The Civil Procedure Dream

I took my "Civ Pro" exam Tuesday, and now I'm studying for Property, and last night I had a dream:

In the middle of the Civ Pro test, realizing I had no idea what the answer was and terrified of failure, I picked up my things and walked out of the room. Joey and I left town, changed out names, and began a new life while pursued by government employees who wanted to arrest us for debt evasion. One thing I remembered from Civil Procedure: the government can sue you in any forum. There's no getting away from them; if they catch you, they can sue you with transient tag jurisdiction.

I think I may have discovered a heroine for future literary works; this version of me is less able to contemplate failure/mediocrity and much more able to creatively change her hair color and wardrobe to render herself unrecognizable. The version of Joey who is her sidekick can pick locks, pockets, and intimidate enemies. It could be big, real big.

If none of this makes sense, blame it on my second cup of strong coffee and sleep deprivation!

Riding lesson students hit double digits!

As of last week, I now have 10 regular students. Seven on Saturdays and three on Thursdays. Hopefully over the summer that number will continue to climb, and I might not have to take out a personal loan after all!

My property manager has been showing my apartment, and though she assures me that everyone loves it, she has yet to find a tenant. Hopefully she not only finds someone, but that someone wants to move in early so that Joey and I can go ahead and move to our new digs, taking advantage of summer access to a backyard!

No other news. Back to studying for me.

Pub Night, Clinic at Work, Rogue Wave, Oral Arguments and Joey's Haircut

Pub Night:

Kentucky Derby themed; wore a hat (see above); donated some dollars to a transitional shelter for battered women

Clinic at Work:

Photos to come; seven participants; a few hundred dollars' earnings; mild sunburn

Rogue Wave:

vocals slightly offkey; company (Laura & Jennifer) amazing; preceded by sushi dinner

Oral Arguments:

forgot to say my name; earned a little praise and a lot of constructive (?) criticism; last assignment in lawyering!

Golf Lessons for Law Students

News: Golf is fun!

Mom sponsored my participation in Golf Lessons for Law Students, a KU tradition. Our first of five group lessons was yesterday. Despite spitting rain, mountains of work waiting for me at home, and general lack of hand eye coordination, I had a lot of fun.

I learned the ten-fingered, overlapping, and interlocked grips. I underwent slight improvement in depth perception over the course of the putting session. And it was fun to focus on something physical and outdoors after a long day of lectures and text books.

Little other news except that final exams continue to loom!

Bad Blogger

I can't blog with any consistency. It's not because I'm busy at every waking moment. I should probably be busy at every waking moment, but sometimes I instead roll Joey around on the floor, bake, or doodle while listening to NPR.

It's also not because I only have the internet at school and at school I am always busy. I probably should be always busy at school, but often I get distracted talking to my friends, drawing stars in my notebook margins, and taking long lunches.

It is certainly not because when I do have my computer out at school I am furiously taking notes or doing important research. Most certainly I should always be doing those things with my computer, but instead I frequently visit facebook, check my email, and play flash animation games like this one: http://gamescene.com/Something_Fishy.html

All that said, I do accomplish things from time to time. Because at the moment looking back stresses me out far less than looking forward, I will list the recent ones.

1. Thoroughly campaigned for Joey's Cutest Pet Contest victory with success.
2. Thoroughly campaigned for my traffic court victory without success.
3. Wrote a lawyering paper without drowning myself in Westlaw printouts.
4. Wrote a Law Review contest paper.
5. Taught Diddy to sidepass.
6. Acquired new students and continued my twice weekly voyages to Kansas City for lessons.
7. Started all my outlines.
8. Accepted to fall clinics.

Now that I feel a little more relaxed...Challenges to come:

1. Lawyering paper part two.
2. Lawyering oral arguments.
3. Complete all my outlines.
4. Hold an April Horse Show Camp with Abby. (WHAT was I thinking?!)
5. Take my final exams without doing too much damage to my GPA.

Ohhh February.

I'm tired (...) and excited (!) in advance for this month, which brings with it:

Amanda's visit (!)
My Summary Judgment Motion assignment (...)
Initial phase of the Law Review/Law Journal selection process (!)
Lots and Lots of research (...)
Horse shuffling (...)
Traffic Court (...)/(!)

Chicken tortilla soup is guaranteed to improve even the lousiest mood. View recipe at: http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Chicken-Tortilla-Soup-I/Detail.aspx ; feel free to nix the hominy and substitute a little dried cilantro for all the fresh. I did, and the results were still delicious.

I cooked a chicken, one of the big roosters that barely fit in the gallon freezer bags, and used some of the meat and stock for that recipe. The rest goes into split pea soup tonight - thanks mom for the necessary supplies. I'm also planning to eat many tuna sandwiches.

Abby and I are planning Horse Show Camp 2010 in KC in April. We are looking forward to it but I know I am going to have to start budgeting my time now for finals preparation in order to not need that weekend to study.

Classes are good. Here's what I was most surprised to learn in the following subjects:

Constitutional Law: No one actually knows what "due process" means; Congress can write a statute that will limit the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court (literally, write an unreviewable law); for legal purposes, Guantanamo Bay is considered US territory

Property: If you find something valuable, you have a legal duty to take reasonable measures to restore it to its original owner. Unless it's treasure. If you're hunting a fox or a deer and you wound it, but not fatally, it's fair game for a subsequent hunter who deals the fatal blow/shot/etc. I'm sure this is all highly relevant to contemporary life.

Lawyering: Never tell someone how much you want in settlement until they've told you how much they'll pay. I already learned this from selling horses.

Civil Procedure: 12(b)(6) tests 8(a)(2), unless heightened pleading is required by 9(b), but in all cases recall the requirements of 26(e)(1) or you will fall victim to 37(c)(1)

2nd First Day

Thursday I went to Civil Procedure, which was long and scary. Friday I went to Civil Procedure again, and it was less long and scary. Also I had lawyering, Lawyering II to be precise, and it sounds fun - oral arguments, writing a motion, writing a request for summary judgment. No, that does sound fun, I mean it.

Saturday I went to mom and Duane's anniversary party, which was wonderful. Their guest list is always good but naturally the best part was seeing the two of them. I brought a guest, Law School Friend Natalie, and we drove back this morning.

Then I did my property reading. Then I did my constitutional law reading (which included the entire constitution). Interesting stuff. Now I'm in a cafe with internet access.

Oh! Happily, my phone is charged and functional. I am therefore reconnected with my friends, family, and the rest of the universe in general.