It's a gorgeous day here in yaya-land

And I am sitting on my couch avoiding writing myriad cover letters. But if I have to do it then by all means let it be on this gorgeous 78-ish degree day with all my windows open and lots of sun. I love this time of year. My favorite season is Fall. It always has been. I like the crisp air and snuggly jammies and blankets, spiced cider. All wonderful things.

This is my first Thurs of this semester where I feel like I am in fact taking a light load. Love it. Love it. Highly recommend it.

That's it. I'm done

being paranoid about grades that is. I worked myself into a right tizzy over my summer grades: one because the prof is a notoriously hard grader and the other because I still to this day didn't know what she wanted. And I whined. And I worried. And I worked damn freaking hard. And it wasn't a big deal after all.

Unless, of course, the reason they weren't a big deal was because I freaked and worked so damn hard. Hmm. I see a place with white, padded walls in my future.

How to identify out of state firms to apply to?

There's the obvious list of firms who come to OCI. I am not applying to all of them, like the ones who are only litigation or who have only men and I've heard unpleasant things about their attitude toward women. But after those firms... who else? There's really only one, possibly two, major firms in town who do not come to OCI, so I am going to apply to those separately.

But when I reach the state borders, i am a little less sure of who to apply to. Nalp Directory is a good tool as is infirmation, but you still don't get the bigger picture you could get by talking to people who summered there last year. My school is a regional school with the odd alum working in a big city or city far, far away. So I don't have the alum out of state connection thing so much. My husband has changed his position from definatlely wanting to move out of state to mostly wanting to stay here, unless we can do somethign really cool like move to London. I think that is part of my problem with wanting to apply in the "major" midwest cities like Kansas City or St. Louis or even Chicago; hubby is no longer really down with that. But I have confidence questions about being able to get not only a first interview, but then a second interview and finally a bona fide offer from a local firm. We are a teeny tiny, itty bitty market.

This is why my throat and ears hurt.

A law-mommy moment

Tonight I took my daughter to the school that she will be starting next week. It's just a new location for her current preschool, and some of the teachers and a very few of her classmates are moving with her. As I stood in her new classroom watching her buzz around the room and check all the new toys, books etc out, I realized that she is growing up so quickly. Soon she will be in regular school, and I'm not ready for that . . . ready for her to get up in the morning and get her own cereal, but not ready for her to be a "big girl."

She's so independant now. She's starting to try to read. She's so damn tall. It's stupid, but I am having my first mommy-nostalgia moment.

A sense of entitlement?

So I've had the first "good" consequences of OCI come my way--a lovely gift in my mailbox from a firm. It wasn't a bad gift, but the letter that accompanied it kind of made my teeth hurt. Hooray for you, your shit doesn't stink. Congratulations on making law review. Ok, so perhaps that is not what is actually said, but that was pretty much the sentiment. I went home and showed my spouse the gift and we were both amazed that just because I made law review some lawyers think i should have a gift. it's an odd world here in the tiny law community.

After the "gift-day", I had an opportunity (read not mandatory but mostly) to hang out with some of the law review board people. First, they were all very nice. Sincerely nice. Which was great. Second, it was surreal. None of them would ever say that they were entitled to anything, but there is already this aura of "I'm going to be rolling in money" around a lot of them. And I think they all know that they are dripping with "smarts." It wasn't unpleasant per se, but it was odd. And I think that what made it seem odd to me was that I was supposed to be a grub-level member of this club. And I'm not sure if I really fit in with that, or if I really want to. I'm sticking with my first thought: it's just odd. Thank heavens they are nice. Otherwise, well I just don't want to think about it.

The second year, they work you to death

I'm not sure that it really is SO much more work than second semester of 1L, but they do schedule things so that your life has to suck. Period.

Before I harp on the negative, I should say that I am in love with my classes this semester, even Con Law II, which I thought I would hate based on my Con Law I experience. So far all the reading is interesting, class time is interesting, discussions in class are awesome and truly discussions with lots of people providing input. I love it.

What I am not loving is the out of class stuff. SBA is still the bane of my existence. It's taking up too much time becuase our pres is a nimrod. Seriously. Law review. Well, I'm not complaining about it exactly. I just wish that the note deadline was a little more realistic. It's like some sick hazing that the note and OCI are all at the same freaking time. I feel like I am not doing either of them well. Not enough time to put into either of them, and things are getting overlooked. I'm still not sure that I should stick with the topic that got approved. And we got our first copy work this week. sigh. The author was a the cow prof that I hated before... the one who is loosey goosey and detail schmetail-oriented. So far of the 6 footnotes that I have tried to check, um, only 2 have anything to do with anything. 2 are wrong and 2 are something the prof pulled out of its a$$. I'm looking at about 10-15 hours just on that this week. Eek!

Finally, the spouse has been working psycho hours, so I have had significantly less study time than I really need. I think I am going to have to consciously decide to blow off some class assignments over the next few weeks and hunker down on my note and apps. If I can get one thing off my plate, then I think that I will come out alright.

And now for the wind up to Fall OCI and our OCI process

The list of firms coming has been out for a few weeks, and I spent last weekend carefully looking at each firm and yea'ing or nay'ing them. (important interuption, should I be concerned that it smells like something is burning? I'm in the library?) Anyway, I've got a good pile that I want to apply to. And just to make things fun and interesting, there are a couple of firms with offices in London that will take law grads straight out of school.

I've lived overseas slightly longer than a 1/3 of my life and loved it. In fact, my first major live over seas moment was when I was my daughter's age now. I've always thought that raising my daughter for several years overseas would be a good thing. it helps to give a person perspective. And in London, she would have it easy with the language. The only serious drawback is how bloody (practicing, just in case) expensive it is to live there. Still, it won't hurt to apply.

So back to the normal jobs. I was actually surprised by a couple of the firms in my current city. They sound rather progressive and are focused on areas of the law that I salivate over. Happy happy. Joy joy. I also want to do some nalp searches for a couple of specific cities and see what I can find to apply to the old-fashioned way.

I am not looking forward to the time that it takes to interview or even just write cover letters to all of the firms. But I am looking forward to getting a job. Hopefully.

From Kristine's post, it seems like not all schools do OCI the same way? I don't know why this surprises me. At our school, you get a list of employers coming. You make a package for each of them and turn them into the career office on the appointed day. Just for funsies and to make sure they drive you all the way to the looney bin. They give you 4 "preference" stickers. You can attach them to any 4 packages. This is so that firms know you really are serious about them. However, you only get 4. And you've got a bazillion packages. It's kind of obnoxious really. And the most fun interview question is "so why didn't you preference us?" Then you get notified if the firm picked you for an interview and you have to dash to the online scheduler and make your appointment before everyone else or you end up interviewing at 7 am or the last interview of the day. The firms come to school for about 3 weeks. So you might have 4 interviews Wed, none Thurs, one Fri, none next week, and so on. It sounds like at Kristine's school they try to compact it all and get it done before school starts. Would that it

Because it wouldn't be the first week of school without...

My daughter being sick today. Tomorrow is the first day of class, tuesdays are my longest day, and my husband has presentations and important crap all this week and can't help out.

Poor bunny has the stomach flu and did the barf - o - rama thing at the dr.'s today. I love getting chunky barf in my hair and down my shirt into my bra. Squishy is great. Poor thing though. She's positively green. Sigh.

I love the first week of school.

People think I know stuff

It's frightening, isn't it? how one little year of law school starts brother in law asking about his property problem or mom's contract problem or uncle's tort problem. It's also frightening that the school thinks I'm a model "law school mom". Yeah, I participated (as the voice of wisdom *snigger*) in a few 2L panels for the 1l orientation this last week. For the most part, it was a good experience. I do have some strategy for dealing with sick kids etc, but overall, I was a little concerned about the incoming class. They're so freaking quiet, except for their 2 class jerks. Seriously dude, don't ask in front of your whole class how to get yourself "hooked up" with a study group of the top students that were admitted. At least in my world, there are no "top" students once you start law school... not until your law school grades come out. LSAT and GPA mean crap. And some small, tiny, little person seriously is fixated on this? Gimme a break.

None of the questions were surprising. I think Law and Mommyhood had it about right when she said that the answer to all of the questions at these kinds of panels is "whatever works for you." I honestly don't think that I used any of the info or tips the 2Ls gave us last year, but I did have piece of mind after the panels. Just knowing that everyone does it differently and still survives was a nice security blanket.

I order the book that they forgot to tell us about from Barristerbooks.com. I'm the rep for them at my school, so I was able to use my rewards points that I earned to offset the cost of the book admirably well and have super fast shipping. So hopefully I will have it by Wednesday.

I'm about half way through my real estate transfer homework for the week, and so far it is really interesting. It's got my brain turning around why people use buyer's brokers at all. It would be tons cheaper for everyone in the long run if buyers just used an attorney. But that's a whole other topic.

Your lack of planning, unfortunately, is my emergency

Frustration with the administration once again. We've had our class book lists for about 2-3 weeks now. Which is why i was able to purchase all but one class's books online. The last book was no where to be found. So fine, I will buy it at the bookstore, but they don't have it yet. Lovely. Then I realized, wait just a sec, how can my class really have only one book that is only $25? Impossible. And of course I was right. I just saw the reading list for next week and shock of all shocks, there is an actual $100-ish case book for the class after all. And no, the bookstore did not order it all.

So I discover this at 5 something Friday night before the first week of class and am now scrambling to find it online. And I have, but the soonest I can get it is likely next Friday. Sigh. I hate stuff like this. it drives me batty.

Just call me June... Cleaver that is

I can't believe I just vacuumed my house while wearing heels. Wonders never cease.

So is half.com a rip off for selling text books?

I thought it seemed pretty great until I sold a couple of case books. Both were requested to have expidited shipping (how do I turn this option off?). So I sent off a torts book and the shipping cost me $10.80. What?? Half.com only reimburses $5.40 for expedited hard binding books. So this seems like not so good of a deal. Am I missing something? How does everyone else sell their books?

Joey's travel adventure, part I

The French have a great phrase they use when somthing is tiring, a bother, or just generally icky and they don't want to deal with it: "je n'ai pas le courage." That is how I feel about re-living my travels from last week and weekend.

Overall, I am really happy that I went on my mini vacation. All by my self (which was glorious), I went to a small harbor town in Maryland to visit a rather pregnant best friend of mine. I've known her nearly forever. She's on her own, recently returned from overseas duty (military girl) and in an old family house. The house is wonderful, on the water etc, but rather dated and in want of a serious scrub.

So I start my adventure on Thursday morning at o'dark butt-early. Imagine my chagrin upon arrival at the airport to see a major line in security and everything backed up. I asked around about what was going on and people looked at me like i was pathetically uninformed. Well, sorry but when I have to wake up in the a.m. and the little hand is still pointing at "4", I don't usually take time to sip a cup of tea in front of the telly. In any case, it soon became clear that whatever the reason, I had to chug my water and put my lotions in my checked bag. Fine. No biggie. I'd rather not blow up.

Fast forward 35 minutes, where I am starting to sweat it, hoping that I will make my plane. Security announces over the PA that no chapstick or lipstick will be permitted either. Um, OK. The security dudes apparently can't believe that women would not automatically think of lipsticks and chapsticks when told no LIQUIDS or GELS. So here's the problem. I've got 30 minutes of line ahead of me and at least that long behind me. My flight is in 45 minutes. Clearly getting out of line to take my makeup sachet back to my checked bag (which would no longer have been there anyway) is not an option. I sighed and said a sad farewell to my sachet of clinique lipsticks... that would be $15+ a stick times many sticks (I love lipstick). So as I get to an end in the switchback line, I ask a lady not in the line to put the sachet into the garbage. Whereupon, this wonderful angelic saintly woman asks why i am throwing something so pretty away. i explain the no lipstick thing and she asks ifI buy good lipstick. I said yes and she said "me too, and I would cry if I had to throw them all away." In short order she has my address and promises to send it to me. Hooray! I finally get through secutiry and get to the plane and get on. We leave with about half the seats empty. They are not waiting. Fine.

Then the flight attendant accidentally dumps orange juice all over me. I love it. You can't bring liquids, but you can wear them. Change planes, lather rinse repeat. I will say that the flight crew were very pleasant the second leg. I took United for the first time in a long time and thought, I might take them again. (not anymore)

Anyway, I arrived on time, shockingly. I was rather spent and it looked like security was a bugger everywhere.

Point of part I. I don't mind if I can't take regular stuff with me, but let's not be chumps about informing flyers what you can and can't take when you are checking bags. A little more effort on the check person's part would have alleviated many a person's stress level. And I am totally greatful that my daughter was not with me. She could not have handled the chaos and very random method the security dudes were using for determining which families could take liquids. Sigh. I hate traveling anymore.

Look for part II soon. And why I won't fly United again (unless they are at least $100 cheaper than everyone else, yes, I can be bought).

Advice needed--keep commercial paper?

So, one of the blessigns of taking summer school is that I can slack off thereafter in terms of credits. One way to do this is just take 12 credits a semester. Another way is to take a really light fall, 10 credits-ish, and then take 13 or 14 to make up for it. After totally reorganizing my fall and spring schedule (and now I am MUCH more excited about my classes), I am taking (for sure) con law 2, real estate finance, and bankrupcty in the fall. I am currently signed up for commercial paper too. it's only two credits and it meets just once a week. My faculty advisor thinks that I should drop it. He pointed out that I will have a lot more going on with law review and interviews and that all of those classes are relatively challenging to really understand.

In my heart, I know he's right. And I am SO freaking tired right now. And my LR note has to be written by October 1. And it always takes me 2-3 weeks at the beginning of a semester to be able to read my cases quickly (there's just a huge upcurve on the lingo in a subject and deciphering what your prof thinks is imporant). The only reasons I want to take it are 1) I'm actually interested (I know, I'm a sicko), 2) I'm not sure if it will be offered next year, and 3) there are SO many interesting classes that I want to take and not enough time to take them in.

So what do you think?

One final down, one paper down, the MPRE, down and one paper to go . . . and it's killing me I tell you

So last week pretty much sucked. Bad. Big. Ugly. Honestly, I don't recall being this tired after finals (or during) for Fall or Spring last year. Maybe it is the cumulative effect of going full time 3 semesters in a row. Whatever it is, I'm so tired I could cry.

This is also the first semester where I actually got to a point where I calculated what the minimum grades were that I had to get to keep my percentile. Sigh. It's that bad.

One class is totally done. I turned in my paper for that on Wednesday. There are only 16 people in the class, and I think that all but 2 are in the top 20%. What does that mean... the curve is going to be a bitch. We missed not having a curve by one person. And where does that leave me: I have no idea if the paper that I turned in was a total piece of shit. I would give myself and A for research and an E for effort for the writing part. heaven only knows what will come out of that.

Another class has a final and a paper. I had the final Wednesday too (yes, Wednesday was a really great day). It sucked. I can't explain exactly how it sucked. Well, yes I could. And I think that I will. My professor is on crack. That's the only explanation for it. Actually, there is another explanation for it: she's just plain evil. I hate her. A lot. So heaven only knows how I did on the test. And her paper is the one I am supposed to be working on as I type. Sigh. I still don't know exactly what the woman wants from me. And I still need to do quite a bit of research. So the goal is that I will finish the research (finding and reading) today, and write the little POS tomorrow. Edit monday. Re-edit and blue book Tuesday and turn it in. That's the plan anyway. Cute little plan, isn't it? Yeah, we'll see how that goes.

Oh and of course, just to add more fun to the mix, my law review topic is due now. So I spent last night and the better part of the morning trying to find something 1) novel and therefore not overdone and 2) interesting enough so that I wouldn't want to throw myself off a cliff in the next month or two while I research it and write it.

At least I only have this damn paper staring me in the face. When I am done with that, I have 4.5 lovely days of fun in the sun wiht my best friend in another state. No hubby, no kid, no law school. And I'm living for it I tell you.