Cwap!

I'b sick. *achoo* Which really stinks. Today was supposed to be a major study day for Torts. Instead I slept for ever and couldn't concentrate on what would be important to make a flashcard out of. Happily though... I realized that one of my todos was to read the pertinent sections of E&Es for contracts and civ pro, and even more happily I had the Contracts one at home. So, while I did and do feel like dookie, I got through about 240 pages of the E&E for K. Hurrah.

Let's all hope that I feel like a human again tomorrow because I've got so much to do. How can it possibly be that my contracts final is in less than 2 weeks? Argh! Blech.

I just took my 8-hour take home K practice exam... Oh!

Actually, surprisingly, somewhat shockingly, it wasn't that bad. In fact, astonishingly, I came out of the practice exam feeling like I knew more than I thought that I did. Which is obviously way better than coming out of it feeling like I actually knew less than I thought I did :)

I need to review implied warranties a bit more. And I about spit water on my computer when I read the question about damages... Um, we haven't covered that yet. It's on the syllabus for next week. So I made a rather short answer to that one based on things our prof has said in passing... good thing this isn't the real test or that answer wouldn't be passing. Tee hee! I'm a little slap happy, can you tell.

Things in general that I learned today:
1) I like 8 hour take home tests. Seriously, maybe it's because I know it doesn't count, but i was so relaxed;
2) you don't have to use the stupid exam software that shuts down your whole damn computer--our test is open everything except help from actual people. So when I couldn't remember which UCC section was sale of goods, I hopped on Lexis and looked it up. Suhweet! It's also extremely handy to be able to search my outline on my computer. Love that find function.
3) I get to take my test in my jammies.
4) I am capable of concentrating that long even though I'm at home--which I had wondered about
5) IRAC is stupid. But I did it anyway.
6) My outline is not so bad. I noted the sections that I needed to beef up as I went along. Also, I had formatted some of the sections differently and found the one I like the best. Hurrah!
7) Caffeine is your friend.

So that's it folks. Now I'm putting the books down until Friday night, whereupon I will pick them up with a vengeance and study my guts out for the duration.

Why Friday night you ask? Because my sweet daughter and I are having a mommy/daughter day on Friday. We'll either go to the children's museum or the zoo; I haven't decided which yet. but I figure there shouldn't be too many people at those places, since everyone else will be shopping.

Happy Turkey Day everyone!

Memo due today and other updates and go Greg Abbot

So, I printed 2 copies of my memo last night... got the right cover sheets, honor code statement signatures etc... And stuck a fork in it. I was done. I should be feeling elation, right? Nope. I kept looking warily at my backpack wondering if the paper could possibly be an A paper. Just sitting there in my backpack... unfortunately my best guess is that no, it's not. I really want this grade in this class. I worked really hard on it, and I can't help but wonder now if it was enough? if I focused on the right things? One grade classes suck... guess that means all law school classes suck :)

So onward to today. I made my "everything I need to do for final prep" list and printed a calendar for the next month. I used to use this method when I worked for Big Corporate Monolith. I would plan my week or month, depending on what my deadlines were and designate specific tasks each day to accomplish my goal. The first two items on my daily list were must dos... can't leave the office until they are done, no matter what surprises are in my day. The rest of the items for the day had to get done if I had no emergencies. But I was allowed to reward myself for crossing off each item. Like going out to lunch instead of staying in or playing ONE game of minesweeper. The system worked really well for me especially for the more distasteful assignments. And here, I've figured out that outlining is a "distasteful assignment". I'm sorry but it's the truth. I have absolutely no enthusiasm for doing my outlines. Blech. So I'm back to ye old list method. I'm really hoping that will help keep the panic at bay too since I will see all the bitesized study chunks and have them planned, I won't think that I am forgetting anything or spending too long on any one item.

Last but certainly not least, Go Greg Abbott!! and Texas for having a law against SpyWare.
And for you civ pro folks who want to see another complaint, here's TX's complaint against Sony

Happy as a clam!

I moved to my new carrel this morning... it is so silent over here you could hear a pin drop... Ok maybe you can't really hear a pin drop, but all you hear is the clicking of keyboards or pages turning or the occasional sniffle. Hurrah!

And I've gotten a lot of the polishing done this morning on my memo. Sometimes it is good to acknowledge your weakness. I'm glad that I moved.

That is all.

But how can this be all that I need to know about Contracts?

Gah! I've just figured out that I have only 6 contracts classes left. 6 civ pro classes left and 6 torts classes left. And as I outline, make flashcards, review generally, and finish the reading for the semester, the only statement I have is: That's It?!?! Don't get me wrong. I've got more than enough to study, but I have this sick feeling in my stomach that if I had to deal with a contracts suit right now, my client would lose??? I think anyway. It's just weird to think that they are willing to stamp on my transcript, "yes, yaya knows everything she needs to know about contracts, torts, and civ pro". I had to giggle at Kristine's latest post because she was reading my mind.

Even more mind-blowing for me is that this 1L thing... at least all of the uncertainty is almost over. Next semester I won't be freaked out because I know how to brief, how to read my profs, how to answer in class, and in a few weeks I'll know what the exam experience is like, and in a few months, I'll know if my outlines were worth anything when I get my grades. Really, how scary can second semester 1L be?

Onto a more neurotic note, I'm contemplating... OK, not contemplating, but actually doing... changing my study area. At my school, we are assigned study carrels and the 1L carrels are in a different area of the law school than the 2L and 3L carrels. In many ways, I've loved being with the rest of the 1Ls. I like the camaraderie. I like being able to get up and walk an aisle over and ask my favorite torts peer what the heck some case is really about. But a few things are happening 1) it's damn noisy in the 1L area, 2) I'm part of the noise all too frequently and 3) some people are getting psycho about exams, and it's making for an unpleasant vibe. It gets under my skin, and I am not working as hard as I need to. So I left the secretary in charge of carrel assignments a note with my pick of the open upperclassmen carrels on her desk tonight. Hopefully I can move in the morning. It's kind of a pain. And I worry that I am going to miss out on some bonding... Example, my civ pro exam study group came out of talking about our outlines in the 1L area... but ultimately, I think that I will get a ton more work done. And frankly, that's all that matters to me right now anyway.

It's time to get really serious (without getting psycho!).

Memo crazy--but surprisingly still well-adjusted

So... I'm a little jealous of some of the folks in law blog land that seem to have more than one graded memo for their writing class... don't get me wrong, we've written several memos, but they were all ungraded. So, now, we've got the mother of all memos, the graded one due right before Turkey day. Ugh. I've met with my prof several times, and I think I've finally got most of the structure for the elements and factors nailed down. But it feels weak, KWIM? In any case, I did just finish another draft this afternoon. Yeah! If the rules are "she who dies with the most drafts wins" well, then, I'm well on my way to winning.

I like the memo, kind of. the kind of part is that I am dog sick of the topic and worry about it in general. I do think this is probably my "most relevant to being an attorney" class. But I get heartsick realizing that it is just like any other skill you learn... if you don't use it, you lose it. So I've decided that whatever pro bono stuff I start doing next semester, I want something with a lot of writing. So there! (yeah, that's mature).

Tonight... we are having friends over, eating pizza and playing games. And contracts, civ pro etc... can all just bugger off. (at least until tomorrow).

I still haven't caught the OMG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! finals are in 3 weeks panic yet. I'm plugging away on my outlines. Ok... mostly contracts ebcause that's the one I'm most afraid of. 8-hour take home. Yuck. I'm sure it will hit me some time in the next few weeks. There are already a couple of people walking around with the "deer in the headlights look". Sigh.

And no, career services, I still don't know what I want to be when I grow up.

Memo? check! Behind in all classes? check! check!

I am practically giddy that my memo is done... ok not exactly done, but I turned in the draft today and in my world that draft is the hardest to do. And of course, by draft, I mean 6th draft. I figure that whatever I turn in that my TA is going to edit should be the best that I can do. In any case, having that off my plate for the next week will hopefully help me get caught up in my classes, which all suffered for that damnable memo. *Sigh*

Last week and so far this week have been the first weeks where I have read the matierals for classes, but didn't write up a brief for them. I know several of my other blogging 1L cohorts gave up briefing early on and now only book-brief, but I just can't let go of my need to do it. Really, I wish that I could because I really don't have the time for it if I want to get good versions of my outlines done. Sigh. Why am I chicken to stop writing briefs? Frankly, I'm my own worst enemy. 1) I find that my mind wanders a lot more in class when I haven't briefed. The exercise of briefing is usually where I key in on things that I need to get answered in class or pieces that I know i need to pay extra attention to. and 2) I don't read carefully. I don't. Not like in the beginning of the semester. And briefing forces me to go back through and see the nuggets that I missed the first time around.

So there it is. Either I pull some concentration and enthusiasm for reading cases out of my butt, or I keep writing briefs. Frankly, my enthusiasm is waning. Don't get me wrong. i still love school. I love the nerd that it is turning me into. For example, I just got a new cell phone from sprint this weekend. The form that I had to sign had in big print a section about arbitration. I know I wouldn't have paid attention to that before. And i actually did take a split second to consider if arbitration would likely be a bad thing for me as a consumer in my relationship with Sprint. I'm turning into a legal nerd. And I love it. It's just the day to day grind that's got me down. I had a well-tuned machine humming along nicely for studying until that damnable paper came along, and now I'm behind and tired.

True confessions: I can't say that at this point in the semester I'm all that shocked about my lack of enthusiasm. In undergrad, like clockwork, I would lose interest in my classes (or at least the prepping thereto) about 10 weeks into the semester. I guess I have a short attention span? or is that a motivation span? Sigh. Another month! Then finals for a month! Then new classes! Yeah!