Homeowners?

Our house closing is today. We got everything signed and notarized last week, then express-mailed to Jax for the closing. I got a call this afternoon to say that everything was pretty much ready to close; they were waiting only for the seller's mortgage company to issue a statement on what was owed to them.

We were lucky to get our house insured. Most insurers are not writing policies for homes in Florida anymore (the insurance industry has not recovered from recent disasters in Florida and elsewhere on the Gulf Coast), and State Farm last week cancelled the policies of everyone in Jacksonville with 2 miles of the beach (we are a full 15 miles from the beach, I'm happy to say). Whew!

Sam leaves from Rhode Island for Germany tomorrow, and will complete his participation in his summer research program there in August. He reports to the MTC in Preston on August 29 and so won't be back in the U.S. for another 25 months. He's working furiously to get everything ready to leave the country. Got his last immunization yesterday.

Ruth finishes her TASP program this Saturday and flies to Utah. She's working furiously to get her final projects completed and, despite some modest sleep deprivation, seems to be having the time of her life, truly a life-changing experience for her.

Ed completed Lacrosse Camp at BYU last week, and really enjoyed it. He's planning to try out for the lacrosse team at his new high school. I picked up a second-hand lacrosse stick so we can play catch together.

All of us but Sam and Ruth are headed to Southern Utah tomorrow for a Bay family reunion. Lucy and I will leave from there Friday morning (actually before the reunion officially starts) on our cross-country drive to Jax -- I'm loading the van today with pool table, surfboards and other essentials. I have a new faculty orientation on the 7th and Lucy has an important audition (for Jax's middle school of the arts) on the 8th.

Annette, Ruth, Edward, Isaac, and Eleanor will stay in Utah for the auspicious Leslie & Bret wedding. They'll all fly to Jax on Friday night August 10.

I will return to San Francisco on the 9th to received an obscure award (for introducing technology into the courtroom) at the Am. Bar Assoc. convention. I'm delighted to get the recognition, but at least as excited by the networking opportunities it presents. As a result of some preliminary contacts, I've been invited to

• speak to the 9th Circuit's staff attorneys
• attend the meeting of the ABA Judicial Division's International Courts Committee, and
• be a member of the ABA International Law Section's Judicial Affairs Committee.

The award is proving to be a good entree for me in meeting the right people, and the people I have contacted have been very gracious. The ABA is paying for my flight, but would not pay for more than one night in a hotel, so I'll get to freeload off of Bay Area relatives while I'm there. Yay!

We are looking forward to getting back to Jax, settling down and settling in. It's been a hectic summer, but it's been fun to see so much family.

Family portraits

We had planned to get a family portrait done before Sam left on his mission, but because he is now going straight to Manchester from his summer research gig in Germany (most of you probably know by now that he got his reporting date moved to August 29 -- allowing him to return from his mission in time for the fall quarter), we'll not get a chance. We will make do with a slightly out-of-date photo from Feb./Mar. of last year.

Inspired by one of our very favorite films, "Amelie" (an edited version of which we received for Christmas from Jay's family a couple of years back before legal proceedings shut down the "edited film" businesses), which features a major subplot involving self-serve photobooths in Paris train stations, we got this pic. It was on our last trip to Paris, and we managed to get everyone except Mom and Dad into the photobooth.

How to use this blog.

Blogs are still a fairly new and strange animal on the Internet, so this is for anyone who hasn't used one before. Or who has before, but has forgotten how. Or who might consider using one, but only if they're first given detailed instructions with pictures and diagrams. This is for you.

There are two different things you can do:

1. You can comment on something someone has already posted. Just words.
2. You can post something new, and then other people can comment on it. This is how you'd post pictures.

How to Comment
It's easy. And fast.

1. Find a post you'd like to comment on. In this case, it's the one where Andrea has posted a picture of her dog.
2. Click on the link beneath the post, where it says the number of comments that have already been posted.
3. When the new screen comes up, type your message in the big box.
4. Type in your username and password.
5. Click "Publish Your Comment." That's it! It will show up beneath the other comments that have already been posted.

How to Post
This takes a few more steps. But it's where the action is.

1. Log in to Blogger at www.blogger.com, by typing in your username and password and clicking "Sign In."
2. Find the "Can Do Hard Things" blog, and click "New Post" to start a new post. Mine lists several blogs because I contribute to several different blogs, but yours will probably just have the one.
3. Give your post a title.
4. Type your post in the big box.

Now, keep on reading if you want to add pictures. If you don't want to add pictures, then just click "Publish Post" and be done with it.

Adding pictures:

1. Click on the icon that looks like a picture (shown in the picture above).
   
2. Click on "Browse," and select a picture that's already on your computer somewhere.
3. If you want, you can choose the picture's size and where it will go.
4. Click "Upload image."
5. A new window will pop up, and it will let you know when your picture is done uploading. It might take a minute if it's a big picture. When it says it's finished, click "Done."
6. Your picture will now be visible in your post. If it's in the wrong place, you can drag it around until it's in the right place.
7. You're done! You can add more pictures now, or type some more, or click "Publish Post" to be done.

You'll see this screen after you've published your post, to let you know that it all went smoothly.

I hope this helps! If anything is unclear, let me know.

Good luck with the Head Dettachment Surgery, you guys!

These are the two pictures I have of Bret and Leslie.

Hee hee.

Hello, darling family.

Don't be afraid, it's not as tricky as it looks. Send me an email if you would like me to add you to be able to make a post. You can always add comments to existing posts either way!

Sorry for the gratuitous puppy pic.