Graduation

My family is fortunate enough to have two graduates this year. I will be graduating from Law School in May and my step daughter will graduate High School in June. The amount of money spent on these graduation is crazy!!! Who knew.

This week my partner and I discovered/realized that our daughter was frozen/scared about graduating. She stated she doesn't want to grow up and be an adult. I know it's typically behavior but it seemed to take us by surprise b/c it was the child we thought would react so strongly. So, we are trying to encourage her and support her as we deal with the shell shock factor.

Her graduation has me thinking about my own. I have loved going to law school -- I know I am insane. I love the challenging discussion and the debates. I have been throughly intellectually stimulated. I think I am going to really miss the challenge. I am also nervous that I don't know enough to be an attorney. But I guess I must trudge forward. I am sending out my resume and preparing for my exams. The end will be here soon enough.

Women's Issues & Law

The other day in class I never felt the under lying current of law being male dominated until our class discussion revolved around prosecuting domestic violence. The discussion was whether or not we should do it since women often times recant their stories by the time of trial. The men in the room were saying it wasn't worth the expense of trial and since he would likely get off than he is likely to do it again b/c he believes he can.
I was attempted to explain how it would be a deterrent. That the message would get out that the community doesn't tolerant violence in relationships. Men would be afraid of the consequences. I demonstrated how date rapes were hard to prosecute but in communities in which they are prosecuted word gets out and date rapes decrease.
My words fell on deaf ears. My message made no sense to the men in the room and since the class is male dominated the consensus was that prosecutors should not go after the violent actor. I have never felt so frustrated with a class than I did that day. In essence the room full of men would not take the time to prosecute men in domestic violence if they became prosecutors. No wonder we still have women getting beat up in communities.

Basketball

Okay -- I admit it- I am a basketball fan. I was so excited for last night's KU v. Davidson game. I thought what a breeze to walk into the final four without having to play a team that wouldn't challenge us. The first two games went by so smoothly -- shoot the walk on players saw time. So, certainly Davidson a 10th seed wasn't going to give us any problems! Boy was I wrong. After spending the weekend sick and on death's doorstep -- I geared up to watch part of the game - figuring I could fall back to sleep once it was a run away.
WRONG -- my heart was pounding the whole time. Who was this Davidson team???? Why were they hanging with us? And can someone please stop Curry? How can such a great play get over looked by the big teams? Davidson played tough and impressed me. They deserve a note of respect. They were good.
Thankfully my boys made it through. They will be taking on North Caroline -- hopefully they will pull through. I watched the 1988 championship game and would so love to watch another victory.

2nd Try

Okay, so I am going to try this again. Hopefully I will keep up.

I am off the wall busy at the moment -- who knew Spring could be so busy. I got my application in for the bar -- THANK HEAVENS!!! I swear that was a huge weight hanging around my neck. We finally got our daughter's senior pics order --- it's crazy expensive. We spent over a $1000 on Senior Pics!!! One of our dogs turned up lame. So we have to keep her in a kennel for 10 days -- and she is one of our most high strung! Thankfully, she has meds to mellow her out. Our youngest seems to be pulling it together at least she is passing almost all her classes. I swear teenagers!

Our next great adventure is for me to pass the bar and find a job so we can buy a house. Traci and I qualified for a loan but our financial guy wants to have us waiting until first the market slows down so we are not upside down and next until I am employed. I have a better credit rating than Traci and since I am not employed we can't use it for the loan. So, I guess we are waiting a few more months until that happens. Kind of disappointing but kinda nice since I am feeling overwhelmed with everything at the moment.

University of Kansas Football

I must say this weekend brought another wonderful surprise of Kansas beating Oklahoma State in football. Now, as a fifth generation to graduate from Kansas I have been watching KU football games since I was little. I have fond memories of sitting on hill watching the game. KU has never been this outstanding football team - in fact I have enjoyed basketball far more - but watching the games still hold fond memories. My family and I even went to the game in Hawaii in 1985.

However, this weekend I was waiting for KU to lose. They are undefeated and tough - but as I sit and watch the game I keep expecting them to loose. Admittedly it was only the third game of the season that I have watched but still. Perhaps, that is what the sports writers and rankings folks are waiting for as well.

Hopefully, this is a long good road of football. However, with Texas and Oklahoma in our division I am still not holding my breath. I am just enjoying the ride for the moment.

First Blog

Okay, this is the first blog attempt.

I want today to be so over - at least class wise. This semester sucks for classes and such. I have class every weekday - the first time since entering law school. I am so ready to be done with school - I am in the 3 rd year and will graduate in May.

I have big plans for a romantic weekend with the wife. I am cooking her a romantic dinner - if I figure out what I want to make.