Last day of orientation...

Today was the last day of the Entering Student Program (ESP!!!) which means that tomorrow is my first day of class! I have Lawyering Skills in the morning, and later in the afternoon I have Contracts. I know both of these sound very exciting to readers! Surprisingly, my Contracts reading didn't bore me. I'm quickly realizing how much of my life - our lives, as people living in this country - are governed by contracts. Understanding them in depth won't only help me with my future career, but also with my future life, I think. I will say that I'll never make a casual promise again. You never know who's out to get you. (Five days as a law student and I've already lost faith in the basic decency of humans...uh oh!)

But really. I continue to meet new classmates all the time, but there are a few I've now been around long enough to be pretty comfortable and relaxed. We didn't have any semblance of class today, just listened to staff discuss the study abroad, clinical and externship opportunities. I already have myself studying abroad in Ireland AND Turkey, spending a semester in London, and working in all three clinics affiliated with the school. Realistic? No. But exciting, yes.

There is little to report. Joey and I are keeping the apartment tidy, which has more to do with my efforts (cleaning up before bed, not leaving a dish in the sink, hanging up my clothes after I take them off) than Joey's efforts (getting all of his toys back out directly after I put them away, tearing holes in his stuffed animals and pulling out all their stuffing, bringing his food out kibble by kibble to chomp it into kibble dust in the middle of the living room). But, we're getting on. I should leave my audience with a picture, but I don't have anything to photograph... I'll add something extra onto the next post.

What is a blog without pictures?

I don't think they allowed cameras on the first day of class. No one had them, anyway.

When people talk about leaping out of bed, I've always assumed they meant that figuratively. In reality, all they've really done is hurry out of bed, which I've done before. But when my alarm sounded at 5:30 a.m. Thursday morning, I honestly leapt out of bed. I arrived across the room with my hand on my cell phone without any clear idea of how I'd gotten there. It took about one stride. Such a thing could only be accomplished in a leap.

Joey and I went on a solid hour-long walk, my compensation to him for leaving him alone in the house until mid afternoon. It was still dark out, so we stuck to the better-lit streets, including a sleepy version of the Mass street to which I'm accustomed. It was very quiet, but there were several runners who apparently shared my logic about the safest places to wander pre-dawn.

Feeling refreshed and more relaxed, I got back and went about the business of deciding what to wear, organizing and reorganizing the enormous red bag I bought at Target, and finally heading out at 8:00 a.m. for a fifteen minute drive to a place I wasn't supposed to be until 9:00. Needless to say, parking was not a problem and I waited in the car for about forty minutes.

I wish I could remember individual people. I tried to mingle as much as possible and shake a lot of hands, but all that left me was overwhelmed by introductions. In general, everyone seemed nice, a little nervous, and most were my age and from Kansas, even though they announced that there are eleven citizens of other nations, several of whom speak English as a second language, and that we represent twenty-three states in the U.S.

Easily the quote of the morning: "The obsessed law student is the dullest of God's creatures."

This accompanied the Dean's advice not to totally let ourselves become immersed in our studies. We need to remember to schedule leisure time and pursue our other interests. She gave a nice introductory speech that struck the right bargain between exciting and humorous. Law school will be hard. Law school will be fun. Law school has its rewards. This is like a chant that everyone is saying in this place, but they all phrase it differently.

Orientation is orientation, no matter what program you're beginning, it seems. You go over grading criteria, where the bathrooms and fire exits are, and you awkwardly fish out an "interesting fact" about yourself to say after your name when it's your turn. We had a nice boxed lunch with our small group sessions, though. My small section has 19 students. We will take our lawyering class as a small group, and we will have the same schedule for our larger lectures. IN the bigger lecture classes, other small groups will be in the room, too. But we will probably bond.

My first day of law school was August 20th, and that means that one year ago to that day I was sobbing and tearing myself away from my mother in order to board the plane to Cork. Now here I am, with Big Life Step Number 2, and it serendipitously got started on the same date. I felt almost as emotional as I got out of the car and started across the parking lot toward Green Hall this morning as I did boarding my plane a year ago. There is something terrifying about excitement.

Then I got to see my AP! I took her on what was probably an obnoxiously thorough tour of my little apartment, we walked Joey and drove out to Clinton Lake, and then had a delicious dinner of hummus, soup and salad at Free State. She was wearing a necklace a lot like the one a woman tried to buy from around my neck the other night. Maybe there are glass jewelry business opportunities in Lawrence??

We had 1L "boot camp" Friday, the first of what will apparently be a three day whirlwind introduction to the legal system, literally starting with the origin of British Common Law in 1066. Oddly, it all fascinates me. Maybe it's just my heightened, beginning-of-the-semester state, but I even happily completed my reading as soon as I got home.

P.S., Lawrence is amazing. Joey is also amazing. And while I don't have pictures of myself during my first day of law school, here are some pictures to make the blog visually complete. I'm catsitting Jennifer's kitten "Scrambles" while she is in Indiana with her boyfriend. He looks like this:

And he makes Joey feel like this:

Walks with Joey

Right now, I take Joey for walks three to four times per day. This doesn't include taking him out on the leash to hike his leg on the tree by the dumpster in the parking lot. No; these walks are The Real Thing. They last from about fifteen to an hour and fifteen minutes, and because of them I've explored most of the six block radius of my apartment and in some cases beyond. My friend Jennifer gently broke the news to me that I live in a ring of neighborhoods commonly known to Lawrencians as "the student ghetto." In fact, by the time she shared this with me, I was past being surprised. Any time Joey and I go out after 8:30 in the evening, there are people assembled to drink beer on 9/10 surrounding front porches. When we go out before 8:30 in the morning, red and blue plastic cups, empty beer cans and bottles, and the odd paper plate litter 8/10 surrounding front yards.

Bullwinkle's is a bar, and it is my next door neighbor. There is approximately a three foot buffer between the exterior wall of the building I live in and "the Bull's" back patio. Luckily, my apartment is on the far side of the house. So far, noise hasn't really been an issue. People stumble to and from this bar at all hours, and sometimes as they pass my street-facing windows Joey and I can hear their voices, and Joey will woof softly at them then roll over and fall back asleep. No big deal.

However, this is two weeks before school even starts. When the semester is in full swing, and greek row begins overflowing with scantily clad young women and party-eager young men, will my little piece of Lawrence begin to seem like a little piece of hell?

Nah, I don't think so. And if it does, I can always move. You don't have to be a law student to know that leases aren't unbreakable.

I've walked off four pounds, but I also have shin splints, which I last experienced during my one and only season of junior high school track. Then, I let them bother me; now, they just leave me with a sense of accomplishment.

Homemaking

Joey the dog, Jordan the horse and I left Abilene Sunday afternoon, arriving in Kansas City around 5:30. I unloaded Jordan, handed over his paperwork to Elizabeth, the barn owner, and didn't stick around for long after that. Joey was tired and it was extremely hot, plus I still had to unload everything in the car and unpack sufficiently to spend the night in the new place!

Mom and I brought furniture over the Wednesday before, so the "big stuff" was all settled in - and the "little stuff" was still in boxes stacked on the kitchen table and any other available surface. But the AC was on, I gave Joey a bowl of water, turned on some music and got to work. By the time I collapsed into bed late Sunday night, the place was starting to shape up.

Joey and I spent Monday investigating the surrounding neighborhoods on our thrice daily walks. It was pretty hot still, but there were indoor activities to do, too. I kept up the unpacking, and starched and ironed all of the sheers for the canopy bed - BIG pain! But it looks great now
!
The other thing that "makes" the bedroom is mom's fabulous jewelry tree, which she "made" for me earlier this summer.





Obviously there are still things to figure out - where did all this clutter come from?? I thought I already sorted out unnecessary things when I was packing it all up?! Apparently there will always be some nicknacks I can't talk myself out of. Luckily there are two big closets with lots of shelves. Also visible in the above wider shot - my wonderful box from Mimi and Aunt Patty!!


I folded up all my boxes until I can take them to the recycling place, so they mess up this shot of the kitchen. Also, my single coffee cup is pictured here. Interesting anomalies in my kitchen:

I have a full tea set, two spring form pans, and a fondue set. However, I have no plates or bowls, knives, and only one coffee cup. (It's a green tin Christmas mug.) There are extras of many things in mom's basement, I'll only have to do without for a while.

There is kind of a foyer inside my green door. Not visible is the space around the utility closet, which makes a pretty room doorway area.

Joey with the housewarming gift I got him. He was very anxious especially the first few days, so I've been showering him with gifts to help him get comfortable here.

The living room with Amanda's fabulous red sofas.

My little bathroom. Add to my list of Things I Need: hand towels and a bath mat.

Joey in his favorite spot.


Today I'm headed to the big city to ride Jordan and the other lesson horses so that I have an idea of what they're like. Also, Wednesday evenings this summer have been "arena games" out there, and this is the last night. They have great participation. Woodson Hill officially claims me on their website! Check it out: www.woodsonhill.org/lessonstraining.html

I am having some guests over tomorrow...I'm not sure how many, probably just a few. I am going to throw together some hors douvres and afterward allow them to take me out to cool places in Lawrence, since I still don't know any specifics, though overall I'm very impressed. This morning Joey and I got up at 7:00 and went on a long walk while it was still cool. We went up and down several hills - we went straight up to campus, wound through the big park area by the football stadium, and then threaded our way to the other side of campus before walking home down Tennessee. I am a little more enthusiastic about these walks than Joey. He starts off strong and fizzles fast. We could both improve our endurance but I'm pretty smug about my head start.