I went to bed at 10 pm last night, because it had been dark for 5 and a half hours already and my body was convinced it was hours past my bedtime. It is so dreary here when it is dark by 4:30 p.m. I mean come on! When am I supposed to get some sun? 4 a.m.?

I have to apply for the bar this week. Uck. Then of course I have to study for, and then take the bar. Sigh. I had hoped this madness was behind me. I passed! I shouldn’t have to do this again. Damn it Husband!! Damn it land of opportunity!! Curse you New Jersey and your refusal to accept MBE scores. Le Sigh.

So, here I go again, into the land of madness. The land of no sleep, and late hours and hallucinations…. no I do mean the bar prep, I know it will not be altogether different from the first few months of baby no 2’s life.

Speaking of babies…

We were watching Parenthood the other night. I had forgotten how much I love that movie. Interestingly, it is one of the few movies that grow with you. I loved it when I was younger, but I thought the parents were funny and I totally sympathized with the children. Now, I get it!! I understand the imaginary scenes in Steve Martin’s head when he is thinking of his kid’s future! I understand the parent stuff, I sympathize with them! I suggest watching it as a new parent, so you can see it from a whole new vantage point.

We were watching the part in the end when Grandma comes into the dining room and begins to tell Steve Martin and his wife, Mary Steenburgen, all about the roller coaster. “You know, when I was nineteen, Grandpa took me on a roller coaster… I always wanted to go again. You know, it was just so interesting to me that a ride could make me so frightened, so scared, so sick, so excited, and so thrilled all together! Some didn’t like it. They went on the merry-go-round. That just goes around. Nothing. I like the roller coaster. You get more out of it.”

Inspired, I turned to hubby and said “I like the roller coaster too.” He turned back and said “Sometimes its a little messy for me.” We watched the rest of the movie, the next scene they are at a play for their daughter and their son runs up to protect his sister and knocks over the sets, the camera starts to act like a roller coaster. Steve Martin’s character looks a little sick, Mary Steenburgen is smiling and laughing. It was like watching the two of us, me loving the rollercoaster, him finding it a bit messy.

I guess this year has been all rollercoaster, and really, all the downhill, scary, twisty parts. We are looking forward to some of the uphill, slow, breathers that usually come with these rides, but I am not seeing an end to the careening any time soon. Maybe there is something to be said for the merry-go-round, at least every once in a while.

2 days until we find out the sex of the next member of our family!

What does a lawyer do on her tropical honeymoon?

Swim with the Sharks of course!!

We went snorkeling in the Bahamas on our honeymoon. The final snorkel was a “shark dive.” Now, I have a fear of sharks, a rather impressive, illogical, irrational, they can get smart and grow legs and come eat me on land kind of fear. Therefore, I was not intending to get into the water while there were any sharks around at all. However, during one of the reef dives, there was a lone shark fairly near by, and he didn’t hunt me down with “jaws”-esque intensity so I began to relax. Lee said they weren’t going to attack a lawyer anyway, professional courtesy and all. Being our honeymoon, I decided to forgo the requisite violent response.

Then we got to the last dive. The shark dive. I looked into the water and saw an ocean teeming with sharks.

I felt faint, I felt certain this was a bad idea, I felt I had to do it anyway. (I never said I am always intelligent.)

Yes, in spite of my inner brain, which at this point was screaming loudly while attempting to make my arms and legs cling to the ship, I entered the shark infested waters.

I followed the rules, followed the rope out into the water, and looked down. There were a lot of sharks, about 20 – 30 of them investigating the bait box below. However, the bait box was really, really far below, about 30-40 feet deep, so the sharks weren’t so bad. I started to calm down. I spent some time ogling the fiercesome predators in their environment, I started to enjoy myself. Then I saw movement out of the corner of my right eye. I looked to the right…. and calmly ambling towards me with the best of intentions was a frackin shark! It was perhaps 10-15 feet away, near the surface of the water, peering at me as if to say “What’s all this then? Got any food?”

Well at this point I choked a little on seawater because one shouldn’t actually say “This is a F&*&ing bad idea” while snorkeling. (Who knew?)

So I began to edge towards the boat with an outward calm. It took far too long to get out of the water, but eventually I was on dry land again. Whew.

Then they called everyone in and pulled up the bait box. And fed them.

This is what a shark frenzy looks like…

This is what sharks do when they are being taunted with dead fish by young Bahamian divers.

Notice the surprising amount of boat underneath that shark! The sharks started coming up out of the water and onto the back of the boat. Yes my friends, it seemed as though they were indeed growing legs and coming to get me on dry land! But there were no legs, they were leaping on the to back end for the fish, and there was about 6 inches of boat wall between me and the sharks. Tee hee hee…. heh.

Anyway, I survived, and enjoyed it! Though the experience has not really eradicated my shark fear, but then again, I admitted it was irrational. I am not sure I would ever do this again, but I can certainly say I am pleased I was able to greet my fellow sharks personally, without the assistance of a set of cement galoshes.