Telling Time With Trees: the 2014 edition

No, I haven't forgotten about the blog, but life has been far too busy to keep up with the Diva Domain. I'm not ready to officially retire from my part-time writing passion though, so I'm going to make an effort to post at least once a month.  So here we go.  March 2014 - the annual Tree Picture.  

The weather this year made it pretty impossible to get a good picture the one or two days the tree was in bloom.  Mother Nature can't make up her mind, so when it warmed up at the end of March, about half the flowers bloomed on my parents' Chinese Magnolia tree.  Then the cold snap came and killed all of them, and then the second round of blooms came, and now the cold has gotten those, too.  All that to say, I'm glad we got these pictures when we did.

Here's Mommy, age 21, pictured with Bradley, age 5

2014

You know it's March when Kentucky fans are still wearing their Blue for game days

Mommy & her little kindergartner

And now for a walk down memory lane...

2013

2012

2011

2010

Here's a fun one:  the spring of 2008, I was 6 months pregnant with Bradley, so technically this was our first picture in front of the tree!

Easter 2008

Let's Talk About Six, Baby

From Sixty to Six Months:  I've been slacking on my duties as aunt to the most adorable little boy, so I thought it was appropriate that Atticus Roy Murdoch make his debut on his 6 month birthday.  When Atticus was born, Bradley cried because we didn't get to bring him home from the hospital with us!  But he loves his cousin, and can now dance and make Atticus laugh.  This little chunky monkey is 20 pounds, wearing 9 month clothes, making spitting noises, rolling over, and eating solid food that my Martha-Stewart-of-a-sister is pureeing herself.

So, it is my dutiful job as Atticus' aunt (I am already predicting with a name that ends with an 'S' that this kid is going to be a conscientious user of the apostrophe and teach all his peers its proper use)- I bring you 6 months' worth of gratuitous photos:

October 15, 2012

New Parents

Turkey Butt

Christmas Day - 2 months old

Fancy New Years Party Outfit

Tebowing at 3 months

Fist pumping in his sleep

Grandma & Papa with Little A and Little B

Best initials ever:  ARM!

Walking really tuckered him out.. and by walking, I mean riding in a stroller!

Almost 4 months old

Easter 2013 - 5 months

Ready for Baseball Season

He belly laughs at his daddy, likes to be bounced, has no teeth yet, and we are all rapt with attention whenever he is around.  Thankfully, Laura and George live close by, so I get to see my nephew about every other week.  He is the closest thing Bradley has to a sibling, and so likewise, he adores him.  Time has flown, Little nephew, and I look forward to spoiling you rotten, and Bradley looks forward to being both a bad influence and best playmate with you.

I am 6 months old!

Susan is Sixty

Happy birthday to my amazing mother, who is 60 years young today.  She is a remarkable woman of many attributes, many of which I take after.  Most notably, one of her nicknames is Little General (my Grandma Huber was famously known as The General) and I have been, on more than one occasion been dubbed the Little Little General, a title which I wear proudly.  Otherwise, nothing would ever get done!

Smart Susi:  Mom always points out how smart she was for pointing to the camera man

Small Susi

Awesome bangs on Sophomore-in-high-school Susi

Saved by the Susi:  the College Years

So-excited-to-get-this-warm-up-suit-Susi

 Some more S words to describe my mom:
Stubborn, Self-sacrificing, sarcastic, sassy, sleepy, sedentary, strong, secretarial, sea hag, senile, short, seriously gullible (the Little Haubstadt Bakery, mom?  Really?), sociable, spotted, sour-loving, superhuman, supportive, scholarly, seamstress, sports fan, selfless.

She's also an amazing cook, and it's too late at night for me to come up with a synonym that starts with S.

Happy birthday, Mama B!  Love you!

Little Law School Lesson #1

Last night I learned something about the definition for first degree murder that I thought I would share with you all.  I've been mis-reading, or rather mis-interpreting, the definition for first degree (i.e. premeditated) murder for years.  I guess I'd never seen the legal definition spelled out in print before and always just heard the legal analysts referring to it during the hubbub surrounding a high profile murder case, so here it is.  I always thought it was "the killing of another with malice or forethought."  Turns out, it's actually "malice aforethought."  Who knew?  Ironically, what I thought the definition was saying, and what it actually says is the same thing, which works out nicely in my favor.

This has been your free piece of legal advice for the day.  Consider yourself just a teensy bit more educated than you were a few seconds ago.  And now back to studying I go!

Telling Time with Trees

Each year when my parents' Chinese Magnolia is in bloom, Bradley and I take a picture in front of it.  This year's photo was a rush job at dusk on St. Patrick's Day.  I realized suddenly that the flowers were just starting to bloom, but with my class schedule, it was likely that the flowers would be gone by my first free night on Thursday.  I'm glad we snapped these when we did because due to the finicky Tennessee weather, the cold snap killed all the blooms.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

I'm going to pick him up for this picture as long as I'm able

Something new this year

And now for a walk down memory lane...

2012

2011

2010

 I love the tradition, and I love the few precious days when this tree is in bloom.  Hurry up warm weather and get here, the flowers are way ahead of you this year, and I'm tired of wearing my winter coat everyday.

A Few Firsts

Bradley hit a couple of major milestones recently that I wanted to quickly stop and mention, in the middle of working on case briefs for my Torts class on a Saturday night.  Don't feel too badly for me.  Last night I got to go downtown and join the masses of Blue and see Kentucky play Vanderbilt in the SEC tournament...  On second thought, yes, feel sorry for me!

Big news number one:  Little Man is FINALLY potty trained at night, as in almost 5 years of buying diapers and pull-ups is at last OVER.  I was getting concerned and yes, admittedly frustrated, at the hassle and expense of buying pull-ups, but like many other kid milestones, there was nothing to do to speed up the process but sit back and wait for his body to make the connection on his own, and it came in its own sweet precious time.  I am thrilled!

Second piece of exciting news:  Bradley had his first-ever T-ball practice today.  It was both well-organized and chaotic at the same time.  Many dads were on the field running drills with the kids (Alligator - Skate Board- Throw it to First; get B to show you that one in person if you have the opportunity- it's adorable), meanwhile the head coach did batting practice with each kid one at a time.  Opposite of soccer, I can proudly say that Bradley was one of the better players on the field and he really seemed to get it.  And boy, does that kid have an arm!  Long term, I'm still thinking pitcher or quarterback.  So maybe t-ball will end up being a sport better suited to his abilities and interests.  As a sports fan myself, I am excited to begin the ritual of spring baseball and support my little guy on the field.  And who knows?  Maybe I will make some mommy friends of my own during this venture.

Swing! Batter Batter Swing!

When they weren't fielding a ball, they were playing in the dirt

Alright, peeps, back to the grind I go.

Briefing a Sigh of Relief

I survived my first rite of passage as a law student:  I briefed my first case.  This means I was called on in class to stand up and give a short synopsis of a case from our reading assignment.  This was in my Contracts class, and the case was Hamer v. Sidway where the issue was to determine whether or not an uncle made a gratuitous promise to his nephew, or whether a contract had been formed.  As you stand and give the facts, the professor then puts you on the spot and interrogates you, asks your opinions, and leads a discussion that other classmates can chime in.  The entire time you stand (with your butt to your classmates - a downside to sitting on the front row), and the conversation is directed towards you, so you had better know the answers!  At one point I felt a little light headed and thought, oh my gosh, I'm going to pass out right here!  I guess it was just the adrenaline.  The whole ordeal lasted maybe 10 minutes or less before we moved on to the next case and some other poor soul got called on and I could sit back down and allow my heart rate to return to normal.

This is the Socratic Method, and it's how we learn, and so it will be a frequent occurrence for me in the future. I'm just relieved to have gotten the monkey off my back, so now I can relax in at least that class at least for a while since that professor is kind enough to call on us alphabetically.  My time won't come up again for several weeks; however, in other classes I am not so fortunate, and the instructors fire at will, putting you on the spot with zero notice.  This insures you will always come to class prepared.  So far I've dodged the bullet in those other classes, but of course, it's not if I'll be asked to brief, but when, and my time for my other classes is most assuredly coming.