Ok, Ok, I Know I Haven't Posted Lately

But it's not like anything exciting, amusing, or interesting has been happening. I'm in my very last class before my exams right now. I am nowhere near prepared for my tests, but at least I turned my paper in. I kid you not, after turning it in on Tuesday (one week early), another student asked me how I was coming on it. When I told her I had just turned it in, she looked me straight in the eyes and said, "Bitch!" She did take it back when she found out I did so because I have 4 exams I have to prepare for, but see what I have to put up with for trying to be responsible!

I am working tomorrow, and then taking off all next week (except my court day on Thursday, when I don't have a test) and the following Monday. Thank goodness! I feel so completely and woefully unprepared for all my exams and desperately need all that time.

My one little bit of funny courtroom stuff to add is that today in court the judge, who is normally so prompt that he comes in a couple minutes early, did not come in until he was about 5 minutes late. He apologized, saying he had a fashion emergency, explaining that he had caught his tie in the zipper of his robe! He said that it was still stuck, and fortunately he had another robe and tie in his chambers, which he had to change into!

Two weeks from now I'll be done and off for a couple weeks. Can't come soon enough.....

Appellate Brief- DONE

I finished up my final paper for AR&W this morning. I need to go get the right color paper to use for the cover, and then have it bound, but I want to wait a couple days just in case I decide to make any edits. The paper cannot be longer than 20 pages, and mine comes in at 19, so I'm happy with that. It really didn't seem very hard, and as silly as it sounds, felt like it wrote itself. It just seemed so obvious to me, and that I was just writing down what was waiting to be said. It feels good to have this basically out of the way.

I know I have to now get serious about studying for midterms. I am taking off 4 days from work (December 3, 5, 7, and 10), as my exam schedule is:

Remedies December 3, 1:30pm
Evidence December 5, 1:30pm
Wills & Trusts Dec. 7, 6:30pm
Comm. Prop. Dec. 11, 1:30pm

It's nice that 3 of the 4 will be during the afternoon. As a first year, all my exams were in the evening, which was highly annoying for me when I made a conscious choice in taking all afternoon classes. Even last year, I believe all my exams were at night. I'm so much more awake, alert, clear-thinking during the day than after dinner hours, so maybe my scores will even improve some!

Anyway, it's a relief to feel like this semester is winding up. I also think next semester will be somewhat easier, with 4 classes instead of 5, knowing what is going on at work now, and not having our house on the market. I've made it through this summer and this semester, so I know I can handle stress, it's just that I'd rather cut back on it for a bit.

Hopefully

I picked up my graded second-to-last paper for AR&W today at school. I'm pleased with that grade (85) and hoping I can do that or better on the final paper. I completed 15 of the 20 pages on that one on Sunday. Honestly the last 5 pages shouldn't take me too long. I have already done the research for it, just need to write it up. I always like to let it set for a few days before reviewing and editing. Seems to make the flaws more obvious.

My sister is coming into town tomorrow, so I doubt I will get anything done until Saturday. That's ok. But I'm hoping I can whip out the rest of that appellate brief and work on my Remedies and Community Property outlines.

I know I have 4 exams coming up in less than a month, but my body is refusing to accept any stress over this. I know I have tons to study and memorize, but I've done well so far and don't see how it will be any different now. The hardest part is just making myself go through the motions of school. At work, I function as a prosecutor, I'm treated as a prosecutor, and for all purposes (other than being able to sign certain documents), I am a prosecutor. Having to sit through classes just makes me feel like I'm taking a step backwards.

Hopefully one year from now I will have received happy news from the state bar. Just a year. Hopefully.

The Week in Review

This week started out so nice and relaxful, but certainly didn't stay that way, as evidenced by my lack of posting. Tuesday I had both my afternoon class, and my evening class (last one!), and 2 meetings in between! Wednesday I worked in the morning, and began some preliminary research for my final paper in the afternoon and evening.

Thursday at work was my big monthly court day (CVB calendar). A small bench trial was supposed to wrap up the morning. Things began at 9am, but SO many people showed up that they did not even finish checking in with the court clerk until after 10:30! When the judge got started shortly afterwards, she said that she had an appointment with the dean of a law school at 11:15, so she stayed until then, and after that, one of the judges who used to be a magistrate judge, but earlier this year became a regular District Court judge, came in to finish up. To say this day was like a circus is really no exaggeration. So many people came and everyone had their own story and excuse for whatever they had done. Some I'd believe, most I didn't.

Anyway, the second judge was much more efficient in how he handled it. As he called each case, he would listen to each person tell their story, declare their fine, and without ending his sentence or taking a breath, ask when they were going to pay it. I was most impressed by the speed at which he moved things along. Unfortunately, when noon arrived, the bench trial had not yet been started, though it was the only thing remaining. The judge then declared that another judge, my third for the day, would have the trial at 1:15pm in a different courtroom.

Normally I have Community Property on Thursday afternoons at 1:30pm. I was the one assigned to this trial though, so it's not like I could have just left. Even though it was for a simple violation, I was the one who prepared the opening, closing, questions, and exhibits. I was the only one who had talked to our witness. So, even though I hate missing classes, I knew I didn't really have a choice here. Plus I'll take a trial over a class any day.

After having lunch and reviewing my file, I got back up to the courtroom. The judge called us forward and had my witness and I at the podium with the defendant sitting at the defense table. The judge then explained that he wasn't going to have questioning like a normal trial, but allow both the government (ME!) and the defendant give a narrative of what transpired, and then allow each of us to question the other. So mentally, I threw out all the questions I was going to ask and started to formulate my story. The judge continued by telling the defendant that if he was going to say that he did it, but had some reason or excuse, he needed to plead guilty, which would mean no trial. The defendant had been very stubborn previously, both in court last month and when questioned by the agent. He had been adamant about wanting a trial.

I was there, standing at the podium, with my file, with all my notes, statements, questions, and exhibits. I was SO ready to go. I had missed my class for this. The defendant says, "Well, I did it, but I have an excuse......". The judge stopped him and told him that he could not tell him the reason unless he was going to plead guilty. The defendant paused, and then said he would plead guilty. UGH! Freaking time-wasting defendants!

The judge had the defendant give his explanation, and then asked the government for our side, before giving him his sentence (fine). This guy could have easily said and done all of this in the morning session. What a pain! All of this and I didn't even get a second trial under my belt for it! As it stands now, however, I have 6 trials in January and one next month. I'm sure that some of the January ones will be postponed or have a change of plea, but it looks like I'll get my second (third, and maybe more) trials soon enough.

After all of this, by the time I got home and changed, I would have missed half of my afternoon class, but since the professor normally lets us our somewhat early, I didn't think it would be worth it to go for 30-60 minutes of class. Of course, I did go to school later for Wills & Trusts. Normally, I hate Thursday evening classes. I'm tired and just do not want to be sitting through a class. But we ended up doing a mock will mediation that actually was a lot of fun, PLUS, we finished and were out of there before 8:30!

Yesterday was another long day. I worked 8-12 in the morning, and was only able to accomplish the bare minimum of follow-up from Thursday's court appearance. I have a brief due by the end of the day on Monday (thankfully, I will have the full 8 hours to work on it), and had hoped to start on it yesterday, but did not do more than a preliminary couple searches.

I then had to take my son to a doctor appointment for a longstanding medical issue. Because this doctor is a specialist, it seems the wait to see her is always a minimum of an hour. I've never had it this bad though- we were there for a total of 2 and a half hours! Then, as I thought we were leaving, the assistant told me that we needed to go to the lab, right then, for some tests. I explained I had an appointment and wouldn't be able to do that. Ok, just something else I'll need to do next week.

After that, I had to race home, change, get out to school to set up for the event I planned and coordinated for Delta Theta Phi, the law fraternity I'm a member of and where I'm serving as the Alumni Committee Co-Chairman. I had met one of our alumni in court a few weeks ago, and asked him if he would come and speak to us for one of our guest lectures. Who can say no to me??? ; ) The lecture went extremely well. Our speaker was helpful and humorous, and I think he was a great contact for us to make.

When I got home at 9:30, I had to do laundry and start picking up around the house since we had a showing this afternoon. I finished this morning, and then we had to vacate for awhile. Since more than half the day was already wasted, I decided I would just spend all of Sunday working on my paper, and took the rest of the day off, going to a cat show with my son.

Tomorrow I really need to get some serious work done on my paper. I'm anticipating next weekend to non-productive, with Thanksgiving, my sister being in town, and a certain prospective home buyer who is trying to schedule a time to see our home (apparently a nationally known real estate mogul has a real estate lawyer who will be relocating here to handle a certain golf course and surrounding development, should it come to fruition). The following weekend will be devoted to studying for midterms, so tomorrow is when I need to get a lot of that paper done.

So yeah, that's the summary of my week.

Am I Supposed to Feel Guilty If I'm NOT Working?

Got my outlines for Community Property, Wills & Trusts and Evidence done. I'll update them after the final class sessions, but shouldn't take too much work. I'll work on Remedies on Wednesday afternoon, since class is canceled, and then they will all be up to date. Evidence wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. I condensed 50 pages of class notes down to a 10 page outline. That is good for me, as my CP outline is 16 pages!

My biggest project will be working on the final paper. I get the assignment tomorrow night and I have 3 weeks to complete it. The good news is that I do not have any other reading to do, so I'll have more time than I normally would have. I'm still not looking forward to it though. I just want to be finished with that class!

Anyway, it just feels strange to have a bit of free time.....like I should be doing something. I know I should just enjoy it. I'll get that assignment tomorrow, and before I know it, the midterms will be here!

Winding Down

Even though I'm not exactly happy that my final AR&W paper will be due the same week that I have 3 midterms, it has been rather nice this week not to have any assignment to be working on for that class. In fact, I'm all done with my reading for the rest of the semester, so now it's all about getting my outlines pulled together and studying. My Community Property outline is in pretty decent shape, and there is only one more class with new material, so that won't be too hard to update. I'm working on Wills and Trusts today, and I really only need to update it with one class's worth of material. We then have one more class with new material this coming week, but the professor already admitted that this last new material isn't really a testable topic.

Evidence is where I have the most work to do. I haven't done any work on that outline at all. UGH. And my class notes are nearly 50 pages long. Double ugh. I have a preliminary outline for Remedies, but the professor backloads his classes! He does about 15 pages a week all semester long, and then does about 50 pages a week the last few weeks to get it all crammed in there! In addition, he doesn't have a review session the final class meeting like all the other professors do, so you end up having tons of stuff to add to your outline and learn right at the end.

Thank goodness I have tomorrow off, as I'm hoping to use it to make some decent progress on Evidence. Wednesday's Evidence class is canceled this week too, so I'll have that time to do some additional outline work.

At work, this Thursday is the big monthly court day, "People's Court", as my boss calls it. It's totally crazy and hectic, but I absolutely love it. Part of that will include my second trial, so that will be fun. I also need to work on a response to a defense motion for a trial that is coming up in January (this is the one that was supposed to be in September, but got continued). Since I'm only working Wed.-Fri. mornings this week, I know I'm going to be swamped!

I probably should feel very stressed, but honestly, I don't. Kind of wish I did because I think I'm more productive then. Ok, I guess I should stop procrastinating and haul out that Wills and Trusts....

Another Day, Another Pervert

Had my normal Thursday court appearance this morning. I was there for 9 different cases but was out of there in 45 minutes. Even though I know my caseload is nothing compared to what most DAs have, so many cases come and go through our office that it is sometimes hard to remember much from any of them. Of course, there are always some that stick out.

One of the defendants who accepted the government's proposed plea agreement today was pulled over for driving under the influence of meth...in a national park...with his pants down and porn all over the floor of his vehicle. I hardly know what to say. So just make your own joke here.

Mexican Food

We are fortunate in California that there are no shortage of good Mexican restaurants. I believe that is one of the things my daughter misses most about living in Boston. I have a few favorites. In the bay area, Fiesta del Mar is a must! I did manage to get in there this weekend, and highly recommend their great-grandmother's recipe. Soooo good!

Locally, it depends on what you want to eat. My favorite for tacos is El Toro Tambien, but for mole, it is Cuca's on Olive down in the Tower District. If you go to Cuca's, you must order a side of the homemade corn tortillas. If you also order the Enchiladas de mole, you will be one happy camper. My only complaints are first, that it is not close to my house, and secondly, that they don't serve margaritas.

It seems like the best Mexican restaurants are in odd locations, and kind of dive-ish. But when the food is good, I don't mind. I'm craving some Cuca's......

(I'm so bored in Remedies......thinking about dinner is the only thing keeping me awake.)

Back to Reality

This is the problem with traveling- eventually you have to return to your regular life. Yesterday, of course, I worked all day in my internship position in the U.S. Attorney's office. I'm still liking it, but sometimes I feel frustrated because I feel like I could be more productive having 8 hours to work on school stuff. At least next Monday is a holiday, so I will be able to use my time that way.

Today I was supposed to have my last class session for Advanced Research & Writing. Our professor emailed us this morning, however, and told us that while our paper still needs to be turned in today, our class won't meet until next week. That's not such a big deal, as I'm certainly happy to have tonight free, but now instead of getting our final assignment tonight, we won't get it until next Tuesday. The due date will also be pushed back, with it being due in the same week I have 3 midterms. Ugh. This switch will mean I won't have any research or writing to work on this weekend though, giving me time to focus on outlines for all my classes. I guess I should just look at it as a good thing.

I don't think I've mentioned on here yet, but I did decide to get involved a bit at school this year. I'm co-chairman of the Alumni Committee for Delta Theta Phi. I'm not so sure most of the time that I should have bothered, but since I did, I'm going to do the most I can to put together some good stuff. For example, we have our first in a series of Alumni Guest Lectures coming up on November 16, with the topic of test taking and strategies. I'm hoping this will be helpful to our members, especially the first year students who, if they are smart, are freaking out with the approach of midterms in December. I've also coordinated a resume workshop at the end of the month to help our members get their resumes created or updated to give to our alumni who attend the social event we will be holding early next year. Anyway, this whole thing has created more work (and stress) for me, but I'm hoping it will be worth it in the end. We'll see. (BTW, these Alumni events are going to be open to dues-paid DTP members only, so if you are interested, it is not too late to join!)

Greetings from Half Moon Bay

Well, not exactly. I'm home now, unfortunately. Had a wonderful weekend though. We had a beautiful one bedroom suite, complete with fireplace and ocean view. This is the view from our room. Believe me, I did not want to leave. I have to give a big recommendation for the Ritz Carlton. The resort and its spa are fabulous! It is such a treat to have a place this nice only 3 hours away. World class shopping and dining is nearby as well, so makes for a perfect getaway. We have been there several times in the past, but haven't been for a couple years. I will make the next trip much sooner!

It makes me realize how much I miss being a normal person- one that has free time every weekend and can read, sleep, travel or do WHATEVER instead of all the mundane reading, writing and studying that comprises the life of a law school student. I'm so ready to be done with this. I'm tired and want to be normal again, and feel like time is actually my own.

A Law-Free Weekend

After a morning shift at work tomorrow, I have an entire weekend without any law stuff! Yeah!