Beach Report

Many of you will have already seen pictures on Wife's blog. Our trip to the beach was fun, and naturally, we wish we were still there. It was very hot the day we arrived, so as soon as we checked into our hotel, we headed for the beach. We'd not been to this particular beach before, and found there was a tiny stream running from the shore (probably from the mountains) to the ocean. It was perfect to be able to play in safely away from the unpredictable surf. It didn't take long for the kids to find they could lay down in the water, and were soon soaked and caked with wet sand. Perhaps some swimwear would have been a better choice than their clothes, but truthfully, we don't get too uptight about those kinds of things.

After fun on the beach, we all cleaned up (way necessary!) and headed into town for a bit of shopping and dinner. After than, we got the kids to sleep at a reasonable time and then were very grateful for some wonderfully quiet time spent reading on the balcony to the sounds of the waves until the sun went down. Ah....Perfection!

We stayed three nights - with the days filled with shopping, eating, playing in the arcade, riding the carousel, and other typical beach fun. The evenings, I must confess, were my favorite times. I love it when the kids are safely asleep, exhausted, and Wife and I can read and talk with the sounds of the waves in the background, and a beautiful sunset looming on the horizon. That is some seriously good R & R. Where do I sign up for more??

Easing into the summer

So, I have been officially done with my third year of law school for just over 2 weeks now. Mostly, I am beginning to feel more relaxed and into the swing of family life, but not entirely. We've been out of town for the past two weekends, which has been fun, and exciting, but hardly "normal." The kids are getting more used to me being home, but the household still erupts into chaos the minute I walk in the door. It is fun to be greeted enthusiastically by everyone, including the dogs, but after that, the kids tend to spin a bit. We are working on normalizing this, but as I said, being away from home has prevented a certain degree of that. Oh - and the kids have started swimming lessons, and I feel so lucky that so far, I have been able to be home in time for them! That could never happen when I am in school. Boy Wonder is doing fantastic - and the Princess is a natural in the water. Swimming is such an important skill, and Wife and I are thrilled they are having so much fun.

So, I am feeling more relaxed, but finding it takes some time to come down from the internship/work/school/home to sleep mode. If only we had some extra cash and a week's worth of vacation we could do some retail therapy - preferably in and near Disneyland - new clothes, a new watch, designer jewelry, maybe some shoes, and something fun with Stitch on it :)

Short of that, it will be gardening, barbecuing and playing in the sprinkler in the backyard. Not a bad way to spend a summer :)

Happy Mama Gets Help from Gardener Girl

Ah.....relaxation and happy mode have begun to sink in :) I am sure it doesn't hurt at all that we leave for a three-night trip to the beach tomorrow. Yippeee!!

This has been a fun week (filled with the challenges of everyone getting used to a new routine and acting out accordingly) of being with my family and dreaming about the summer. A very good friend sent me a wonderful birthday present called an EarthBox, which is a self-watering container garden - great for growing veggies! My little Gardener Girl, who has been dedicatedly watering her marigolds since even before they were planted (or existed except in her imagination), was very excited for us to put it together. We haven't bought the tomato plants, yet, but we are ready for them!

In addition, we are going to try some container-grown potatoes,snap peas, green beans, maybe cucumbers and/or zuchini in the garden I hope to put together soon. Ah, yes, and a new sandbox. Lots of building and digging and good physical work for me - and not a single bit of case law reading!

Here are some pictures of our EarthBox assembly project. My girl always has her tools at the ready (the same tools were favorites of Kelton's until we started letting him occassionally use real ones)!

Mother's Day and Wanting What is Best

All you bloggers out there probably know this feeling far better than you wish - you know you had at least three really great blog topics you wanted to cover, but when you finally sit down at the computer to write, they are gone. That is what I am faced with this morning. These were actually real topics requiring almost deep thought and everything......Oh, well, guess I could surf the net for movie trailers, reviews of generic Phentermine, and best ways to make a child-friendly garden.

Ah-ha! I remember one of them - Wife and I spent Mother's Day evening doing a task in the best interest of our son. We filled out a form and composed a letter requesting a boundary exception for our son so he can go to a different school next year. Not just a different school - a better school; the school with the highest test scores in our district and the lowest percentage of students in the free/reduced meal program. We found out from a teacher friend that there is a very direct correlation between the free meal percentage and test scores - meaning a very direct correlation between income and test scores.

Our son's education has caused us to come face-to-face with our own prejudices, level of snobbery and cold-hard reality. The idea of our son being educated in a school of children with mixed economic backgrounds, race, languages...etc. seemed like it could have its benefits. It could, but the reality is that in this school, whose boundaries include a lot of apartment complexes and judging by the number of late registrations, maybe people who either move a lot, or just have no clue how to find out how, or that they even should, register their child for school BEFORE the first day of school. So, what I am dancing around is that there are a lot of people with low levels of education or low understanding of English language and/or "customs." I am voting primarily for poorly educated, possibly struggling to make ends meet and not being able to take time to consider their children's schooling, OR way too involved in partying. We met a few of those parents.

Wife was only kindergarten parent volunteer, and noticed many students never turn in their weekly homework. At this age, that is a parental responsibility even more than one of the students'. There are many areas we are concerned about, and we really want something more for our kids.

My point, if I had one? We realize on some level we are being snobs by wanting our child educated where parents will take a more active role in their children's education and where behavioral problems starting at home to not leak into a large portion of the classroom. More importantly though, we want Boy Wonder to get a good education and have every advantage possible. Being in a classroom where the teacher has to spend a lot of time dealing with kids with behavioral problems, or working on basic skills that the kids should have known coming into kindergarten is not giving him any advantages at all. He is definitely not having the same experience as his friend that is going to the better school that we would like to get him into.

Of course, many people want their child to get into the "best" school, and only so many boundary exceptions can be made. Will Boy Wonder be one of them? If not, what are the other options? We intend to find out!

So, there you have it, a Mother's Day evening spent doing what Mothers do - loving their kids, and wanting what is best for them.

Target or Ye Olde Drug Shoppe?

Remember when all towns did not look alike? Every corner did not have the same dozen franchise stores in the same strip malls? You could drive for more than five miles without coming across a Starbucks or a McDonalds? Towns had character back then. Gosh, am I sounding old or what? I will admit, when driving into a new town, or visiting friends, it is good to know where the local Target is, or that I can grab a familiar burger late at night if their food was weird and we didn't eat much of it. Still, when I think about trips I have enjoyed, and some of the best, but less obvious things I like about the beach, or any vacation destination, it is the uniqueness. It is not knowing what is in Randy's Drug Store or if the Hungry Bear burgers are good that make the experience less like home and more like vacation. Most of us like, even prefer, the "mom and pop" stores, on some level, but the convenience and lower prices of the big names are a bigger draw. Strange times we live in.

First Night Home As Summer Mama

Finals are exhausting. Maybe it is the end of the year that is exhausting....or wait....here we go....it is the rest of the year that is exhausting! School would be somewhat better if my mind was more like computer memory, but even then, just the number of hours spent at work and school would be draining. Now I can finally slow down, take a breath, and regenerate with my family for the summer. I am very happy about all of that, but it is such an unfamiliar feeling - like I should be doing something that I am not. It takes a while to gear down, I guess. Granted, I have been free for less than 24 hours.

I went home and we had a nice evening yesterday, which was my first day home for dinner on what would normally be a school night. I made tacos, since Boy Wonder had been begging Wife for them earlier in the week. She doesn't cook tacos, so her answer had been no. I personally am thrilled that my boy likes Mexican food. One of our first signs that Wife was pregant (the first time - with Boy Wonder) was that she had a craving for Mexican food. That NEVER happens. I knew that had to be MY BABY causing that craving :) Anyway, we ate tacos, played outside, did baths and bedtime stories....a good night.

Done!

My last final was turned in at 1:00 yesterday and I am done!!! School is out for the summer!! Yipppeeee!!

Now I am completely exhausted. I totally feel like a zombee, staring at my computer, reading my emails, trying to think about work, but finding it hard to focus. I think a nice vacation is in order! Heck, even just a trip (without the kids!) to a local mall would be nice - I could browse through Bath and Body Works, Yankee Candle, get a slice of pizza, gaze a the beautiful mens gold watches at the jewelry stores, maybe look at some new clothes for the summer, then take in a movie. Sounds relaxing, doesn't it?

Vacation from my Laptop

Odd to think that I bought my laptop computer three years ago this fall. I wonder if I need to increase my laptop memory? I suspect it is woefully outdated by now. Although, for what I do, it suits me just fine. If it will hold out another year, it will have served me well.

I rarely see my laptop over the summer. I have a few projects I may need it for this summer at work (for use during lunch), or at home while Wife is on the big computer. Strange, as I mentioned last year around this time, how it is such a big part of my daily life while at school, and then it just disappears for three months. Right now, not needing to be on the laptop for a while sounds pretty darn good!

Training Ethical Lawyers?

Last final - today - 24 hour take-home - done tomorrow.

Am I happy or what? Not so happy about the exam, but happy that the end is so close I can taste it! I feel somewhat prepared for the test. I am not sure how prepared one can feel for an exam in a class where we read over 1000 pages. Public Lands - open notes, closed book. Odd right?

Here's an interesting topic - honesty. In my naivete, and dedication to the honor code, I just believe everyone will follow the rules and not open their book. Wife thinks I am cute to be so trusting, but that I am out of my mind and will be competing with those who are cheating. She points out that lawyers are not exactly known for their trustworthiness. I suppose that is true. We talked about how people will justify it to themselves - those extra few points on an exam score might put them right over the line to get a scholarship or win a job interview so they can pay back their student loans....blah, blah, blah. I feel like we are at a really ethical institution preparing very ethical lawyers, but maybe I really am terribly naive. Ultimately, I can only control my own behavior and do what I know is right for me.

I know what is right for me now is a vacation!!!! *grin* I need info on cheap flights to Disneyland! I also need to stumble upon a few extra thousand dollars to pay for such a vacation.....Maybe I will just be satisfied with some tropical drinks and T-ball in the backyard with the wife and kids :)

Drinking and Law School

There are a lot of events at our school that involve alcohol - lunchtime parties with kegs, evening receptions with wine and beer, and sometimes, we just bring our own to dinner. I wonder if it is this way at all law schools, all graduate schools, maybe just private schools?

I think it may be no coincidence that many professional publications for lawyers include ads about alcohol rehab programs. They apparently train us early to imbibe. (Like any of us needed training at this point....)

Mostly, I don't think it is a problem, especially among the older students that know how and when to stop. A glass of wine or two at dinner can be really nice, but I've watched some of the younger students drink way more than they should prior to going to class, or while attending a professional event. As we are constantly reminded, our reputation starts the minute you enter law school. Do you really want people to remember you as that guy who drank too much at the Blah Dee Blah Dinner?

On the other hand, this post is a little heavy. Heck - school is out, or almost out, and I know that I am thinking a bottle of wine with my sweetie during backyard cookouts sounds like the perfect way to end a summer day! I won't be trying to impress anyone or learn anything, other than maybe how to get the kids to bed more expeditiously. Pop that cork!

A Little Doggie Fun

Just thought it would be fun to show how Maddie is getting along. As you can see, she has become buddies with the other animals, and is convinced that the couch is hers. She shares well, though.

Truthfully, one cat still wants her to spontaneously disappear from the face of the earth, though even she has her moments when she will allow me to pet both her and Maddie while not growling. Even better, once this past weekend, she walked past the dog as if she did not exist! If she would take that on as a life philosophy, our household would be a much more peaceful place. Unfortunately, as it now stands, if the cat senses the dog might be anywhere near, she growls, this has the effect of calling the dog to her, so she growls again. Not recognizing this odd sound is coming from the cat he's known his whole life but who never made the sound prior to Maddie's arrive, Jordan (the dalmatian) barks. Well, if Jordan is barking, there must be something interesting happening, so Maddie must bark, too. It is quite the three-ring circus! Poor Wife.



Here's another. Yes, the dog is up in the play structure, a good 4.5 feet off of the ground, with Boy Wonder. He simply called her up, and BOOM, there she was. She is very athletic :) We told him not to do that anymore since she could hurt her legs jumping back down (or even jumping up). It had already happened twice before we knew of the excitement. Maybe she could use the slide? How happy does that boy look? There is something incredibly adorable about a boy and his dog.

OK - enough procrastination. I have to go study Ocean and Water Law. Final tonight!

Thoughts of Summer and Law School

It is fun, exciting and a bit unnerving going into my last summer before the end of law school. I cannot wait to see my family each night and spend full weekends together. No "Sorry, Mama has to go study, but maybe later," for more than three months! I had been contemplating an internship, and still have a possibility of one, but don't want to over-commit my time. So, I am left pondering options - could I work with this firm in the fall? Should I be seeking out other options for fall placements? Will there be an internship seminar such an experience would fit in, or could I do it as independent study? What jobs might open up over the next year and what are the pros and cons of leaving my current job now to get into a real legal job? So much to consider!

To distract myself from studying for finals, there is always the internet - ridiculous videos, interesting tidbits, fun blogs, reviews of products from MP3 players to Leptovox, to vacation destinations. (We have a two-day beach vacation already planned for mid-May! Yippee!) Then there is always posting on my own blog!

OK, OK, I am going....have to study for Final #1, which is tonight at 6:00pm.