New blog site

Peeps:
If there are any of you still out there reading this blog, I migrated it over to Wordpress. The site offers better ease of use for me and a new look, too. Please visit and update your bookmarks and feeds accordingly.

Trouble in paradise

For those of you keeping track at home, there are less than two days before I start law school. I all moved into an apartment in Iowa City, but I'm having some trouble with my connectivity.
Hoping to avoid paying for broadband, I hooked up my cell phone as a dial-up modem with my laptop. Only problem is, I'm getting zero reception in my apartment. The best laid plans of mice and men...
Anyway, blogging could be light for a while until I can get decent service. Right now I'm "borrowing" someone else's unsecured wireless signal.

The final countdown

Ok. I have one week until law school starts. Now I'm nervous.
I've got to organize, pack, move, unpack and make sure all my affairs are in order. I know I'm not going to get everything done.

Ch-ch-ch-changes

There's something we like to do a lot here at the Partially Caffeinated Institute, and that's change everything.
In May, I informed you that the house I've lived in for the last four years was for sale. It had a few interested parties, but no offers. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, Nicholas' mother and I decided it was best to change plans. Now we'll keep the house: She's moving in with him and he won't have to move at all.
This made a lot more sense than going through the stress of trying to sell the house, close on the house, have her move into a new apartment and then move Nicholas there as well.

Final rejection

My last rejection letter for law school arrived today. It was from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, which had put me on its waiting list earlier this year. I left myself on it even though I knew I wouldn't be going there once University of Iowa accepted me. But I liked Wisconsin and would've given it serious consideration without Iowa in the picture.
That makes five acceptances, two rejections and one deferral. The deferral would have become an acceptance or rejection, but I withdrew my application because it was the University of Illinois and I didn't really want to go there.
As the countdown reveals, 48 days until I start law school. Just 30 until I leave my job.
I received my orientation packet from Iowa last week. Besides the usual "congratulations on your acceptance" and "law school will be the most important experience of your life" messages, there was this one: Have your fun now, because starting Aug. 18, you belong to us.

Law school swim team

Most of eastern Iowa is flooded right now, including the university I'm planning to attend in less than two months. The Iowa River, which runs through the middle of Iowa City, has been over its banks all week. It beached the arts campus and a residence hall had to be shut down.
But the good news (for me) is that the University of Iowa's law school sits on a hill above the river and it would take a Noah-style deluge to get water into it. My apartment building is even farther away from the angry river. Here's what the dean has to say about it.

House for sale

The house went on the market yesterday. Take a look. It's a steal.
Both Meegan and I are sad about selling it. It's was our first house. It's huge: four bedrooms, 2,000 square feet, nice yard. Good for a big family. We put a lot of work into it. I refinished the floors and did the landscape. She painted and decorated it. Our plans for it disintegrated with our marriage, so it's bittersweet to say goodbye to it.
But I guess I feel good that someone else will be able to write their family story in it. I hope it's a good one.

Taxes and tasks

I received my property tax bill in the mail today. It will be the last one I get for a while because the house goes up for sale on Monday.
Here's a fun fact: The Rockford Township assessor thinks my house is worth $100,146. Yeah, right. I might be able to get that price if I left it on the market for 18 months. It's going to list at $94,000 and I'll be happy to get $92,000 for it. The local real estate market went into the tank last year. Some say it's getting better, but as long as we break even with this house, I'll be happy.
So I've got to paint the porch, clean the place, straighten up the ramshackle basement and replace some broken plaster before the end of the weekend.
I'll let you know how it goes.

Hundred days

According to my counter on the right, there's 100 days left until I start law school. As much as I'm nervous about the transition, I'm also excited for a fresh start.
Lots of things will change before that first day though. My house is going on the market Monday. There's only about 90 days from when I'll actually move to Iowa City.