Sunday, August 27, 2006

farewell

this weekend was the spreading of my uncle tom's ashes in the state of wisconsin. he had requested that half of his ashes be spread between two of his favorite places in that state. the other half he wished to remain with my aunt, his dear wife.

i think it is a beautiful a testament it is to life, and the continuation of it, that someone would chose to give themselves back to the earth in this way.

i very much wanted to go. i went back and forth about going, but in the end, after many conversations with my mom, i decided he would want me to get off on the right foot at law school. so, yesterday, at the approximate time that my family was spreading his ashes, i excused myself from the law library, found a place to sit outside facing west, towards wisconsin, and listened to one of his favorite songs, here comes the sun by the beatles, followed by one of mine, solsbury hill by peter gabriel. and i sat and thought about all of the good things about him and all of the good times with him. i just let the tears stream.

farewell again uncle tom. as we approach the second anniversary of our loss of uncle bill, i know that the two of you are looking out for us from your great, big outdoor barbeque in the sky.

apologies for the delay.

well, it has been a long week, the culmination of which is that i woke up today with an unbelievable sinus migraine headache. just my luck. eight cases to brief and my head was so sensitive to light i thought i would lose my stomach. thank goodness for excedrin migraine. it is my very best friend. an hour or so after taking it and laying in the cold, dark apartment with a cold, wet washcloth on my head, i am virtually ready to go. i just wish i had not lost the time, but such is life. i will stay up until i am ready for torts tomorrow.

orientation, on the whole, went well. i think they did a wonderful job of letting us know what we are in for and providing instruction as to how to get off on the right foot. we even had a sample torts class, a jump into the deep end of the socratic method if you will. it left the majority of us wondering what we were doing here and if we had made the right decision. i think we are all still debating it.

what has been most helpful to me is the research, writing and advocacy class. it provides the overview to everything and the tools to get what you need.

i have to say, aside from being completely overwhelmed and clueless, i am enjoying myself so far. everything is like either putting a puzzle together or taking it apart, which i like. of course, it is not even the first full week of class, so check back soon. that opinion is subject to change.

my goal, by the way, is to provide an update every weekend. i can already tell you the warnings they gave about time are correct. i am already behind despite all of my work to not be so. (of course everything we are doing takes much more time in the beginning, but should become easier as the semester progresses.) so, please do not take offense if i do not return emails or calls with all expediency. it is not that i do not want to talk or write; to the contrary, i probably do not have the time. so, please, just give me a few days to do so.

hope the weather in your neck of the woods is nice - and not inclusive of warnings, especially for extremely high pollen counts.

cheers.

Friday, August 18, 2006

pre-day one...

okay, so technically not the first official day of orientation, but...

today was technology training. about sixty of us (there are multiple sessions) sat in a lecture room and registered our laptops, learned about free printing, and registered with westlaw and lexis. i already looked up my grandmother's case before the illinois state supreme court. (the people of the state of illinois v. mary saisi for those of you that have access.) remind me to tell you about her get-out-of-jail-red-velvet-cake if you have not already heard that story.

i had to laugh. so far what everyone said is true. law school is going back to high school. i could see and feel the cliques forming on pre-day one. i also actually believe i was the oldest person there, or at least i felt as though i was. actions, mannerisms, speech give us away so easily sometimes.

onward to the official first day tomorrow. feeling out of touch with the world, so please send some email to keep me feeling tied in to the world.

Wednesday, August 16, 2006

back in mi

i have been out of touch for a few days, taking some time off prior to orientation.

chicago was good. it is always good to see family. i think we all drive each other crazy, but what would we do without each other? i love everyone of them dearly. how big the babies are! andy at three and brandon rapidly approaching one. i am so glad to have them so close.

i spent a day on my dad's boat up around the fox lake area. i cannot remember the last time i spent an entire day on a boat. it took me back to every summer growing up, visiting dad and kathy in florida. every weekend was spent on the boat, either fishing, lobstering, or diving (the adults) and snorkeling (me). weekends off the coast of fort lauderdale and miami, or down off the coast of big pine key (http://www.fla-keys.com/lowerkeys/) in the florida keys. fresh seafood was in abundance. those were some good times. nothing beats the spray of warm salt water on your face.

ha. big pine key. there are many islands around big pine key. one was used to film pt-109 (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0057393/), the story of jfk's experiences as a captain of a pt boat. everytime we went out,
"know what was filmed there?"
"yeah, dad."
"pt-109. story of jfk."
"yeah, dad."

going back in for the night...
"see that island?"
"yeah, dad. jfk."
"it's where they shot pt-109."
"yeah, dad."

good memories. ;)

on my way back to mi, i added to my family. mikey and i are pleased to welcome dakota, a 12 pound black and white female cat. so far, so good. she's a sweet pea. just as active and full of life as is my dear mikey. long days ahead, and mikey deserves a friend.

i must confess that i am a person that needs her alone time. without it i am an big ball of crankiness... these three weeks with plenty of time on my own, i am ready to re-engage. i pity the person that phones me next... are they in for a long, long, long conversation.

back to reading...
more tomorrow on orientation, but if you care for a sneak peek, here you go: http://www.law.msu.edu/orientation/schedule.html

Thursday, August 10, 2006

took a drive down to Chicago for my weekend - and 31st birthday. the drive took me only about four hours, which is about 30 minutes over the 3.5 hours it is supposed to take. not too bad, really, especially considering that virtually everyway highway between the greater lansing, mi area and illinois are under construction. remember... two seasons in the midwest: winter and construction.

went straight to vdp's for an evening out with the gals. jake (www.shopjake.com) had an evening reception for a designer at the rush street store. after two long years, i finally met the two genius men behind the phenom that is jake. and what was not to love? fabulous store with fabulously expensive and chic clothes. what did i love, of course, but the $1100 purse? i swear that it is like radar for expensive goods... and it is genetic. somehow we always pick the highest priced item in the room without knowing it. drives me crazy. give me at least three years. i'll be purchasing $1100 purchases left and right. (and hope you are in the line of purchase to get one from me!) if you get a chance, also check out pedro garcia shoes (www.pedrogarcia.com). i think i may be in love.

tomorrow... 31.

Wednesday, August 09, 2006

i have been in my new apartment, my new hometown for a week. no denying that it is here. a new path. a new journey. fear alternately plagues and excites me. am i too old? will i be good enough? only time will tell.