Boo-yah!

About mid-January I started studying for the PLS (Professional Legal Secretary) exam, which had been taking up most of my time. The exam was Saturday, March 3. It’s the second of three exams offered by NALS (National Association of Legal Secretaries). It’s four parts and takes about eight hours. I only had to take three of the four parts, so it wasn’t that excruciating. I should find out where I stand in about four weeks. If I passed it, I’ll be able to take the CPP (Certified Professional Paralegal) this Fall.

Um...What else? I worked Discovery Weekend at Riverchase UMC for the third year in a row. It’s kind of like youth conference. Adults and high school youth from church put it on for middle school youth. They have it annually during President’s Day weekend. My kids were great, and I swear I get more out of it than they do.

March 9 through 12 I worked my first Chrysalis, which is a non-denominational three-day retreat held at Camp Sumatanga geared toward young men or young women at least four times a year. I was sponsored by my good friends, Matt and Ginger Hodges, two years ago. The experience and the community are amazing.

This past weekend Neal and I, along with a couple friends (Hank and Mary Katherine) of ours headed to Decatur for a long-overdue visit to see our friends Kevin and Charly. We also wanted to get out of the 'Ham for St. Patty's Day. We had a blast with Charly's ever-so-wonderful hospitality and humor and Kevin’s tour of Decatur (De-caught-ray as we say it). It’s a great town with lots of history. They actually have the very first bank of Alabama there with bullets from the Civil War. We also got to eat at Big Bob Gibson’s BBQ restaurant. If you haven’t been there, you have to go. They have baked potatoes the size of my head loaded with the barbecued meat of your choice. It’s crazy, and their vinegar sauce is to die for. We drove back yesterday and took the rest of the day to recover and re-energize for the work week.

March Madness started last week, and my brackets hate me.

It’s my birthday week. Yes...I’m bold enough to claim it. I’ll be a quarter of a century old on Thursday, and it doesn’t bother me one bit. That’s probably because it’s been the best birthday week ever thus far. (Oh...and the fact that Neal turns 30 this year. Hah!) I think we’ll be having dinner with friends and going to see the best band ever play...OdieMcCool. They played at our New Year’s party and are absolutely AWESOME. I almost passed out when I found out they were playing in Birmingham on my birthday. I’ll let you know how it goes.

Just to sum it up...Life Is Good.