The Stolen Days at the Beach

Last week we started to head home from the beach on Tuesday, one day early. Baby Girl had woken up in the middle of the night, throwing up. Ugh. We had no idea what she had and if we all might get it. She threw up again in the morning, the kids started fighting over ridiculous things, and we figured the moodiness was a bad sign. Better head home. We told the kids they could play at the beach one more time on the way out. We had to head up the coast for about an hour before turning inland, so this was a good way to break up the trip home anyway.

It was a beautiful day. The kids were having a great time in the sand, Baby Girl felt fine, Wife and I were enjoying the view and we thought, "Wouldn't it be nice to stay here, with this beautiful view?" Two phone calls later, I'd found a great mid-week rate at a top resort with a gorgeous view of the beach and the ocean. The hotel was fabulous, and we were enjoying the luxury so much, we stole an extra night! For the second night, we had to change rooms, but got bumped up to the top floor with an even more spectacular view for the same fabulous rate we'd been given for the first night.

This room had a view of a local landmark called Haystack Rock. It is mololith that sticks up out of the water, very close to shore and is a National Wildlife Refuge - home to many bird species. We were maybe 200 yards from the rock (she says, imagining about 2 football fields...but maybe it was farther than that). I wish I'd seen a good pair of binoculars on sale, or had ours with us. It would have been fun to see the birds up closer, and maybe even their nests. Haystack Rock is a major nesting site for puffins, which I love and have ever since first seeing them up in Alaska when I was in college.

This pair of Nikon binoculars that I've linked to above looks like it would do a great job of bringing the details of birds and their nests into view. Nikon does a great job with cameras, so I would think their binoculars would be outstanding. It's all about the lenses, right? They certainly have that down. After that, you want a pair of binoculars that feel good in your hand - again, why wouldn't the top camera manufacturer make a great feeling pair of binoculars? Add in their ergonomic design, arsenic free Eco-Glass, one-year warranty, and free shipping, if I'd been staying a bit longer, I could have ordered this pair of binoculars online and had them shipped to me at my hotel. Now that would have been fun!

As it was, there were no binoculars, but we did have two cameras with zoom with us, and took a ton of photos. They should be up on Wife's blog soon!

Souvenirs from the Beach

Candy is very accessible at the beach.

Why is it that at the beach is the only time a person ever buys fudge? (One MAKES it at Christmas, of course.)
There are always several candy shops featuring fudge, salt-water taffy, and various kinds of the candy you remember as a child. Well, let's just say we had no trouble spending and eating our share of candy in support of the local economy. We'll now need to do some research on the best diet pills, I'm afraid!

We do tend to only eat two meals a day while on vacation. That does mean CANDY can be the third meal, right?

We also managed to stock up on souvenirs from about every other shop we walked in to. The kids now have new stuffed buddies, plastic toys, glass trinkets and squishy balls to remind them of their adventures. I have a T-shirt from the Tillamook Cheese Factory, a lighthouse Christmas ornament, a travel journal, and a beautiful soft robe from the resort we stayed in that was a gift from my sweet wife. (I was so in love with the robes in the room!) Wife has two new coffee mugs, some "ocean" room spray, charms for her charm bracelet, and a funny T-shirt that she will probably blog about so I will not.

We also took a TON of photos!

We'll not soon forget this trip. When I get done resolving my work crisis that cropped up in my absence, I will blog more about the vacation. Probably next week. Happy Weekend everyone!

We're Back!

Our vacation was awesome! Naturally, we still wish we were at the beach. We played tourist and saw fun things every day. We almost came home early because our little girl threw up in the middle of the night on Monday. We packed up, ready to head home, fearing a proverbial colon cleanse, or worse, was in store for all of us, but then we all felt great playing at the beach near the turn off to go home. It was such a beautiful day, we called around and got a great deal at what is probably the nicest resort in the area. Our room was practically on the beach we were so close - and the view was amazing! All still feeling relatively healthy, we ended up staying there for two nights, meaning we stole an extra one that hadn't been planned on. So fun! More details to follow. Be sure to check Wife's blog, too, as I suspect there will eventually be photos!

Packed and Almost Ready to Go

Last night I packed a bunch of family-friendly DVDs, my clothes, and added a few things to our "do not forget" list - like Boy Wonder's DS game and games for our Little Princess. Wife will get the kids and herself packed while I am at work today. The kids will probably help a bit, but at this point, they can't really be trusted to do it themselves. We'd end up with swimming suits, pajamas, equestrian apparel (the Princess is adorable in her brother's old cowboy boots), ballet outfits, and perhaps a Halloween costume or two.

Packing us up for a trip is always an adventure, and I have to admit, one I rarely contribute much to. Wife is usually left with most of the packing and all the hard work. (Wife - YOU ROCK!) I usually deal with my own clothes, snacks for the car, and sometimes miscellaneous stuff. She is also way better at spacial stuff than I am, so she packs us into the car in order to maximize space usage. This is especially important when we take the Scion, as it has a very small back area in which to pack. This weekend, we'll take the SUV - we'll need the extra room, and added security of driving a heavier vehicle on winding mountain and coastal roads.

Can you tell I am ready to go? Too bad it is only 8:20am and we can't leave until about 5:00pm. It may be a long day......but you know what?

I AM DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Dilemmas of Eating at the Beach

Yes, going to the beach to celebrate should be big fun. Our whole family loves the beach. Boy Wonder and I agreed last night that he should continue his quest, started last summer, to find the best clam chowder. I am very proud of him for trying new things. Last time we checked, he thought that clam chowder had pieces of chicken in it. I'm not going to dispell that myth quite yet, unless he actually asks outright. Not really sure that chicken is any better....but it is more familiar.

We are entering the stage that Boy Wonder kind of gets where meat comes from. Our sweet Princess doesn't quite get it, and we are trying to convince her brother not to tell her. She has recently made the connection that there are "eating fish" and fish that people have as pets. The crabs in the seafood section, the whole cooked crabs are particularly disturbing to her because she gets that they used to be alive.

The whole topic is rather disturbing and seems wrong once you have to explain it to your kids. *sigh* We find our ways of justifying our eating habits, but still, it's hard to sit and watch a Disney movie with singing fish and lobsters, then put those types of things on your plate at dinner. We aren't even big meat or fish eaters, but aren't entirely vegetarians either. Let's just say that after one of these conversations, our appetites are such that I doubt there will be any immediate need for weight loss pills.

Just Starting to Sink In

Wow. I am really done with law school.

Pause.

Really?

It's strange and exhilarating. Tonight we leave for the beach for 5 nights. Nothing quite as exciting as going across the country to North Carolina's Outer Banks rentals, or even closer, Disneyland, but for now, 5 days at our local beaches, just a couple hours away, sounds really good.

As I was packing last night, I realized I do not have a book to read. I usually like to take a book on vacation for reading on those rare moments with the kids are otherwise occupied, or asleep. The one I was reading over Christmas was The Nine - about the Supreme Court. I spent all semester in a class dealing with the Supreme Court justices and writing a 30 page paper about a related topic. I don't so much want to continue reading The Nine right now. :) I'll have to find a fiction best-seller at the grocery store and indulge in some good, old-fashioned escapism! That sounds really good. :)

I AM DONE!!!!!!!

What more is there to say today?

Oh, I know:

WAHOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Buzzing with Anticipation

Tomorrow is my LAST FINAL EVER! (Last Final - seems like redundancy, doesn't it?)

I have some studying ahead - soon, but think I will be ready when I have to be. I'm almost jittery with the rush of being almost done! To cope, I studied a bit, worked a bit, got my hair cut, indulged in a fast Mexican food lunch, worked a bit more, and am now blogging.

Today someone left candy in the workroom. Yesterday there was cake. Really? Is a stressed out person, concerned about taking a Secured Transactions final, supposed to just pass this stuff by as it if was not there? Good thing I don't work in a bigger office. I'd probably need to research the top 10 rated diet pills if I had many more grazing options!

Well, the sun is starting to shine in my window. It is just about time to start what is likely to be my final round of studying, and tomorrow by either 12:30 or 9:30, depending on which exam time I feel most appropriate, I will be DONE!

One to Go!

I survived the Immigration Law final! It was one of the ones I was a bit concerned about, but I think it went OK. Now, on to Secured Transactions, and then I will be done!

It would certainly be easy to handle the stress of finals by eating and drinking a lot, but I've found that right before the exam, appetite suppressants are not needed. When it gets right down to the hour or so before the final, I don't really want to eat or drink, I just want to get right to the test. That last hour or so is the worst because all I can really do is wait. I personally find if I look at my notes it just freaks me out, so I really can't do that. I don't want to read non-related material and strain my eyes that will soon be doing nothing but staring at an exam, my notes and my computer. Not many people around campus to talk to. So, I wait, call my family. Wait some more. I will only have to do that one more time!!! Wahoo!!! (No Bar Exam talk! Stop that!)

Last School Study Weekend

That's right - the last weekend of "school studying" has been completed. (Sure - there's bar studying, but that is different.) I studied. I learned. I think I am ready for my second to last law school final EVER!!

Saturday I studied while Wife cleaned house in anticipation of the babysitter, or her mom who is a friend, being at our house that evening. My Mom and her husband took us out for my birthday and pre-graduation dinner. We had a very nice dinner at a waterfront table at one of our hometown's nicest restaurants. After dinner we went to my Mom's apartment to see their new TV with the LCD mount. It is positioned right over their new treadmill - perfect for walking and viewing at the same time.

Later we caught part of my brother-in-law's band playing at a local Irish pub. No, he's not a rocker...it is more of a Kingston Trio kind of band - guitars, banjos and folk music. Well, maybe folk music. Not sure what to call it. Anyway, it was fun, and it was a full night out without the kids! Even that part went well, as Boy Wonder was just finishing doing the dishes when we arrived home. He was very excited to have us notice that he'd washed their popcorn bowls. So cute!

So, now it is time to leave for my final. This is a big one. I am a bit nervous and very anxious to be SUCCESSFULLY done with it!

One Down - Two to Go

I wish I felt more relieved than I do, but my two biggest, possibly worst finals ever are looming. We've been warned they are complex and time-pressured. Wonderful. I feel so much better now.

Still, it is a beautiful Friday, my Local Government Law final exam is behind me, I think I did respectably, and family night is ahead. Tomorrow will be a big study day, followed by my Mom taking Wife and I out for a nice birthday dinner and paying the babysitter! Sunday will be shopping and some sort of family fun, and then the race to the finish begins!

Studying Is Icky

Yes, I said "icky." It is a technical term.

Right now I am NOT a big fan of Immigration Law nor of Secured Transactions. I had classes in both of these areas and am now responsible for knowing and relating huge amounts of information in these very technical areas. I know, I know, law school is not supposed to be easy, but do I REALLY need to know so much about areas that I plan on never practicing?

It would be more fun to shop for a present for Wife. I think we can all agree she deserves a WONDERFUL gift, but I am clueless as to what it might be. We've about decided not to give each other graduation gifts and wait until we can agree on something together.

I know for sure that sports gifts would not be high on her list, but our Little Princess would enjoy almost anything sports-related. She loves her dresses, high heels and tiarras, but is almost as happy kicking around a soccer ball or hitting a baseball in the backyard. Oh, and the two loves are not mutually exclusive.....she'll happily play soccer in a party dress if her Moms will let her.

That does not help with an idea for Wife however...she'd not be happy in a party dress or playing soccer. Guess I know what NOT to buy!

Blue Screen Blues

Did I mentioned getting the blue screen of death about a week or two ago? Right, with only about a week and a half left of classes, plus finals, my laptop computer died. Well, it is possible it can be revived, but I will never trust it again, certainly not for finals. Maybe for note taking that I can back-up everyday during bar review.

I have been using Wife's laptop (Thank you, honey!) that we bought as a back-up in my second year...or was it my third?...when I was having power cord issues with mine. It's been good to have, and Wife enjoys it for portable digital scrap booking and surfing in the backyard on warm summer days. Hence the reason she wants her laptop back soon - summer is nearly here!

Just in case I need to get a new one, we've looked around a bit. A person can get a decent laptop these days for $500-600. Those I've been are bulkier that I would like though. I did some research and found what is undoubtedly the best of the netbooks. Netbook - yes - that is what I wrote. They are those adorably cute little computers meant mainly for surfing and checking email. I found a version though that can handle the MS Office apps, and the reviews are overwhelmingly positive. I even found someone using it for college note taking. Perfect, right?

The winner is the Samsung NC-10. It can be found on sale for about $400, has a 93% normal size keyboard (some specs I've seen say 95%), with all the keys in the right place. Key placement is apparently a big problem with many netbooks. It is fast, apparently reliable, and the resolution is said to be excellent.

Due to size, there is no CD drive - so an external is necessary, or one can rely on a flash drive to transfer to and from a main computer. I'm told that is how I could load Word and PowerPoint, though I've not tried such a stunt.

At this point, we'll hope once finals are over I can try an XP repair or maybe just zap the hard drive and start over, so I can keep my old laptop. Still, the cute little Samsung is calling my name. It comes in blue. :) On the other hand, maybe if I wait a year or so, I could buy a lightweight but very powerful real laptop and that might be a better purchase in the long run. Ultimately, it depends on what I would want to use it for. For what I've done on my laptop for the last four years, other than burning CDs during finals, the NC-10 would be just fine.

Who knows? Maybe there will be graduation money in my future for just such a purchase!

Symptoms of the Rush

The rush of my last class has just about worn off, and I was hit with the reality of studying for my finals. I am woefully unprepared. At least I still have time. First final - Friday.

I think the excitement and lack of sleep are catching up with me. Last night I had a weird dream about giving engagement rings to two different women, but one was a mistake and I didn't really even know her. I had to try to find her and fix it so the second wouldn't be upset. I'm not sure I actually wanted to marry either one. (I don't know where Wife was during all this - clearly she did not exist, yet.) The weirdness must be from lack of sleep coupled with the episode of Brothers and Sisters we watched last night where Kitty is starting an affair.

I am happy to report I got a fairly good night's sleep and am ready to tackle work and study!

Reporting Live from My Last Class

This is Law School Mama, soon to be Law School Graduate Mama, reporting live at 8:26pm, Monday, April 27, 2009. I am currently sitting in my last formal law school class ever! My professor is standing at the front of the clasroom discussing undocumented workers in the context of immigration law as if we are all still paying attention. I am copying the notes she is writing on the board, drinking champagne and writing this post. (Hey, I might as well get in all of the "bad" behavior I've missed out on while I still can. If that is the case, I should be shopping online. Yes, I've actually witnessed that behavior.)

I best pay attention now. This is it, folks!
Thanks to all of you for sticking with me over the years.

More to come as I enter finals in the next few days...

Last Local Government Law Class!!

I am currently in my very last local government law class ever! This has been one of my very least favorite classes and I will not be sad to say goodbye to it forever!

Sadly, the final is a closed-book, no note final. We had only cases as class materials, so most content was by lecture. He was not the best, nor the worst lecturer..but I am quite uneasy about the material I need to memorize. Great...he just mentioned something that sounds totally unfamiliar that is not in my notes anywhere. Even as he is reviewing material, he keeps saying, "Remember when we talked about...? Wasn't that the case....?" Ugh. Just thinking about this stuff is bringing me down from my last class high.

I have to be sure and not overindulge in food (or alcohol) during the upcoming time of celebration. Yesterday at work there was an immense chocolate cake and there was lots left today. I had two pieces yesterday, but today was good about only having about three bites. Still, chocolate and Cokes are great ways to celebrate, to keep awake while studying, and to cope with stress, and if I am not careful, I will end up needing the best rated diet pills. I am sure walks in the sun will be much healthier than all the possible goodies within my reach. As long as the sun stays out, I'm happy to indulge in that kind of treat!

Summer is Calling

Spring has arrived! We had a beautiful weekend, with tulips in full bloom, and the sun shining down upon us. It was the perfect weekend to start dreaming about beach vacation rentals - any beach, anytime, is a really good thing!

We may escape for a few days following my last final...wait, let me say that again, my LAST FINAL...*grin*...and before bar review starts. Bar review, for me, will be formal 5-6 day per week 3 1/2 hour classes for 6 weeks, then 2 weeks of studying on my own right before the exam. Those that run the class say to expect about 6 hours of homework per day. How fun does that sound? Great summer, right? Well, after July 29th, it will all be over.

In the mean time, I will dream about being done with finals and soaking up a little sun and ocean air to get in the proper frame of mind to learn everything I need to know to pass the bar. (...and the sound of semi-hysterical laugher fades into the distance....end scene.)

Three Class Days Left!

What a fun and weird place to be. I have three class days left of law school - two next week and one the following week. It is very exciting and in some ways, things are going too fast to take time to consider. First, I study like crazy to figure out what it is I am supposed to know for the three classes for which I have finals, then I get finals out of the way, have about a week off, go through graduation, then start bar review. Bar review will be long and hard and tedious and frustrating because it has so little to do with anything I want to do with my life (other than passing the bar!)- yet - it is a ritual, and a requirement - and part of the whole law school experience. At the end of July, it will all be over. Weird to finally be here.

Despite not having a new job to go to yet, I feel strangely positive that all will work out well. In my current job, I can go down to half time during bar review, which means I can still work, and not be stressed about trying to learn a new job. It is comfortable and that will be good during the stress of the next few months. In that time, I'll keep up my networking, watching for things in my field of interest, and remain positive that I will end up in a good place that will move my career along on the path that I want to be traveling.

Best of luck to all of you who find yourselves similarly situated! We've almost done it!

Happy 7th Birthday, Boy Wonder!

Boy Wonder was born 7 years ago today. What an amazing 7 years it has been! I remember when he was born, C-section after 38 hours of labor (Wife was a total trooper!), how amazing it was to finally hold him, and how wonderful to give him his first bath when he was less than one-hour old. (Picture of that on Wife's blog today.) I had no clue what I was doing or how to get him into the onesie I was handed by the nurse, but I managed. Wife was still hooked up to an IV and such during our first night together, so he was my boy to watch after, to freak out about when he was coughing up disgusting tar-looking stuff, and to notice the next day that he was turning yellow and then orange. Those first few days were scary. Time spent in the NICU with nurses without much more to do than pay way too much attention to our baby and notice every thing that could possibly be wrong (but wasn't, thank God!) was nerve-wracking.

Now....7 years later, Boy Wonder is a beautiful, smart, funny boy. No longer a baby, or a toddler, or a preschooler. To look at him now, he is a kid, a real boy, and all boy he is. Sometimes, Wife and I look at each other and have no idea where he gets the things he does. It's not like we are teaching him typical male behaviors, but there they are, just the same.

Maybe his predisposition to love video games is a "boy behavior," but maybe not, as our Little Princess is following in her brother's footsteps. He told me last week he was going to help her become a computer whiz, too. What a sweet big brother, right?

For his Birthday, celebrated on Sunday (and today) we surprised him with a Ninetendo DS , which we'd told him would be a long time before we could get for him. We found one on a good sale, and he has been beside himself happy about it. He's been very happy with his Gameboy Advance, but all the new games are only being release in the DS version now, and the new device has many more capabilities, plus can play his current Gameboy games, so we figured we'd go ahead and get it for him. From other family members, he received a couple of new games and gift cards, so he could go choose another couple games for himself. He chose Monsters v. Aliens, based on the new movie, and a version of Pokemon he didn't have, yet. We found out the DS even has voice capabilities. So far, Boy Wonder has been able to make a monster spit as a weapon when he tells him to. Cool, right?

Yup - he's gone from a teeny, tiny helpless baby to a big First Grader, skilled in reading, math and video games and so much more. His moms could not be more proud.

Happy Birthday, Son!

Milestone

My FINAL paper of law school has been turned in.

What more is there to say?

Oh, right - WAHOOOOOOO!!!!

Random Thoughts During Painfully Dull Class

Random thoughts during the last 50 minutes of class, or whenever I hit "post."

- Happy Anniversary, Wife! Happy 14 years of marriage - may we celebrate many, many, many, many more wonderful years together!

- Hey - there is only ONE CLASS left of new material for this class! Thank God. This guy is killing me. If I hear any more hesitancy and uncertainly of facts, I may scream.

- I am so happy that I am getting close to being done with my FINAL PAPER OF LAW SCHOOL. I still need to add in the figures, polish and check the whole thing, but I am so close that I am thrilled!

- It was so fun to take the kids to Monsters v Aliens last week. See Wife's Blog about our April Fool's Day. After discovering our surprise was taking them to the movies, Boy Wonder declared, "This is the Best Day Ever!" I love that he has a lot of these. He is a happy boy. (Note: Both kids LOVED the movie and near the end both let me know that we had to buy it because it was "the best movie ever." As far as animated features, I still prefer Monsters, Inc., but this one was pretty fun.)

Fancy Nancy and the Four-Year-Old

Life with kids is never dull. :)

Just as Boy Wonder is mostly getting his behavioral act together, Our Little Princess has turned four. We are not so very amused about four. The kids have cousins who turned four within just a few weeks of the Princess's Birthday. Their parents are not amused by four either. The complete stranger that I met at The Learning Palace with twins is not so much amused by four. Four is not that much fun. We would like to go back to three or skip to five now, thankyouverymuch.

Four is filled with sass and attitude and even more independence than three. Fortunately, for us, four is also filled with cuteness, cuddliness, and a thought-process that never ceases to amaze. Our four-year-old can solve most problems for you - just ask and a creative, if not practical, solution will be offered. Our Princess also has a great vocabulary - tossing around words like "flabergasted," "apprehensive," and "hideous." We've found that she is learning some of these words from her tv shows. Nice that they are educational, right? She also learns them from her Fancy Nancy books. She only has one or two right now, but we've read a couple in stores. We were hoping she might get one for her birthday that we talked her out of buying "just in case," but I suspect we will eventualy have to get it. The book she fell in love with was "Bonjour, Butterfly." Now that I look at other titles though, I think the perfect one for her might be Fancy Nancy's Favorite Fancy Words. It seems to be on a pretty good Sale at Buy.com, and we do love getting presents in the mail.

I suspect Little Miss Four would love learning all of the fancy words and inserting them into her vocabulary. Fancy Nancy not only uses big, fancy words, but she explains what they mean so the readers (or listeners) will know. In some ways, the books are a little irritating, but I think it is just that they are SOOOOOOO girly-girl, which is exactly what our girly-girl loves about them.

I have to admit, books are one thing that are really hard to say "no" to when the kids ask. Now that Boy Wonder sometimes reads bedtime stories to his little sister, I do not regret any of our book purchases or time spent reading together. I can see it paying off, and it is amazing.

Framed! (Just the memories.)

"So, this is Spring Break," she said, staring out the window of her office into the gloomy, rain-soaked cement courtyard. Around her was spread out law review articles, snippets of Supreme Court cases, an Immigration Law syllabus, various pens, paper, and highlighters, and of course, the trusty laptop.

Spring Break has become more like Spring Catch-Up, and neither me nor my family is enjoying it much. Fortunately tomorrow we are going to get out of town for a few days to visit Wife's family and celebrate kids' birthdays, so maybe that will provide a little much needed escape.

I'm almost done with my half workday so I can switch to homework. I'm in the midst of a HUGE research paper that I never should have gotten myself into, but did. I'm staring at my digital picture frame, which tells the story of a couple of snowy days back in December. At the time, we thought it was a decent amount of snow, but compared to what followed, it was nothing. Still, I love the way the pictures move from one to the next, showing the first bits of snowfall, the kids playing in it, the small snowman that was later built, and the creation of snow angels. I see now how a person could carefully load the pictures in a particular order to really tell the story in an artful way, like we do for the "movie" slideshows Wife and I have made for each other for computer playback. Of course, those have music, so are much more powerful, but these silent shows have their own beauty.


I remember when the digital frames first came out. They were so expensive! I had one coworker with one that I just loved. Now you can get a good digital picture frame on Sale for under $50. The one I linked to above is only $33 with free shipping. Can't beat that. Truthfully, I know nothing about the brand, but even the low end ones these days seem pretty decent, especially if it is just to have at work as a nice distraction and reminder of what is important.

Perhaps in the next couple of weeks I will switch my silent show from snowtime to springtime. Bring on the sunny days!

Drives and Backing up...

Yesterday at work I was without access to all of my drives. Yes. All. Even my C://drive. How does that happen? Actually about half of us were without drives. (Not to be confused with lacking drive...) Without even our c://drive no applications would open, there was no desktop access, there was very little productivity.

I did have my laptop and switched back and forth between work work (phone calls and email) and school work. Thank goodness for my lovely little pen drive. How much do we love these handy, dandy lifesavers? The cost of these fabulous creatures had been reduced drastically - like the one you'll see if you click on the link above is under $9 for 4GB (Sale price). You can store a ton of stuff in your pocket to transfer between one computer and another for that price. In fact, they have come down in price enough
that they make great back-up storage.

When our friends from California visited us last week, we discussed backing up our law school notes and papers....on Webdisk, on pen drives, as a different name on the same computer....etc. We've all heard horror stories of someone's computer crashing just before finals, and there went all their notes....

Why was I writing about this? Oh, right....because today my drives are back and now I am a very appreciative worker bee. I LOVE having access to all my drives, my applications, being able to send attachments with my emails...fun, fun, fun! We all need a day like that to show us how much we are at the mercy of our computers, and the ITG folks. They never should have laid off so many people that do tech support....

The L Word - Longing for More

For those who have been following my blog for the past 3+ years (bless you!), you may have noticed that I have been suspiciously quiet about The L Word this season. Yes. As always, I have enjoyed it and I am sad to say, the series finale has come and gone. This season was certainly not as good as the others, in most respects. The entire premise of the season was just a set up for a spin-off that producer Ilene Chaiken hopes to sell to Showtime and develop another series.

The season focused on "Who killed Jenny Schecter," one of the main characters. Each new episode featured another of the main characters developing motive to kill Jenny, and vocalizing the threat. Many of the actions are out of character, and the situations overly contrived. Jenny's behavior went completely over-the-top.

OK - maybe that does happen to people. I want to give Ilene the benefit of the doubt. After all, she put lesbians into prime time, and made us sexy, successful and multifaceted. She created a family of characters that tons of people have blogged about, many Internet communities thrived on, and people are still talking about, even if it is in a negative, I-can't-believe-you-ended-the-show-this-way way.

What way would that be? She did not tell us who the murderer was, and claims to not even know herself. Fancying myself somewhat of a writer - I kind of understand this. Sometimes the story itself takes over, and presents its own answers, and maybe that just didn't happen. Maybe it will happen after an innocent woman goes to jail. Maybe we will get to find out how it all unravels because Showtime is now providing via the Internet the murder interrogation tapes, post-series finale, for us to all absorb. This involves loyal fans watching favorite friends say things totally out-of-character, thus ruining a bit of the integrity of the show...but still....we hang on...and we watch....and we wait for the movie...because, by God, there might eventually be another series with lesbians on TV.

This really has been ground-breaking television. It is the first series to focus around lesbians - their lives, their friends, their careers - just life, same as most shows, but without the heterosexual couples. It was done in a big, glamorous way, removed a bit from reality so as to entertain and filled with lots of eye candy, sure to make viewers, gay and straight, happy. So far, a 5-season boxed set of The L Word is on sale at various places. Presumably, in the fall, the 6th and final season will be added.

We own the first four seasons, so eventually will have to get the other two. For me, this is really a must-have for my DVD collection. It will be interesting to look back in 10 years and see what has changed, beyond hair styles and fashions. Hopefully, by then, there will have been many more lesbian-focused series, and we'll be saying, "Remember when this was the first?"

Ilene has been a role model for me, and though many people are quite upset by what she did to her show, the genius is that she had a show for 6 seasons that she could manipulate as she so desired. The ratings were so good that Showtime kept the show on for 6 seasons, and has agreed to a movie piloting the next possible show. She developed characters that we loved, and hated, and lusted after, and cried for - we were all along for the ride. What writer doesn't want to create a reality so powerful that people get angry when the characters do not act in accord with their personality, or who protest when someone dies, or is outraged when a couple breaks up? This is success. Ilene deserves huge credit for the world she created and for her part in advancing lesbian visability.

I Won't Need Sunscreen

Spring Break. It conjures up images of the beach, volley ball, sunscreen and too much alcohol. Wait...maybe that is just MTV. When you are a law student "spring break" tends to conjure up images of outlining, researching and paper writing. Cr*p - who signed up for this deal?

Somehow we got this far in the semester and I've not outlined anything. I have kept up on my reading and for at least one class, that is a HUGE requirement because it all builds on each other and won't make any sense unless you keep up. Still....I need to spend a couple days playing Review What I've Learned and a couple days doing some serious paper writing. It will be so great to have my paper DONE!

So, though there may be cheap travel insurance available, I don't think I will need it this spring break. A quick driving trip up to see Wife's family and celebrate birthdays is about as far as we'll be adventuring. At least we will save money on sunscreen.

Thinking About Vacations

Did anyone see Private Practice this past week? I will admit that it is one of shows that we record and watch later, and really, it is mostly fluff and eye-candy. It has gotten substantively better this season as compared with last, but still....it is mostly pretty doctors deciding with whom they should have sex, and somewhere along the way saving, or losing, patients.

Anyway, in last week's episode, one of the main characters is making vacation plans for her ex-husband and his new girlfriend. She's surfing the web and a co-worker sees the beautiful tropical pictures on her screen and declares it "vacation porn." How accurate is that?! Haven't we all spent at least some time drooling over the destinations we lust after?

I saw a great shot for Machu Picchu travel just last week. I once interviewed a woman who had just gotten back from Machu Picchu for an article I was writing and I've been in love with the idea of going there ever since. Natural beauty combined with history and timeless mystery. Sounds good, doesn't it? Of course, right now, a few days ANYWHERE away from the work and stress of real life sounds good.

Friends from the Blogosphere

On Friday we had some Blogger friends (Hi Audra and Dylan)that we'd never met in real life before stop by our house. It was fun meeting them in person, and we all had an easy, casual time, which is what you hope for in these situations, but it doesn't always happen.

The kids showed off as they always do when we have visitors - playing fashion show and various other things while we watched on and tried to have adult conversations. Eventually the kids found a nice balance betweent their own games and letting us talk...I think it happened shortly after I put pizza in front of the kids. :)

Dylan is also in law school, so eventually conversation rolled around to that topic. Just before we bored our partners into comas, Wife and Audra left the room to have their own conversation that centered around NOT law school. We were all entertained and engrossed in good conversation, so a good time was had by all.

Our friends were on a vacation, which we both agree is a great idea. Where is the toll free number where we can get one of those? I suspect a good vacation is some months away for us....but maybe we'll enjoy a mini-vacation or two here and there to keep us sane.

No time for rest

Things sure have gotten busy. Have I mentioned that I was stupid enough to get myself into a paper class my last semester? Yes, it's true and it is sucking up SO MUCH TIME, as paper classes tend to do. Granted, paper classes tend to be where I learn a lot and it is some of the most interesting time spent...but the time is inversely proportional to the amount of credit earned. That means there are other classes to be fretting over and studied for. Where has the time gone?

OK, this is no time to stress out. Maybe a nice little nap on the just-right mattress I'd like to buy from the discount furniture store or some such place, would be good. Nap, study, nap, study...oh, right, work. There is that...and there are these little kids running around my house making napping nearly impossible. Well, it is a nice fantasy.

Back to my regularly scheduled life.....

Of Carpets and Dr. Seuss

There are advantages to rarely being at home during daylight hours. The first, and perhaps most important, is that you don't notice how dirty the dogs and cats have gotten the carpet. I went home part-way through the day yesterday so I could study, hang out with the dogs that have been left alone much of the week because Wife has been busy with the Book Fair at Boy Wonder's school, and be ready to enjoy Dr. Seuss Night (also at the school) that evening.

I cleaned the carpets only a few weeks ago, but already they don't look so great, and the spots of cat throw up donot helped. (Thanks anyway, girls!) YUCK. Maybe we need one of the powerful steam cleaners, rather than a fairly simple and inexpensive carpet cleaner. I certainly know why Wife wants us to get the carpets professionally done, but I just can't see doing it right now, with the spring rains about to start and our backyard already looking like a giant mud puddle. Perhaps we should wait until warmer, drier weather sets in.

As a follow up - Dr. Seuss night was fun for all, the kids both came home with their faces painted and carrying more spoils from the Book Fair, which has been a huge success this week. Be sure to check out Wife's blog.

(Nearly) Have Degree - Will Travel (Not)

A couple days ago I heard two day students talking (I make the distinction because they are generally younger, have less responsibilities, have the luxury of participating in whatever activities and clerkships they are fortunate enough to qualify for, and often have somwhat different priorities than the majority of evening students) about where they want to work.

"I'll go wherever the jobs are."

"I hear there are still firms hiring in Texas."

As the discussion went on, they were pretty sure the jobs were not in a cool part of Texas, but were probably in some barren wasteland devoid of all culture and real opportunity. I guess they could have hopped on the Internet and checked out some job sites. Maybe there are good opportunities in San Antonio or Dallas. I imagine Dallas resumes would look pretty much the same as those you'd send to New York, Seattle, or LA. It must be nice to have the flexibility to be able to move wherever will be best for your career. One of the guys was talking about going to another country to practice International Law.

I have to say, as exciting as moving might be to provide opportunity, Wife and I are at a point in our lives we'd like to stay close to family. It's important to us, and good for the kids. Besides, we already live in what is arguably the best part of the country now - mild weather, very few natural disasters, very few dangerous (poisonous) insects or reptiles, it is a beautiful environment, lots of "green" people into recycling and doing good things for the earth, largely Democrats, fairly supportive of gay rights and progressive legislation. Finding a good job here will be just right for our family.

Spinning Positive

OK, folks, I think it is time for some positivity. Everywhere we turn these days there is depressing news, people are worried, scared, and spreading their fears and depression like wildfire. I heard on a talk radio show the other day where a top economist was asked when we'd see a turn-around in the economy. He said not to ask him, but to instead ask a psychologist. He believed that much of what will get us out of this bad economy are our own attitudes, beliefs and behaviors.

Is will certainly take more than just one person being positive - it requires our entire culture, or at least, a fair portion of it. We have to believe that good things will happen, spread encouragement and enthusiasm, and then be brave enough to try new things rather than hoping the same old ways of doing things are going to produce different results.

For myself, I am going to be conscious of focusing on all of the positive things in my life and how grateful I am for them. I have a wonderful Wife, amazing children, a nice home, a good job, family health insurance, food in the refrigerator, loving furry members of our family, the opportunity to go to law school, all of us are relatively healthy, and so much more.

When negativity is ruling, all of those things may seem to have a down side, or something that is difficult to deal with sometimes, but looked at in a positive light - they are amazing things that so many people do not have and I am grateful for everything good that is in my life.

Everything but the kitchen sink?

I need to clean out my wallet. Let me be clear, the money is already gone, but still it is so stuffed with business cards, membership cards, coupons, loose change, notes and I-don't-know-what-all that it is literally falling apart. What is really sad is the fact that I don't even carry the majority of the "stuff" that goes in a wallet. Wife carries WAY MORE than I do. Her wallet is at least 2x bigger than mine. Several years back I got rid of almost everything in my wallet. I was only going to carry my license, cash card, insurance cards and that was about it. Somehow, much of it has crept back in, but when I think about it, how often do I actually reference any of the non-essential material? Not much, and yet, there it is. I can't help but think that I am not the only one afflicted by this problem. There is probably money to be made helping people clean out and organize their wallets, similar to the people that help you organize your home. Hey! That's what I can do if this law thing doesn't work out. Wait...let me find my card....

Sunny Day Dreamin'

It is a gorgeous day with clear blue skies and the promise of the weekend just ahead. It is still chilly, but the sun is starting to warm things, and the hint of spring is heavy in the air. I know this is just a tease. Heck...we had a bit of snow just two days ago...but I can tell spring is on its way!

First this tease, then it will get rainy and yucky....generally about April I hit the stores looking for sale on garden supplies and plants. A sunny weekend spent getting the garden in shape is just the thing to shake the winter blues. I have already been browsing on line and found a very cool natural gas campfire. How cool would this be? It is beautiful and would provide a clean fire at the touch of a switch any time you wanted. No need to look for firewood, kindling, newspapers and matches. It would be common enough to have a fire that the kids would not be so excited every time we have one that they can barely listen to fire safety rules (somewhat of a challenge for us last summer). Yes, the yard would have to be rearranged so it could be the center of a beautifully landscaped garden area -

What? The dogs? The kids? The cabin-sized tent we put up every year over numerous weekends? Oh, right...OK, I'm back to reality. Still, it's fun to dream and this is a beautiful day for it.

On Being a Semi-Job-Seeker

Here I am, on the cusp of graduation, wanting very much to move on in my career, and yet practical enough to know where I am now is a great place to be during these last months of school and through bar prep. The job is low stress, those I work with supportive, and I should be able to drop to half-time during Bar-Bri study time.

Still, I surf frequently, just in case that perfect "in" to a desired company, or even better, the perfect position, opens up. I've met with various leaders in my field of interest and have a list of probably 20-30 contacts that I have met with and try to keep in touch with at least many of them. There are certainly not many positions open, nor much stir about future openings, other than the knowledge that energy, my chosen field, will eventually boom. I'm not waiting for the explosion, and am looking carefully for the tiny click of a door potentially opening.

The other day, as I was searching the "career" section of a variety of companies who manufacture renewable energy sources, such as windmills and solar panels, I came across something that sounded promising. It was something about being a part of the energy solution, a member of a growing team committed to the environment...etc....it turned out to be jobs in sales. Not exactly what I had in mind. The search continues...

A Long, Pleasant Drive

Today we drove 2 hours to get to my great-niece's 4th birthday party. We've only been to their town once before, prior to Boy Wonder being born. Since it seems kind of far away for a couple hour birthday party, we've not been looking forward to the drive, but we have been looking forward to seeing my niece's new house. As it ended up the drive went fairly quickly, the kids were good, and we were really glad we went.

Thanks to a sale before Christmas, I am now the proud and happy owner of a handheld navigational device which we took as a backup to the written instructions emailed to us by my niece. Because the instructions contain such tips as, "You will pass a llama ranch and later a buffalo ranch" we knew we were going out in the middle of nowhere and there was no cell phone service if we got lost. The Christmas gift proved an excellent assurance that we were on the right track! We arrived before the party-start time, and we all had a great time visiting with family while we were there.

Long car trips can be a challenge and I have to say I don't know what we did before our portable DVD player, Leapster, and GameBoy. Boy Wonder has loved his Leapster since his 4th Birthday when he received it and was so absorbed that he did not even notice the guests left until 10 minutes after everyone was gone. Now Our Little Princess is the main Leapster player, using her brother's for a long time until she got her own pink version for Christmas. She was thrilled! The Leapster games are great - the kids feel like they are just playing a game, but educational components are built into game play so we can feel good about the hours they spend staring at the screen! I can't say that Boy Wonder's GameBoy is nearly as educational, but it too does build certain skills, such as logic, planning, and of course, hand-eye coordination. The Leapster though is something we always feel good about. I'd highly recommend one for passing the time on long car trips!

Appreciating the Good Stuff

Why is it that after Christmas, just when you're kind of back to semi-healthy eating habits, Girl Scout cookies and Camp Fire candy come out? I mean really - who can resist those scrumptious goodies? It is almost anti-American to pass by kids, selling chocolaty deliciousness, earning money for camp. Perhaps another group should come along in April selling an assortment of diet pills as their fundraiser!

Let's just say, we have done our parts this year, and probably not shared with the children nearly as much as might be expected. Hey - it is expensive stuff, and they don't appreciate the rarity of the treats nearly as much as we do. Is anyone buying this excuse for indulgence? I certainly hope so!

Slowly Creeping Out of Denial

Do you know if you misspell "denial" you get "denali" which is a town in Alaska? I am thinking "Slowly Creeping Out of Denali" might be a good name for a book which could later be adapted into a screenplay for a major feature film. That's what I'll be doing rather than being a lawyer.

A lawyer? Really? Seriously? So, was it the fantastic hours, the great reputation or the enormous student loans that first attracted me to the profession? Maybe it was the killer 2-day exam at the end of a HUGELY expensive 4-year education that if you don't pass you don't get to play the game?

All kidding aside, just for a moment, yesterday I went to a presentation/ Q&A session with a sampling of our state's Bar Examiners, ordered my cap and gown, and sent away for the bar application kit. Apparently, ready or not, graduation and the bar exam are rapidly approaching. Wow.

If any of my classmates are reading this, the most valuable tip I got was that the March 31st deadline for the bar application is really just the deadline for the application itself. You can send in supplemental materials, such as DMV records, later.

OK, so, I get through this last batch of classes, somehow piece together a freaking major research paper that I never should have gotten myself into (but that will probably prove to be the most interesting thing I am working on) and before you know it - BAM - I will have pretty initials after my name.

Crazy.

Happy Valentine's Day!

Boy Wonder was so cute this morning, excitedly reading every one of his Valentine cards to me. His class had a party yesterday and they all exchanged cards...some with candy...you can imagine how exciting that was!

This weekend we will celebrate a "Family" Valentine's Day, with candy and little stuffed animals for the kids (hey - they were on sale), and maybe a little something for us grown-ups, too. If we are lucky, maybe tomorrow night we'll get the kids to bed early, pop open a bottle of wine, and NOT watch Sponge Bob!

Admission - I love TV

I admit it, I am a TV junkie. I love good, mindless entertainment. I want scripted, acted stories - none of this reality TV crap that is passing as entertainment these day. Put writers and actors and producers to work - and create something to entertain me.

If you have been following my blog for long, you may know that I enjoy The L Word quite a lot. Who doesn't enjoy watching beautiful women involved in high drama? There are usually entertaining story lines, though not always the ones the fans want to see, but it provides a nice combination of romance and comedy. That is entertainment!

We still have not moved up into a big screen TV. The new 26" (?) we purchased last summer is a monster compared to the old 19". Hey, it was on sale when the old one died, so we got the biggest one that we could both afford and that would fit into our cabinet. It is important to us to be able to just shut the TV away sometimes. (Mostly to make the house look good for company!)My point here was really that I don't have to watch TV on a movie screen, with stereo sound presented in HD....my needs are simple. Entertain me.

Gray's Anatomy is entertaining, even when it is not that good. As many of you may know, it got mingled in double episodes with Private Practice for the last two weeks. Gray's Anatomy has been popular for a while now, in fact, so long that it's losing some of the "it" that made it such a success. Sad, really. Private Practice, a spin off, is actually getting to where it is almost as good as the original. During the first season, the show was total eye candy fluff, and yet, rather enjoyable. I would totally buy the first season, partly just to get the whole series at some point, but also just because it was such blatant "pretty people" playing doctor on the sunny shores of California. Pure escapism. Couldn't we all use a bit of that right now?

Crazy Week at Work

Well, it has been an interesting week at work.

Wait, let me try that again....

It has been an i-n-t-e-r-e-s-t-i-n=g week at work.

Did you catch the sarcasm that time?

We are undergoing a reorg, which is not a result of the economy, but the result of a new dean, which means, we've been expecting it. We are even a small part of the process. So, everyone is a little on edge about what all of the new lines between the boxes on the charts really stand for....

Add in the economy, legislative session stresses and a number of other things, and let's just say the powers that be have been cranky and it has many of us looking for the exit signs. Better to take a little break than get in the line of fire, you know?

Two days ago I did not get out fast enough and got caught in some crossfire. It was not fun. It was not personal. It was merely a stress explosion from someone that should know much better. Still, left me with an icky feeling that I am mostly over today.

I am ready to again be positive and move forward and enjoy this job for as long as I am here. There are good people, things to learn, and much flexibility, which has served me so well, and should continue to do so as I move into bar prep.

It continues.....

I took a restroom break from the torture, walked back in and heard the words, "I don't know." In the past 90 seconds, I've heard it two more times. He can't add to what the case says about one of the points he seems to be trying to make.

Really?

In that same 90 seconds, a student corrected him and he said that is what he had said, but it wasn't. The student was right.

13 more minutes.

Yes, I am counting.

Still, seems like a nice enough guy. See how fair I am trying to be?

The torture continues...

Did this guy really just say, "I don't really know about this, has anyone heard of this?" He then proceeded to write it on the board....but it may not be right since he seems to be guessing. I am so not OK with that....He is sounding a bit more confident about part of it here, but I am not really sure it is very important to the case. I am not sure what is important about any of the cases he is discussing because all parts are delivered with the same intensity. Wait..he is reading part of the case out loud. Shoot me now.

This is torture. What is that sound? Dripping water? Yes, his voice is the drip, drip, drip of water slowly splashing upon my forehead and causing me unbelievable agony. Quick, someone, get a Delta faucet and save us all! There must be some remedy for this violation.

I bet he is a very nice guy and a good attorney.

Will this class ever end?

I admit it. I am in the middle of a class. I am bored nearly to tears and must do something to amuse myself. Posting a blog entry seemed somewhat better than screaming out loud or throwing something to interfere with the crime that is being commited upon us at the front of the classroom.

I am happy to report that the fog in my mind has mostly cleared and I am somewhat engaged in most of my classes, except this one. It feels good to no longer feel I need a tool, like spring plungers, to clear out my mind and allow it to function again. Being engaged and somewhat interested certainly makes classes go by more quickly.

This class is dragging. What the heck is this guy talking about? I don't think anyone is paying attention. It seems pointless. Ugh.

Thinking About Technology

It has been pointed out to me that I am disappointing my readers by not writing more posts to entertain and distract them from their uninspiring work. So, with that in mind, I bring to you a New Post. Thank all that is good!

Today I have been thinking about the benefits and hazards of our technologically advanced world that allows us to constantly be bombarded by distractions and multitasking on a level never even conceived possibly as recently as 10 years ago. Cell phones, text messages, banner ads (Remember those...are they almost gone? We've learned to tune them out so well.....), instant messages on our computers, Blue Tooth (Is the plural Blue Teeth?), constant email, laptop computers that can go anywhere, and possibly most annoying of all to me - advertisements along the bottom of my television screen while I am watching another show. Who the heck thought that was a good idea? "Hey - let's add an annoying animation at the bottom of the screen so people know what is coming up next and will stick around and watch it. Really?"

Don't mistake what I am saying - I love technology. My cell phone is with me wherever I am. I could not live without my email. My newest gadget - a Nuvi navigational device is a really cool toy. Still, I sometimes worry about the next generation. Teens seem to think it is OK to text while driving. Having a conversation - voice or text - during a meal out is commonplace. Surfing the net, doing homework, listening to an iPod and watching TV, all at the same time, is not a foreign concept to the students of today.

Yes, I am a student myself, and have been known to multitask more than might be beneficial to me at times, and actually almost understand it when younger people say they have to be doing lots of things at once. I think their brains have been programmed that way....or maybe it reflects a lack of ability to concentrate on one thing for more than a few minutes. Are we raising a generation of people with the attention span of a 10-week-old puppy, moving from one shiny object to the next? Do they have the capacity to have a face-to-face conversation unaided by any technology?

I am probably sounding old. Maybe I am. I think the school-age kids of today are amazing with their technological savvy and ability to multi-task. Those are skills that will undoubtedly be required in the world we have created, but what are the long-term affects of the constant stimulation? Will we see more depression? Faster burn-out? Less satisfaction with life overall? Or - will this generation adapt so well to the constant level of "noise" that they ride it like a wave and will thrive on the fast-pace of change that will likely characterize their lives? Ultimately, will the technology prove to be a detriment to their overall well-being or will they harness it to create the lives they desire?

A Good Day

Just sharing a happy picture I found on my phone from a visit to the Children's Museum last weekend. Boy Wonder was very pleased with his creation. In the end, he managed to use every block in the display.

Happy Weekend!

Not Feeling It

I resisted the urge to post on this blog during my local government class last night. I was not quite bored enough to want to poke my eyes out just to entertain myself, but could clearly see the day coming that I will be in such a state. I could choose to load up on candy and eat my way through class, keeping a steady sugar high , but then I'd end up needing to buy weight loss pills, so that's no fun. Besides, it is my first of three classes; load on sugar during class #1 and there is nowhere to go but down.

It is probably not that the prof is particularly boring. (Though his stumbling through his reference materials in response to questions was not particularly inspiring.) I just need an attitude adjustment. I am ready to be done and don't want to do do the work to get there. I have no clue HOW I am going to gear up and write a 25+ page paper for another of my classes. How did I manage to sign up for that particular torture? I was thinking it would be a 10-15 page paper, that's how.

I am not the only one in this particular state of apathy. Those of us on our 8th semester of law school are all feeling quite done, thank you very much. I know I will get into the swing of things and the semester will fly by. In the mean time, I think my classmate who wants us all to quit law school to run off and work at a Borders in Costa Rica is onto something.

The Highs and Lows

What a week it has been! Filled with highs and lows. If this keeps up, I'll need to rig not only my car, but by rolling computer case with performance parts! First, although I imagine anyone particularly interested in my life has already checked Wife's blog for updates on this, Boy Wonder gained weight this week! We are hugely relieved. He has also been hungry the past day and a half...another really good sign. There are still tests being done, but overall, we are feeling positive.

Other highlights? Wife's dad was hit by a car, and broke his leg...and an update...his neck. Docs missed it the first two days. We are not impressed with the level of care he has been getting. We are not sure if the neck injury will mean surgery or not. Waiting for neurosurgeon to assess. We are going to visit him this weekend. Poor guy....being severely restricted in his movement due to his leg is going to be tough enough on him, adding in neck pain, potential surgery, collars, and who knows what all? Very sad and scary for him.

I have completed my first week of classes. My overall impression is that all of my classes feel like they will be very long. I am ready to be done. All are decent classes and I will learn a lot. Still, feeling very done, as are my fellow 4th year classmates.

More? The roof and siding issues were repaired for free by wonderful guys filled with integrity. If you live near us and need recommendations, let us know. I have never been so impressed by people just wanting to do the right thing.

OK - I best go get my homework done so I can get home to my family, pack, and be ready to travel in the morning. Stay safe everyone!

A Little Levity

Here's something you don't see every day:



In case you have trouble reading the note, it says, "Free Rubber Chicken."

It was in our kitchen/workroom at work. Being the smart-*ss that I can be, I later walked by and added the word "range" after "free."

Attention 2009 - Turn Yourself Around

OK, so 2009 is not starting out great. I have a theory though. It could be the resident evil and his minions are having a last ditch free-for-all before Hope takes over on January 20th. It could be the old, evil ways kicking and screaming as they lose power. I pointed out to Wife last night that we all think January should be this great, new time - a fresh year, clean slate and all....but really, it's pretty much the start of winter. Cold, dark winter. Maybe the new year should start in March instead.

Of all the things that have happened, most have been tempered by circumstances making them better than they could be, if not actually "good." They leaky roof/ceiling only cost us $100 (which possibly made the problem worse, but it got us through Christmas) because the people who originally put on our roof and siding stood by their work and did the repairs for free. Wife's "check engine" light issue only cost us $410 instead of the $1100 we were first quoted. My cracked windshield was covered under our auto insurance. The odd flea outbreak (yuck! haven't seen a flea since we were last fostering a cat in our garage about 4 years ago) and Maddie's paw issue were easily resolved....$200 later.

Bigger issues - Wife's dad was hit by a car and won't be able to put weight on his leg for at least three months. This will mean some sort of transitional care until they can get him back into his own apartment. He will hate this, in part because he lives for his multiple long walks each day, not to mention needing the companionship of his cat. All really sucks...but still....considering that he was hit by a car, he is in relatively good shape.

Boy Wonder. We just do not know the cause for his dramatic weight loss. So far, as you know if you have been tracking progress on Wife's blog, the blood tests have not indicated anything seriously wrong. There will be more tests. So, far, the news is good, but overall, this is still very scary and we just want to know what is going on and how to make him all better.

Add to all of these little, and not so little things, the general stress of just barely having enough money to scrape by (thanks to student loans) and a crappy job market/economy as I am getting ready to graduate and pay back loans....well, it is a lot. I am pretty good at staying positive and believing that all will turn out OK, but some days are difficult. Wife is not nearly as good at seeing the bright side, maybe because she is more surrounded by the impacts every day. I can at least escape in work and school, but she must struggle with figuring out what the Boy will eat, getting him to the doctor, talking with the roofers, and all the every day stuff of laundry, cooking, dogs, breaking up the kid fights, and still trying to find some fun family time. It is a lot and she is about at the end of her rope. We could use not just this tempered bad/good luck, but some REALLY, TRULY GOOD LUCK. I know there are many in similar and worse situations right now. So, come on 2009, come on Universe, it is time for some HAPPINESS!

Random Thoughts in Early 2009

I have a few spare moments so thought I would share some random thoughts.

First - after May I will no longer be "Law School Mama," so then what? Seems silly to start a new blog with a more appropriate name, but this one will no longer be the adventures of a law student mom. Oh, who am I kidding? I will probably no longer have any time to blog! We shall see what happens.

Today I plan on going to school to buy my new books and put my old ones on the shelf in hopes that they will sell. Our school has a great program for reselling books. As long as it is a book currently being used, we can put it in the bookstore with a price, if someone wants it, the bookstore handles the sale and pays us later. I have probably been able to sell about half of my books this way. The tricky part is that often a class is only held once a year, or once every two years. You have to put it in the bookstore during the next semester the book is used...if it is even used again, and if a newer edition has not been released.

Lots of little and some potentially bigger things have happened over the past few weeks, decreasing our funds and increasing stress levels. These include roof repairs - times two, a vet visit, car repair - times two, and health issues with both kids. Hopefully all will resolve well and quickly and be behind us soon.

We want, expect, need and will be very grateful for good things in 2009!

2009 - What Will It Bring?

Another year ahead, full of promise and milestones. Sure, there is my graduation from law school, and hopefully, the passing of the bar, but there is so much more.

In just a few short weeks, our Little Princess turns four, and in April, Boy Wonder turns seven. How did that happen? How could it be we are out of onesies, bottles, diapers and strollers? There is no longer a need for baby bathtubs and Ju Ju Be diaper bags. Babies R Us is pretty much a place of our past. It is sad in many ways. They were such cute, cuddly babies. On the other hand, the big kids they are becoming are amazing and so much fun!

We can now play games together as a family, using most of the actual rules. We have family movie nights and mostly all watch the movie with interest. The kids engage in interesting, though often goofy, conversation, and consistently blow us away with their individual strengths; Boy Wonder's ability to read and master any video game; and our Little Princess's physical agility and uncanny vocabulary. It is amazing watching them turn into these remarkable people which it seems impossible we helped create.

Somehow, we have turned into a family with two kids - real kids - not babies, not toddlers, not a family that needs a high-chair or a booster seat at restaurants. We technically have a pre-schooler and a grade-schooler, moving confidently forward in the world, interacting with us in all new ways, and interacting with the world. Strange - and wonderful, too.

Slowing Down the Pace

Ah, school vacation.....What a nice, slow-paced few weeks I have had with my family. Granted, some has been sort of weird due to the snow and uncertainly of how it would affect Holiday plans, but still, nice. Home a lot, playing games, eating meals together. No thoughts of law cases, reading assignements, whether my notebook memory needs to be upgraded,or whether I have enough food in my 'fridg at work to take for dinner while at school.

I have another week off before my final semester begins, but for now, those thoughts are being blocked out in favor of UB Funkeys, Angelina Ballerina, Connect Four and what stories we will read before bed. It is a nice change of pace.

What is that White Stuff on the Ground?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

I could not believe that I woke up to more snow on the ground this morning. I immediately clicked on the tv to see about road conditions and weather forecasts. The snow was pretty much being ignored in favor of the more pressing news story - flooding. Too much rapidly melting snow, made worse by crazy amounts of rain, have turned many parts of our world into flood/mudslide zones. I am happy and relived to report that our immediate neighborhood is affected by neither. *Whew!*

I made it to work with no incidents - traveling a bit slower than usual due to the amount of rain and slush on the road. Even though we have relatively cheap car insurance, I would like to keep it that way by not getting into any accidents! I prefer to stay home when anything resembling snow or ice are on the road, but given the number of days away from work over the past couple of weeks, getting in seemed a priority, and relatively low risk since it was barely being talked about on the news.

It is now clear and sunny, and well-above freezing, so looks like our snow is gone - for now!

Christmas Updates

Merry Christmas to all!! We have had a wonderful past few days, though somewhat thrown off schedule by weather. Where to even start? I won't do weather coverage since anyone wanting pictures/updates of the kids can simply go to Wife's blog.

Santa was good to the kids, bringing one big present each, and then filling their stockings with toys, toothbrushes, candy and bath supplies (paint, foam, bubble bath). Mommies, Grandparents and a few distant relatives, including Auntie Stella, did a great job of filling the space underneath the tree, and we are still keeping busy playing with the new toys - kids toys, and adult ones, including a GPS navigational device from Wife that was totally unexpected.

We had a scare on Sunday night, after Christmas festivities with Wife's family (our second Christmas!) when loading the car. Our Little Princess had one of her pallid breath holding syndrome episodes. This is essentially a reflex where her body stops breathing when she gets suddenly hurt....she banged her head on the dvd player in the car while getting in her car seat, she started to scream, but nothing came out. Within seconds was turning blue and went limp. I grabbed her in my arms, started shaking her and calling her name. She did not come out of it as quickly as usual and totally freaked us out. Wife was yelling for her sister in case we needed an ambulance called, but could not run into the house because of a thick layer of ice. When I heard our baby girl gasp for air, it was a wonderful sound, and soon she was conscious again, with no real clue as to what had happened. We all went back into Wife's sister's house to get warm and stop shaking. We had to try to explain it to Boy Wonder, who had not seen it happen in so long that he did not remember it, and was quite shaken. We all were. Even though this is not life-threatening and she is supposed to grow out of it, it is frightening every time because...what if she does not start breathing again? We thank god she does not have something more serious like MS or cerebral palsy, and give thanks that both of our children are happy and healthy. May we always be grateful for that miracle.

Enjoy the Miracles in your life!

Snow Bugs

Want to see some cute weekend snow pictures? Check out Wife's Blog. Note the Boy's two missing front teeth! Probably in the next day or two Wife will post more photos from yesterday and today.

Happy Holidays!

"Let it Snow, let is snow, let it snow!"

Snow!!! Keep it coming!!!

We finally got our snow! OK, well, not the several inches that was predicted. In fact, probably barely an inch, but it was enough to play in, and pretty to watch. Now, everything is iced over and we can't go anywhere, so it may as well keep snowing! I managed to make it to work for all of barely two hours yesterday before dropping temps and accumulating snow sent me racing (OK, driving cautiously) home. By afternoon, all had warmed up and was melting, but then nighttime brought more cold air and snow. Yeah!

Boy Wonder's Christmas vacation has now officially started. We have days ahead of trying to figure out how to keep two kids busy and happy, while possibly being iced in. Snowed in will be much better since at least we can all go out and play in the snow. Could be more snow heading our way. Right now, we've pretty much used up what we had since it wasn't even enough to completely cover the grass. Still, we played in snow saucers, built a small Snow Mickey, and threw some snow balls. Inside it's mostly tv and computer games. We'll get out other activities later, and eventually Christmas movies. Hopefully the Christmas baking that is ahead won't cause us to go searching for Lipovox. Maybe pulling the kids on the saucers will prove exercise enough!

Hope everyone has a great weekend!

Let it Snow! (Please!!!!)

I am home from work for the second day, due to the weather. (Plus, Monday off for Wife's Birthday!) We were PROMISED a HUGE snowstorm. We got a bit over the weekend, which left roads icy. Today, however, the day of the promised storm, there is not even enough to measure yet. I am so sad. I really want to get out into enough snow to sled and have a snowball fight and build a snowman with the kids. How fun does that sound??? I know I have classmates who have not yet finished their finals and the school has closed (again), leaving them uncertain as to how/when they can take the exams. For them, I have sympathy. As for me - I am so happy I got done last week!

We wrapped up Christmas shopping yesterday, plus ran out late last night to get some more wrapping paper in case the storm had us unable to leave the house for several days. Yes, that happens here, where we are not equipped to deal with severe winter weather. We are all prepared to hang out, do Christmas baking, wrap presents, watch movies, surf the internet, click on links for known and unknown products like Chia Pets and Hydroxycut reviews, and play in the snow.

The snow it trying to come down, but it needs to try harder!

Time to Study - Then Shop!

One test down, two to go. I have some things I would like to say about last night's final, but until our exam period is over, I cannot. For now, I can say that the best part is, it is done. This is such an odd time of year for exams. I know it is not unusual...it is interesting, really. There is the dread/anticipation of taking the finals, the excitement of being done for the semester, and the excitement of the Holiday season.

I've done some shopping, but need to do more, and can, once finals are over. I still need to find the Christmas CD's for my car, so I can really start getting into the proper spirit. Without a huge sports fan in my life, I probably will not need any sports gifts, unless coffee drinking is considered a sport. If so, Wife qualifies! It may not be too many more years before I will be buying sport-related gifts and clothing more than we do now. Now our kids are very much still into toys, which are so much fun to buy. Dolls, princess anything, action figures and playsets, computer games, board games, building sets...all of it - so much fun! I will miss this time when the kids are older, and for now, plan on savoring every moment of it!

MPRE Results Are In

I passed!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What a nice way to go into finals, especially with tonight's exam being the one for "Regulation and Ethics of Lawyers," which is based on my state's version of the rules tested on the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam (MPRE).

YIPPPPPPPEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Milestones and Missing Teeth

We had a good family weekend, if shortened somewhat by my need to study most of the day on Saturday. My plan is to take all three of my finals this week - Monday, Wednesday, Friday, DONE!

Boy Wonder lost both of his front teeth this weekend, inspiring a true-life story of "All I Want for Christmas is My Two Front Teeth." See Wife's blog for details and pictures. I will admit, I did prod the teeth a bit, but they have been loose for a long time. Besides enjoying the surprise from the Tooth Fairy, we celebrated in style by going to the local Children's Museum, which was Boy Wonder's choice and something we all enjoyed.

Weekends lately have inspired the need for home theater seating, as we have instituted Friday Movie Night - with an occasional bonus feature later in the weekend. This weekend's movie was preempted by the need to go out and buy Boy Wonder a winter coat to replace the one he lost at school this past week. Some detective work revealed the likely events were as follows: Boy throws coat on cloak room floor rather than on hook. Looks for it later and it is gone. Does not show up in lost and found after 3-4 days. Girl was acting sneaky in cloakroom the day coat disappeared. She is believed to have thrown coat in garbage and covered it with paper towels, but substitute teacher did not put the pieces together until days too late. Boy Wonder now has a new coat, the knowledge of how to look in the lost and found area of his school, and a stockpile of lectures on taking care of his possessions that should last into his teens.

Random Things I for which I am Grateful

Wife just called me and told me about the things our Little Princess has come up with that she might like to get me for Christmas: A little blue Christmas tree and a small plastic rain cloud (blue). I have no idea. Still, her creativity makes me smile.

The peppered turkey that I accidentally bought at the deli. Well, I did not accidentally buy it, but I thought only the outside would be peppered and therefore not too hot for the rest of the family. I was wrong. The pepper must be injected in a liquid form, because it is all throughout the slices, and is delicious to me, but not the rest of the family. That's OK - they got ham and plain turkey, too.

Monogram Queen's kind words letting me know I have been an inspiration for her going back to school. (We've been emailing. I did not simply ignore her comments!)

Hot coffee with yummy creamer.

Jiggle bells hung over door hardware.

Boy Wonder's excitement over finding Jack the Elf each morning. (See Wife's blog if you are not familiar with this new tradition.)

I had my last class last night and now it's a short slide to Christmas break!

There are so many things - I have only to look around and I could come up with thousands of things to be grateful for each day. Hope you do, too.

Gearing up for the Holiday Season

Oh my gosh, where did the semester go? I am technically done with all regularly scheduled classes, but I do have two review sessions left. One I will catch on podcast, but I will go to the other one tomorrow night. Weird. I'm not sure I ever got so into the rhythm of this semester that I was tired of it. That's pretty nice. Yes, there were nights I would have preferred to not be in class, but I was not sick of it, you know?

Now, for the next week, or so, I will be cramming to figure out what I learned, and organize it, so I can spit it back out on an exam. I have three of them. In one class we had a major paper due. I turned it in yesterday! Yippee!

I am already mentally pretty into Christmas. The house is all decorated, our lights are up, shopping for the kids is pretty much done - thanks to Wife and Amazon, and I have done most of my shopping for Wife's Birthday and Christmas. I still have a bit to do, but lots of time, still. We have both gotten very much into shopping on the internet - so much easier than getting out into the crowds, and more realistic considering kids and our schedules. Let's face it, there's not much you can't get over the internet:

Want books or toys - check out Amazon.
Want shoes - check out MBT shoes.
Want meals - try Home Bistro.
Want anything - just do a search, and PRESTO!, there it is.

Once the "have to's" of the season are done, then we can simply enjoy the good stuff - the lights, the music, the decorations, even the mall is fun when you don't HAVE to shop. Good family times ahead!

Law School and Family Dynamics

I was thinking this morning about how law school has changed my relationship with my extended family. When we moved to this area, we had hopes that our children would be raised as close friends with my niece's children. We all live relatively close by, had enjoyed each other's company on our visits to see my Mom, and it just made sense. We thought we would become close with my sisters. None of that has happened. I was wondering what did happen. Was it law school? Was it something about our children or how we are raising them? Is is us personally? I suppose it is probably a combination of things, but this morning, I spent some time thinking specifically what law school might have had to do with it.

Due to my schedule, we stopped going to family "wine nights," generally held every Friday night. (In all fairness, I think those dropped off a bit in regularity, but still...) We chose not to attend a family gathering, or two, or three, or more, because of my schedule. When you only get two free days per week, and one of those is spent studying, well, there just is not much time to socialize. We've not gone out of our way to be social. Mostly just casual invitations like, "Hey - when you are in our area, give us a call," or "let's get together for dinner on a Saturday night," Saturday being our main free night. When we do get together with family, we generally focus on keeping our kids out of the breakables of non-kid-friendly homes, which does not lead to sustained conversations.

Those things are enough I suppose, to create some distance. Then, I wonder, are there other things related to law school? I don't engage people in political debates or talk about law stuff, but do I come across as arrogant? Is there some kind of strange social hierarchy thing happening that I am not even aware of....or a jealousy thing? I am the youngest sibling by far; the one who was given everything and spoiled by parents who had by the time I came around achieved a certain amount of success and stability. Is there an extension - oh, now she gets to go to law school? Hey, for a mere four years of your life and $150K, you too can go to law school!

As I write this, I suspect law school is only a part of the larger family dynamics. We are not of either my niece's (and nephews, who now also live close and have children of their own) nor my sister's generations. We are in between both. We have probably not always played the family games according to the rules. Our children rarely see family and when they do, are not content to be seen and not heard, and we've not raised them to be that way, either. Yes....I guess there is probably a lot going on that is way more complicated to look at than the Clean Water Act or the Rules of Civil Procedure. Sometimes, it is easier to stay out of the muddy water. Maybe it is my hesitancy to stir up that water that keeps us at a distance, but, hey, you never know where the 'gators are lurking.

Grateful for a Beautiful Morning

Here's hoping all of you find things to be grateful for throughout your day.

Happy Weekend!

Dead Week and Other Random Thoughts

Where has this semester gone?! I cannot believe there are less than two weeks left before reading period, also referred to by some profs that have been around a while as "dead week." I am not sure why this never struck me as odd before. There are no classes for the shortened version of the week, which is only three days since the first two are used as class make-up days, so campus is kind of "dead" except for those choosing to study on campus. It struck me that might also be the mental state of some of us after hours of endless studying.....or the state we fear we could end up in upon viewing the upcoming exams. Multi-purpose phrase...."dead week."

Yes, now the intense paper-writing, outlining and studying begins. On campus we are all whining about how much we have left to do. It is such an excellent time for procrastination. I have heard there are those whose houses are never cleaner than right before finals. Surfing - the Internet kind, not the water kind - is taken to a whole new level. Suddenly movie reviews, diet pill reviews, and clicking "here" to determine your IQ are very important activities. In the end though, most of us are quite good at crunch time, and somehow, the papers, the studying, and the finals all get done. Then - a month off for Christmas break! I can hardly wait!

Cool Personalized DVD for Kids

It smelled cold for the first time on my way to work this morning. It was the perfect almost-winter day smell of a wood burning stove, fresh rain, and coldness. That must mean Christmas is just around the corner!

We have already managed a couple gifts for the kids, but that is all. I will barely have time to think about it between now and mid-December when finals are over (Wife's Birthday is right about that same time, too. We've been thinking of moving it to July!) I did come across something fun this morning that I had seen one other time, but it wasn't near a birthday or Christmas, so it slipped my mind.

This company does all sorts of personalized gifts, but my favorites are the customized DVDs for kids. You know the various elf videos that go around at Christmas where you stick pictures of your family's faces onto elves and they have a snowball fight or whatever? The videos operate under the same concept - send a picture of your child, and next thing you know, they are in a Dora episode or hanging with Spiderman. The characters interact and say the child's name....and I have a feeling our Little Princess would love it. There are a variety of options, including a Christmas adventure. Of course, if we purchased one for our Princess, Boy Wonder would need one, too.

Well, we'll see! (Wife - check it out!)

Trade your old stuff for new stuff

Here is an interesting concept - trade your old CDs, DVDs, games and books for new electronic items. The company, which appears to be very environmentally conscious, is called abundatrade.com and have quite an interesting business model. They take in used used cds and DVDs for credit, based on the market value of the item. Mostly it is one item for one credit. Customers then can use those credits to purchase new items. If not enough credits have been earned, the customer pays extra for the difference.

What happens to the used CDs and DVDs? They sell them, of course! The prices appear to be very good. I did notice that under "used DVSs" there were many VHS recordings, so that is something to be aware of when shopping. I did not see an explanation of that particular oddity.

The amount of credits that were needed for a trade was at least 100, and more in the 200+ range....so this site will be best for those with stacks of old items that are still in good shape.

Seems like a smart way to cash in on people's desire to be more environmentally conscious and appeals to the concepts of trading and recycling. I wonder if any of the movies we want for the kids are available...

Completed MPRE? Check!

When I am grocery shopping with the kids, which frankly is anytime I go grocery shopping, other than picking up an "emergency item" on the way home after school, we play sort of a game. After shopping for a bit, I read off the list, and whichever child is with me says "check" if we already picked up the item. (I know, very original, right? *grin*) Sure, I could do it in my head, but it is a fun way to get the kid(s) focused and helping.

This past weekend, I took the MPRE, which is the Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam, and I am sure I blogged about it sometime in the past week or two. It is sort of like a first step in taking the bar exam. It is only a two-hour test, relatively low-cost, and it can be taken again in March, if necessary. Still, clearly we all want to pass the first time.

For those not familiar with standardized testing situations, such as the LSAT or the MPRE (I won't even try to pretend to know what the bar will be like), I will say they are somewhat surreal events. You stand around and nervously await to file into a room where you present some form of identification assuring that you are the person identified on the test as the test-taker. You then have rules read to you about filling out boxes and taking bathroom breaks. Finally, you take a test designed by people fond of inflicting pain upon others that is supposed to either represent the likelihood you can handle law school (actually first year) and whose outcome will determine your chances of even getting into law school (LSAT) or how well you understand the rules that govern the professional responsibility and ethics of lawyers and how many practice questions you studied. It is very weird to be in the situation and thinking about the situation at the same time. Maybe it's just me.

Well, I feel pretty good about how I think I did, so I will be happy with that for now.

MPRE? Check!

Celebrating the United States

The sheer enormity of this victory, the patriotism and the postive energy that it has stirred up leaves me almost speechless. (Mind you, I said "almost" - let's face it, not much really shuts up a law student. *grin*)

Check out this scene last night.

The Next President of the United States of America

Thank God.