odds and ends

Happy Fourth of July! Two or three days late, depending on your time zone. Not much writing on this blog these days, because Nick is busy working and Brooke is busy studying, unless we are both busy relaxing...

Saturday, we visited a friend who just moved into a really beautiful apartment right on the water on the east side of the island. We snorkeled all afternoon and got miserably sunburned, but had a great time. She is a neat, neat lady who just acquired this apartment under miraculous circumstances and is eager to share her good fortune with all friends; we stayed there all afternoon and well into the night, sitting on her rooftop deck and watching the incredible display of stars over the dark Pacific... 

Then it turned out that Sunday was the Fourth of July and we had done nothing at all to prepare. We had zero plans. We called around to see what people were up to, but ended up going down to the carnival by ourselves and watched the fireworks. Low-key, but it was fun (and interesting: the carnival here features a lot of gambling, and has booths where the prizes are live animals - kind of horrible from a mainland point of view...), and at least we got to see fireworks, which made it officially Fourth of July. 

Monday, I had to study, so Nick went to the office to get some work done - on his day off!

And here it is Tuesday already, and I STILL have to study, and study, and study until the 28th. There is SO MUCH material to get through. Having taken a bar two years ago helps a bit - though it's a completely different exam here - but I still remember the songs that Nick and I made up to memorize the six covenants contained in a warranty deed, and the nine real defenses against a holder in due course of a negotiable instrument (not to mention the eight areas in which the Federal government asserts authority on Indian land - not very useful for a Guam exam)! Plus I know now that if I make up songs, they'll help me on the exam. So I've been singing a lot... 

Ah, but I started this post because I wanted to share this recipe:

http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/grilled-garlic-artichokes/Detail.aspx

for grilled artichokes. Nick and I made it the other day, and it was quite excellent. But we used lime juice instead of lemon juice, and I added some honey to the marinade as well. Anyways, if you have artichokes and aren't sure what to do with them; or if you'd like to eat artichokes but don't want to dip them in mayonnaise, I do recommend this method!