my books. my life.

First of all, I would like to complain about vox and how if you accidentally click on a picture while you are writing a post, it will load that picture into the box and forever erase the words you may have just spent 20 minutes writing.  So here I go for a second time (this is a much shorter version).

Christmas was different this year, but I’ll be an adult and just accept that things change and I have to adapt to whatever life brings me.  I went home to Michigan and had my white Christmas.  Despite threats that this would be a light Christmas this year, I ended up with a ton of stuff.  Mostly books, movies, and clothes.

I finished Marley and Me and really liked it.  But I probably shouldn’t have read it at the same time that I was giving Mikaila back to my mom.  Now I want a puppy.

I’m reading Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows again.  I’m hoping I like it better this time now that I know what to expect.  I haven’t read it since it was released.

I can’t believe how cold it is in Michigan.  Anything would have felt cold to me but this is ridiculous.  When I left Florida, the days were in the mid-70s and the nights would maybe drop down to 50 degrees.  Here it is currently 5 degrees with a wind chill of -9.  I don’t understand why all Michiganders do not move to Florida.

Despite the cold, I’m happy to be home for Christmas.  I couldn’t get into the spirit down there.  And we have lots of snow here which feels right (if only it could snow and be warm…).

I’m spending my time visiting with friends and reading Marley and Me.  It was a nice, easy way to start reading again.  I will pick up Kavalier and Clay again soon,

We moved to a new apartment last weekend.  And after some work this
week and a delivery from the furniture store yesterday, it finally feels
like home.  I like that it is bigger.  We now have two bedrooms as well
as a loft and two bathrooms.  It gets a lot of light and is about 10
minutes from my office (Ben now has the longer drive).  This is also
the first time that we bought our own furniture.  We have always just
used whatever people have given us.  And I have been begging for a
living room chair for four years.  Here are some pictures of our new
place.

The living room (the blue chair, coffee table, and end tables are new).

The kitchen:

I couldn’t figure out how to take a picture of the bedroom without only getting the bed, so just imagine it looking like a bedroom.  There isn’t much in it anyway.

The guest room is still full of boxes and stuff we haven’t put away yet.  And I will spare you pictures of the bathrooms even though I really like them.

I can’t forget the new bar stools though:

And finally, my favorite part (and probably yours as well), the library/loft:

Last night Ben and I were looking at our poetry section and I questioned who would name their child William Carlos Williams.  But then I thought about it and Michelle Erin Michelle would be an awesome name.

I love that we are getting a bigger/nicer apartment, but I forgot how much I hate actually moving…

So…I’m going to be a real lawyer.    Our campaign office was located in a law firm and yesterday I went to lunch with the attorneys and they offered me a job.  I’ll be working mostly with one partner doing labor and employment law.  I didn’t think that I would want to work in a firm – I always pictured myself at a public defender’s office or a legal aid office, but this firm feels right.  I’ve been around the lawyers and the other staff since August and I like the atmosphere.  They also spend most of their time helping the little guy, which is really what sold me on them.

One thing I’m looking forward to is the responsibility that I will be able to have here.  I’m going to get to do a lot of things that first year lawyers don’t usually get to do.  And I’ll have more flexibility than most new lawyers.  The responsibility would have scared me a few months ago, but now I’m ready for it.

The one thing that was holding me back was that I might miss out on an opportunity in DC.  I’ve expressed my interest in staying on with the Obama Administration and I was afraid to let that go.  But I was honest and told the lawyers about this concern.  They said that if something comes up, I won’t be burning any bridges by taking it and going to Washington.  So the only thing that would have caused me to hesitate isn’t really an issue.

I’m starting tomorrow afternoon.  Right back in the exact same office I was working in before.  It’s crazy the way things work, huh?

I haven’t actually needed this post since July, but I’m happy to bring it back.  I managed to finish 4 books this month.  Not too bad considering all the traveling that took place.  I think my new goal is going to be a book a week for the remainder of the year.

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I am back in Florida and thought I would share my trip with you using numbers:

• 3,342…..Miles driven (2,162 of them all by myself) – that’s 5,378 km for you metric-folk
• 18………Days gone
• 6………. Cities I spent at least one night in
• 15………States visited (plus the District of Columbia and Ontario)
• 3………..Number of states visited that I’d never been to before (South Carolina, Delaware, New Jersey)
• 3………..Number of different travel companions
• 8………..Number of Shell stations I stopped at (thank you Barack Obama for the gas cards)
• 4………..Number of non-Shell gas stations I stopped at because I couldn’t find a Shell station
• 6………..times I ate at McDonald’s (only one of which occurred after Ben and Mike left me)
• 14………hours spent in Washington, DC (my shortest stop)
• 7………..days spent in Dexter, MI (my longest stop)
• 2………..number of snowstorms that tried to stop me
• 1………..number of times I was detained at the US border (apparently, I look like a terrorist)
• 3………..number of books finished (all of them while in Michigan)

And here is the visual of the trek