The Score

Last week was rough. Each of my professors gave at least one mini-lecture on the topic of exams. They claim these lectures are to calm the fear of the 1Ls, but it seemed to me that they just heightened everyone's jitteriness. I kept up on the reading, went to class, studied late most nights, and went to the eye doctor (note: law school is not so nice to soft contact lens wearers, not enough blinking while reading==scary bloodshot eyes). I completed yet another draft of my LWR memo only to get yet another "suggestion" for organizing the content (mouse on a wheel, that's me). I went to discussion group for a class or two and attended yet another professional panel of practicing attorneys. I also completely bailed/forgot about lunch with a very busy friend/client and showed up late to my first class on every day but one.

I'm still fitting my real life in the cracks of law school, but the available spaces are decreasing. E's birthday was yesterday. We had a blast with roughly 20 friends, some of whom we hadn't seen in several months. We stuffed our faces on some of the freshest and most reasonably priced sushi I've ever had in the city at Judah Ozaku Ya. We were both VERY glad it was over when it was. Too much. That is my life in two words these days.

Speaking of too much, holiday and winter break plans are shaping up, including plans for up to 17 people at our house for Thanksgiving. People say I'm crazy for hosting Thanksgiving during my 1L year, but they don't have my family. It's the first year in the new house--it's not much of a question. My dad's parents are both in their 80's, married over 50 years, and able to drive the 3-hour trip to our new house. How can you say no to that? They are awesome, hilarious, cranky, smart, and wonderfully old people. Every time I see them I'm reminded that my time with them is limited. I'm not letting law school fuck up my priorities that much.

In the I-don't-know-if-that's-necessary-right-now-category, I bought plane tickets for my trip to Egypt over winter break. I also bought arabic CDs to listen to on the commute and a few books on arabic as well. I am trying to learn the alphabet when I need a break from law school books. So far, I can recognize 4 letters. I have a couple of weeks after finals to learn as much as I want, so I'm not trying to jam it into my study schedule like an idiot. It's just relaxing to learn new letter forms after staring at the same damn latin letters for hours on end.

This week promises to be much worse. H is coming over to start outlining property today. It's unlikely that we'll finish, so it'll have to be continued on Monday and Tuesday. The final draft of my LWR memo is due tomorrow. The fundraising event for the do-gooder club I'm in is Thursday. I'm shocked out how poorly the event is managed. There are at least 10 major tasks left and the head of the committee hasn't assigned them. I suspect this will devolve into a ridiculous frenzy on the day of the event...

The light at the end of the tunnel is next weekend. I already bailed on an acquaintance's 30th birthday bender on Saturday--which would have been fun, but the price of time is too high. I plan to do nothing but hang out with E, study, sleep, eat well, work out, update my resume, and catch up on any lingering real-life issues from the week.