My Parents ROCK, and other miscellany

My Folks Are Awesome
First, as this post’s title states, my parents rock. I received in the mail today one large box from my folks containing a batch of homemade peanut butter cookies… AND (as if that wasn’t enough to do a happy dance about) a batch of homemade chocolate almond biscotti. I did a happy jig whilst eating one of said biscotti. And those of you who know me, know that when I say I did a happy jig? I really did. Thanks, Mums and Daddio!

Background Section Returned
I received the comment sheets on my background section (for law review) today, and I was very pleased. The critiques I received were, by and large, precisely what I expected they would be, and were generally very welcome. (For instance, I didn’t really “get” what the heck I was supposed to do with “roadmaps” and “transitions” throughout the section, but the comments and evaluations really helped put those in order for me. As I was reading them, I got the, “Oh! That’s where that goes! Oh, that makes sense!” lightbulbs flashing in my head, which is good.)

My main editor had done an extremely thorough job commenting, advising, making suggestions, and pointing out some Bluebooking (citation) mistakes that I otherwise would have missed, and one of the other editors did an incredibly thorough job of marking Bluebook stuff for me too. Thanks to their hard work evaluating my background, my job of revising it and building on it will be that much easier. So far I give a huge Hoo-Rah to this year’s law review staff, because they’ve been extremely helpful. Now, onto the analysis section! Yay!

Elder Law Report: Grade-A Smackdown
In additional good grade news this week (see entry on my Employee Health Plan midterm grade, below), I found out today that my group received an A on our group report! So far, that means I’ve got a 4.0 this semester, folks! (I love that I can now say that, and be completely honest, all the way up until January when the rest of the grades come out.)

Nathan And The Yogurt Misadventure
The following comes from N8′s blog… so note that the narrarator of the following story is N8, and not me. For once!

I finally got the grocery store. I entered, walking right by the shopping carts and hand baskets. Man hunts and kills food, flies to other planets, builds huge buildings, but Man does not get a handbasket when he goes to the store (unless he is with woman who reminds him to get a shopping cart and “stop being dumb, people are looking at us”). I grabbed some carrots, tofu, stopped by and grabbed some cool looking chili and a gallon of water and some a quart of yogurt. As I was walking to counter I was thinking I was pretty cool. My efficiency in the store was rivaled only by the clerks who work there. I was also performing a balancing act that would put most tightrope artists to shame.

Upon my approach to the nearest checkout, I placed everything on the counter. I suddenly felt the load of stuff in my arms get lighter. I looked down in time to see the yogurt hit the ground and explode all over me. I told the clerk I think I dropped something and picked up the broken yogurt. With the disgust that must have been honed on other idiots like myself, she got a small bag and held it open while I placed the yogurt in there. She then handed me a few paper towels to clean up my mess. I knelt down to survey the damage and found I was covered in yogurt. My shins, shoes, shoelaces, everything covered in yogurt. At this point a small line had gathered behind me, some waiting to check out, others just looking at me. I mumbled something about getting some more and left the line and returned shortly with more yogurt. The checkout lady sighed as she scanned the new yogurt……

N8 told me about this immediately after it happened, and while it was immediately hilarious to me, it obviously was not quite as funny to him yet. But I assured him that it was a good enough story that it would get funny. You know, after he washed the yogurt out of his pants and shoes.

Katie Is Awesome
…Because she is. And because she said she reads my blog and likes it. She was awesome before that, ‘natch, but that just makes it extra obvious.

Starbucks Got Nuthin’ On Brew-Ha
When I was back in Ossian (props to O-Town, ‘sup! hehe), I stopped by the Brew-Ha and got one of their large White Chocolate Mocha Lattes with peppermint flavoring, skim milk, and no whipped cream, and was instantly reminded of why I love Brew-Ha. I got the equivalent order at Starbucks this morning, and (1) Starbucks uses only 2 shots in their large, instead of 3 as Brew-Ha does, (2) Starbucks costs about $1.50 more than Brew-Ha, (3) there is no frequent buyer rewards card at Starbucks as there is at Brew-Ha, and (4) Brew-Ha’s tastes soooooo much better than Starbucks.

Panera Likes Mayo and Mustard, Drowns Their Own Food
I ate at Panera for the first time. I got the chicken salad sandwich, and I said “yes” when they asked if I wanted everything, figuring “everything” on a chicken salad sandwich would mean, perhaps a little mayo, some lettuce, tomato, and maybe some sprouts. Well, to them, chicken salad sandwiches with “everything” means red onion (yuck!), tomato and lettuce (fine), and LOADS of mayo and dijon mustard. And I mean loads. As in, it started pouring out the back of the sandwich the minute I picked it up, it got all over my hands, and now my hands have smelled like dijon and onion all day, despite frequent washings. I was not impressed. Panera, easy on the condiments. Your chicken salad tasted great; there was no need to drown it in dijon and additional mayo. Blech. And watch the onions. Those were potent red onions. Blech again. I should’ve known I was in trouble when the total for my meal rang up at “$6.66.” hehe