My new apartment is a lot smaller than my old one. For this reason, I have boxes scattered around that I had nowhere to put once they were unpacked. (Most went to recycling, but there are several I wanted to keep.) However, Sylvia is moving in on Monday, so I needed to organize everything so there would be room for her stuff. 

In the process, I found a box that I had thought was unpacked before. It wasn't. In it was a bunch of my kitchen stuff. (Strainer, glass bowl, boxes of tea, instant noodles and sauce, etc.) I had been wondering where all of that was... 

I have a confession. I LOVE college football. I eat, sleep, and breathe college football. On Saturdays during college football season, I plan my days and activities around games that I want to watch.

Most of all, I love Virginia Tech football.

So when VT gets to appear on the national stage - like playing in the headlining game on opening weekend - I start bouncing off the walls. I have been waiting for this game since I first heard about it.

LET'S GO HOKIES!!!

Hey, I'm actually caught up!

September 3: I'm grateful to Jeep for putting large off-road tires on Wranglers. While other people were stuck in the water when the parking lot at the apartment complex flooded briefly, I drove right through it.

September 4: I'm grateful to the Law Student Division of the ABA for offering health insurance to law students. I just did the research and found I'll pay about 1/4 as much for that as I would to continue the insurance I had with the federal government. 

I am WAY behind, so am going to skip a few days. Oops...

August 27: I'm grateful to the staff of the wing place at the mall who make amazingly good, just hot enough wings.
August 28: I'm grateful to the Geek Squad at Best Buy for figuring out what was wrong with my desktop and fixing it.
August 29: I'm grateful to my Contracts and Criminal Law professors  for giving  us the assignments through most or all of the semester so I can work several days ahead.
August 30: I'm grateful to the member of the law student community for posting the link to their case briefs. I don't copy them, but they make it a lot easier to understand what I am reading.
August 31: I'm grateful to the developers of Vampire: the Masquirade, Bloodlines for making a really good game that helps me destress.
September 1: I'm grateful to myself for remembering to put my rent check next to the door Monday night so I didn't forget to pay it today.
September 2: I'm grateful to the developers of Neverwinter Nights 2 for making an amazing game that so easily distracts me. 

OK, so I'm behind again...

August 16: I'm grateful to my computer for giving me a way to waste my last day before starting law school. I got tired of unpacking, so I played video games all day. Yes, it was worth it!

August 17: I'm grateful to my classmates who told me that I had to come up with a "Six-Word Memoir" for my first class before class started. (The professor had posted the assignment in a place I didn't know assignments could be posted.) This gave me enough time to come up with one before class started.

August 18: I'm grateful to my dogs for not being too demanding so I can get all my assignments for Wednesday done.

August 19: I'm grateful for having a shower where the water temperature can be adjusted. (The shower in my last apartment had only "cold" and "scalding.")

August 20: I'm grateful to Sylvia for being understanding when I told her I was falling asleep before 10PM.

Other than 1.5 hours of Torts tomorrow, I have survived my first week of law school.  All in all, it isn't as bad as I feared, but worse than I hoped.

The amount of reading is overwhelming. I had about 80 pages to read for Criminal Law before the first class. (Though I admit no other class was that bad, and the rest of the Crim Law reading assignments are shorter.) Not only do we have to read the assignments, we have to "brief" all the cases. (Briefing means writing a short summary of the case, including the court's decision and reasoning, to be able to discuss it in class.) 

Classes:
Lawyering Process: A combo of Introduction to the Legal System, How to Think Like a Lawyer, How to Write Like a Lawyer, and Basic Legal Procedures. (How to write client letters and the like.) Shouldn't be too hard and should be a good basis for the rest of law school.
Property: Yeah... How to describe this class... Let's start by saying the professor acts like he has ADD. He bounces from topic to topic and idea to idea. Everyone I've talked to is a bit overwhelmed with the class. We have no idea where anything is going or what we are supposed to be learning. This could be a LONG year...
Contracts: I admit, I was dreading this class because I thought it would be dull. I'm rather surprised, as the professor does a good job of keeping the class and discussion moving, and the cases are interesting. (Our first one dealt with those annoying EULA no one ever reads when they install software.The professor commented she spent a lot of years doing cyber law.) Plus, the professor has a great sense of humor. (She is from Boston and announced in the first class that all Yankee's fans automatically lose 10 points from their final total.)
Criminal: This one I was looking forward to since this is what I think I want to go into. The first class seemed a little chaotic, but today's was more on-topic. The professor isn't as energetic as Contracts or Torts, but the subject is interesting and discussions can get really in-depth.
Torts: (For anyone who doesn't know - and I didn't - torts are civil actions dealing with damage to another person or another person's property. The McDonald's hot coffee case is an example of a tort.) I think I'll really like this professor. He is very laid back, blunt, and funny. As for the topic, it should be good.
PASS: Stands for Pathways to Academic Success Seminar. It's a required Pass/Fail class for first years, designed to teach the how to study. Of course, we are all college graduates (and some people in my class have graduate degrees), so you'd think by now we would have the idea. To add insult to injury, the professor I got stuck with is BORING! I started doodling in my notebook to pass the time. Thankfully, this class is only 1 hour a week.

I got through my first day of law classes. Of course, I only had 2 classes today. (Monday and Friday are my short days.)

My first class was Lawyering Process I - how to be a lawyer. The professor seemed really interesting and excited about what she is doing. As part of the class, we all had to come up with a "Six Word Memoir." Some were funny ("I am out of the Army.") Some were serious. Mine was "Some things just can't be told," which I explained means everyone has done things that either no one would believe, or we prefer to forget we did. That got a laugh out of the class.

I had heard my Property I professor has a tendency to go off on tangents. I saw that this morning. Class discussion was all over the place, although he said classes should be more focused from here on out. All I know is I couldn't keep up!

Tomorrow I'm in class (off and on) from 10AM to 4:15 PM. Long day, but I have a long lunch break.

OK, so I'm behind again.

August 13: I'm grateful to the school for feeding the students during the organizational fair. The burgers were really good, and the frozen custard was to die for.

August 14: I'm grateful to the staff of the bookstore at school for staying open 3 hours longer than they planned in order to get as many students through as possible. Also for ordering pizza for the students standing in line. I'm also grateful to maintenance at the apartment complex for fixing my washer and dryer so they work.

August 15: I'm grateful to the company the makes the networking software I use so I can share files between my desktop and my laptop.

OK, so I'm a few days behind again...

August 9: I'm grateful to Sylvia for not killing me for making her sleep on the floor!

August 10: I'm grateful to Sylvia for saying she wanted to try the Indian restaurant across the street. The food is amazing!

August 11: I'm grateful to Sylvia for setting up a small altar on my kitchen sidebar to remind me of her while she is gone.

August 12: I'm grateful to the movers for telling me they wouldn't be here until 7:30 or 8 so I didn't have to rush home from orientation.

I'm a few days behind because of the move. Anyway...

August 5: I'm grateful to the Security Officer who let me keep my ID badge until the end of my last day, rather than turn it in at 9AM. That way I didn't have to ring the doorbell every time I wanted into my work space.

August 6: I'm grateful to the movers for showing up on time and being so helpful and professional while loading my stuff into the car. I am also grateful to Sylvia for cleaning my apartment while I ran all the last minute errands that had to be done.

August 7: I'm grateful for the customer service rep at Jacksonville Electric for figuring out why the deposit I overnighted to have the electric turned on did not arrive and turning my electric on anyway. (I used the postal service, not FedEx. USPS just delivers to a central location rather than accounting.) I am also grateful to Sylvia for recommending we stop on the road so we can rest and get a good night's sleep.

August 8: I am grateful to the Comcast Cable guy for hooking up my cable. I am also grateful to on-site maintenance for not berating me when I couldn't figure out how the themostat on my AC worked.

Yup, I am officially moved to Jacksonville. We left about 8AM yesterday and made it as far as Savannah, GA. We probably could have made it the rest of the way, but I was getting tired and the idea of getting out of the Jeep, getting a good dinner, and sitting on something that wasn't moving was too tempting. So we stopped at 7, checked into a hotel that takes dogs, then went to Waffle House for dinner. (I love Waffle House and have missed them while living around DC.) 

This morning, we got going about 8:30 and arrived at the complex about 10:45. The cable guy came to connect the cable (including internet) about 1. Now Sylvia and I are off to (1) find lunch, (2) find a Toys R Us/Babies R Us to buy a baby gate (to block the dogs in the bedroom and bathroom), and (3) get a money order for the pet deposit, which the complex forgot to tell me I would need when I moved in.

The dogs are confused. They keep wandering around, trying to figure out where they are and where the stuff is. (The movers should be here tomorrow.)

I am grateful for the very helpful Member Services Rep at my credit union who helped me deal with refinancing my car loan and getting a personal loan.

The Gratitude Project was begun several years ago by estaratshirai. The rules are simple. Every day between Lammas and Mabon one must find something to be grateful for in life. No repeats - one can be grateful to people more than once, but it has be for different reasons.

August 1: I'm grateful to Sylvia's family, for taking me in and "adopting" me, even though she and I have only been dating for 2 months.

August 2: I'm grateful to the Domino's delivery man, who got my order to the door just at the moment I wanted to take a break from packing and cleaning.

August 3: I'm grateful to the Financial Aid Office at Florida Coastal for answering my questions about the status of my student loan.

LONG weekend, but productive.

( Adventures in Packing )

After talking to 4 moving companies and getting quotes, I decided on one last night. I've already paid the down payment and signed the paperwork. They're coming next Thursday to load up all of my stuff and take it to Jacksonville. I should have my stuff back by Sunday or Monday. I'll UPS some bedding and such to my new apartment so I have something to sleep on while I wait for my furnature to arrive.

My undergraduate transcript was shipped from Tech yesterday, so it should arrive in FL early next week. I'll call the middle of next week and make sure it is there.

All the paperwork for my student loans is done and I am just waiting for the school to certify everything and then to get my money. Since the tuition has to be paid by the 17th, I am thinking about going to my credit union (financial aid award letter in hand) on Saturday and getting a loan for the amount I still owe, then pay it back once the loan check arrives. I can't cash out my retirement until I'm offically done with work, which is Aug 15. (Due to the way to pay cycle works, I'll be on annual leave 7 my last 10 days on the job.) I also won't get my sold-back leave until then.

I am back from my weekend trip to FL. 

( Apartment Hunting and Head Cold )

That would be my nose... Out of the blue, my sinuses decided to start acting up yesterday. It started with a headache, which was annoying enough.  Overnight, they started draining. By morning, my throat was so sore I could barely drink anything and my voice was more of a croak.  And of course, my nose won't stop running.

It's better than being stopped up, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

The life-long bacholor is on his way to being hitched. 

A few weeks ago, Sylvia brought up the possibility of getting handfasted before I left for Florida.  I admit the idea of the ceremony had occurred to me, but I had thought of putting it off until she moved to FL with me.  I agreed, with the caveat that I had veto rights to anything she or the priestess conducting the ceremony wanted to do.  (I specifically refused to jump over a broom.) 

When we checked our calenders, we found the only Saturday that worked for both of us was last Saturday, so that was the date.  We picked out rings (spinner rings with wave patterns) several weeks ago. I reviewed the ceremony and decided I could handle everything planned.

Overall, the ceremony was simple.  Sylvia's mother called Air (which she volunteered to do as soon as Sylvia mentioned the handfasting to her). Sylvia's brother (complete in kilt) called Earth.  The friend who originally intoduced us called Fire, and another mutual friend called Water.  The only screw-up came when the guy calling The God started reading the wrong paragraph in the script. (I was also convinced he was going to drop the wand on my head, but I managed not to get brained...) We were a little nervous about the ring exchange since our ring sizes are drastically different but the rings are identical. (Close observation shows which ring is larger, but we knew we would not have time for close observation during the ceremony. We solved that by tying colored thread around each ring, making it obvious who each ring belonged to.)

Then we had the fun of trying to get through the reception with our right hands tied together. Eating finger foods one handed is easy. Pouring drinks, not so much.

It is kind of weird wearing a ring on my left hand, but I am getting used to it. 

To those of you that were there, thank you so much for coming.  It meant a lot to have you there. :)

I start law school in 48 days.

I've given notice to my current apartment complex that I will be leaving. I'm going to Jacksonville the weekend of July 17 to find a place to live there. My apartment is getting organized and straightened up, thanks to Sylvia. (I can't find anything I own since she has put everything away, but it will make packing up easier.)

All the documentation for federal financial aid has been submitted and I should get my offer package soon. The $10,000 scholarship I've got will help a lot. (I think that's the amount.) I finally got my application for the GI Bill in as well. (I had the form filled out, but needed to get my discharge papers scanned in to attach.)

I submitted my formal resignation, effective August 15. (Most of the last 2 weeks will be leave, though.) I need to start cleaning out my cubicle, but that will mostly involve throwing stuff away or shredding it. I have finished all the on-going projects I had and obviously am not being given any more, so work has become mostly doing whatever comes up.

On a non-professional note, I found the contact information for the Vampire: the Requiem live-action RP group in Jacksonville and sent the POC an e-mail last night, asking for info on their game. I have my character mostly put together for that as well, so should be able to step in once I move.

I just finished clearing all the old clothes out of my closet. 3 garbage bags to take to Goodwill. Still want to finish off the closet (mostly get the stuff off the floor) and he living room by the end of the weekend.