All half-ass or half not done?

This week was all half-ass, and I hate it. I hate that I did it. I hate that I had to. And I hate that the only other choice I had was to choose. From my perspective, there was nothing on my list that I could choose to not do. So it all got done bad.

So now I choose. I have exactly one weekend to get something done right. (That needs to happen in between an entire day devoted to negotiation and half a day devoted to a charity event that is, like I said, not a choice.) So I have half a weekend to get something done right. As of now, there are two things on my list. My defense clinic and my research assistant work. Because there is nothing more embarrassing than turning in half-ass junk. So wish me luck. I’ll write again when I can.

Evidence, Crim Pro and time management

Time is getting away from me and I am falling behind. Crim Pro has taken the biggest hit and I need to devote my entire day to it tomorrow. I am lost in criminal procedure. I need a supplement for that class ASAP. The teachers style does not mesh with mine and it is costing me. Having a good time in class and learning the material there are two different things. I enjoy the antics. Humor is law school is generally pretty good. But frankly, I just want to learn the stuff.

On evidence – How the hell does anything ever get admitted into evidence? And if it is admitted, is it admitted as substantive evidence or evidence of something else altogether? I’m not confused. Actually, my apparent confusion is a reflection of studying the rules and reading the cases. The more I go to law school, the less I purport to know. Ahhhh – all is as it should be.

My personal life has gotten a bit crazy lately. Due to some unforeseen and totally stupid circumstances, my boys will not be spending weekends with their father for some period of time. This will not help my time management issues, although I am slowly recovering from last weekend’s crisis which is what put me behind in the first place. Some people are stupid, and my ex-husband is one of them. But he will be allowed to do harm to my children over my dead body. If law school suffers, so be it. I will do my best and pray it is sufficient.  So….I need to update that motivation and inspiration page to remind myself of the possibilities…  I hope all my readers have a great day.

Law school mom all at once

Murphy’s Law has entered my world at the most inconvenient of times, as is usually the case. Next week is going to be the week from hell.  I think public schools should have many fewer vacations and days off and get longer summer vacations instead. So…the children are home for a week. On its own, that was not a problem. But – the normal childcare provider is going to Florida????? Now?????? This is not good. This is my last week of school. I have exams to prepare for. I have hours of studying to do. I need to be in school every day and I can not take a vacation. I can’t even take one mommy day to be honest with you. No. I am not happy, and no, this is not ok. So I have spent half my afternoon and evening on the phone with family members trying hard to work out child care for the entire week. Sleepovers out of town, etc. It is a nightmare. Yup. A nightmare. And you know what? It is going to be fine. One way or another it will all work out and this worst case scenario will not entirely derail me from the business of finishing the 1L year. I could be in much worse situations. But I still feel entitled to be mad about it for a day or two.

Lest the children start to think I just hate the idea of having them home, I made it a point to spend some time with them tonight and also to invite each of them to plan their own day out with mom for the first week after school gets out. I always love those day’s out and can’t wait to hear their selections. Well, that sums up my day. Tomorrow is the last day of a short week. I can’t wait. The boys will be spending Easter with their dad and my daughter is not coming home for the holiday, so I will be devoting my weekend to exam prep. I will be spending more time with property tonight. But come Friday, I need to move on to contracts for real. I also need to revise my memo. So that’s it for tonight. I’ll be back tomorrow with an update.

Calm and methodical

That is my goal for the weekend. Anxiety is ready to take me over. The memo, the job search, too many snow days for the children, and too much reading yet to do. And the exams seem to be looming over my head already. So, I just want to stay calm and work on this memo. If I accomplish that, I will be happy.  I will be taking a break tomorrow night to go out for dinner, and on Sunday I will do some house cleaning. That is literally although there are other types of house cleaning that I should consider doing in the not too distant future. I hope all my readers have a great weekend and accomplish whatever it is you need to do. See you Monday.

Busy

I went from 6AM until 6PM today, took a three hour break to clean house, cook dinner, supervise homework, and in general make up for spending zero time with the children this week. Now its back to work. I wish my commute was shorter. It is such a waste of time to spend two or more hours in the car each day. Somehow my faith in LEEWS has not lasted. I probably should listen to the tapes again before we get into exam season.  Legal memo? I guess I feel a little better about it after meeting with the prof today. I always seem to feel pretty good about it during and immediately following class. I’m just not sure where all that confidence and knowledge goes when I sit down later to work on the thing. For tonight, I will not be working on the memo. I need to read and prepare for property. We’re wrapping up future interests and unborn widows. Go figure. I love property. Con law not so much. Nevertheless, I need to do some con law reading tonight as well. I have a plan for the weekend: Saturday is devoted to reading for the week. Sunday is devoted to the memo, and Sunday evening is devoted to job applications/research. (I’m just going to apply for more jobs every week until I hear something from somebody.) So…that was my day. I need to go finish it. I hope everyone who reads this has a lovely day and gets a peaceful night’s sleep.

Legal memo continued

So the grade is average. Exactly, precisely average. And that is unacceptable.  Last semester started out even worse than average and I pulled it off so I will remain hopeful. The legal memo will be at the top of my to-do list through this week and next. So…it is what it is. For tonight, I am reviewing my research, collecting notes, and scheduling a meeting with the prof to review my outline/initial thoughts. I need to have an excellent concept of what I’m doing before the weekend. I love to write, but legal writing is by far the most difficult writing I have ever done. Other news:

Sonny boy announces that he wants to be an army man and go to war or be a miner. NOT what this mother would choose for her awesome 9 year old. I don’t know where he gets these ideas. But of course I say “Wow – those are some big plans you have. Awesome.”  And I mean it. Who am I to tell this kid what he should or should not aim to do when he grows up? But seriously – let’s hope this wears out soon. I wish I had more time with my children. But I don’t. And this week is turning out to be particularly bad on that front. Right now I’m blogging on the couch while they watch cartoons and take turns in the shower. What I need to do is go work on my memo. I hope all my readers have a lovely day. If anyone has any great legal memo advice, please send it my way.

Time management 101

I need to retake the class. My to-do lists always work for me and lately I have gotten away from the habit. Whatever I start takes priority which is not a good thing.  Yesterday that was the job search. I did fine at school but then came home with a case of spring fever and allowed housework to take priority over more reading, so that reading now awaits which will take precedence over the shower and a few phone calls that really needed to happen tonight. Which leaves the shower for too early in the morning and the phone calls postponed for yet another day. Such is the story of my life this week. I am tired and stretched too thin. A list would be great but I don’t have time to make one tonight. But over the weekend I am going to prioritize and really stick to it next week. For now, there are just two days left and I need to do the reading and nothing but. Over the weekend I need to get ahead on some things. I hope all my readers have a lovely day and manage their time better than I have this week.

Responsibilities

For some reason, I felt compelled to watch the inauguration today. Simply because any respectable law student should be able to say they saw it, I guess. I’m not even sure where I got this idea of what a respectable law student should be doing. But I knew that I would never want to admit that I didn’t see it or hear the incoming president’s speech. So I watched, and then I moved on.

I met with the contracts prof today. I will be re-writing the exam and he will re-score it,  for the experience, not for the grade. He tells me that many students experience higher success on the final than on the midterm, and a jump to an A from a C+ is not unreasonable. So I am encouraged. If I couldn’t succeed in the fall, try, try again. I don’t give up that easily. I also spent a significant amount of time on my legal writing and research class today, with a draft of a paper due next week. 

Today was short and sweet overall, but the commute home was bad. I was very late getting home, and as a result my budget for the week has been adjusted to accomodate fast food for dinner. I haven’t been very good about using the crock pot this semester. I need to get better at it because it saves me both time and money, which are in chronically short supply.  Tomorrows dinner is already set and is a help-yourself affair because Wednesday is my very late night and I don’t pay the babysitter enough to ask her to cook.  

I hope my readers either a:  pay the babysitter enough to ask her to cook or b: master the art of the crock pot. Seriously, have a lovely day. Spend time with your kids. Read a book you enjoy, listen to music you love, or simply take a nap. These are the things that bring pleasure to my world.

competing interests

So far, my kids, my honey, my cross-stitch, my mother, my house, my car, and even the television have won out over law school homework for this weekend. There is not enough time left to make up for my lack of motivation. I will be scrambling to get my reading done for class tomorrow and Wednesday work won’t even be touched. This sort of last minute race to read is what I would like to avoid. Apparently I am unwilling to sacrifice my weekend time to make that happen. This morning I put college freshman on a bus back to school. I will miss her very much. This afternoon is off to the movies and dinner with my oldest son, as planned. I am looking forward to it, but when I get home I need to get busy. That’s why I am taking care of my blogging and internet activity now. My challenge for tonight is to leave the computer off. If I succeed with that I’ll be in good shape tomorrow. The computer does not help me.  However – I do think I will hit Circuit City and see what type of deals I can find. A new computer at 30% off might not be a bad plan. It might even make typing my exams in the spring semester a possibility. How cool would that be? This laptop is my baby but it has seen better days.  So…I’ll be back tomorrow. This week we have property, civ pro, constitutional law, contracts, and legal research and writing. In addition, I am working to become a guardian ad litem for the court, attending one after school event, and participating in one intramural competition. It will be a busy week if nothing else. Oh yeah – I also have that meeting with the contracts prof tomorrow. So…I’ll keep you up to date. Wish me luck. I wish you the best of luck in whatever it is you need luck for. Enjoy the day.

Behind Already

How did this happen? It is only Wednesday. I have three classes tomorrow and have the reading done for one.  A late night combined with an early morning will not be a good mix, but that is exactly what is happening I guess. My poor daughter is not feeling too well the day after having her wisdom teeth out. She is sitting next to me right now, ice pack in hand and tears dried up for the moment. The boys are just now getting to bed because when mommy has a late night, everyone has a late night. I was at school late for an event, and I really couldn’t miss it. So the kids were home taking care of each other under the careful watch of a babysitter until I got here at almost 8 with a bag of McDonalds for my own dinner in hand. This is not a good start to my time-managed, budget-conscious plans. I did get to spend a fair chunk of the morning and early afternoon at home today which was helpful. I got my resume revised but the summer job applications eluded me. I got my legal skills memo back – excellent grade, no complaints from me, but I am still waiting for my final grade to post. Hopefully I won’t be disappointed. Well, a full day lies ahead tomorrow, so I need to get busy. I hope my readers have a lovely day.