TraveLogue

Introducing: A New Blog! where our trip abroad shall be documented for posterity on the internets.

Click on over if you'd like to vicariously experience our adventure...

summer vacation, 2L version

Two weeks into my summer vacation, and it's feeling a lot more like summer than vacation.

Things were lovely for a little while: the last front of cool, feel-good air moved through New Orleans, which naturally led to picnicking and walking in the park. Hubby and I enjoyed a lovely date night downtown. I luxuriated in several days of post-exam-relaxation, sleeping late and generally doing very little other than watching the Netflix. I re-read a comforting familiar dystopian novel for fun and at my own pace. And even though I fought a little fever bug and played nurse while Hubby did likewise, it was a lovely respite indeed.

But then there were chores to be done, and plans to be made, and business to handle. Because even though I'm not actively a law student at this moment (attending class or reading cases) there's always business to be done relating to my chosen career path. And having a home means there's always chores to be done. So it's not feeling very much like a vacation any more, even though I'm not punching a clock or going to class. Meanwhile the warm temps and high humidity have returned to ensure that it is feeling very much like summer.

At least I have roughly another month to tackle things at my own pace before it's time to get back into student mode for summer school. Which will be very bizarre indeed, seeing as how I'll be physically on vacation from home at the time, studying international human rights law at the University of Amsterdam and living in a flat in Jordaan, Amsterdam.

Bizarre, but incredible. Even though I have plane tickets and passport in hand (and two homework assignments already!), it's still somewhat unbelievable to think that I'm going to study abroad this summer. I've never before left the US, and I've always been a non-traditional student. I'm not quite sure how it happened that I'm now one of those twenty-somethings heading off to spend 5 weeks in Europe.

But it's totally happening. This is going to be an amazing summer vacation, even if there is some summer school thrown into the mix!

spring break

For the last 8 days I've done absolutely nothing productive. It's been beautiful. Absolutely beautiful.

My vacation began with a jaunt up to Brandon, to spend the weekend with the in-laws. I enjoyed a belated birthday supper of steak and fried mushrooms and cauliflower, and the next night hubby and I cooked from-scratch jambalaya.

From there, we went to Jackson and spent a few days with old friends. While in Jackson we made sure to eat at the Thai House and Sakura Bana. And, of course, we spent our Tuesday night at the very best place to be in Jackson, Mississippi on a Tuesday night: Fenian's Pub.

On Wednesday, we went to McComb, and floated down the Homochitto River in kayaks with some new friends who are NOLA-McComb dual residents. (The kayaking, I must say, was incredibly fun -- much moreso than I imagined. I hope we can do it again this fall!) Then on Thursday we returned home, where our kitties were waiting.

Since returning home, I've done a few chores here and there, and Hubby and I have enjoyed cooking together in our own kitchen. Tomorrow, though, I must get serious again with my productivity. April 15th looms very near, meaning taxes must be done. And final exams will be over and done at 5pm on May 3 --one month from today, meaning outlining must begin without further delay.

For tonight though, I'll continue relaxing. And come tomorrow, I'll be grateful to have had such a restful, rejuvenating vacation to fortify me for the long, busy weeks to come.

careful considerations

I must submit a decision to Tulane Law School in ten days. Last week Hubby and I took a lovely trip to New Orleans, in part as a belated birthday celebration trip, but primarily so that I could visit the Tulane campus and meet with faculty members with whom I've been corresponding since the fall, when this Grad School Admissions Game began.

I was impressed with the campus, but moreso with the encouragement and kindness of the faculty. One professor in particular expressed her willingness to help me plan and embark upon a career as a legal scholar if I'm willing to work hard to get there. I certainly am willing to put forth the effort, which has me seriously considering attending Tulane, even though I've been rejected by the History Department and therefore cannot pursue both a J.D. and Ph.D. there.

My faculty meetings helped me to realize that both degrees aren't strictly necessary in order for me to make a happy life for myself. I'm confident that, with Tulane faculty as my allies, I can carve out a successful path forward from Tulane Law School and find a happy balance between the law and the academy, the two things I've demonstrated an aptitude and passion for. And New Orleans, as always, is irresistibly charming. Both Hubby and I would positively love to live there. It's relatively close to all things familiar and familial, much moreso than Albany, which is the only other school to offer me admission thus far. I still haven't heard from UC Riverside, but there, again, the distance from here seems insurmountable.

So I've much thinking and talking with Hubby to do, because I've only ten days to make my final decision known to Tulane.

Other than having this major, life-changing decision on the horizon, all is well. The vacation was much-needed and thoroughly enjoyable, even despite a low-grade fever that marred my enjoyment of the first day and which has since evolved into a sore throat and mass of yellow gunk inside my head. I'm on top of my school work at present, although the research paper is coming along more slowly than I would prefer, despite my diligent primary-source research the week of Spring Break. But I'll not fret about that as I have three weeks still to work towards completion of that project.

Tomorrow it's back to school-and-work, after a lovely weekend of studying and writing interspersed amongst much cooking and a little cleaning. Another month and the semester will be all but over, and with the semester winding to a close I shall strive to make more time for blogging...

so then I though I'd make some plans

It looks like the Spring Break trip to NY is going to happen. I must admit to being slightly nervous about the whole thing. While it is incredibly exciting to think of moving so far away for grad school it is also more than a little intimidating. And the thought of the cold winters is terrifying.

Nevertheless, something about it seems so right, and so I shall continue on this path and at least see how I feel after visiting the town and the university campus.

In any event, for the time being I must continue to attempt to concentrate on more immediate things. Like minerals and rocks and world literature and American eugenics. No health class this Thursday, so I can at least wait until next weekend to worry about any of that silliness.

I feel like I haven't yet regained the intellectual discipline and focus that I had acquired last semester. Perhaps as I get more settled in with these new classes it will come more easily to me. . .