audit a pair of newlyweds who probably could have made twice as much money last year and still have gotten all their taxes back.

Also, why is it so easy to stumble across delicious looking recipes when you're not looking for them, but so impossible to figure out what to make dinner once you get hungry?*

*in full disclosure, it would probably be easier if I planned ahead and A) made it to the store to get things like bread, eggs, flour, and pasta sauce and B) wasn't trying to make dinner twenty minutes before I wanted to eat it... but that would actually require foresight.

No Rest for the Indecisive

Yesterday, after a morning of working, I finally went into the bathroom for a shower. Once inside, I made two horrific discoveries:

1. I didn't have any razors (normally this might not have been a crisis, but I already hadn't shaved for three days, and I really wanted to wear a skirt for my dinner date with Mike)

2. We didn't have any toilet paper (this one's always a crisis)

Quickly, I decided that an emergency store run was in order. I didn't have the car, but fortunately our new apartment is less than a block from a big box super store, so I figured I could jog over, grab some tp and razors, and be back within 15 minutes. It seemed like a good plan, but I forgot how evil these big box stores can be.

First, there was the toilet paper aisle. I don't mind that it's hidden in the back of the store, in hopes of enticing people into buying all the snack food you have to pass on the way. I didn't even mind (terribly) that they always put the toilet paper by the paper towels, sometimes making it hard to determine which is which, at least at first glance. What I did mind was the dizzying array of choices.

1 ply or 2 ply? 4 pack or 6 pack? Big rolls or regular sized ones? Do we have room to store a 12 pack? Scotts lasts forever... but it can't be a better deal than the store brands, can it?

I just wanted the cheapest package that would do the job - but trying to figure out which package was cheapest, given the different roll sizes and pack sizes, was much too taxing for my math skills. The cost per sheet indicators on the price tags weren't much help either, because about half of the varieties were on sale. Finally, I grabbed a random package (Scott's environmentally friendly variety, in a four pack, if you're curious) and then headed to the health and beauty department to get razors.

Here, the whole process was repeated again. 2 blades or 3? Disposable or the kind with cartridges? Do I want moisture strips?

Again, cheap was better, but I did want to spend enough to get one that would work. And, again, the price per unit indicators on the shelf tags were useless, thanks to all of the "bonus" razors in the various packages.

By the time I finally got home from the store, I was stressed that I'd made the wrong choices (what if Mike hates this kind of toilet paper?) and grumpy because my fifteen minute run to the store had taken over a half hour.

I suppose choices are a good thing, and I can definitely live with them, if it helps everyone get what they need. It does irk me, though, that I never seem to have any consummer choices when I need them (how is it that I'm lucky if a store carries 1 suit in my size? [Usually made out of linen or dyed some garish color that defeats its purpose as a suit.] I promise I'm not the only pint-sized law/business student in the world).

The Good, The Bad, and the... Cute

Last night I made some of these.  Very good!

Last night our nextdoor neighbor and his girlfriend broke up.  At two in the morning.  Very loudly.  Right outside our window.  Very bad...

Last night, I discovered this when I was supposed to be working on my Con Law outline.  Very cute.  (And an even worse procrastination technique than baking goodies or blogging.)