Post bar life

A few photos from the last week:

Because I live in Tacoma and the bar is in Bellevue, I got a hotel room for the bar and Ray shared it with me. The week before, consumed by stress, we both decided to go a day early so we could try to have a couple of uninterrupted nights' sleep before the exam (something about 3-year-olds and sleep doesn't mix, apparently). Here's how we spent the day before the bar:



Here's a photo from Megan's facebook page -- I certainly didn't have the presence of mind to take a picture, but yes, this is the room where 800 people sweated out the bar for three days:



Afterward we had friends over to our hotel room for champagne. Ray's husband came with her daughters, wearing T-shirts her law firm had made for them:



Friday, I took the kids out for ice cream IN THE MIDDLE OF A WEEKDAY -- scandalous! -- and took this picture, which I emailed to my husband at work to make him jealous. It worked.



Ahh, post-bar life. Nothing to do but clean the house to unearth three years worth of crap, punctuated by trips to the local frozen custard stand. And beer! How I've missed you, beer. Life is good.

3L class gift: We rock

Randomly and oddly, my 1L small group, Group 6, has eight student-parents in it. Plus, we've had more students drop out or transfer than anyone else (though none of those were student-parents). We're down to 23 members -- and yes, more than a third of them are parents. There are, of course, parents in other sections, but ours seems to be particularly weighted.

Want to know how having a lot of family types in your group affects things? I don't know if there's a straight-line correlation, of course, but check out the placard in the hallway showing how groups have contributed to the 3L graduation gift to the LRAP. Or follow this link: http://www.law.washington.edu/Students/3LGift/ Yeah, that's right. We're the big dog.

If there are any 3Ls reading this, here are some things you should know:
* You only have to give $1 to increase the percentage of students giving, which is helpful for the school's rank.
* Pledges count toward the total raised by your group.
* The state will match any gifts received by the end of June. Double your dollars for the LRAP.
* PILA will match both gifts and pledges up to $10,000. Double your dollars again.

You can contribute by credit card by following the link above, or take cash to Yoshiko on the third floor. Pledge forms are available at the link above, plus there are some in the mail room.

PALS group photo

Last week Shari Ireton took a group photo of PALS to commemorate our being student organization of the year. Not everyone could make it, but we got a pretty good turnout. We took one picture of the group holding photos of our children, and one just standard photo. You can tell which one I like best because I'm posting it first:



Charles and Kevin are cracking me up. And check out Tami -- so adorable.



Our kids can beat up your kids. rrgh!

What do you think? Also, let me know if you want a copy -- I have both high- and low-res versions.

Sack lunch tyranny

Every morning I pack four lunches. Yes I do. I tell you, it's a glamorous life I lead. But here's the thing. After making approximately 1,000 lunches in the last year and a half (yes really), surprisingly enough, it's getting a little old. And not just for me. At first the kids liked PB&Js, and they liked chicken nuggets, and really, they'd eat pretty much anything. I'd slip little notes in there, draw pictures on their lunch bags, yada yada. But now they're surly, jaded 5- and 3-year-olds and they won't eat just any (well-rounded, nutritionally complete, homemade daily) meal. Nuggets, formerly the haute of cuisine, now are gross. Yogurt gives the little one a rash. Perfectly good fruit comes home uneaten.

Here's what I made the last two days, just to make PB&J more attractive:

Yes, these are numerous teeny tiny heart-shaped peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. All part of the scheme to convince my 5-year-old to eat her lunch.

The scheme worked. But here's perhaps a more accurate picture:

Heart-shaped PB&J project aided by Fat Tire; note messy kitchen in background. Not pictured: Unread Torts 2 casebook.

In short, I need ideas. Anybody have sack lunch suggestions? What do you pack in your kids' lunches? Even if you don't pack lunches, got any ideas?

Blog-o-rama, or, we all need distractions

One of my favorite bloggers is on a road trip around the country, visiting her readers and fellow bloggers, so I stopped by to have coffee with her on Tuesday when she was in Seattle. It was fun to meet her and a couple of other bloggers in person.

I tend to read parenting blogs (sometimes called "mommy blogs") because reading other parents' stories about dealing with kid and family problems sometimes helps me with my own, or at least puts a little perspective on mine. Then there are the humor blogs, the catty fashion blogs, the (gasp) legal blogs... Do you read any blogs, and if so, which ones?

Here are a few that I visit occasionally:

Humor/parenting blogs
dooce
thepioneerwoman
whoopee
iambossy
the bloggess
othejoys

finslippy

alladither

snarky blogs
mamapop -- pop culture from a mom's perspective!
gofugyourself
I used to read more of these -- what's good?

law blogs
trialadnotes -- holla, mary!
Decision of the day

What else? What great blogs did I leave out?

Lisa and Bossy of iambossy

I like this better than my pix from prom this weekend, sigh

Diversions

It's getting toward the end of the quarter, papers are due, exams are coming. Time for distractions.

In case you haven’t seen it yet, here’s a link to the now-classic “Landlord” video with Will Ferrell. Caution: if you don’t like seeing 2-year-olds swear, you might not like it. Oh, come on, it’s totally worth it.

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/74

Here’s a mom’s version of the William Tell Overture:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ati3k32-NXI

(thanks Mary Whisner)

And finally, this is just an amazing wildlife video. This is NOT funny, just amazing. It gets a bit grim about two minutes in, and then gets even grimmer, but the ending is great. It’s called the Battle at Kruger:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LU8DDYz68kM

Daylight savings, or, I want my hours back

Prof. Calandrillo has published an argument for keeping daylight savings year-round. It's here:
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/opinion/338554_daylight07.html

He's absolutely right, though his reasons are all wrong. Biannual time changes are hideous. Spring, of course, is obviously a problem: we lose an hour of sleep. Fall, once upon a time, seemed like the better side of the coin, the cool side of the pillow, as it were. But NO! It turns out that when the time changes, the little darlings get up an hour EARLIER. What used to be a 7 a.m. wakeup is now a 6 a.m. wakeup. Logically, you would think that would mean that they would go to bed an hour earlier, yes? No! They do not.

I am not sure where my hour went, but I want to file an appeal. I'm with Prof. Calandrillo, though my reasons may differ. Come to think of it, he has kids....

Nursing news

I would just like to say, what blog brings you boob news, eh? Is the law school's blog going to tell you the latest research on breastfeeding? I think not. Trial ad notes? Ha! Hunk99 might have been a source, but he's gone, and the FedSoc blog is moribund. No, no, my dears, if you want to know about all things mammary, this is the place to come. And you won't get thrown off the library computers for reading it!

So, to the point:

Recent research says not to blame breastfeeding for your droopiness. Nope, it's repeated pregnancies or smoking that does it. Nurse away! (So guys, if you have boob droop, quit smoking.) See the story here:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/21599854/

p.s. Blame Laura for this post. She said the item would be "interesting to those with boobs and those who love boobs."

p.p.s. What, do you want me to write items about law school security or something? Gimme a break.