Mom and Law Student?

Half way/ half a**. Half a** at work, half a** at school, and half a** post. That is the theme for this week. It's how I'm making it through this crazy schedule. The trick is being able to find just the right balance of half. It helps if you are good at prioritizing, which I am, but this is taking it to a whole new level. I love the phrase "working smarter not harder", it sounds so much better than half a**.

Cute kid moment (I get to see them in person so rarely now).. My dad taught Monkey to say she wants to be a lawyer when she grows up (or in her words "get big"), he thinks it's cute.. I drew the line at teaching her to say she wants to drive a BMW.. but anyway, we were at a restaurant and a woman was fawning over Monkey "oh how cute, she is beautiful" kinda stuff, then she asks Monkey "are you a princess", to which Monkey replied "I'm going to a lawyer like my mommy!"......... I told her she could be a lawyer & a princess....

Posted by lawmom at 6:25 PM | 2 comments  

I'm a mess. I have been so freakin busy this week w/ work & school, in two days I managed to: 1) run out of gas on the freeway and 2) forget my cell phone at a restaurant, realizing that after we had made it all the way home. The gas thing was a pisser, I couldn't believe it. I haven't run out of gas since I was 16! I thought I had learned my lesson. DH had to come get me b/c I was at some weird spot on a freeway merge ramp thing & no way could I have given directions to AAA, husband barely found me. It was another 2 hours in the car.

I've been at school late every night this week. I had to go the this mandatory Lexis & Westlaw training (indoctrination) which was a complete waste of time. It seriously should have been done in orientation, I learned nothing. More cheap free crap w/ their names on it. We are getting into legal research soon, I am wondering if anyone is going to tell us that there are alternatives to these two companies (rarely used but still) like books or Findlaw.

And then the keys, exhausted I went out to dinner w/ the parents, DH & monkey, then left my phone. DH went and got. He has been so sweet through all of these craziness, for two nights in a row I have running all over the place to clean up after me.

I have had a ruff first month! but I am entering into Week 6. This week's puzzler why is rent privity of estate? but leases are contracts (privity of contract) rent just seems like it should be PK? I'm confused......

Posted by lawmom at 7:57 AM | 1 comments  

I am too busy/brain drained to write a themed post so here are just some
random thoughts from the past few weeks, poorly prosed:

*When people tell you there is no way to prepare for law school, it's
pretty much true. My suggestion would be to go work as a legal
assistant, paralegal or whatever as long as it's in an office with a
lot of lawyers and then ask yourself, "do I really want to be one of them?"
b/c after only 3 weeks I can already see that law school is really not like the real thing.

*My p/t program has a rep as being a back door into a good school and I
finding out that it's kinda true, I was surprised that at least 1/3 to
1/2 of my class is made up of people still in their 20s & given the
cars they drive I would say having to go p/t because they have to work
f/t is questionable, it doesn't bother me that they don't have to work and fancy cars,
I made my choices, but it does bother me that I'm on a curve w/ them. It
seems very unfair and I'm trying not to be bitter.

*Reading for 6 plus hours without any break or even looking up out of
you book is not recommended. I gave myself a killer dizzy nauseous
headache episode last weekend.

*I feel like I now know what it would be like to be a parent w/ weekend
visitation but even they probably see their kids more than I do right now.
The little time I have w/ her I want to be all fun, so I am buying her stuff,
taking her to special places, giving her ice cream and chocolate chip pancakes and
hugging and kissing on her so much she has started to push away
(and she is a very cuddly kid)..this week I am taking a half day off
of work so we can all go to an amusement park.

*The secret lawyer language is now becoming unraveled, I can now use
the terms color of title, adverse possession, trespass to chattels,
and manifestation of mutual assent, way more confidently now than I
ever did as a paralegal...

*Transfer of intent is my tort curve ball for the week, I left crap on
your lawn and you hurt yourself stepping on it, not only did I
trespass I committed a battery? say what?

Posted by lawmom at 8:08 AM | 1 comments  

not melting down at the moment. I had a meeting with the campus counselor and cried for 30 minutes! It was the 1st time I have ever cried in a therapists office, right after that appointment was my appointment w/ the Kingsfield professor. I must have looked one hot mess. But the crazy worked and it was a simple, "you should work on that but I won't call on you, you can volunteer conversation." It's a strange thing, not having to worry about what your professors think of you, at all. They only grade your exams which are totally blind. Given how little I speak in class there is no way one of them could know which exam is mine.

I really should have dealt with this issue more before school (toastmasters, more therapy, something), but I really underestimated how much it was going to debilitate me. The professors definitely acted as though, I am far from being the first student of theirs to have this issue and they said as much. Now that my anxiety level is coming down, I really need to catch up. My fears were keeping me from working and concentrating on the first couple of weeks. I'm not even into week 3 and I feel really behind! Now that I know how each professor organizes their class it makes it much easier to tackle the work, why do they give so much work the 1st week? I mean, you really have no idea what you should be looking for, thinking about, or how to pace yourself.
It seems a little sadistic, welcome to law school.

Posted by lawmom at 9:22 PM | 3 comments  

already? well sort of, just about the Socratic method. I have had treatment in the past for depression & anxiety. More than shyness I am phobic about public speaking even when I have a script in front of me. One class doesn't do random calling out, others I am hoping to strike an understanding with the professors that I will volunteer instead. One professor though I am going to speak to next week, his class is full on Socratic - I can't sleep, and I am having panic attacks. I missed a day of work and one class already b/c of it. I didn't trust myself to drive, I had gotten so little sleep I was seeing things (not really there) out of the corners of my eye. He strikes me as someone though who is not going to take me seriously. I am just afraid. I don't know that for certain. I have counseling appointment before I am going to talk to him. I have already thought about leaving school, I don't want to. I actually like the work, I like the reading, I like the writing. I don't ever, EVER see myself in court, negotiating, or anything like the traditional lawyer you see on TV. I would be happy to be in an office for hours and hours, just reading, writing and analyzing, or even not practicing and working in more of an administrative capacity, like a directer at non profit.... but we'll see I won't get a chance to talk to Prof. Kingsfield until next week and until then I am suffering, no sleep, stomach problems and chest pains! ugghhhhhh

Posted by lawmom at 10:52 AM | 4 comments  

Remember when your biggest worry was what to wear? Well I'm kinda missing those days!!


Did I mention I think it's weird to have all these reading assignments and not have a clue what my professors are like. I'm pushing through all this dense material, which I barely understand (is that normal?) and I'm not sure, am I preparing enough? what am I looking for? what should I be giving the most attention to? Should I be trying harder to understand every bit of it or is the general idea, okay?

So here is my weekend in a nutshell:

Friday 6:30pm - home, 1/2 hour dinner break, read until 11pm, bed

Saturday 8am, coffee, read, eat at computer, husband takes monkey to grandma's house, read, husband comes home with pizza for lunch, watch half of Ironman movie with him, stop movie to have "special time" together (we'll be lucky to keep that once week), back to reading,read some more, husband picks up monkey brings her home and puts her to bed, 10pm watch rest of Ironman, bed at 11, go to sleep 12.

Sunday 8am coffee, read until 10am, go get pedicure, read while getting pedicure, 11:30 can't read another word! go pickup monkey & husband we go out for pancakes, then Target, let monkey play with toys while I pick up more highlighters, I buy monkey a doctor kit, new crayons, and a princess wand (I think I am overcompensating), come home put in movie for monkey,

3pm and I'm tired!

I feel guilty for not doing more work today, but my eyes and brain are tired, and I feel a little frustrated that I'm finding the reading so difficult. I am even struggling with my property reading and I used to work in real estate. I already know what an easement is and what an encroachment is. I am trying to take advantage of the "light week" this week, and rest today and trying to tell myself that this is a marathon, not race, no sense in burning myself out the 1st few weeks. I finished all but 3 pages of reading that is not due until Thursday. But I have this nagging feeling that I didn't really "get" enough of the reading. I worried I skimmed too much, took too much from canned briefs, not enough of my own analysis, and won't be able to apply anything I read in a hypothetical that is thrown at me. Also I don't really have any time in the week, all my work needs to be done on the weekends. But if I am going to be humiliated in class via the Socratic method I guess the 1st week is the week to do it.

Posted by lawmom at 11:26 AM | 1 comments  

Almost done with orientation, tonight is the last night. There has been some good information sprinkled in, but I think I am done with "yes it is as hard as you fear it is, but it's worth it" pep talks. Is that really supposed to be a"pep" talk? I haven't slept more than average of 5 hours a night since orientation started. I am borderline delirious, I can't slept whenever I do something new, I get too nervous and anxious. So I am kind of thinking trial lawyer is out, I would never sleep the nights before going to court. I would just babble incoherently at the court.  

Posted by lawmom at 6:03 PM | 4 comments