The Edge of Empty

This semester, I have been enjoying the Property book selected by our professor. The book was written by John G. Sprankling and Raymond R. Coletta, and I have found the book to be very approachable. I have really enjoyed the interactive elements that make the book quite engaging. The authors seem to have a sense of humor as this line from the preface indicates: "As authors, we own any errors in the text, at least until someone with better title comes along." Instead of making the study of law as painful as possible with archaic language and cases that are difficult to fathom, the authors seem to have sifted through related cases until they found the most interesting ones to illustrate the rules. With many text books this year, I have spent much time flipping through a legal dictionary just to decipher the lesson. So far, that is not the case with this book; the authors have used language that is easy to follow. I am not saying that important legal terms have been left out ...

Ferrets are domesticated, but they still have many of the same urges as wild ferrets. Because a ferret's natural instinct is to back in to a corner to do their business, humans need to block access to all corners  discourage bad habits by strategic placement of litter boxes in corners. Here, Bela is checking out one of the new bathroom annexes that serves the dual purpose of providing an acceptable toilet and blocking what would be the natural choice. If the humans keep the toilets area clean, ferrets will use the acceptable spots more readily. By paying attention to the natural habits, humans can learn how best to help their ferrets be good housemates. For example, a napping ferret is not going to climb out of a nest and go down three ramps to the big bathroom annex. He wants to do his business as quickly as possible so he can get back to sleep. Providing a small litter box near the sleeping hammock is one way to prevent messy corners in the cage. We have trained Count and Bela...

I have been enjoying participating in the MSU College of Law Social Media Contest . I have learned (and am still learning) a lot. Because of my activity, I have been able to connect with organizations and people that I would never have come across without social media. For this introvert, it has been like opening a whole new world. (I know, most people would never guess that I am an introvert; they probably just think that I am a snob. In social settings, I am a complete misfit, but put me in front of a classroom or conference room and I shine. It is strange, I know, but that is me. Perhaps we will dissect that in a different post). It has been interesting to see what posts attract followers. It has also been eye opening to figure out that followers also appear with an agenda--for example, some follow hoping to be followed in return to build their own group. This week, a company called CiteBlue "followed" me on Twitter. I wasn't familiar with the company, so I clicked o...

Count thinks he is sneaking up on the cat here, but the cat is ready and waiting! Count will get a swat on the nose and the cat will run away.

When I am not seeing the beauty or humor in the world, I know it is time to make something. I have found that I am a much happier person when I take time to create. Making things has been a part of my life since I was tiny and playing with my grandmother's button box. Last semester, I brought only paper craft materials with me to school. Over the winter break, I spent days making chain maille. I took that as a sign that perhaps I should bring my supplies back for this semester. Because the school had us take a Contract Negotiation course this past weekend (woohoo-1 credit in a weekend!), we have been going for almost two weeks without a day free from school. Last night, I was studied out and decided to take a break. I rummaged through my rings and found that I had the supplies to make this pendant called Dragon's Eye by Lisa Smeltzer. I bought the tutorial from Blue Buddha Boutique ages ago, so it was fun to finally tackle it. The finished pendant is fairly chunky--abo...

One moment they will be wrestling and the next they will be sleeping. The positions can be the same.

I am a Florida girl and have always been a Florida girl. Even when life has taken me elsewhere, my heart has still yearned for the warm breeze and white sands. That is not to say I haven't appreciated and enjoyed the places we have lived. And, thanks to the U.S. Navy, we have lived in some awesome places: Monterey, California-where we watched the otters frolic in the Bay.  Seattle, Washington-where we walked down Queen Ann's Hill to go to Sonics games or the Space Needle. Yokohama, Japan-that allowed us easy access to Tokyo. The common denominator on all of those places is that they were not in cold weather climes. Except for a brief stint in Rhode Island, the Hubster kept me happy by requesting warm locations. Although moving is hard, I made a conscious effort to embrace all of the places that we lived. It was hard sometimes, I am not going to lie. (And the Hubster may have varying opinions on how well I did). But, I like to think that I was fairly successful in keepin...

Most of the time, the cat feigns indifference to the ferrets. However, when the ferrets run through their tunnels, the cat just can't help himself and has to get closer. He will pounce on the tunnels and bat at the ferrets as they run past him. Here, Bela is in the tunnel near Count's hind end and Count is "sneaking" up on the cat.

Count is our tunneler. He is never content to be on top of things and will figure out a way to get under something as soon as possible. Here, he has tunneled from one end of the bed to another. This is no problem unless your feet happen to be under those covers. Even though ferrets have been domesticated for many years, Count is our second ferret that retains the wild instinct to hunt and kill whatever he finds in a tunnel. Do you understand where this is going? Yep, the innocent sleeper is quite likely to be awakened by teeth embedded in a foot or calf. He never went through the phase that many young ferrets go through where they bite anything anytime it moves. He does like his tunnel biting though, so we will continue his training. Besides, who could stay made at this little guy?

From very early days here in law school, my fellow 1L's (first year law students) and I heard about the importance of time. As students, we have been learning to manage our time in order to get things done on time. As lawyers, we have been told that we will be tracking our time in fifteen minute intervals for billing clients. I decided that it is never too early to apply and learn career related skills. To that end, over the holiday break, I dug out one of my favorite parenting tools. Here it is: Yep, it is that magical bit of technology known as a kitchen timer. When the boys were young, we employed these lovely gadgets in many different ways. Quite often, we would make a game of cleaning up their rooms by setting the timer for fifteen minutes and scrambling to clean up as much as possible in that time. This made a game out of cleaning and it also made it more bearable. Those handy timers also were employed in our school room (we homeschooled). Of course, the timers were als...

Those who know me will not be surprised to learn that, of all my classes, I am most excited about Criminal Law this semester. From the time I picked up A Study in Scarlet , I was hooked on crime and Sherlock Holmes was my hero. Over the years, I have read and watched anything Sherlock related from "The Great Mouse Detective" to the BBC's  Sherlock . You might wonder what any of that has to do with this week's word which is  carouse . Per Dictionary.com , to carouse, is to engage in a drunken revel. This is not something that I have ever been inclined to do. However, a bit of me likely lived vicariously through the villains in those old stories. Also, for some reason, carouse makes me think of my grandfather and the stories he told of his time in the Army. Anyway, while reading for Criminal Law, I have seen several fun words that will likely appear here in the future. The first, carouse, is mentioned in the case of People v. Beardsley  heard by the Supreme Court ...

It seems that ferrets are fascinated with anything wrapped in plastic. If there is a plastic bag, they will be in it, on it, and dragging it to their hiding spots if the humans aren't careful. Bela decided that this plastic bag of pennies was going to be her bag and is pictured here just as she begins her attack.

My friends and family know that I do not like snakes at all. In fact, I can honestly say that snakes scare me. This fear stems from several incidents in my childhood. The first incident occurred at my great-grandfather's home. Grandaddy Findlay was a cantankerous old man in his 80's. When I was very young, he took me out to the chicken coop and sent me in to collect the eggs. His chicken coop was low and dark. Once inside the coop, I reached into the nest, found an egg, and pulled it out. Unfortunately, this egg was wrapped in the snake who had swallowed it whole. Needless to say, this was a bit traumatic and I have suffered from ophidiophobia (the fear of snakes) since that time. To be honest, I don't even like to touch pictures of snakes in books. I know this is unreasonable, but phobias are irrational. During the first semester of law school, I missed having time to craft so one of my main goals over the winter break was to spend as much time as possible making things. ...

After a busy afternoon of play, Count and Bela are enjoying a nap in their favorite hammock.

With ferrets in the house, there are never any boxes that don't get a thorough inspection. If you are not paying attention, they will unpack the box and hide the contents too.

Bela and the boy!

As I was studying for my Civil Procedure final, I was munching on Nabisco Premium Soup & Oyster crackers . It made me think back to my childhood. I was one of those crazy kids who couldn't stand for food to touch on the plate. I also was a bit of a picky eater so meal times were fun for my mom. The worst thing was biting into a casserole and coming across a chunk of hidden onion. Actually, that wasn't the worst. The worst was my dad's hamburgers--you never knew what might be lurking in them. Eddie Murphy knows what I mean: Most summers, I stayed at my grandparent's house. I am guessing that my grandmother was a picky eater also because she always bought fun foods for me to eat. One of those foods was oyster crackers. Anyway, I grew up to have a picky eater of my own. Using what I knew from my childhood, I often served the boys what we called Bits & Pieces for lunch. Basically, it was a variety of finger foods such as cheese cubes, ham cubes, fruit slices, ...

Count has the suitcase under control and is ready to head off on an adventure!

Examination is the word that is rattling the halls of the law school this week. If you have ever heard horror stories about law school exams, they were likely true. Imagine having one test to show everything that you learned in a whole semester. One grade only to determine whether you will keep your scholarship or not. One grade that your future employers will see. Aargh! And now I am wondering why I am not studying.... See you after finals!

Here is Bela, anxious to know what her humans are doing. She can get on the bed via the chair on the other side, but she knows that I won't make her go around.