July Wrap Up

As you might have guessed by our virtually non-existant blogging over the past two months, it has been a VERY busy summer! Tim and I didn't think things could get any crazier than they were last summer, but they definitely have been. Here's a glimpse of a few of the things we were up to this month.

Sometime in May to July 13--Tim patiently put up with my erratic study schedule and the fact that I had almost daily nervous breakdowns related my upcoming comprehensive exams. I've never had so much anxiety over exams and I wasn't sleeping much. Tim did his best to keep me calm, and kept me supplied with Diet Coke (a key study tool), daily outings and shoulder massages. My husband is an angel.

July 4--The fourth of July is not quite the same in Arizona as it is in DC. It was 118 degrees F (that's like 49 degrees C) that day. The desire to watch fireworks kind of fades when you feel like you're literally living in a fire. Despite the heat, we ventured to my sister Elise's house in Maricopa for Carter's, my nephew and the cutest kid in the world, first birthday party. The kid made a haul. His tower of presents was literally 30 times the size of him. After the party, I spent the rest of the day (very unfestively) studying for my comprehensive exams. I'll admit I was homesick for DC on the fourth.

July 8-12--Tim in Washington state running a volleyball camp. This was the beginning of our longest time away from each other (nearly 2 weeks apart).

July 11-19--I leave for DC. I was stuck in at Chicago Midway airport for 7 hours and didn't get into DC until 4am on the 12th. Luckily, I had the foresight to fly in a day early, so that I was able to catch up on my sleep before my exams began on the 13th. Phew. I met the most amazing group of women during that delay at the Chicago airport. One of the women was a retired lawyer who had argued the original 1975 case in front of the US Supreme Court that led to the landmark "Education for Handicapped Children Act" (subsequently reauthorized and renamed). She was so inspirational and has really affected my thoughts and feelings about my own career path over the past few weeks and has really helped me to appreciate the vast opportunities that I now have thanks to pioneering women like her. I'll devote a blog to that at some point.

July 13-14--Tim was in Salt Lake spending some quality time with the padres golfing, eating his mom's great cooking, and trying to gear up for another camp. I was in DC, stuck in a room 8 hours a day for two days taking my comprehensive exams. I still haven't heard if I passed, but hopefully I'll have some good news soon.

July 15-19--Tim in Oregon running a volleyball camp and me in DC wrapping up some loose ends and working on a final paper for a class I finished in June.

July 19-22--Reunited with my husband (although only for about 48 hours). Yay! We both flew in to Orange County, California a couple of days before the rest of the Welker clan arrived for the Welker family vacation. We were able to go out to dinner with my old LA roommate and dear friend Christy "Foxy" Dunlap and her husband Dean. We had a great time roaming around Old Town Orange and chatting. It reminded Tim and I how much we miss having couple friends to go out with.

July 21-28--Marriott, sweet Marriott! The Welker family vacation took us to the Newport Beach Vacation Club this year. We had a gorgeous master suite, with a soaking tub the size of a small swimming pool in our room. We're so spoiled. Thanks, Pablo and Mother Theresa. Unfortunately, Tim had to leave for 4 days in the middle of the week to work a camp in Washington State again--at a school with the worst school mascot imaginable--the Toilet Papermakers. I'm not kidding. We have pictures to prove it. While Tim was working hard, I spent most of the week laying by the pool reading my first non-school books in a very long time. I read The Dante Club by Matthew Pearl and, of course, Harry Potter. Pure Bliss.

July 28-31--We're now in Salt Lake. Both of us. Yay. Tim's running a camp in Salt Lake this week, but, luckily we're able to be together and spend some time with family...at least for a couple of days. I leave for Leslie's wedding in Mexico on Thursday. Let the traveling begin again...