Need a jolt?

So last weekend I started this Project Management class at Baruch College. It's on Saturdays--9:30 am to 3:30 pm, and it runs for five weeks. (I'm doing this to improve my PM skills at work.) Not too bad, really.

The big catch with this is that Baruch is in Manhattan, so I have to take the train into the city--and the weekend railroad schedule is more limited. But OK, there's a 7:28 train that gets me in by a quarter to nine. Plenty of time for the subway ride to 23rd and to get a cup of tea. And I live 2 miles from the train station. Easy five minute drive to the train. And the next train--about a half hour later--would get me to class maybe 10 minutes late. Again, not so bad, but I really don't want to be late.

So last weekend was the first class. No problems getting to class with enough time to grab a cup of tea. This is good.

This morning I woke up at 6:30. I stirred a little, looked at the clock, and then thought I could close my eyes for another minute. Next thing I know the alarms (yes, alarms) are going off. I look at the clock, and it says 7:15.

Oh crap.

I need to catch a 7:28 train to get to class on time.

--I caught the 7:28.

And I didn't forget to put any article of clothes on, and my shoes matched.

That's 13 minutes from my bed to actually sitting on the train. That's definitely a record for me. However...

Final euphoria

I just e-mailed the take-home final exam for my computer class to the instructor. Woo-hoo!!!

Now I just have one more final--an in-class final for my Family Law class on the 26th. Then a break until late February, two more classes, and then I'll hopefully have my paralegal certificate by June. I'm in the homestretch now!

Rhinebeck afterglow

Wow! What can I say? My first Rhinebeck was an amazing experience! I was there pretty much for the entire day on Saturday and I'm still processing everything I saw and did there. The animals, the vendors, the people--it was all wonderful. (Well, maybe not some of the crowding, but it was still pretty good.) I got to meet some fellow Ravelers as well as friends from home. I also missed a whole bunch of people that I thought I would see. (Carole? Jess? Lars? Where were you guys???)

I came up to Vermont after Rhinebeck to do some work on the house and now I'm getting ready to head back to reality Long Island. (I start two paralegal classes tonight.) I'll upload some pictures once I have a high speed internet connection instead of this here dial-up thing.


By the way--DSL service will be activated here at Moose Manor by November 1. Woo-hoo!!!

Random thoughts for a Wednesday

Yeah, I know, it's really been a while. I've been that busy. So instead of a big constructed post, let's go with a few bullet points.

• This past Saturday I finished my two weekend classes and this coming Saturday I start two more that will run through the end of May. I really do enjoy these classes, however, I've been doing this week-in-week-out since OCTOBER. With no real breaks. Boy, I could really use a break. Just a little one. Please???


• Work's been... well... work. There's been another reshuffling and my position has changed. It's going to take a while to figure out exactly what I'm going to be doing, but I'll get there.


• Jim and I have decided to try to refinance our mortgage. The figures that the Re-Fi guy gave us look good, but I'll believe it after it comes back from the bank. Re-Fi guy told us two weeks ago that we should hear something within about two weeks. Now he's saying maybe the end of this month--or sometime in April. Yeah...
  
• My Bloglines subscriptions are totally out of control. Here are just a few of the blogs that I'm behind in reading:
  
  Cabin Cove (68)
  CrazyAuntPurl (41)
  january one (161)
  A Paralegal's Blog (27)
  Wayne Schiess's legal-writing blog (34)
  Lolly Knitting Around (42)
  Mason-Dixon Knitting (162)
  Now Norma Knits (53)
  One Crazy Fiber Lady (200)
  Sandy's Knitting (192)
  Yarn Harlot (76)
  
  Scary. I don't know if I'm going to even attempt to read all this. It's just a little overwhelming.


• Last month I stopped at Webs on my way south and finally met Cirilia! We chatted as she range up my purchase. (Yes, I bought a little yarn. Just a little. Really.)


• There have been trips up to Moose Manor. Haven't done much around the house, though. Just not enough time. On my last trip we went up to the Brandon Inn to do some press photos for a Civil War event we're hosting there in early June.


That staircase was just made for hoop skirts.


• Here's something to look forward to--my sister scored some tickets to see Jimmy Buffett at Tweeter Center Great Woods up in Manfield, Massachusetts! A sure sign that summer's coming!

So that's it for now. I've still got lots of stuff to talk about, but that will have to wait for another day. I'll leave you with a picture from Vermont that was taken about two weeks ago.

It's not pretty anymore. Spring cannot get here soon enough!!!

Oh crap...

It just dawned on me as I'm was studying for my Litigation Deux midterm (which is in 2 two days) that I neglected to add the appropriate courts to ALL of my case citations for my final Legal Research papers. I'm such an idiot! If there's one thing that I know, it's citation format, and I botched it! Big time!!!

I'm going to go back through my papers and add the courts (marked in red to further identify my idiocy), generate PDFs and e-mail them to my instructor--not to resubmit, but to let him know that I know better and how much of a careless ass I know I am.

I can't believe I did that, after everything. The one thing I thought I had nailed. Now I just hope I pass the course.


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Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld


E.T.A. Turns out I didn't screw it up. It's fine as is. Nothing like a little panicking for no reason to start the day. :-(

Finally!!!

I'm done with my Legal Research class!!! The papers are done! They've been handed in, and with the exception of half of one of them, I'm fairly satisfied with the work I did.

Of course, I had to get through the drama of the past three months that seemed to accompany this class and of course the residual drama from when I took it last spring, but let's not focus on that right now.

Drama? Well, over Christmas my laptop died and couldn't be resuscitated. Fortunately most of the work was still in paper form, but I did lose a couple of things. Then there was the take home final from professor scrooge. Nice way to spend the holidays.

Then Saturday night I go to log in to WestLaw and my account has been deactivated. WTF??? I called technical support to see if there was some kind of mistake--nope, no mistake, no access, and no chance to restore it until Monday morning. Paper were due 8pm tonight. . I started crying like a little baby--on the phone with the tech support person. Pathetic, huh?

But no matter--it's done now. I'm sitting on the train on my way home, and I'm about to take out some... KNITTING!!! Something there's been precious little of around here. So if you'll excuse me I've got a fingerless mitt to catch up with...

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Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld

Litigation I is done!

Just e-mailed the final exam back to my instructor. There is much rejoicing here in Vermont!

:-)

How I spent my Christmas vacation

Yeah, that sums it up right there. Since Christmas day I've been working on my take home final exam for my Litigation class. I thought that when you walk out of a class after the last scheduled session AND there's not final exam period, you'd be done, right? Wrong-o! This guy handed us our take home final in the last 15 minutes of that final class. Five essay questions (out of seven), citing appropriate sections of the statute as needed. He originally wanted to give us a due date of December 23rd, but quickly changed that to December 30th after we started to whine.

Anyway, I'm working on my last essay question now and plan to have the whole thing e-mailed to him tonight. Then maybe I can do a little knitting. (Yeah, knitting--hasn't been any of that around here thanks to Professor Grinch...) And blogging. I want to do some of that too, especially since I have to show you what Jim gave me for Christmas. Trust me, it's just too fabulous for words.

So, I hope the rest of you had a Christmas week that did NOT include any affirmative defenses, service of a summons and complaint, statute of limitations determinations, or third-party actions!

First snow

Today was our first snow of the season in the NY Metro area. We woke up to a fairly dusty powdery snow, although on the highways it created some wet and icy surfaces. And a 32-mile drive to school this morning on tires that really need to be replaced... well, it was a little nerve wracking, even with the AWD. Please cross your fingers that I'm able to get some grippy new tires on the Blue Bean within the next week or so. I have a feeling that this is going to be a snowy winter--both here and in Vermont.

I have to get to work on some flyers for Jim, but before I go just a few things...

• I'm coming down the homestretch for my Sunday classes. Next week is my last Legal Writing class and the week after that is the last Litigation class. The Sunday classes have been good, and I can't believe I'm almost done with them. Time to start thinking about registering for the winter semester.
• With two of my three classes coming to an end, I'll have some time to get back to a little knitting.
• The other night I succumb to temptation... and bought myself a Garmin GPS system that was dirt cheap on WalMart.com. For $178, if was an offer I couldn't refuse, and totally justifiable based on the New England driving that I frequently do.
• This is very important: Next Sunday you need to watch Extreme Home Makeover. They will be featuring a family from Vermont. These are people that Jim knows. Jim has worked with the father, Lou Vitale, at 7-Eleven. I've met Lou. He's a good, decent man, and this is a family that is so very deserving of their new home. So please watch next weekend. Click here for some more information.

Oh yeah, there's also this.

NaBloPoMo. I did it. Thirty consecutive posts. I even surprised myself!

Now there's Blog 365--post every day for a year.

I'm not that crazy.

This evening's commute...

...is refreshingly uneventful for a change. (Imagine arriving on schedule--not something the LIRR's been capable of lately.)

I'm on the train heading home... and to knit night at The Village Knitter. Punkin can't make it tonight, unfortunately, but it will be good to see Karin and the other ladies. Still working on the Fetchings between reading Supreme Court cases and the snooze fest known as my New York Practice text. I really ought to go home and work on my writing assignments, but what's one hour of knitting? (Any enablers out there want to encourage me?)

Oh well, we're coming into the station. Later...
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Sent from my BlackBerry Wireless Handheld

Eye Candy Friday

The New York skyline from Queens College in Flushing.

Reading, Writing, and Wristwarmers

Yeah, despite the time I'm spending with the CPLR, I'm still able to eek out a little knitting on my latest Fetchings.

Valley Yarns Sheffield is really yummy, with just the tiniest bit of angora fuzz. I can't wait to get these done and see how this yarn wears, but I'm already trying to think of other things I could use this for. Maybe some bed socks? Mmmmmmmmm...

Eye Candy Friday -- the Collegiate Edition

This fall my Sundays and Monday nights are spent in paralegal classes at Queens College, which is part of CUNY. They've really prettied the place up since my days here as a undergrad.

About that "to do" list...

Here's what's left from that delusional lovely to do list I made on Friday:

• Insulate 12 4 windows.
• Fill holes and cracks around the house with that expanding foamy insulation stuff.
• Replace doors sweeps.
• Mow grass. (Damn! It's still growing! Even with this cold!)
• Prepare membership lists for LHA's annual meeting (which is tomorrow in Deerfield).
• Finish reading assignment for Litigation class; re-read pages.
• Read four cases. Write 30-minute essay about them for Litigation class. (Time limitation imposed by the instructor so we won't obsess about them and will concentrate on the reading assignments.)
• Write demand letter for Legal Writing class.
• Finish citation assignment for Legal Research class.
• Go into town for a little food shopping.
• Replace screens in storm doors with glass inserts.
• Pick up mail at post offices.
• Make dinner for my betrothed.

Uh... yeah. That's a done list, alright. :-(

Actually, that was the list as of Saturday morning when I left the house. I did most of the school stuff when I got back to L.I. Saturday night. (Not all of the reading assignments, though.) So here's what that list really looks like:

• Insulate 12 4 windows.
• Fill holes and cracks around the house with that expanding foamy insulation stuff.
• Replace doors sweeps.
• Mow grass. (Damn! It's still growing! Even with this cold!)
• Prepare membership lists for LHA's annual meeting (which is tomorrow in Deerfield).
• Finish reading assignment for Litigation class; re-read pages.
• Read four cases. Write 30-minute essay about them for Litigation class. (Time limitation imposed by the instructor so we won't obsess about them and will concentrate on the reading assignments.)
• Write demand letter for Legal Writing class.
• Finish citation assignment for Legal Research class.
• Go into town for a little food shopping.
• Replace screens in storm doors with glass inserts.
• Pick up mail at post offices.
• Make dinner for my betrothed.

OK. That's a little better. The house stuff will have to wait until my next visit, or maybe Jim can do one or two things. (He has his own big list of stuff to do, so we'll see.)

At least my trip wasn't all house work and meetings. I went to the Franklin Fiber Twist for an hour!

Jim even came with me! Doesn't he look thrilled?

Seriously, he was just kidding. He was OK with it. And if you look closely, you can see he's carrying something...

Nearly 6 ounces of Coopworth roving (plant dyed--madder and cochineal) from Woolies of Shirkshire Farm and a new Journey Wheel drop spindle! (It's mine, not his--didn't want anybody confused.)

Aren't they beauties? Now if I can just learn how to use it properly...

Sunday Scenery

After all the rain on Saturday, it was a beautiful day today. This is where I had lunch between classes.

Brrrrrrrrrrr...

ETA: I was mistaken---the morning low was actually 27.
Yeah--twenty seven freakin' degrees!

29 27 degrees. That was the overnight low here in Southern Vermont. It's up to a whopping 39 degrees right now, but after all of those weeks in the 80's, this is really freakin' cold.

I'm up here for a whirlwind weekend-ish visit. (I'm timeshifting my weekend because I have to be back on LI for classes Sunday morning.) Jim's up in Brandon finishing up an Elderhostel program and won't be home until mid to late afternoon. Tomorrow we've got a half day meeting down in Deerfield, Mass. Here's what's on my "to do" list for today (since that's all I've got):

• Insulate 12 windows. (That shrink-wrapped plastic stuff really does make a difference.)


• Fill holes and cracks around the house with that expanding foamy insulation stuff.


• Go into town for a little food shopping.


• Replace screens in storm doors with glass inserts.


• Pick up mail at post offices. (We've got boxes at two different post offices.)


• Finish reading assignment for Litigation class; re-read pages.


• Read four cases. Write 30-minute essay about them for Litigation class. (Time limitation imposed by the instructor so we won't obsess about them and will concentrate on the reading assignments.)


• Write demand letter for Legal Writing class.


• Finish citation assignment for Legal Research class.


• Replace doors sweeps.


• Mow grass. (Damn! It's still growing! Even with this cold!)


• Prepare membership lists for LHA's annual meeting (which is tomorrow in Deerfield).


• Make dinner for my betrothed.

You think I'm going to finish this whole list in the next 12-14 hours? Do you think I'm on drugs??? Oh well, better get my ass in gear so I can get started. I'll leave you with the view out of my condensation-covered, uninsulated window.

I'm baaaaack

Of course, I didn't return directly to New York from the final hotel. It was more like Baltimore to New York by way of... Boston!

I'm home now. Have been for a little over a week. Started classes last Sunday, and I've been plodding through my reading assignments for my Litigation class. (Not light stuff!) Managed to stop at knit night for a bit Thursday night and then Saturday afternoon (to use my coupon), but that's about it. It's been all about work and school. No knitting, no blogging, not even reading blogs. Certainly no Rhinebeck this weekend. Once I get a better handle on the class workload, I'll be able to get back to a little knitting and blogging.

This coming week is going to be really hectic. We've got a meeting in Deerfield, Mass. On Saturday, which just so happens to be around the corner from the marketplace for the Franklin County Fiber Twist! And--even better--our meeting will be over by 2pm, so I can go play!!! Unfortunately I have to head back to L.I. right after that because I've got class the next morning, but still--I get to go to my first fiber festival!

Time for me to make nappys, so I'll leave you with some random photos from the tail end of my 12-day Elderhostel trip.

Here's Jim in front of my favorite ice cream shop in North America!

They even have penguins!

And finally, here's proof of my vacation knitting--a whole ball of Valley Yarns Northampton knitted up!

I really do love this yarn. A worthy substitute for Cascade 220 in any project!

I finished up the last few stitches as we arrived back at the original hotel. How's that for timing?

Random thoughts for a Tuesday

• Reason number 1,543 why I [HEART] NY--Tonight's opening night for the New York Philharmonic. At the same time, barely two miles down the road, Jimmy Buffett's performing at the Garden. How can you not love a city that's got both these concerts going on simultaneously?



• All of a sudden it seems like it's getting dark really early. I caught the 7:30 train tonight, and by the time we came out of the tunnel it was pitch black outside. I don't like this! I want more daylight! I'm not ready for winter!!!



• I registered for my fall paralegal courses over at school last night. (I can't believe that school starts in just four weeks!) I'm taking two 3-hour classes on Sundays and one 2-hour class on Monday night. Sunday's first class starts at 9am...
  I'm not exactly a morning person. This is going to be fun... :-(



• My 12-day Elderhostel trip with Jim begins in exactly two weeks. I need to start planning lots of stuff: what clothes to pack, what knitting project to bring/begin/finish, who's going to cover what in the office...



• I'm probably going up to the house next weekend. It's time to start some winterizing and it's also going to be my last chance to have a full weekend in the house before classes start.



• So, I'll be spending just one weekend this month on Long Island. Last month I was on Long Island just one weekend, I think. Next month I'm only going to be on Long Island one full weekend. That's three out of 13 weekend spent not traveling. Geez, I didn't realize that I've been away that much.



• I received the following CNN Breaking News alert today:
  
  -- The jury in the Phil Spector murder trial is hung, judge says.
  
  Gee, I know jury duty can be tortuous, hanging the jury? Isn't that a little extreme? ;-)



• Something you probably don't know about me--I've got really eclectic taste in music. Sure, I adore Jimmy Buffett, but I'm also big on Mozart and Bob Marley. Well, tonight's New York Philharmonic concert was an all Dvorak. I've alway's loved Dvorak. And tonight I found out that his favorite instrument (and one he played) was viola. Ah-ha! I play viola! Not so well anymore, but back in the day I was OK. I knew there was about him...

All that thinking about travelling's got me tired. Time to go get some rest. I leave you with a peaceful picture...

Coming back

I'm coming back to blogland. I'm now done with the other class, although it didn't end well for me. Long story, I'll explain in a few weeks, but I'm OK with it right now. Work has been really crazy busy the last few weeks and we've started working on son-of-the-book-that-shall-remain-nameless. (It's a quarter of the size of the other book, but only half the angst.) It seems like my nasty sinus infection has cleared up, but in it's place I've got a middle ear infection--and 10 more days of antibiotics. Geesh...

Anyway, as a mid-year's resolution (a New Year's Resolution that's six months late) I'm going to start blogging more frequently. I haven't set the goal yet, but I'm thinking at least a minimum of twice a week. Carole is so good about blogging during the work week, and if I could be just half as good as her I'd be thrilled. So there may be some lame posts, but I need to develop the discipline--and to write. And maybe a redesign. (I really need a different look for my blog.) So humor me, please, while I get my sh*t together here.

And now I present... blog pictures!

Here's the Yarn Harlot representing at the Calvin in Northampton. Seriously. She's inside there. I took this picture at 6:39 on May 20th. She was inside there. I was driving by. (Yeah, I know, I was heading south and had to be back on Long Island at a reasonable hour.)

I got the summer plantings taken care of over Memorial Day weekend...

Such a lovely stone wall, isn't it? Props to my beloved. His stone wall is the talk of the Mount Snow region. Seriously. I was with him at his doctor's office last week and somebody who works there came over to us to tell us how much they liked the wall. (What can I say--it's a small town!)

And last but not least, here's some knitting content. Presenting a swatch of my first handpaint!

I'm thrilled with it! I can't wait to bring it over to Punkin's so we can figure out what sock pattern I should use. Of course, I'm open to suggestions from everyone. Please?

And now on to something that's not law related...

Well, that's it for now. I have got to get some sleep. And maybe tomorrow there will be a little more blogging?

Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

I know it's not Wednesday yet, but WTF's with this freakin' cold?!?!? Well, actually it's the freakin' wind that's got me ticked off. Wouldn't be so bad without the wind. And yes, I do realize that most people would consider the current NYC temperature of 19 degrees bad, but compared to Jim's current temperature of 8 degrees, I don't think it's really not so bad, eh? And I should be thanking my lucky stars that I don't have to deal with any snow, especially the blowing snow goin' on up north. Eeeyikes!

So, I'm a little cranky here. Wanna know why? (Just play along with the agitated lady and say "yes".)

• I've got classes tonight. Two paralegal classes. From 6:10 to 10:20. PM.


• I'm gonna have to schlep through the cold wind from the bus stop to get to the first class. Then half-way through the first class we have to schlep over to the library, which will be either too hot or too cold (flip a coin). Again, through the cold wind. Then another schlep through the cold back to the classroom for the second class. Then a huge schlep through the cold after class back to the bus stop and then either a short or long wait for the bus. Then a schlep from the bus to the train station (oh, please let me make the train!), and if I miss the train, a half hour wait for the next one. And if I'm lucky, I'll be home by midnight.


• And despite the fact that I am a knitter, I'm shockingly lacking in knitted woolly items to keep me warm tonight!!! Seriously, WTF was I thinking this morning!!!!!

Please don't misunderstand--I'm not complaining about the paralegal classes, which really are a good thing. Seriously. They are good, even if right now it makes for one long Tuesday. But, the cold is just sucking the life out of me. It's one of those days where I'd normally take advantage of having a subway station that goes directly into my office building, shielding me from the elements, so that I wouldn't have to go outside until I reached Long Island. But no, instead I'll be repeatedly thrown to the lions winds tonight. Sigh...

Unfortunately, I have no choice but to do something I swore I wouldn't do.

Wear my mismatched red socks before the third one is done.

What can I say--I need wool for my tootsies.

Oh, and another thing--what's with the Southern VT Weather Pixie in the side bar? Doesn't she own a coat ??? WTF?????