Thirty Days and Counting...

Thirty days till the first day of Orientation Week. I have my schedule (which will be Torts, Civil Procedure, and Lawyering Process, Monday through Thursday evenings), have been to the bookstore to see what books I need (and am attempting to order a few from the TC to get my discount before I leave), and even have an official DU ID declaring my status as a law student. I've been thumbing through Black's Law Dictionary (9th edition, just released) and feeling the excitement of exploring a whole new world with its very own language and culture. I even got excited skimming the Bluebook -- which is basically a book all about how to cite references properly in legal writing. How ridiculous is that?

So the good news is, I'm still plenty psyched about going to law school. Of course, I guess I'm supposed to follow that with the bad news, but I really can't think of any -- which I guess is more good news. The schedule I got means we only need to worry about a babysitter one night of the week (Wednesdays, in case anyone reading this is interested), and we might even manage to save a day each week for family time. And I'm going to get some time to spend both with Dashiell and with Amy, separately and together, before it all starts, and I'm feeling like everything at work is pretty much settled. And everything seems to be going well with Eleanor (due in a little under 3 months), too. I'm not really sure how things could be going any better.

Don't I have any apprehensions? I guess there's a small part of me that recognizes the possibility that I'll end up completely overwhelmed, but, valid or not, I'm not really buying it. Maybe if I'd been leading some sort of well ordered existence up till now, I'd be concerned, but our lives have been prety chaotic for the past, oh, seven years or so, so I guess I feel prepared for whatever comes our way. New schools, new schedules, new baby -- bring it on.

I guess my only real worries are for Dashiell. He's about to start a whole new school, with all new teachers and friends, immediately followed by a new baby sister. He seems pretty excited about all that right now, but let's not forget that he has no idea what any of it really means, being not quite four years old. I definitely have anxiety around how to manage all that transition for him. Fortunately, I know he's an easygoing kid, who makes friends fairly easily. Still, I wish we didn't have to take him away from the people he's been hanging out with for a significant portion of the last three-fourths of his life.

Speaking of Dashiell, I took him with me to the DU bookstore yesterday, and we made sure to go on the walkway that crosses Evans and watch the cars driving under us, and to stop in at the law school. Dash is very excited to tell all his friends that his dad's going to go to school in a castle. Leave it to him to add a little bit of magic to the whole experience.

The Castle