The wait begins.

Well, that is that. Sara has finished with school and now the bar exam. Whew. That feels much better. Of course now we wait until October before we hear the results. It is pretty exciting still. She actually has two whole months of free time before she will begin working in Downtown. A quarter of that will be on the road, seeing the west that we have never seen.

I wish I had a digital video camera. I would really love to keep a video diary of this trip. I have never seen so much of the states. In particular I'm looking forward to the Grand Tetons, and Moab. Wow, 90 percent of this trip will be of places I have only seen pictures of or in movies.

Focus, focus, focus...you still have to work.

Warm Fuzzy Exam Stress.

Sara is taking the Bar exam, and I'm sitting at work stressing. I talked to her breifly at lunch, and she thinks things are going well. That is good news. The waiting is killing me. Sara seemed so calm. I cannot keep my thoughts focused. I'm wandering all over the place.

All the while, my core group of friends and I have been sucked into banter because Tricia had to send out a warm fuzzy memory. Scot has two boys and extended it to our summer swim club. And I have a record that stands from like 1980 still at that swim club. Now I need a picture.

I'm hungry. All this anticipation is making me want a burger.

Lets goto the Bar.

Yeah, its that time. Tomorrow at 6:30 in the morning Sara will begin testing for the Washington State Bar exam. I have to say, I have butterflies for her. I know she is more than capable, and after all the studying, and putting off anything fun for the last 8 weeks (not to meantion the last 3 years), she will pass with flying colors. Yet only 80% of testers pass the first time. That is pretty good odds still.

It has been a busy time for us, and I'm really looking forward to our trip around the west. I have lived in Washington all my life, and have not seen that much of the U.S. We will be traveling through a small part of Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada, Utah, and then home. We have lots of plans to visit many areas to climb or boulder. And we are looking forward to taking my nephews out to play on the rocks.

After all this, I'm looking forward to the bar being finished and having some time with Sara to play, and get to know her as a lawyer :)

Good Luck dearest.

Put that book down and pay attention to me.

So. Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince arrived on time. You'd have thought that I would have sat down and just read. Well, I kinda did that. But really, I have spend as much time sitting next to Sara so she doesn't freak out. She starts the test next Tuesday. So I will have the house and Hana for four full days.

Well in all I have not been held up to much in my reading. While Sara sits and watches TV, I turn my focus to the book. I have also been staying up pretty late recently too. I don't think my head has hit the pillow before 11pm. Kinda late for us, since I'm usually up with Hana at 6am.

On Friday, after the test, I hope to head out to Frenchman's Coulee. My efforts to get us out climbing has just been interrupted at every turn. I had hoped to get out on the 30th, and 31st, but other things have popped up and changed our plans. Que sara sara.

This weekend is going to be busy too. I have to get the lawn mowed, the floors vacuumed, the paper recycled, the blackberry's cut back, the saplings cut, and on and on.

We'll see if I get past the lawn :)

As the world turns.

This has been an emotional weekend for Sara and I. First, we learn that a dear friend has died. Then, this morning, I arrive at work with a message that another friend has had their baby.

These are the things that make our lives interesting. As one life departs the world, another one arrives. I am so excited for Anu and Dave. These two are some of the kindest and most down to earth people I have ever met. They will be wonderful parents.

Welcome to the world Liisa (yep that is two i's). Congratulations Anu and Dave.

Farewell Michael

It is never easy to say good bye. Yet, it always comes to this. I have never been one to cry over death. Life seems like such a waste without it. But the lose of you has brought tears to my eyes all day. Sara and I really wish we could have come listen to you at the Crocodile. Good Bye Michael. Thank you for the peace and happiness you brought to our lives.

Michael Dahlquist died at the age of 39, after a young woman trying to commit suicide drove her car at highspeeds and rammed her vehicle into the car Michael and two friends were in while at a stop light. All three friends where killed.

What goes up, must come down.

Recently, I have been a bit nervous my climbing. In fact, I have been down right cautious. Often I clip in and rest before making the next draw. I don't do that on every clip, but certainly on the last or second to last draw.

Yesterday, I must have been feeling pretty cocky. I was doing a 10a that we have climbed many times, but I have always rested on the last draw before the anchor. I think now I know why I did that. The climb actually finishes to the right of the anchors, and the final hold -- it is a fantastic, sturdy hold. I usually grab both hands to the hold, place my feet very well, and move over to the anchor which has another fantastic hold between the two bolts.

I reached the final hold, and Sara started to feed out rope so I could clip into the anchor. I reached down and started pulling up rope. There was a kink at the second draw, and as I yanked the rope through the quickdraw, my feet came off the wall. "Take!" was all I had time to say before my hand slipped and I was in free fall. Sara didn't even have time to think. Her hand locked down the rope and she was in the air, feet forward. I came to a smooth stop and looked down.

Sara was in a bit of shock. She'd just been lifted ten feet off the ground, and I had just fell twenty. Kari, apparently just got finished saying "It's good you are using the Gri-Gri." I must agree. There is nothing like the assurance of an auto-lock so the rope doesn't let you slip to the ground.

Sara was fantastic and cool headed. All she said was, "Are you okay?" Of course I was. As I meantioned before, when I fall the end of the fall is just like a quick but smooth stop. I better get Sara into the chiropractor -- being yanked up off the ground by your midsection by 175 pounds free falling body mass cannot be too good for the back.

Give me Liberty or ...

So lately Sara and I have been talking about getting a second vehicle. Sara pointed out the Jeep Liberty CRD and ever since I cannot stop thinking about what a nice looking car it is too. We could tow a camper, and it gets pretty good milage (25+ on the highway.) We can run it on Biodiesel, so we would be contributing to the neccessary need to be energy independent. I thought "That is pretty cool."

So I started investigating Jeep because they are part of that whole GM employee discount thingie. What a load of crap that turns out to be. They only provide the discount on, like, five models of the Jeep. All of which are gasoline. Crap, Crap, Crap.

How can you call it a "Liberty," if you are not free to choose the model and features you want with the employee discount? Stupid market demands. Normally, I wouldn't even consider buying a U.S. made car. Truck? Okay, I'd buy a truck, but definitely not a car. The U.S. doesn't know how to make a car.

When Sara and I first started dating, she loaned me her Subaru to drive from Bellingham to Tacoma. She asked me to fill it with fuel, and to check the oil. I appriciatively did just that, and made my trip to Tacoma and back. Two days later, Sara and I head to Port Townsend, and when we reached the Keystone Ferry, her car was smoking. We popped the hood and low and behold, I forgot to put the oil cap back on. The amazing thing, the cap was still sitting on the chasis where I had placed it. So we pour in a quart of oil put the cap on, and continue on. That car was amazing.

I traded in my craptacular Saturn for an Outback, after it had fuel pump problems and the manufactures wouldn't fix it. They kept telling me it was a different thing. I miss my Outback. My dad totalled his Acura, and bought if from me. I would get another, but they don't make it in a diesel, or better -- an electric biodiesel. Now that would rock. But no -- stupid market demands.

Why can't you all just do as I do? Well, no, really, that would just be embarassing.

I thinks she's trying to kill me.

The thing about rock climbing -- it will totally clear your head. The buzzing of thoughts are lost as you focus on the next hold. It is a fantastic feeling to have a "nubbin" under you toe, holding your weight on practically nothing.

With Sara only a week away from taking the Bar Exam, she's needed a bit more climbing. Anything to make it through another two hours of studying. I image she feels much like you might feel when you have your first fall. Your arms are pumped, your hands sweat rivers, a call -- "falling!" Of course, you might think lots of crazy thoughts like, "What if she can't hold the rope?"

When I took my first fall it was a bit different than I had imagined. Sara, being more than 50 pounds lighter then me, was picked up off the ground. So my fall was like the last ten feet of a roller coster. A very controlled smooth stop. And yet, every time I'm on the wall I can hardly wait to clip-in the next draw.

Tomorrow is Friday. We usually climb on Fridays. I'm not sure my arms will take another day this week -- Sunday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and now Friday. She'll probably want to climb this Sunday too.

It wouldn't be so bad, except for the twig arms of mine. Sara is like a ballerina on the wall. She is grace, beauty, and gourgeous. Me, I'm an ape. No, really. You should hear people laugh when I make a move that seems totally beyond the reach of mere mortals. Now if I could lift more than five pounds maybe I could make it to the top without hangdoggin.

Climb on.

I've got nothing ...

Well, actually, I have lots of excuses. If you know Sara & Chris (sorry about the third person thingie,) you know that we have not been around much for the last three years. While Sara has been studying to be the next Supreme Court Justice, I, Chris, have been working to keep our house with semi-comfortable living.

It will be a bit longer before we get ready to throw a party so we can visit all our friends. For the past four weeks, Sara has been studying 8-10 hours a day in preparation for the Washington State BAR. On July 26th thru the 28th, Sara will be entrenched in taking the test. Following that on the August 5th, we will head out for a visit to my sister in Denver.

As for me, I'm just trying to keep the dishes clean, and the house only looking like a partial disaster area. I need to work harder. That and I'm starting my first venture into running my own business. I decided to start a Biodiesel pump. As with most businesses I had my first setback. I had planned to buy the equipment from another distributer that was moving onto other ventures. Well, I took too long and it was sold to someone else. It would have been a great deal. Oh well. Such is life.

For those of you who haven't even been chatting with us over email, you should know that we started climbing. Sara and I did our second trip outdoors to Smith Rocks in Oregon. We both did our first leads and got lots of sun. Hana, our dog, had a blast but needed lots of rest. Feel free to check out the pictures.

Okay, that is all for now. I promise more to come. Especially, as I prepare for a big bash. I will likely aim for the Commons on Bainbridge Island, but I cannot guarantee anything, as I have not even made a call yet :)

More soon ...