juris doctored...

good grief! it's been one hell of a week. i had eight family members in town, i graduated from law school, and i finally (FINALLY!) got this done:

which comes from this:

which has a story that i've told too many times in the past week to bring myself to tell again. but that's not the point.

the point is that all of a sudden here i am, with some more letters after my name, and things seem, well, different and the same and a little dizzying.

and it's not just because i had my brother, my sister, my dad, my step-mom, two aunts, an uncle, and a cousin in town for several days. this weekend was a major terminus in my life and it brought with it a lot of complicated emotions. when i saw everybody off at the airport at the end of the weekend, i stood at the airport watching them go through security and until they vanished from sight and i sobbed. cry cry cried like a cliche. and then i walked back to the car and just lost it.

and graduation was so anticlimactic... the ceremony was pretty lackluster. there were cameras flashing all over the place -- proud parents documenting the experience. but i did have a nice little cheering section when i got to walk across the stage with my fancy juris doctor hood -- that's the benefit of having lots of family in town.

i had a rare and wonderful successful family weekend. it was amazing being with daniel and caitlin, even though they got to stay up later than me because i had to get up and go to bar exam school. and dad? dad was so proud of me! it was nice.

and now that they're gone and the regalia is turned in and i'm left with my bar exam books and a degree.

so why do i feel kinda sad?