Exhaustion

Sleep. It eludes me. I've been laying awake at night. I'm not a fan. I've tried having a drink, taking some pain reliever PM, and even doing both.  Nada. I'm one of those people who requires 8 hours, just the way I have always been. So running on just a few hours really is getting old. Not to mention my heater is stuck "ON". This means my bedroom last night was 82 degrees. With the window open. Thank God I don't pay for heat.

Rain. Its January in Northern Illinois. Its raining. A lot. Then the rain freezes, and everything turns to ice. Then it melts, and it all starts again. I'm not a fan. I'd rather it be snowing.

Reading. So much reading to do. I've determined that professors are on a crazy roll this semester. Each class requires hours of reading almost every night. And I have a hell of a time understanding what it is I'm reading. I had to read and reread Marbury v. Madison; a 3L saw me with the Con.Law Stories book. He asked where we were, I told him... apparently I read one of the greatest stories in the book. I'm unaware of this, it was interesting... but not amazing. But to each his own.

Gunners. Really? Just stop. Nobody wants to hear you. There is this guy in Civ Pro, he finds it needed to even talk over the professor. It is so obnoxious. Hes a 2L, I don't know why he is in this class, but he is. I think he is out to show us that he is smart or something. I haven't heard a single good thing from a 1L about him. But whatever...

Appellate Brief. We got the fact pattern and info we are going to use to start our research... its basically a book.. probably 30 pages of information that we are supposed to analyze and then write our own (I've heard 40-50 page) brief. Ahhh or we could just not.

Basic Legal Research (BLR). We have a workshop today. It is frustrating how unhelpful they are at times. BLR is tied in with Legal Writing, so we are learning how to formulate searches etc. in WestLaw and Lexis. But the reps just stand there and say click here, click here, oh look what you found! And I'm like how is this supposed to help me in practice? I know how to click where I'm told so I'm all set?

1L Closing Argument Competition. Its this weekend. Wow did that sneak up on me. Yeah I have done nothing for that. Guess that's going to be interesting... Its supposed to be a good training tool for our Appellate Arguments later this semester.

Brother. Baby is a boy, due April 14th (ish). His name is Charles Edward Junior (CJ). Its cute.

Money. Disbursement Check should be in by tomorrow, which means I can buy some food! Yay! Oh and pay rent and credit cards...

I need to find a way to get some sleep at night, like deep good sleep. Yup. time to research.

Oh the Things you'll hear in Criminal Law

It occurred to me that I should perhaps keep track of some of the more funny things my professors say.  

So here are some quotes from Criminal Law today, some are paraphrased:

This is soon enough for you guys to be giving legal advice 

Someone sneezed… “don’t hold those suckers back”

Not to speak ill of the Lutherans, they did reform my church, but they left me behind unfortunately

Call me old fashioned but I usually take my clothes off pretty close to the tub.

Lutheran girls seeing men naked oh my god. I don’t think my mother ever saw my father naked, but he was catholic so maybe. But she was Norwegian… wild crowd.

So I have a pet named Misty, shes in heaven, if there is a heaven for dogs, and if there isn’t a heaven for dogs then of course there isn't heaven.

Did I tell you about the priest who called 911 over the weekend because he was gagged and in handcuffs and apparently one of his dates had left him this way? I’m supposed to confess to this guy, what could I say that would be interesting?

You know I’m in a carpool with physicists…and I’m an old lady so I can say what I want… and there are two of them… do I have to say more… all your buttons are buttoned wrong, your fly is down, I know you don’t believe in mirrors because you live in the fifth dimension.

Thank God this was an older case (US v Villegas) or the Twilight Series would have made these kids get dead, they would have drunk the blood.

Guess what happens to empty holes… oh sorry. Guess what happens to empty quarries…

My dog will die, because he does lick my boots, I’ve trained him to do that… 

I don't wanna

This is my attitude of late.

Apply for summer internships... I don't wanna.
Read for class... I don't wanna.
Prepare for oral arguments... I don't wanna.

Sounds winey this I know, but none-the-less it is how I feel at this moment. I'm tired. I want a LONG vacation. With no family drama, just me my boyfriend and my puppies. Yup that would be good.

I have been being productive, but school is all I'm doing right now... its crazy. I did have a great weekend with a nice break, but then Sunday I spent the entire day cranking out homework and getting ready for the week.

I shall make it through this week. Even if I'd don't wanna.

Real Life

9 Months Ago-- my little brother dropped out of college

In less than 9 Months-- he is going to be a dad. 

9 Months ago-- I was preparing to graduate college

In 9 months I will still be a law student. 

Look at your life, look at the changes that can occur in 9 months. 

I'm happy for my brother and terrified for him all at the same time. Mostly I know he isn't ready. He's just a kid. He cannot even keep a job yet. 

I hope and pray he finds work, and KEEPS it. That the baby is healthy. That his girlfriend and he continue to have a loving relationship. 

Advice? Stay in school. I'm not ready to be a mom yet. and I'm thankful I don't have to make those decisions yet. 

ps family drama makes law school a nice escape... a place to dive into, to try to understand why we have a bill of rights. but a scary place as well... especially when you are reading a bunch of cases about people beating babies, and neglecting them... not that my brother will do that... but it is just creepy that there are people in the world who do that... bagh heebie jeebies. 

1L Second Semester

One week of the second semester has been completed. School is school I guess. This semester is promising to be more intense than last semester; which is something I am not looking forward to. But alas, I am OVER half-way done with my 1L year, which I feel is pretty awesome.

I have also applied for a blogging scholarship. One of my classmates read my blog, said how true and honest it was, that she felt the same way at times with her experiences as a 1L, so she told me I should apply for some scholarships. So I did that, which is exciting. I doubt I'll get anything, but its worth a shot.

I was looking back over old posts, and some things deserve an update. Mainly Legal Writing. You will be happy to know that I got an A-! How exciting is that? I was hoping for a B, and did even better!

New Apartment- I moved into a new apartment. I love it. Its a 2 bedroom on the other side of town. I cannot hear my neighbors, which is so enjoyable. I also no longer live in the "party" part of town. Which is so very happy. I have an office, a bedroom, a kitchen, a living area, and a bathroom! I went from a studio to all of that! Wooowhooo. Only real problem is that my shower randomly scalds me. Which sucks.

Criminal Law- really intense. I like the professor. She is going to take us to Statesville. I'm pretty excited.

Contracts- Parol Evidence.

Civil Procedure- Petitions. People getting run down on Normal Road.

Constitutional Law- I love the Professor. He is awesome. The class is kind of like my history classes from Ripon College. I'm enjoying it.

Basic Legal Research- Workshop done, quiz to do this week.

Legal Writing- Oral argument, motion and memorandum are due on the 28th. Not looking forward to that. Our case is basically IL's version of Attractive Nuisance.

MLK Holiday- no school. How happy is that?

So now it is time to do some more homework. And perhaps watch Legally Blonde- its on TV. hmmm

Back to School

Grades. I did fairly well. I had a B average, C+ in Civil pro as the low, A- in legal writing as the high.

So its back to school... I'm in my third day... I'm tired. Exhausted is more the word. Its annoying. I hit the ground running, and haven't stopped yet. And my back hurts. I've been using a wheeley bag up to now, but there is snow on the ground so I'm carrying my bag--- its heavy. LIKE REALLY HEAVY.

So classes this semester...
Contracts: Right now we are doing Parol Evidence... it is confusing... but doable.
Constitutional Law: Interesting, the professor is kind of scatter brained... but I think I'm going to enjoy the class.
Criminal Law: The professor is a retired feminist, who loves the bloody crimes. She is going to be interesting. She assigns a TON of reading though, which is unfortunate.
Civil Procedure: ya. So not fun. More nightmares about Santa Clause. Its so hard to learn. We had 40 pages of reading for the first class today. Pleadings... I mean its ok to read and I hope to learn from reading this semester so that I can do a little better on the final this spring. He said it is more on the rules this semester, which is what the upperclassmen have stated as well.
Basic Legal Research: We have already had one fairly long workshop, which was intense.
Legal Writing: We have a motion and memorandum and oral argument due before January is done. Oh so much fun.

New Apartment. It is going well. I love it. The only downside is that my shower seems to scald me randomly... which is unfortunate.

Well it is off to Civ Pro... oh joy

Break

Its break time. Life is a little crazy. Stressful. But relaxing at the same time. I've found I cannot slow down, my brain is always going a million miles an hour. I want to do things, get stuff done, be productive. But what is there to do? Not a lot. I am applying for the IL bar, which is quite a task.

Ordered books for next semester. Going to start reading on Monday. Will be fun.

Got my first grade back. Civil Procedure. Just above Average... C+ So I'm going with it. Kind of indifferent. I'd hoped I would do better. But honestly I'm relieved I passed at least one of my classes. The other grades aren't up yet. So I'll have to wait to see.

Time to get back to doing the IL bar stuff I guess.

Here is hoping the rest of my grades are above average. :)