OK, so it's been 21 days since I last posted. I suck. So sue me.
(law humor)

This past weekend I was a student invitee/participant at the Oregon State Bar Family Law Conference. Great chance to observe "real, live lawyers" in a relaxed atmosphere and "schmooze" to my heart's content, as one of my sponsors so aptly put it. Ah, the art of schmoozery - not really my thing - but I'm getting decent at it. After a while, it is a bit draining though. This conference was at the beautiful Salishan Resort on the Oregon coast, and for me, it was a wonderful blend of hearing about practical applications of the law, networking, doing homework, and relaxing. It was only the second time I've been away from my family at night, and the 6th and 7th nights ever away from my partner at night. Judging from my welcome home hugs, the baby girl and wife missed me a lot and my son was happy I was away so I could bring him presents upon my return. (In reality, he probably missed me the most. As my wife has observed frequently, he and I are two peas in a pod, and have a soul-connection so strong people would think I was the birth mom. See - makes no difference.) The puppets purchased at the resort were big hits, but so were the hotel-provided pens, note pads, jar of jam, soap, lotion, paper coasters, and post-cards. Heck - my son even liked the paper gift bag with handles that he's not let out of his sight since I arrived home approximately 48 hours ago. We all survived the separation, and though I love traveling and would do it more often if I could, I suspect it will be quite some time before my wife wishes to brave it alone again, especially since baby girl has not been sleeping well for.....well.....her whole life.

I now have to say I've done my extracurricular "stuff" for the semester, and I must get serious about the school work. (Oh, did I fail to mention that my new mentor asked me last week to do some last-minute legal research for her? Yup. When I read her email request I said out loud, "Cr*p, I just don't have the time." What I typed into my reply email was, "Sure, I can spare a few hours..." It was fun, and she seemed impressed. Nice to do some real, non-academic legal work to feel like the pieces of the puzzle are coming together.) I need to write my A-paper (big paper of law school), I need to get on top of my barely-started outlines, I need to listen to 2-3 missed lectures, I need to do a few CALI lessons on Property since we've stopped using the English language and I've gotten confused. Fee tail? Contingent remainder? Vested remainder? Possbility of a reverter?

I should have just gone into acting.