Week 3

It's week three and I still LOVE LOVE LOVE law school!

It is very challenging to find the time to read, and more than that, the quiet space to really THINK about and process what I've read. I am enjoying my classmates, even though I do miss having opportunites to talk to people my own age.

It is funny, in so many ways we are different, but being in school is the great equalizer, because we are all in there trying to reach the same goal. I've been very happy with the school and the programs they have in place to help us succeed. Today we met with our "Chase Fellow", a 2L that meets with about 25 of us and talks about how to outline, to brief cases, and to just answer any questions we might have about our classwork, our professors, or anything about law school in general. They also assign us mentors (if we want one) and have lots of other programs. They have an office of "Student Success Initiatives" and they take their job seriously!

P is making a good adjustment to school and seems to be liking it. He's made a few friends and is excited for me to meet his teacher at "meet the teacher night" next week. We met a dog in the neighborhood tonight and the owner let P give him a few treats. That was a pretty well behaved dog- when we pulled up a racoon was peaking it's head out of the storm drain and the dog didn't seem to notice!

I had a hearing about all the custody issues on Monday and I was proud of how I handled things. I wasn't perfect, but I am getting better and better. I don't know if I'll ever be completely happy with the outcome, but I always feel better knowing that I fought for what I wanted. It is a shame that the agreements made on Monday don't even last a week, but sadly that is the state of things at this point.

I can only work on the things I have control over. I can't worry about the ex and his machinations trying to make things hard. He can waste a lot of time and energy doing that. I am going to continue taking steps and trying to make a better life for P and me. I hope that L and N will someday see it for what it really is and understand.

Week 2

One of my professors offered us this (unsolicited)advice in our first class:

1. In terms of your career, think about how you want to help people. Lawyers have high rates of depression, divorce, etc, and those that are happiest are the ones that have positions where they feel they are helping people or making a difference.

2. Throughout law school- Keep your values. Don't think of the law as a neutral set of rules, think about how it really affects people's lives. In court, make the "values" argument first. After you've convinced the judge with the values argument, most of the time they will look for ways (in the law) to get to that result.

3. Put your family first- law school will suck every minute out of your day if you let it. Create a balance now so you aren't unhappy later.

With that said, I'm abandoning the laptop to spend some quality time at the pool with P.

Did I say that I love law school? :)

Week 1 as a 1L

All I can say is LAW SCHOOL IS TOTALLY AWESOME!!!
So is Cincinnati for that matter-and my new apartment-and the fact that I have my little boy with me.
Life isn't perfect but it is good.

Someone at the Street Deparment has a sense of humor:

I knew I was going to like it here.... :)

P and Mom's Culinary Adventure

Yesterday while I was working on the computer P was watching the food channel (I had to make him turn off the military channel, future weapons, etc. there is only so much destruction one woman can take :)
Anyway Emeril was on and he was making Salmon burgers- back in the day we called them salmon cakes. Phil decided we should make some for dinner. Actually he did most of the work. Apologies in advance for the cell phone picks :)

He made the patties himself,



He was all set to fry them up


Here's how they looked right out of the skillet- Notice Phil giving his food bunny
ears, lol


Of course you can't have salmon cakes without mac & cheese

Now the big taste test:


YES! He likes them!



We had lots of fun making dinner together.

Tuesday

Today at about 4 AM I officially completed my last assignment for Ohio U. I was soooo happy!
In honor of the occasion, Goldie (my car) got a new accessory:



We spent many fun filled hours with Steve, the cable guy. P was really disappointed because it wasn't Larry, lol. Steve was nice enough, but I'm glad N was here because when he left, N programmed the remote to do everything it was supposed to do that Steve for whatever reason couldn't figure out. We will have to schedule yet another visit with Steve because there is not a cable outlet in my bedroom. Steve has never heard the old saying about asking forgiveness instead of permission so we must clear it all with the apartment gods and the cable gods before we drill one more hole in this apartment building.

Later we went to the local school district administrative offices and enrolled P in school.

After that we hopped on the outerbelt to check out my new school. I met the admissions director and one of the deans. In honor of the occasion my laptop( no name) got a new accessory to go with my block OU. P loves it because NKU's mascot involves armor and swords, lol







Phil found this representation of the Mascot (?) in the law school building




After we got home, N decided to take a nap, so P and I went to the pool. P loves to swim and the landscaping around the clubhouse is really nice. With all that school stuff out of the way, I feel like I can finally relax a little bit.

Moving day.....

It was crazy! and exciting! and stressful! But we did it.

Sunday a friend's son and nephew came and helped me move all the big stuff. They definitely earned their money and they didn't even mind P "helping" them. (At least they acted like they didn't mind :)

This is P and J showing off their muscles:




Here's the view from the balcony:

A couple of the big items even went up over the balcony. They were too big for the front door and the 90 degree turn on the stairs. The sofa bed barely made the trip after removing the legs, the door and the railings in the stairway!

By Monday we were having dinner on the balcony:


The boys seem to like the new apartment. It has had more than it's share of little glitches but we are getting things unpacked and situated.

Giant Steps!

Today I'm starting to move. I have to go sign my lease and pick up keys. I have to keep taking steps, even if others are still throwing up road blocks.
The kids are excited and I have a friend coming today to help me.

Yesterday was my last day at work. I spent most of my time training my replacement. She is a friend from OU and she is very excited about working there. I'm glad because my boss has been so awesome to me and he is one of the nicest people I have ever met. I feel good that he has someone reliable to help him.
He told me I was going to do fine at law school. It helps me have confidence when others have confidence in me.

I am pleased to inform you.....

"THE MAGISTRATE FINDS THAT IT IS IN THE BEST INTEREST OF ALL OF THE CHILDREN THAT THE RSTRAINING ORDER, PREVIOUSLY FILED HEREIN, NOT BE MODIFIED, THUS PERMITTING THE DEFENDNAT TO PROCEED WITH HER ARRANGEMENTS TO MOVE TO THE CINCINNATI AREA AND ATTEND LAW SCHOOL THERE, WITH P"

Woo Who!!!
I'm going to law school and P is going with me!

I'm voting Republican-NOT

As seen over at Lynilu's- too funny not to share

Did you miss me?

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. It's been crazy. To give ya'll the cliff notes version - The ex filed papers to further restrain me to this school district, I filed papers asking the judge not to. The judge is supposed to rule Tuesday, which is good because I have to sign a new lease in Cincinnati pretty soon. If the judge signs that restraining order I'm stuck. I have to be out of this apartment by the end of the month and it is rented already. Cross your fingers everybody.


Heres a little something I found on youtube from one of my very favorite movies. Enjoy.

Filling in the Blanks

In case anyone is lost-

I made my ex husband aware that I was planning to move to Jacksonville this spring and take my youngest son with me. He proceeded to ask a court for a restraining order against me and for full custody of all my children. He also wants me to pay him child support. My 16 yr old daughter hates me and is already with her father full time. This is definitely a low point for me.
My oldest son does not want to move, he seems to want to move in with his father permanently. (His father also happened to give him his own room and buy him a golf membership this summer) My youngest son, P wants to be with his mommy wherever I go.
The judge granted the restraining order so as of right now I can't leave the state with my youngest. The custody hearing was also set for the end of August- of course not in time for me to start school.
I filed papers asking for the judge to lift the restraining order and/or move the custody date up. His decision is what I am waiting on.
Yesterday, a new school accepted me so now I have a new option. Even if the judge does not lift the restraining order I still have a chance to attend law school this fall.
While I'm waiting I am trying to work on both my case( my boss is my lawyer and my ex's lawyer is frequently sending us threatening faxes) and my boss's other cases. I'm also trying to finish three classes I failed to finish last quarter and pass two new classes. I have 5 weeks left to finish them all and say goodbye to Ohio U. I also have to find a new place to live hopefully close to this new law school. Oh and I have until Aug 1 to do all this and pack and move.
I'm stressed and exhausted but what a ride.
I know Cinci is not Jax but it has its advantages.

Karma.

"Reverend Mother always says when the Lord closes a door, somewhere he opens a window."

-Maria, from THE SOUND OF MUSIC

Karma?

Still waiting for the Judge to make his opinion known. The days keep ticking by and the uncertainty is hard to deal with. It's tempting sometimes to just say "I'm not going anywhere" and make all the turmoil stop. The only trouble with that is, I cannot stand to stay here. I really can't. So for right now- uncertainty is what it's all about. I'd love to skip ahead to the end and see how this story turns out.

Positives to be happy about:

P got his Light Blue Belt! He had to break another board- and got it on the first try. He is really enjoying Tae Kwan Do.

S is liking her new job.

Spent a great weekend with S in Jacksonville. Great weather, great food, WONDERFUL company. Someday I'd like to call it home. Not sure if now is the time or not.

Got a lot of schoolwork done yesterday- despite being in transit. Spending hours on the runway waiting for the storms to clear over my destination did have one unintended benefit. Not much else to distract me when it's just me and my carry on bag. One seat-mate slept, the other was a devotee of sudoku. That made class work on MS Office slightly more interesting than staring at the back of the seat in front of me.

Calling all good Karma...

Today a judge will sit at his desk and make decisions that will change my life. Please send all your positive energy his way so he sees things as they should be seen.

Graduation Day

Graduation day was really fun! It was great to see my classmates one last time.
My kids were there and some very dear friends took time to come through a bad thunderstorm to see me graduate. It was really nice to have someone there cheering me on. When I graduated in '06 it was just the kids and the ex brought them, so that was, well, awkward.

The speeches were on typical graduation themes- but several of them spoke to my heart. One speaker spoke of finding the courage to pursue your dreams. Another talked about confidence and how it has to come from within.

My friends M & J went all out for me. M brought her camera and took lots of pictures. They bought flowers and a cake and after the ceremony the kids and I went back to their house and had pizza.

S was ok with not being there till the day came, and then she was sorry she missed it. It couldn't be helped, job obligations made it impossible for her to come. I hope to have ONE MORE graduation in me and have my whole family there.

I'll be lonely this week- all the kids are gone on vacation with their Dad. I really miss them and I just sent them off yesterday :(

Don't make plans for this evening.....

You're all going to graduation with me... I had trouble deciding how to decorate my mortarboard until Syd put Wordle on her blog yesterday. For everyone that helped me along the way- thanks. I wouldn't be where I am today without all of you. :)

Word Cloud

I guess you'll have to click on the picture to see all the words- I can't make it any bigger for some reason.

Confidence?

What makes you confident?
If someone isn't confident, can you tell?
How does someone who isn't confident gain confidence?
How do you help your kids be more confident?

"Am I Blue" ?

I just read Alice Walker's essay "Am I Blue" for one of my English classes. In it she describes the life of a horse in a pasture near her home. She recounts how the horse is at various times somewhat content, bored and lonely, joyful, grief stricken
and angry.

I feel so much like the horse "Blue". As the story begins the horse seems happy enough, eating fresh spring grass in the pasture. As spring turns to summer, the horse finds no joy in the dry grass and wanders about the pasture alone, finding little happiness in his surroundings or his life.

All that changes when another horse is added to the pasture. A female horse is brought in to mate with Blue. Blue is uncertain at first, not having had another horse in the pasture before. He soon comes to love and accept the other horse as his companion. Alice Walker describes the look of joy, the confidence she sees in Blue's eyes. She describes it as "this is it-ness". Blue has arrived and his life is complete.

Once the companion horse becomes pregnant she is taken away. Blue's joy turns to despair. He refuses to eat the apples Alice brings him, he tears at the ground with his hooves, runs around the pasture just to wear himself out. The look Alice sees in his eyes is one of grief and disgust, a "how could your kind do this to me?" look.

This story parallels how I feel about my life in so many ways. Before S, I was going through the motions. I was reeling from the trials of those few years right before she came into my life. When she came, I didn't understand it at first. After working through my feelings and finding for the first time in my life real JOY, I knew things would have to be different. Not knowing what would happen, fearful of the changes that would inevitably result of being honest about our feelings, I went forward. I took the plunge. Being honest has been very liberating.

Others didn't like the honesty. S did her best, and seeing an opportunity to free herself from a bad situation, she took it. She took a step away in an attempt to get back to where we wanted to be. She took the word of others who said they would help, when in fact their motives were selfish. Doing so caused us to be separated.

I feel just like Blue did. I look around my "pasture" and I wonder what in the world I am doing here. Where is S, why did they take her away? How can I get back to her? Things that once gave me joy have no effect. Nothing is right anymore. Once you've had "this is it-ness", it's hard to content yourself with anything less.

Our lives apart batter us, they knock us off our feet. We tire of the struggle to be together, but can't fathom being apart. The love we feel tears at our hearts and the pain of separation is sometimes too much to bear. Anyone that looks close enough will see in our eyes that we are afraid, still trying to hope, but confronted every day with the cold hard fact of being apart. Will it be my lot in life to content myself with the memory of "this is it-ness" or will I get to know that feeling again?