Contracts and Civ Pro

Accomplished three hours in contracts studying today and that made me happy. Now its on to Civ Pro. In addition to doing some reading tonight I hope to pull out my outline and start filling in the gaps. From this point forward I will be working on exam prep daily, one way or another. Also today I spoke with a Prof. who has a special project for me re: child welfare, guardian ad lidem training, and who knows what else. I suspect that working closely with one prof on a special assignment/project can only be a good thing. It seems that a 3L who has handled this previously is leaving and she needs a replacement. Well now – that’s good, because this sounds like just the job for me. Yup. My 1L year is winding down and I am into exam mode, plain and simple. I told the prof I would contact her after exams are over. She seemed ok with that. Good, because I am not doing anything other than exam prep between now and May 8. I hope my readers have  a lovely day.  I’m going to spend my night with blue paper and a pen. Handwritten outlines 101.

progress and incoming students

I got my entire property outline written!! Yippeee. Yay for me. It’s amazing what I can accomplish when I put my mind to it.  Handwritten, baby. The way I like to do things. Last semester I caved and did 90% typewritten outlines. They weren’t as useful to me as I would have liked.  I will devote the remainder of today to property. Tomorrow brings contracts. I am not trying to get it all done, just spend three hours on the outline. I can manage 3 hours, which happens to be the chunk of time that works best for me when it comes to any particular law school subject. Any less is too short to really get into it and any more is too much. So… that leaves part two of my post – incoming students.

I worked an accepted students event at the law school today. I had the opportuntity to talk with three students  who plan on attending “my law school”, even one who spent her weekend getting an apartment in town for the fall. One of those students happens to have a sister with Reactive Attachment Disorder and has been profoundly affected by the situation. When things like this happen, I often wonder if it is coincidence or fate.  Anyway……it is interesting to meet those who are just starting this process. I am in a far different place than I was a year ago, and I am always intrigued by the way simple events actually change a person. When law school is good, it is very, very good and when it is bad it is horrid… Have a great night. I’ll be back tomorrow.

Property Final

It’s Friday night and my kids are gone for the weekend. I will be devoting my entire weekend to exam prep and I had a change of plans re: strategy. Contracts is not cutting it for me. Putting it first on my to do list has led to procrastination and less than satisfactory progress. So I moved it to last. It helps that it is my last exam. Also, I have decided that it is ok to fall at the median in contracts and more important to not fall at or below the median in any others. I have gone from an I want all A’s kind of girl to a I want to do as well as I possibly can kind of girl, and yes, my initial confidence failed to consider the serious capacity of my classmates to work as hard or harder, be as smart or smarter, and want it as bad or worse. So….I will work my ass off to do my best and I then I will wait and see how I did, just the same as everybody else.

I do love property.  It is my favorite class this semester, and I have understood all the concepts with no problems. However, because of that, I have devoted the least amount of time to actually outlining it or studying it beyond doing the reading and going to class. It is a closed book exam and counts for 4 credits. If I can get the high grade in any class, I would want it to be this one. I will be making a handwritten outline on pastel colored paper. Sounds strange, I know. But I like pretty paper and I like pens. And I learn better when I’m happy. I will make the outline and then I will study it. I have two exams with sample answers. I will take one as soon as I’m done with the outline.  Then I will modify as needed.  Beyond that, who knows. For tonight, I am going to develop that love for the subject and see how much I can accomplish. I do not have any supplements for this class, and I do want to get my hands on one before exams. We shall see. I hope my readers have a lovely night. I passed 5,000 hits to my blog today and that made me quite happy. Thank you for reading and I hope you stick around.

times and circumstances

Spring time and productivity do not go together. Agitation and productivity do not go together. Agitation and non-productivity do go togther. But spring and agitation do not go together. So I am in a pickle. I can tell I’m in a far different place than I was when I started because I got a huge kick today out of a case where the plaintiff’s last name was Pickle. And the plural form of that is Pickleses. It so happens the Pickleses bought a piece of property with overflowing sewage and it was condemned and deemed unfit for human occupation. Whose mistake is this, and does it matter? At long last I realize that I really have learned a thing or two about contracts. More about contracts that  I ever dreamed possible, actually. And in the world of contracts, there isn’t actually a clear answer to that question. It really does depend on the judge and the court and the attorney’s arguments and which cases are cited as precedent and whether the historic common law or the Restatement (law as law profs would like it to be) are being called on, which of course, depends on the judge and the town and the city and the state and the statutes and the OH MY. I’m so glad that our legal system is based on something other than pure luck. Jaded? No. Impatient? Yes. I am more than ready to stop now. I haven’t stopped since I started preparing for the LSAT. I’m still high-strung because I need those good grades to keep my scholarship, and I want them just for the personal satisfaction of getting them. So far, so good. I aced my oral argument last night. The judges had only positive feedback on the argument for me, which was amazing. Impressed, good eye contact, made good use of cases, organized presentation, willing and prepared to answer our questions, seemed eager to engage in relevant discussion, overall: excellent.  I came home and decided it was a good time for a glass of wine.  I would have had five if time allowed. The stress of this is killing me. A very, very high stress week/two weeks/year. I just need to suck it up for a few more weeks and I really will take a much deserved break. (For two weeks, and I really will enjoy it.) But even once I start work, I expect my evenings and weekends will be my own, and I am more than ready to reclaim them. So…I am ready to be done now. I hope all my readers have a lovely week. Plan those vacations. Make time to enjoy the spring weather. I will find a way to focus for these next few weeks if it kills me, which it might.

Oral Argument tonight

So far, I have practiced my argument twice, and the second time went much better. I just need to reorganize my notes a bit and I will be all set to return to school tonight for the real deal. I am as prepared as I can possibly be. The main obstacle for me will be nervousness, and I am hoping that two timed practices have kicked most of the nerves out of me.

On other fronts, my honey is dissatisfied with me today because of some messes left in the house last night. I got to hear about it first thing this morning in a passive aggressive sort of way, and it rather ruined my day. I can not be and do all things. Yesterday was a mommy day and because I took it, I did not have time to clean the house. Such is life. There are three weeks left of school and I do not have the time or energy to deal with these types of tiny problems right now. Choice = pick up house or do reading. My choice = do reading.  Still, it is bothering me. Otherwise I wouldn’t be writing about it. And as soon as I finish this post I am going to aggressively clean this house before I get ready to go. Because I am mad. Then, when I get the opportunity to talk to him, I will let him know that I did not appreciate getting my long day started off in this fashion.

Its almost over. But there is no denying that the first year of law school has been a serious drain on my time and that I have consistently put it ahead of all other areas of my life. They say that law school puts a strain on relationships, and I would need to agree. So…I need to go. Between the house work and the school work, I will be busy until 11 or 12. Have a lovely day and I will write again tomorrow.

Contracts, Outlines, Oral Argument

This was my day. Today is the first day of my week long devotion to contracts outlining and exam prep. I can’t believe its almost over.  I spent about an hour on the outline today and hope to get another hour in tonight. But first I need to work on this oral argument. I have a practice session tomorrow. In general, I am much calmer than I was last semester. I am much less concerned with getting everything exactly right and am approaching the exam season in a way that is much more like my old study habits. Attempting to change everything to accomodate law school was probably not my greatest choice, but there is so much pressure, it is hard to say no. Outlines are fine. But really, I know how to study. If I didn’t, I never would have gotten this far in the world. Confidence in my own ability might be better than confidence that I have mastered someone else’s recommended path to preparation. So we shall see if this pays off. I plan on making outlines, not writing treatises. I hope everyone has a great day. I need to go practice. (Kids are awesome, house is clean, tonight’s dinner is pizza, and the boys are aware that the next three weeks are going to be hard on them…)

The memo and oral arguments

Will that memo not go away? No. That memo is going to live in eternity and confound me until I find out just how I did on the thing. Lest I forget, the memo does need to form the basis of my oral argument (which is two weeks away…). So Legal Writing and Research Prof. took today’s class to tell us how many problems he is finding in the memos. And I was…relieved. If the problems are as bad as he indicates, I should be in good shape. Not sheparidizing, ignoring caution flag treatment Westlaw style, spelling errors, formatting errors, you name it errors. Misrepresentations in the facts. That seemed like a biggie. So…my few punctuation errors and imperfect cites shouldn’t be too much of a problem. In some ways I hope he was exaggerating. In other ways I hope its true. Isn’t that rotten?

Oral arguments don’t sound as bad as I thought they might. I think I’ll do fine. I will practicing this week and next. I really do know the case so how bad can it be? I’ll let you know when it gets here. Otherwise? I’m good to go. Fully prepared for tomorrow. Still without a job. But I should have time to make some follow up calls on Thursday. See you tomorrow. Have a great day.

Spring break? Gone.

The week went by so fast.  The summer job search must officially end now. OK. Almost. I never did get my packet out to the AG’s office and I really should aim to have that in the mail for Monday. Otherwise, it is a matter of waiting for phone calls and interviews. And prayer, of course. Can’t forget that. If I am meant to have a summer job, I will have one.  That leaves….school work. Outlines, reading, and preparation. I will study tonight and all day and night Sunday to get ready for class on Monday. I did less school work than I should have. But hey – I got lawyer hair. So what is there to complain about? I wish I had another week off. I am nervous and antsy and stressed. The work load during the spring semester far exceeds the fall and I have not done very well staying ahead of it. Let’s hope this next few weeks go a little bit better. I hope my readers have a great weekend! I will see you again on Monday.

Lawyer hair and summer jobs

OK. I think the hair came out nice. It looks lawyer-like. Professional, neat, manageable. The problem is…after I wash it I need to make it look like this again, and that might be a challenge. I am not a hair-stylist, not even close. I guess I won’t know until Saturday because there was color involved and I was told to wait to wash it. Oh the things in my life that are changing…people who know me well would be amazed. So….

Today went well on the job hunt. I got another interview opportunity (as soon as you fill out these papers to go with your resume type deal…), so I mailed the package out. It was too thick to fax. That can’t be a good thing, but they asked for it, so I simply oblige. Legal Aid applications out and activist lawyer got a resume and cover letter. Still nothing from the Public Defender, who promised an interview upon reciept  of papers that went complete Tuesday. I want two more packages in the mail for tomorrow and then I need to get back to the business of learning the law.  Tonight I will study Con Law, my least favorite material. Then I want to devote one day each to Contracts, Civ Pro, and Property to be in good shape for Monday. Please God let me have a summer job that is in line with whatever you have in store for me in the future…I would be most grateful. I wonder how God feels about prayer via blog?

I need to go. I am making lasagne for dinner and need to spend some time with my boys tonight. Most likely a movie with requisite blankets on the couch, popcorn, and soda.  I also need to fill in a book order, talk to my sister on the phone, and pick up the house a little. That is on top of the Con Law material. Do I think I have endless amounts of time? No. But next week I won’t have any, so I need to make maximum use of these next few days. I hope all my readers have a lovely day. Spend time with your children, and remember that life is what you make of it.

On raising boys and spring break

Hmmmm. Are there even words? While in law school studying away, life has continued on in its routine, semi-predictable fashion. The boys are still boys and their room hasn’t seen me in a few weeks. OK. A month. Just after Christmas since I last organized it and cleaned it myself. They clean. Or shall I say stuff. Under beds, in cabinets, in the closet, even under the mattress. Dirty laundry mixed with clean, etc. Just a disaster area waiting for mom to clean it up. And mom got there today.  It’s amazing how fast they grow. Many clothes needed to be pulled out and packed up. Today they got all new socks. Boys and socks are not a good combination. They also got new shoes. Sizes – 12 y.o. in a men’s 11 and 9 y.o. in a 5.  Spring always hits my pocket book hard. That would be if I carried a pocket book, which I don’t.  But I do carry a wallet and I don’t use credit cards. So….it was an expensive day. Maybe my life would be easier if I was willing to do all that work myself. Instead I waited for the boys to get home from school and made them do most of the work. They were not impressed. So….tomorrow is back to the job hunt and studying. Wish me luck.