Eeeek!

OK - so my final trial did NOT go well. My opening was great, my direct was great, my cross exam & my closing SUCKED. I completely forgot an entire page of my closing - you can see me on the video tape. I paused for about 20 seconds with that deer in the headlights look - totally blanked - and then say "thank you" and sat down. I never asked for relief and my argument just sort of hung out there. It was AWFUL.

On the bright side - I am WAY beyond the 1L freaking out-ness of this type of thing. I realize that when a class is worth 3 credits but demands 6 credits worth of work, then I might not get a perfect score. I don't have enough time for working full time and working on 14 credits - I have enough time to work on 11. That is what I do. And C is for "counselor", that's good enough for me. I still would like to see B's & A's - which I largely do get - but they aren't imperative any more.

I'm still a little freaked out about it though. So sad. The judge actually asked me if I was going to be a trial lawyer. My answer was an emphatic NO. I want to be transactional.

Oh SERIOUSLY???!!!!

So yesterday I had my little "annual wrap up" with my supervisor. I guess I am STILL using really big words when I talk to people around the office and I make them feel inferior. They think I'm a snob. Uh. OK - news flash:

1) Whose problem IS this really? I don't think that it's mine.
2) I am a snob. Get over it.
3) It's not my fault that you have done nothing in the past 20 years to edify yourself.
4) I've been picked on about my vocabulary since the sixth grade. I though eventually people would stop mocking me for it when we all grew up. So sad to see I was wrong.

So, there you have it. I work in an environment where I am seriously reprimanded for my vocabulary. It would be simply delightful to work with people whose scope of interests extend beyond American Idol and fantasy football such that they educate themselves on occasion.

So annoyed.

Sweet Story, Sad News

First, a bit of the positive to brighten your day. Last night I was at the airport waiting for my friend Julie's flight to come in and there were a LOT of military personnell in the baggage claim area. I couldn't tell if they were coming or going, but they hall had the military fatigues on. I'm watching a young man of about 22 years old walk through and a little boy who was about 4 or 5 years old goes running up to him & grabs his hand. The guy looks down at him and waves, looking confused - he had this "who is this kid?" look on his face. He went to keep on walking but the kid reached out his right hand - he wanted to shake the guys hand. The soldier grinned and shook the kid's hand and the kid ran off. It would seem that it was totally unprompted. I wanted to cry. I hope that young man remembers forever when a little boy wanted to shake his hand for what he was doing for his country. It was amazing.

On a sad note, I got a call from Dad this morning - his cousin Alan died after a several year battle with cancer. They knew that he was going downhill, however when I spoke to Dad yesterday, they thought that he had a 3 - 6 weeks to live. He passed away quite suddenly last night. I think in a fashion it is a blessing because they thought that the last few weeks would be extremely painful for him, however this way, he went quietly. I feel bad for Dad - this is the man that he grew up with and played with like a brother. It has to be hard for him to see people close to his age start to pass away. I don't think about things like that because my parents are large in part still in good health. I don't like to think about people their age dying because it makes them mortal.

Back to uber-healthy girl-dom

So, last year during finals I went all out practically vegan - I think I still ate a lot but it was mostly raw & vegan foods. I did yoga every morning, and I felt a lot better. I'm going to do it again now that finals are upon us & I'm feeling dredfully sluggish (thanks in no small part to the additional adipose tissue that came with my classes this semester) and need to ramp up for finals. I am going to TRY to continue that once I'm done with finals are over because that is when I feel at my 100%. We'll see how it goes.

One of those days...

I'm getting a cold (thanks to Matt's mom who brought it with her from Chicago & is coughing all over the place - I appreciate you giving me this gift right before finals. Gratzie.) I spent a lot of time in the car today. AND I just spilled my ENTIRE cup of tea at Dunn Brothers all OVER the place - but, as the guy at the next table was optimistic enough to advise me - at least it went AWAY from my beloved laptop and not TOWARDS it.

On to my international law presentation. I want to get it done TONIGHT so that I am not worrying about it tomorrow night or the day after. GOD I need a week off from work. Just to sleep & prepare for the next 3 weeks of school.

Just 6 more months - just 6 more.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Hello everyone! As noted, I decided that I needed a blog that was somewhate easier to update than having to log into my website & write HTML every time I want to update my blog. This will be so much easier when I'm using a computer in a hostel in Europe & there are 45 other backpackers waiting to check their email. This is easy & quick - I can link to it straight from my gmail account. Fun!

Happy Turkey Day everyone! I hope everyone ate bunches & bunches of turkey and is now lying around like great lumps. I took an 8 mile walk this morning - sort of a preemptive mea culpa for all the food that I knew I was going to eat today. To my credit, I didn't eat much throughout the day - just my cereal at breakfast and a few crackers here & there. But MAN am I stuffed now. I feel more stuffed than the turkey was. I need to digest though because there is a bunch of Grandma's pecan pie sitting upstairs waiting to be consumed!

After this, it's a downward spiral into finals. This semester has flown by me. My sad little lonely Christmas will be here soon (I'm staying in MN instead of going to NY to be with the family). After that comes spring semester & I'm sure that is going to FLY by me. Then I'll be taking off for Europe. Hooray!