Last Friday, I took part of the day to go downtown to the federal courthouse to sit in on one of my Judge's sentencings. This was my first time seeing my Judge on the bench! I had been curious to see what his demeanor would be like. As strange as it sounds, I think this might have been my first ever court proceeding that I ever properly witnessed from the gallery--before, I had only ever listened to court proceedings via like a live recording. This was a very unique sentencing because it was for a white collar crime and also because the defendant had several character witnesses. It was open to the public, and there were actually a number of other folks in the gallery, including apparently a reporter from a Milwaukee paper.
I was glad to have the opportunity to go to the courthouse again because it was actually only my second time ever being there, the first time being the day of my interview. I had not seen my Judge since that day, so I think he was glad for me to stop by and chat with everyone in chambers and show some initiative to see how he runs his courtroom. I got to sit with two of the clerks as well and chat with them after the proceeding.
Since then, I have of course been trying to continue with my bar prep as well as taking time each day to hopefully go out and explore at least a little bit. On a lovely evening walk the other day, I passed by an ice cream shop called the Purple Door and spontaneously got a cone. The area around me feels very walkable and is a good way to see different shops and restaurants in the area. I have also really been enjoying using the gym at my new apartment building. Many of the building's common areas are still a work in progress, including the gym. So right now there are two treadmills, two stationary bikes, a rowing machine, some kind of ladder type cardio machine I've never seen before, and a bunch of free weights that are currently just sitting on the floor because I assume the weight rack for them has not come in yet or something. I'm super pleased that I've been able to do a couple jogs/runs the last few days. I've been trying to adjust my gait and shorten my stride to see if it is more comfortable for my knees, and I think it's working? trying to really also engage my leg muscles with each step. I don't want to get too ahead of myself though by thinking I'm in the clear now. I actually ran one of my fastest 5ks the other day and was so giddy. But I haven't done a proper run outside here yet, and I'm curious to see how that would feel.
This coming weekend, I think I will go to Madison to see Tim and Taylor on Saturday. It won't be quite nice enough for a beach day, so I think we'll pot some little plants for me and probably go out to eat. They are only about 1 hr 20 min away from me now (compared to about 8 hours away from me when I was in Cleveland).
Not much of an update, but more to come another day.
