The Weekend (Plus Monday)
I wrote this entry through the day on Tuesday and posted it on blogger, since OD was down. It’s the entry regarding my weekend back at home, plus the goings-on of Monday.
Yes, it’s Tuesday and I’m just now getting around to writing about my weekend at home. Suffice it to say it was a busy weekend at home and yesterday was just as busy. As an overview, the weekend was terrific. It was just what I needed. I’ll go through each day’s activities and thoughts, and then I’ve got some general thoughts from the weekend, and then I’ll go through yesterday.
Friday:
I didn’t get everything done that I wanted to Friday morning. Part of that was because I lounged around for awhile watching The Today Show when I should have been doing other things. The biggest thing I didn’t do was fold laundry (as a side note, the vast majority of that laundry is still unfolded!) On Thursday I had created a list of things I needed to pack for the weekend so that made actually packing on Friday morning relatively painless. I had to use a rather large suitcase. A few years back, my parents got suitcase sets for each of me and my brothers. My particular set has a middle suitcase that fits airline requirements. That suitcase then fits into a larger one. The set also includes a small (read: very small) duffle bag. The following link is pretty close to what I have. Luggage Set (opens in a new window). Given that I essentially had to take home three changes of clothes (since I needed church clothes and I didn’t want to wear them back to Dekalb), plus general toiletries, a hair dryer for Sunday, extra textbook stuff for studying, and other miscellaneous items, the small duffle wasn’t going to work. As it turned out, it was a good thing I took the suitcase instead of the duffle (see more on that later). I packed the suitcase and packed up my bookbag, stuck both in my car, and drove to class. Torts went well and didn’t drag too much. However, Civil Procedure dragged more than usual. It almost always does, but given how excited I was about the weekend I really dragged. I skedaddled after Civ Pro and to my locker and out to my car :). I finally got out of Dekalb about 2:15ish after getting gas, a drink, and a snack. My dad had wanted me to call when I was leaving Dekalb so he and my mom would know what time to meet me at Friday’s. Unfortunately when I called my dad, I woke him up. The drive up wasn’t bad. There were times where there was fairly heavy traffic but overall it wasn’t bad. It was, however, a good thing my parents didn’t meet me at my grandparents’ instead. Near the exit for Deerfield, going south on I-90 there was an accident. When I passed it, there was only one car there, but there was also several cop cars, an ambulance, and a fire truck. As a result, traffic was down to one lane and that backed up traffic for at least five miles!
The nice thing about meeting my parents at Friday’s for an early dinner is that instead of a two hour drive, it’s only about 1 hour 45 minutes to the restaurant. I pulled into the restaurant right about 4pm and my dad followed a few minutes later. It was great to see him. I hadn’t seen him (or my mom) since the Saturday of Labor Day weekend. I sat in his truck with him a few minutes while we waited for my mom to show up. It was good to just sit there and talk to him. It was also wonderful just how excited he was to see me. Same went for my mom when she arrived a few minutes later. It was just great to see them. We talked through dinner as well, and I was informed that I needed to stop by my grandparents’ on my way back on Sunday. I learned my dad had gone through the Minneapolis airport that morning on his way back from Princeton. The key thing is that there’s a chocolate store in the Minneapolis airport where my dad picks up chocolate for my grandmother. So I was given strict instructions that I was going to be my grandmother’s chocolate mule on Sunday. Afterwards, I had to make a quick trip across the street to OfficeMax for a 3-hole punch. I also got some more yellow highlighters (I’m going through them quickly with the amount of highlighting I do), plus the punch, and a staple remover. That night I saw my room as my parents have changed it. My room used to have dark blue carpeting (think jewel tone blue) and very very very light blue walls. It now has gorgeous wood flooring. However, it’s also got a dark green wall. My room has a cut out as a result of the stairs and the front entry way. The two parts of that wall that face into the room have both been painted dark green (around a dark jewel tone green). The rest of the walls appear to be a very very very very light green (or maybe it’s white, I wasn’t paying that close attention). I like the floors, but not so fond of the green. My parents and I did a lot of talking, at least until my mom left for her piano lesson. My dad and I were then down on the first floor, playing with the dogs and watching the baseball game (and a football game, I think). It was great to play with the dogs on the floor and just be home.
Given that my old room doesn’t currently have a bed (but will later this week I guess), I took over Jason’s room for the weekend since his room is the only one of the kids’ with a bed still in it. His bed’s not terrible, but I hate his pillows. When I’m home for Christmas, I’m absolutely bringing my pillows home. I just didn’t see the point of hauling them for a weekend. All in all, I slept pretty good Friday night.
Saturday:
Saturday too was a good day. Waffles and bacon were on tap for breakfast and my dad was in fine form. He was feisty and in a good mood. The last several years it’s always been fun to watch my parents pick at each other like that 🙂 Even though I got up at 8, it was 10 am before I got started on studying for my crim law midterm on Monday. I spent the day creating an outline (along with Sunday night). It went well, mostly. I also got a chance to talk to Stephen on the phone when he called home. I again played with the dogs, especially Sammie. I definitely missed the dogs. While it was a quiet day, it was also great. At one point, my parents and I (along with Sammie) were up in my old room. My mom mentioned that I had left two hoodies in the closet when I left in August. This is where the suitcase came in handy. Since I had the room, I could easily take both of them back with me. My one request for food
over the weekend was homemade mac ‘n cheese. So for dinner Saturday night, we had homemade macaroni and cheese, along with homemade fried chicken. It was an awesome dinner :). After dinner, my dad was getting some ice cream when he dropped a rather large scoop on the floor. Sammie happened to be standing next to him when it happened and my dad tried to keep her away with his foot. However, she wasn’t having any of that. My dad thought his toes might be toast when she went for the ice cream. She did get it, and fast apparently. She had issues with eating it though and it took her several minutes to actually get it down. It was rather funny to tell you the truth. My dad and I then watched the OSU-Wisconsin game on ESPN. My mom also watched bits and pieces of it while she made cookies for the Linger Longer the following day. She also made brownies, some of which I would take back with me and some of which my dad would take with him (anything left after that would get tossed). For anyone living under a rock the last several days, the game was awesome. If you didn’t watch it, you really should go to http://www.espn3.com and watch it. You can watch replays of games that were on ESPN or ABC networks. As a badger fan, it was such great fun to watch, even on tv. It was even better to watch it with my dad. After the game, I did some more work on my Crim Law outline. It was nearly midnight before I finally turned out the light in Jason’s room.
Sunday
Sunday was another great day. This time around, I woke up about 7:20, though the alarm was set for 8. I have to get up by then so I can take my ADD meds and still sleep that night. Vyvanse tends to last between 12 and 14 hours, so I have to be aware of what time I’m taking it in the morning and what time I have to go to bed that night. Breakfast was pancakes and bacon. In addition to breakfast, I also read articles galore on the Badger win over OSU. Lots of fun stuff to read and I didn’t even get to all of it before I had to take a shower and get ready for church. As it turned out, my mom and I were running a little later than we wanted but it turned out okay. It was great to talk to Brianna for a few minutes before church started. Elsie is a cutie! Being back in the ward really brought home to me how small my ward in Dekalb is. I got a chance to say hi to Sister Nelson prior to Sacrament meeting starting and got a hug as well. Apparently my mom has been helping Brianna out since the baby came. Since Brianna’s husband is the bishop, she’s otherwise on her own during Sacrament meeting with four small kids (the oldest is 7 I think now). So instead of sitting off to the side like she used to, Brianna now sits with my mom. There are a few reasons for that. First, with four small kids plus Brianna, one of the smaller pews just doesn’t work anymore. Second, sitting with my mom (or any adult really) allows Brianna to go out to feed the baby while still having someone sit with the kids. It allows Brianna to deal with the baby and not worry about the other kids. The songs sung were awesome and it was great to hear such a full sound. I’ve really missed that here in Dekalb. The meeting was terrific as well. It brought back memories of last year’s Single Adult Thanksgiving activity. At that time, the Stake Presidency was fairly new – they’d only been called earlier in the month. President Nelson had been in our ward that day and convinced me to attend the activity with he and his wife. There was dinner, then a short meeting, then dessert. At the meeting, each member of the Stake Presidency spoke. I love listening to all three of them. Going back to Ward Conference this last weekend, they each spoke again. The songs sung were terrific as well, especially standing for Called to Serve. It’s one of my favorites, especially since I learned it by heart last year while I was in Primary.
After Sacrament meeting, I got a chance to say hi to several people before the second short meeting began, including President Nelson. The short meeting for the adults was just a question-answer session. Not much that I want to relay here, but it was good. After that meeting was the Linger Longer. This I loved, as I got the chance to say hi and catch up a bit with multiple people. I talked with Brianna for a bit, which was great. I love her to pieces 🙂 The other people I really got a chance to talk with were President and Sister Nelson. After my mom and Sister Nelson got food (I got mine while I was talking with Brianna), we sat down at one of the tables where President Nelson joined us a little later. Sister Nelson asked lots of questions about the area, about school, about my apartment, and about the ward. I also got to speak with President Nelson during this time as well. My mom and I ended up staying until just after 1pm. Once we got home, I said hi to the dogs then went upstairs to change and pack all my stuff, including the things I was taking back with me that I’d missed in July and August. I then went back downstairs with my suitcase and did a little more work on my outline while watching the Bears game with my dad. Mostly though I just played online. As the Bears game ended, my mom packed up some brownies for me. I also went down to the basement to look for some of the DVD’s I’d missed in July and August. When my parents changed the family room back in January, everything that had been in the bookcase got packed in boxes and put in the pool room. I knew in July that I hadn’t gone through all the boxes. So before I left on Sunday, there was a box hidden underneath the pool table that I knew I hadn’t gone through in July. In that box were the DVDs I was missing, plus Season 3 of Criminal Minds. Also in the box were Seasons 1 & 2 of SeaQuest that my mom and I had gotten for Christmas together from my dad. With my mother’s permission, I took those back with me. By the time I pulled out of the driveway, it was about 3:20ish.
The drive back was pretty good and it was nice to break it up with the stop at my grandparents’ house. I got there around 4:35ish and left about 5:15. I pulled up in front of my apartment right about 6pm. I called both my parents and my grandparents to let them know I was home safe and sound then hauled my stuff back into my apartment. Luckily enough, I snagged a parking spot right in front of my building front door. I didn’t do too much once I got home. I put some stuff away and finished my outline for Crim Law, then printed it out.
Some overall thoughts on the weekend. First, I was surprised at just what it meant to be “home” for the weekend. I seem to be having some issues
with that word. On one hand, I definitely think of my apartment as home. On the other hand, I kept referring to the weekend as “going home for the weekend.” Sometimes I would catch myself and change it to “going to my parents’ for the weekend.” However, in a very real sense, that house will always be home I think. Even though my apartment’s “home” now, that house also felt like “home” the moment I walked in. It was also a little strange to drive through the streets of Madison and the short drive from Madison to DeForest after spending so much time driving through Dekalb and the surrounding area for the last 10 weeks. Second, I realized that when my parents say I can always come home, they really mean it. I always knew they meant it, but this weekend I really felt it. It was so obvious that my parents were grateful to have me home, even for a weekend. I don’t think I ever realized that before, even when I was up at NMU or when my brothers would come home on break from Cornell. Third, many of my favorite people in the world are in the Sun Prairie Ward in the Madison, Wisconsin Stake (or have been in that ward at one time). As much as I loved the ward in Taiwan and the ward when we lived in Loves Park and then Rockton, the Sun Prairie Ward is my favorite. I’m not quite sure what it is about that ward, but there’s a feeling there that I’ve felt nowhere else. Fourth, I was reminded just how much the people of that ward care about me, even though I’m no longer there. When I was studying for the LSAT and then applying to law schools, and then waiting on decisions, everyone wanted to know how it was going. Everyone was wishing me luck and hoping I got into where I wanted to go. There was so much support from the ward, even from those I didn’t know as well. And now, people apparently ask my mom how I’m doing. When I was there on Sunday, everyone was so excited to see me and ask how things were going. And the questions didn’t just come from those I knew well – they came from everyone that had known me before I left (there have been some new faces that moved in since I left).
All in all, it was a wonderful weekend and exactly what I needed to get through the next 5 1/2 weeks or so until the end of the semester. That’s right – there’s this week plus 4 more full weeks, plus 2 days left of the semester. That takes us into Thanksgiving week. Following Thanksgiving, we have a 3 day reading period, followed by final exams. At Thanksgiving, I’ll go home either that Tuesday afternoon or Wednesday morning, and then drive back Monday morning. As I told my parents, there’s no sense dealing with the nasty holiday traffic on Sunday afternoon when I don’t have to.
As for Monday, it was definitely busy. I had the Crim Law midterm, which for my room didn’t actually start until 10:45, as there was some mix-up with the number of copies needed. I did type the exam, and I think that’s the route I’m going to take for all of the exams. It did seem to go better than the Torts midterm a few weeks ago. So I’ll have to install software on my computer prior to finals. Apparently the software isn’t ready yet though (or at least it wasn’t in time for our midterm yesterday). So after my four classes let out, I had quite a bit of reading to do, between Contracts, Criminal Law, and Torts. It was 5:45 before I left the library, and that was without having dealt with Torts. In any case, it was a lot of work last night.
There’s a fair amount of work to be done over the next week as well. Tonight I’ve got Contracts and Civil Procedure to take care of. During my three hour break tomorrow, I’ve got to take care of the rest of the Torts reading assignment (we only had to read the first two cases of it for today). Thankfully I don’t have to read the next Crim Law assignment, since we didn’t get to it today. After Civil Procedure, I need to spend the afternoon on the BLR assignment and get it completely done, regardless of how long it takes me. Realistically, it should only take a couple hours at most. Thursday brings Torts and Crim Law, followed by preparing for Torts and Civil Procedure on Friday. Friday’s got Torts and Civil Procedure and making sure I turn in the BLR assignment by 9am (though I’ll likely turn it in after I finish it on Wednesday). Friday + the weekend has Contracts, Criminal Law, BLR lecture, and Legal Writing to deal with, in addition to writing up the Client Letter (up to two pages, single spaced based upon Memo 1 and due by 8:50AM on Monday). I’ve also got a midterm a week from this Friday and have to have a citation list for Memo 2 done by Nov 1st (which means doing the research for Memo 2 between now and then!) That doesn’t include the day to day reading and briefing that I have to do on a daily basis. But as busy as I am, I’m having fun.
"Life is measured not by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away."
