Last Saturday morning, JP left for Rome. Jude, Joe, and I saw him off at the Nashville airport. 11 days away, as he returns on Tuesday. It's an amazing opportunity for him to see Rome and party of Italy with the Latin Club at MBA, made possible through the Wilson Grant. JP had a couple of friends that went on the trip last summer and being selected for the trip was a goal of his. He wrote and essay and his grades I Latin were stellar this year. Off to Rome he went.
Joe left for a week away at Camp Widjiwagon on Sunday. He camped there last year, too, mostly because JP had gone to sports camp for three weeks at the Woodbury Forest sports camp the previous summer. Joe idolizes his big brother, of course, and wanted to go to Woodbury Forest last summer. Jude and I thought three weeks away at age 10 was a bit much for someone who had never been to overnight camp at all, so we compromised and sent him to Camp Widjiwagon. Joe had a good time last year, so back he went this year.
A week off, so to speak, has been nice, although Jude and I miss the boys terribly. Sadly, I've been crushed at work this week - three mediations and several new clients, among other things - so Jude and I haven't had as much quality time to ourselves as I had hoped.
We walked down and had dinner at Epice on Sunday evening, which was nice. Epice is one of our favorites. Great good. Great service. A place to unwind, for us, and to talk about how lucky we are to have the children we have. That's been a theme lately, for sure.
Monday evening, I had a late softball game. Tuesday and Wednesdays, I had mediations. I got home a little bit late, so we stayed in and watched the Office. A lot of the Office which, of course, reminded his of Joe. I think it's his favorite show, by far. I'm not sure why because at age 11, a lot of the humor goes right over his head. Still, he loves Michael Scott (Steve Carell) and the entire cast of characters at Dunder Mifflin's Scranton office.
Thursday night, Jude made reservations for us to have dinner with Russ and Susanna at Urban Grub at 7:45 p.m. Jude and I walked down to meet them on a beautiful late spring evening. We're spoiled, I know, living in a neighborhood like Belmont/12South, where we can walk to restaurants any night of the week. Location, location, location, right?
Although our table wasn't ready when we arrived, eventually we were seated outside, which was awesome. As I've written in this space before, Russ and Susanna are "friends that fit," and it was nice to spend an evening with them over wine and good food. For me, it doesn't get much better than sharing a meal with friends. Talking, laughing, learning, getting caught up, all while drinking a good bottle of wine. It's the best.
Last night, Jude and I went to the Nashville School of Law Annual Dinner and Banquet. My firm bought a table, as we did last year, although I didn't attend that event. Lauren, Rob, Andrea, Lee, Hannah, Stephanie, Vanessa, Sharon, Elizabeth, Jude and me. Great table. Great event.
Since I co-taught the Family Law Trial Practice last semester at NSL, I thought it was important that I attend the event. Damn, I'm glad a did because it was reminiscent of the Nashville Bar Association Annual Dinner at Christmas that I attended religiously for almost two decades. Jude and I saw so many friends and longtime colleagues last night. It made me feel good to be a lawyer, which is the way I used to feel every year at the NBA Annual Dinner.
Afterwards, we fought through the CMA crowd as we walked to Jude's parking garage. She gave me an impromptu tour of the Senate and House Chambers - now abandoned for almost four years - under the Legislative Plaza. I felt like I had walked onto the set of Planet of the Apes as Charlton Heston walks through the abandoned subway tunnels. I saw meeting rooms, office, and committee hearing rooms. It was a surreal feeling to imagine how much of our state's business had been done there once upon a time.
Jude is off to pick up Joe, early, from Camp Widjiwagon this morning, so he can play in an all-start baseball tournament with the Braves today, starting at 10:15 a.m. We can't wait to get him home, then JP on Tuesday.
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