1. I graduated! It was perfect weather, a lovely ceremony, and a such a happy day. I loved every second of it.

2. Dear D. and I started seriously packing up the house. This is a really satisfying undertaking because it makes the move feel less theoretical and more, you know, real. Of course now the place looks like it was hit by a very small but very fierce tornado. I suppose in a way it was, if you consider me a little weather system unto myself.

3. We saw both Iron Man and Indiana Jones. Both were good. On the other hand, we only made it to the beach just once all weekend. A real shame since the weather was just gorgeous all weekend long.

4. Dear D. fell ill. Like seriously so. Hopefully he's up and running again soon. He's not a very good patient, I'm a worse nurse, and we've got a busy week in front of us... any good cold remedies out there?

Can you believe this?!

I would like to give a very special thank you to my fellow bloggers, commenters, and even those silent readers who don't say a word but stop by each day. Without doubt, blogging played a key role in my law school career. It kept me sane. It kept me entertained. It kept me focused on the big picture and prevented me from becoming a myopic law student. Most importantly, it has always been an enormous source of support. And the friends I have made- both those who I have met and those who I have simply emailed with- mean the world to me. So thank you. I would not be the same person without you.
Love,
Libby

Perks

Dear D. and I went to dinner at a newly opened restaurant in Libby-town last night. Our waiter was one of Dear D's former students. Accordingly, our table was blessed with a few too many free glasses of wine. Good thing our place is within walking distance of the restaurant. Goodnight!

Edited to add:


we were home in time to watch the Celtics game (of course) and I have to wonder: just when did my DevilDog become such a lapdog?

How Much Is That Puppy in the Window?

1. I use Google to spell check. Particularly when I'm writing email or blogging and even if the program I'm using has a built-in spell check function. I just like the way it works; I'll Google the word, "incessently" and Google will ask me, "did you mean incessantly?" Why yes indeed Google, that's exactly what I meant. I find it very convenient.

That's one quirky thing about me. The Mrs has tagged me for six so, let's see...

2. This was my grandmother's couch:
My mom just had it reupohlstered- er, I mean reupholstered (thank you Google) and I think it looks just beautiful. But I feel a little sad about the original fabric that used to be there and I even caught myself wondering if the old fabric is sad and whether it misses being in our house. Sometimes I get overly sentimental about things and I have a tendency to anthropomorphize.

3. I don't so much like days that start out cloudy and rainy but clear up in the afternoon. If it's cruddy weather in the morning I automatically go into hunker-down-and-get-cozy-mode. Having the sun come out later in the day sort of throws me off my game.

4. The same does not apply to the reverse. That is, days that start out beautifully but windup stormy don't bother me in that way at all.

5. The title of this post is completely unrelated to the content. Which I find really amusing. Which I guess means that I am *really* easily entertained... Most of the time.

....okay.... so that's five quirky things for now. And IOU one more...

Oh, wait!

6. I am so into this song right now. I've had it on repeat-play ALL weekend. It makes me feel really relaxed about all the changes that are going on around Chez Schoolbooks and... umm... and... ugh. Sorry. Liking music isn't quirky at all. I just wanted to share the song, I guess. But therein lies something quirky: I tried to make up something quirky only so that I could share a new song with you. :)

Hope you all had a great weekend. Ours was quiet. We did a lot of packing and cleaning. And we bought our (one-way) tickets for Hong Kong. And that about sums it up.

Friday Fill-Ins

A new Friday Fill-In can be found here every week.

1. There is absolutely NO way you can get me to put ketchup on my fries. Or on anything else, for that matter. I have a dislike of ketchup that borders on phobia!

2. The season finales of all my favorite television shows reminds me that summer is almost here!

3. I cannot live without my morning cup(s) of coffee.

4. Paragliding and formal cooking classes are two things I'd like to try.

5. When life hands you lemons go to Cindy's blog and follow her recipe for homemade LIMONCELLO!

6. Watching fireworks over the Hudson River is my (one of my) favorite childhood memory(ies).

7. And as for the weekend, tonight I'm looking forward to going out to dinner with friends, tomorrow my plans include collecting the last of the supporting documentation required for my Hong Kong visa application and Sunday, I want to take Devil Dog for a good long walk on the beach!

The Full Life

Today I attended a luncheon up in Vermont. I was seated at a terrific table with some lovely and interesting ladies. One of them, pictured above, was Mrs. Julia F. She is 101 years old. And if that's not inspiring, well, then I just don't know what is.

Qs and More Qs

So I finished law school last Thursday. I mean I still have go through the formality of the graduation ceremony but other than that my career as a law student est finito. And I'm pretty okay with that.

My brother was in Washington DC last week. He flew up to Boston to surprise my mom for Mother's Day. That was fun. Both my brother and his friend T. put up with *a lot* of questions from me regarding life in Hong Kong. Or at least T. did. My brother announced that he found that he found my uber-detailed questions to be alarming in that they made him realize just how much he hadn't considered before he moved. Which was, I guess his way of saying, "Libby, for Christ's sake, would you CHILL OUT!?" T. was much more tolerant of my incessant inquires. Consequently, since he left, I've found that I start nearly every sentence with, "Well, T. says..."


Here's my Dad, T., and I up at York Beach, Maine. I'm pretty sure that seconds after this photo was snapped I turned to T. and said, "T., I was reading about Hong Kong's mandatory provident fund, do you think it's possible that Dear D. and I could be exempt from paying into that?" Poor guy. He was very kind to put up with me.

Other than that, there's not a lot to report. It's cold here. I wore a long sleeve thermal shirt today. And a scarf. And it's the middle of May. So, yeah. Hope it's warmer wherever you are.

To the most amazing woman in my life:

Happy Mother's Day, Mom! I love you!

Considerations

Dear D. threw a tomato at me while we were in the grocery store last night. I kid you not. He decided that the one he had previously picked up was too small and that I, standing about halfway down the cereal aisle, should run back and exchange it for a large one. “Hey babe,” he called, “would bring this back for a larger one?” And then he wound up and hurled the fruit in my direction. Okay, hurled may be a tad exaggerated. Still whether it was tossed, flung, chucked, pitched, or let fly, the fact remains that he threw produce at me in the grocery store. I’m considering whether I should ground him. Thoughts? (For the record, I managed to catch the tomato without incident.)

What else do I have to report? Um... Devil Dog went to the vet yesterday morning. He has to have a series of booster shots before we all depart for Hong Kong in August. He also gets a new microchip. He already has a microchip implant but he needs an “Asia-compatible” chip and his, rather surprisingly given that it was very likely manufactured there, is not. So he gets a second chip that will allow the Hong Kong police to call us when they find little Devil Dog running amok in Pokfulam making friends with fishermen. The bad news is that despite being rechipped before we leave, there’s a good chance the Hong Kong Dept. of Agriculture will chip him again upon our arrival. Which means he’ll have three (count ‘em, THREE!) chips. I am considering whether to rename him Robo-Dog.

Lastly, I’m sure you’re all aware of tragedy in Myanmar. I can't imagine what it must be like to have your life demolished by natural disaster. But I suspect it's pretty horrific. I also suspect that most of my readers do okay. So, I would encourage you to give a little, if you can.

Consider:
UNICEF
American Red Cross

I was tagged by Jordan over at The Wonderwheel for the following meme:

Five things found in your bag:
1. T pass.
2. ChapStick.
3. Business card from recent acquaintance.
4. Copy of OK! magazine.
5. Half a bag of Swedish Fish.

Five favorite things in your room:
1. Framed photo of Casa Batllo that Dear D. took the last time we were in Barcelona.
2. The fireplace.
3. Pottery dish made by my brother.

4. Cross stitch wedding sampler made by a dear friend.

5. Box full of letters that Dear D. and I have written each other over the years.

Five things you have always wanted to do:
1. Scuba dive.
2. Throw out the first pitch at Fenway.
3. Spend a summer in the French Countryside.
4. Travel through Mongolia and sleep in a yurt.
5. Go on a Hawaiian vacation with my mom.

Five things you are currently into:
1. Looking at apartments in Hong Kong on the web.
2. Looking for a job in Hong Kong on the web.
3. Fruitwise Bars.
4. Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight.
5. The Hills.