A Nice Start

I think it’s a good sign when the first class of the semester is Institute.

My earliest law class this semester starts at 2:00 pm. That was not by choice; I typically prefer getting class or work over with early in the day. But the classes I wanted to take were only offered in the afternoon. That means Institute, which takes place on Mondays during lunch time, is my first class of the week. No complaints here about starting the semester with gospel instead of law.

Also, Bro. Nielsen (who teaches Institute) brought sandwich fixings that were left over from another meeting. So I had a really good lunch on Monday, besides a good first class.

My first law class of the semester is Business Associations, which deals with corporations, partnerships, LLCs, and other business relationships. So far it feels a little like Contract Law’s older brother. The casebook doesn’t have comics, but it has yielded a few good lines. One was a judge opining that a store owner’s duty to his customers involves “more than the diligent observance and removal of banana peels from the aisles.” Hoddeson v. Koos Bros. 135 A.2d 702 (App. Div. 1957).

My next class is Trusts & Estates, which my professor began by giving us a warning: “If you thought Criminal Law was bad, this class is a bit of a downer. Almost every case we’ll read involves someone dying.” Of course, in this class the decedent usually dies of natural causes, which is a definite step above the typical Criminal Law case.

My professor also reminded us that you can’t leave your property to a rock (not even a pet rock) and expounded on the “Warren Buffet” principle: leave your children enough inheritance to enable them to do anything they want to, but not enough to enable them to do nothing.

My last class is Public International Law, which refers to the concept of global and inter-state law through treaties, the law of war (which sounds like an oxymoron), the UN, international courts, etc. It is different than Comparative Law, which compares the laws of different countries (for example, Chinese law compared with British law). PIL began with a discussion about whether international law actually qualifies as law (a popular philosophical dispute in law schools), but my professor said we’ll approach it for the rest of the semester from the practical perspective of “yes, it is law; this is how we work with it.”

Later I will also have a seminar and a mini class: The Citizen Lawyer and European Union Law. They will take place during one week and two weeks, respectively, in the middle of the semester.

The other big event of the week was the ward picnic – good food, good activities, good people.

Round 2 of the three-legged races.

Tug-of-war

Lining up for the tricycle race.

The winner of the "Best Decorations" contest getting
a little help from his granddaughter.
(That is Olaf riding on the front.)

Pie eating contest

Accepting the ALS challenge -
except they used a pool instead of a bucket.

Summer's End

I’ve become a surprisingly quick convert to running with a GPS watch. After only a day or two, I was hooked. GPS is much handier than my old estimate-the-distance-based-on-how-long-I’ve-been-running method. And it’s very useful on the winding, not-easy-to-judge-distance-and-direction roads of Williamsburg.

The highlight of the last two weeks was a visit from my mom and sisters. We spent a long weekend sightseeing, eating well, and enjoying each other’s company. Sometimes it felt a little like a housewarming party for me, as if I had just moved in and was just starting school. (That’s probably an unavoidable feeling when your mom is taking a picture of you in front of the big school sign.) Other times it felt like I was on vacation along with everyone else. (It was strange to watch my family drive away to the airport and not go with them.) I think we all enjoyed answering the “Where are you from?” question: “Utah, Idaho, Colorado, and Williamsburg (sort of).”

It was a treat to spend some time together and a delightful end to the summer. I’m grateful they all had some time to visit.

After they left, reality came rushing back. I realized the new semester was less than a week away. I had known that, of course, but suddenly I was feeling it. The new 1L class was already roaming the halls of the law school and starting classes, while I hadn’t even looked at my schedule, bought my books, or read my first day assignments. (Not that starting homework was high on my priority list; I managed to put that off until 10 pm on Saturday night...)

I was feeling a lot of stress.

But over the next few days I updated my calendar, reviewed my classes, found (and bought) all my books, and started feeling better.

And overall, I feel so much better than I did a couple of weeks ago when I was trying not to think about school at all. At the beginning of this month, my feelings about the upcoming year were a step above dread. I just did not want to face another year like the last one.

Perhaps that’s why I’m feeling more at peace with starting my 2L year: this year doesn’t feel like the last one. This year I know what’s going on. I understand better which parts of my schoolwork are important. I know my way around. I have a better idea of how to balance school with other parts of life. Most of all, I feel as if I, myself, am different.

So bring it on, 2L year.

Touring W&M Campus

They take their history lessons seriously on this campus.

Monticello is much greener at this time of year than in April.

The gardens at Monticello are big and varied.

And lovely.

My pal, Thomas Jefferson

In the garden of the Governor's Palace.

My sisters and I in the Governor's Palace gardens.

The colonial Capital.

Colonial cooking lessons. This recipe called for
one hour of whisking.

In the public gaol.

Nice place for a meeting, huh?

The George Wythe house.

Cinder Toffee = Yum

Duck and cover!

The Marquis de Lafayette about to rally the colonial militia.

At the Jamestown Fort.

The Yorktown Monument.

Redoubt 9 at the Yorktown Battlefield.

A generously measured "12 inch" pizza.

A bridge over the York River - we got a good look at this
bridge during an evening walk out on the dock.

A turtle we saw on our Sunday walk around the neighborhood.

Great visitors - I love you! 

___________________________________________________

A thank you gift from the Alumni Office where I was
working during the last two months. They told me to
enjoy the treats. I told them that wouldn't be a problem.

A thank you gift for house-sitting while some friends were
in Europe. When my friend learned my grandpa is from Delft,
she brought back some authentic Delft blue porcelain for me.
What a treasure!

Good Company

I successfully finished my house-sitting stint this week. By that I mean nothing broke, the plants survived, and the milk delivery made it safely to the fridge.

The milk was a close thing. I was told that the delivery would come between 9 and 11 am. I would be at work during that time, so I left a cooler full of ice on the porch and planned to go bring the milk inside during my lunch break.

These are some of the plants that kept
me company during the last few weeks.
I probably indulged them with too much
water, but growing up in a semi-arid
climate makes me expect that all plants
need lots and lots of water. I'm just
happy they were all still green at the end
of the three weeks.

But when I arrived at lunch, there was no milk to be seen. I was so sure it would be there, I looked in the cooler four times before I really believed it was empty. When I was finally convinced, I left the cooler on the porch and went back to work.

After work, I checked again. Still no milk.

So, I left to run an errand. Then I went back to check again.

Nothing.

At that point, I gave up. I emptied the ice and put the cooler away. Then I sat down to play the piano for a few minutes before leaving for the night. Halfway through the first song, there was a knock at the door. Lo and behold, it was the milkman.

It made me think about how well life works out sometimes. The milk arrived about eight hours after I expected,  a half-hour after I’d given up on it, and at a time when I could easily have been somewhere else. But it arrived right when I was there to take it and put it straight in the fridge. It was a simple thing, but it made me wonder how often I give up on bigger things just because they don’t arrive when I expect them to.

It also gave me a chuckle at my own expense. I drink about one half-gallon of milk per week, so when the milkman held the crate out, I started grabbing one half-gallon jar. I hadn’t even considered that a family of four might want more than that. The milkman kindly asked if I just wanted to take the crate. I laughed at myself as I carried the whole crate back to the kitchen and transferred all four jars to the fridge.

My living alone mentality sometimes forgets about other family dynamics besides the greater grocery volume required. Generally I don’t mind living alone – I’m usually content in my own company. But it’s nice to be in a crowd once in a while.

This weekend I received that exact treat. I went to visit a friend and her family who have just moved to Charlottesville so her husband can attend law school. It was wonderful to chat and catch up for an hour. And it was so much fun to have her two little kids (ages 5-ish and 3-ish) coming over to tell me things, to be tickled, to climb on me, to show me treasures, and to give me hugs. They had never even seen me before. There is something inescapably precious about the presence of kids.

After that visit, I continued north to stay with my aunt and uncle and attend an Open House for my cousin and his new wife. The house was full of good people intent on having a good evening. I knew only four of the people there (my relatives), but I had a good time talking and hearing thoughts and stories from various guests. Good people are good friends even when they’re strangers.

My visit culminated with a good night’s sleep, a scrumptious breakfast (much better than I ever make), a nice time at church, and some excellent family visiting time. I left with a bag of good food for the drive home and a thankful heart for having those wonderful people in my life.

A little company is a wonderful thing.

This was option #1 at the Open House.

This was option #2 at the Open House.
I don't know what's in it, but it was yummy.

I saw this license plate on the way home today.
I figure this is an adequate description of my life, as I am constantly busy being a Quilter.

This is my newest toy.
(Thanks to Mom & Dad for the birthday present!)
It looks huge on my wrist because it is huge on my wrist. But it's the smallest
one I could find with the features that I wanted (and it's comfortable enough).
The buttons have a little bit of a learning curve; it was stuck on Hong Kong time for
a little while until I figured out how to set the clock.
Charlottesville 1/2 Marathon, here I come!

Rhythm

My big success of the week was running 12 miles. Not all at once, but in two mile increments every day before work. It wasn’t much, but it was progress.

I had a long debate with myself about it after my alarm went off on Tuesday morning . Five-thirty felt  very early and more sleep sounded nice. I think when I came to Virginia my internal clock stayed on Mountain time. My ten to eleven o’clock Utah bedtime turned into a midnight or one a.m. bedtime here. And my five o’clock Utah mornings turned into six to eight o’clock Virginia mornings, depending on how much homework I had left. I probably sat in bed debating for 30 minutes on Tuesday before I finally got up to run.

Later in the week, I was wishing I was it better shape so I could go farther. I like variety; and although the neighborhood here is green and very pretty, there aren’t many different options for a two mile run. (That’s one of the hidden benefit of the Salt Lake City grid system: so many different directions to go.) I feel silly driving somewhere just to run (not to mention it takes more time), which left me with limited directional options. But, I tied my shoes and ran the same trail again.

And it felt good. I was missing my early mornings.

And, in a way, I was missing myself. The last few weeks have felt like learning how to live again, how to be me. It’s as if I’m finally getting in sync with myself after the disruption of moving and the attendant jumble of all my reference points one year ago. Like I’m finally getting back into my own rhythm.

So, I’m going to keep running in the morning. And hopefully that will help keep me in a good rhythm when school starts in a few weeks.

This is the duck gang that hangs out at the local lake.
I found them going for a walk as I ran by one morning.

I might have inadvertently changed their plans. After
I took a picture, they turned around and left the street.
When I came by again on my way home, they were close
to the path, milling about as if they were trying not to
look too interested in crossing the street to the forest
on the other side.