Survival Day!!!

Today it has been 11 years since I was hit by a truck and survived! These are the beautiful flowers my mom and dad sent to me to commemorate one more year alive. I went to Thai food for lunch with my friend Lindsay, and after class we went dress shopping for Spring Fling dresses. We were both successful (!) in a span of just two hours. I think that may be a record. Lots to do in the next two weeks: my appellate brief is due, a rough draft of the Uganda curriculum is due, and there are some fundraising activities for our Mexico border trip planned as well.

GRATUITOUS GORDON PICTURES!!!

Here is Gordon playing with his favorite toy and also using my laptop as a pillow.

BOTSWANA!!!!

I have been offered an internship at the University of Botswana Legal Clinic for this summer!!!! I am sooooooo excited I can hardly contain myself. The Clinic is one of the only places offering legal services to the indigent population in Botswana. I will be the first Penn student sent to this Clinic, but there will be several other Penn graduate students working in different places in Gaborone.
Other things are also picking up: the Equal Justice Foundation auction is this Thursday, the first Penn Preview Day is Friday, the first draft of a syllabus I am working on for a masters course in Uganda on children's rights is due to the International Human Rights Advocates on March 3, my appellate brief is due March 5, the Spring Break trip to the Mexico border is less than 3 weeks away, and Admitted Students Weekend is March 28-29. Maybe after that I will have a second to think. I'm not betting on it! I guess I wouldn't want it any other way...

No post is complete without a Gordon update. He seems to be doing really, really well. We are making progress on the toilet training slowly, but surely. I think tomorrow it will be time to take the next big step! He is 90% delightful, 10% scratchy.

Blerg

This has been a long week, but happily it's almost over! I am looking forward to the weekend and an opportunity to get myself organized and back on a good sleep cycle. I feel really lucky because I still really like law school. We will see how I feel just before my appellate brief is due! We are "representing" a Seattle street performer who says that the rules for performers in the Seattle Center violate his First Amendment rights. It is a real case, and a pretty interesting subject, so it shouldn't be too bad.

This week in Constitutional Law we read Roe v. Wade, Planned Parenthood v. Casey, and Gonzales v. Carhart. It has lead to some interesting debates (I would expect nothing less) and gotten the class riled up. It definitely has me worried about the course the Supreme Court is on lately! There have been other terrible decisions that have come down from the Roberts court recently, so it looks like the Bush administration train wreck will have ramifications on our liberty for years to come.

The summer job search has been taking a back seat to everything else I am doing, but this weekend I hope to get another bunch of applications sent. Gordon is doing well, he has been more snuggly and less injurious lately--my hands, arms and legs couldn't be happier! I am hoping to move to the next phase of toilet training this weekend, so keep your fingers crossed that I won't find special "presents" in unhappy places this time! Above is a picture of the Gordmeister playing with a broccoli floret. He is high in entertainment value!

Birthday wishes and etc.

Happy birthday Erin, Hedda, and Sonya! It is a busy day in the birthday department today.

Hard to believe it is the start of the fourth week of Spring Semester already! Not much to tell, I have been reading, cleaning, and working on stuff for the Post Acceptance Committee lately. The Equal Justice Foundation auction is coming up and I will be volunteering to help out if they need me. On Wednesday I am meeting with the group that is going to the border for Spring Break. I am excited to find out more about that trip. Next Monday is a presentation from a very exciting-sounding firm with offices all over the world. Other than that, I have still got to find myself an internship for the summer.

Gordon is doing well. He was snuggly and not in attack mode this morning, a welcome change of pace! Toilet training is underway, but before I can implement the next step I will need to take a trip to Target for some supplies.

Time to get the laundry from the dryer and go to the grocery store!