Christmas Greetings

What a year it has been! (I would have said that another year has passed, but someone freaked out last year thinking someone had died.)

School has been going good… Only three more semesters to go, and then I’ll be a Juris Doctor. I have decided to pursue International Development Law, focusing on Sub-Saharan Africa. My goal is to help bring Africa into the 21st century. With this in mind, I’ve been taking as many international courses as I can fit into my schedule. I’ve also recently written a paper on Kenya’s economy which I’m going to try to publish.

I’m still working at Paychex, as a Senior Client Service Advisor. They announced this summer that that my job title will cease to exist between 18 months to 2 years after the announcement. I see it as a blessing, because that falls around graduation. So really, they are saving me the trouble from having to resign. And depending on what the severance package looks like, I might be able to live off of that for the 8 weeks I’ll be studying for the bar exam.

In January, my grandmother, Katherine Wiggins, went home to Heaven after being sick for a long time. I was blessed to have had the opportunity to say goodbye before she passed. For years, my sister, Bonnie, had been trying to arrange to get all the grandchildren together for one holiday or another with her, because she had never had all 6 of her grandchildren in one room at the same time. Bonnie was finally successful, when, in the early morning hours on Martin Luther King Day, all of Nana’s living children and all of her grandchildren gathered together in her hospital room as she left this world. Nana even held on until the National Guard released my cousin Issac to come say his goodbyes.

While it is always sad to lose someone you love, I am comforted by the knowledge that she is in Heaven, and that she has reunited with her husband, and the two children whom she had lost. I was blessed to have spent time with family I don’t see very often. I was also blessed by all the support I got from everyone I know. You prayed for me and my family, and we cannot thank you enough for the support that we received. It was a difficult time, and you helped us through it. Thank you for your love and prayers.

We’ve had a couple of non-human additions to the family. Otter was adopted as a kitten, and lives with Bonnie and Frank until I can get a place of my own. She tolerates the torture that Kaylee and Christina inflict on her - she’s such a trooper! Hansel and Gretel are a pair of parakeets who live in our dining room. Hansel is the tamer of the two, and will sit on your finger, shoulder, head or wherever you put him. Gretel is a little more skittish, and she still likes to bite whoever is handling her. Christina and Kaylee love them so much that one of Kaylee’s first worlds was “Bird!” If the girls are at my house when I get home, Christina will take me by the hand and lead me to their cage so that I can get Hansel out for her. Buddy, the corn snake, celebrated his 10th year in our family. We found a boyfriend for Rio, and hopefully we’ll have some spotted puppies in a few months. The other dogs, Amos and Malachi, are doing fine… Amos has decided that my bed is where he needs to spend the winter, which is fine until he tries to claim my spot for himself.

We didn’t do a whole lot of traveling this year. We spent a week in Alabama for the funeral. I went to visit college friends in Apple Valley and Santa Barbara on Spring Break, the rest of the family went to California in May for my cousin’s wedding. Mom and I took a road trip to see the big presidents’ heads in South Dakota, and Mom and Dad went to India and Nepal in October on a medical mission.

I guess that’s about it… I hope you are well, and that you have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy New Year!

All my love,
The Christmas Wig

CONGRATULATIONS

My Best Friend, Pamela Kierejczyk, is getting married in March!

To attend or not to attend

Do I go to my 10 year reunion?

There are two reasons why I want to go...

• I want to see if Ryan Avery got fat (I really hope that she did)
• I want to see what everyone did with their lives...

But I don't know that I'm ready to explain to everyone what I'm doing with mine. I won't be done with law school yet... And unless Mathew or Peterson shows up on my door tomorrow and invites me to Vegas for a quickie Elvis wedding, I'll still be single...

Hmm... Not a decision I need to make tonight... What do you all out in cyberspace think??

Finals Insanity

• Friday night I took my Ethics final. I feel I got in the B- range, which is perfectly fine with me.
• Thursday I have my Admin final. I have not yet begun to study for it... But it's open book... But I slacked all semester long... But it's yet another law school exam... Which is pretty intense... Maybe I'll study at work tomorrow.
• Parents out of town this weekend
• Human Rights paper due 15th. Not even begun.
• Trade paper due 16th. A complete draft is finished... Will let it stew for a few days, then do final edits...

Then on the 20th, I start my new job at the shooting range... and 4 weeks of no education... Classes for the fall include

• Evidence -- I can't believe I've waited this long to take it
• Trusts and Estates
• Human Rights Clinic
• Trial Advocacy -- waitlisted, bummer, dude. Also, need to get approved for an overload, so I turned in the paperwork today.

Wish me luck!