Why 2010 Was the Best

1. Brandon Walsh was tricked in to marrying me. I won't get too much in to the mushy stuff, but BW is the most amazing man on the planet. He is kind, funny, and (Thank God!) patient. I know people say that it is hard to be in a relationship in law school, but I totally disagree. I honestly don't know where I would be without my husband.

And can I just say that if you are thinking of doing a destination wedding, you should definitely do it? As far as weddings go, I'd say it's a pretty low stress option. Plus it was wonderful to have our close family and friends there with us for a few days. We literally took over one of the pools at the resort for days at a time. It's like being on a vacation with everyone that you like, all at the same time!

2. I actually never mentioned this before, but early in 2010 I was selected to go on a trip with the law school to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. It was a crazy last minute thing where the Dean called me up, asked if I had a passport, and then told me I was going to the ECJ. I didn't apply or anything --the professor I am now researching for apparently recommended me because of my performance in her EU law class. So off I went on a long weekend! We got to learn all about the ECJ, meet fancy people, including ECJ and US Supreme Court Justices, and have a hoity-toity cocktail party at the US embassy with Chief Justice Roberts, Ruth Bader Ginsberg, and Steven Breyer. No big deal. I hang with the Supremes. Somewhere in the sea of faces below is my own...creeping closer and closer to the big wigs and making security very nervous.

3. Law Review made the mistake of publishing my comment. I am now the proud owner of 30 copies of the published version as well as loads of fame and fortune. And paper cuts. Because I sleep with them.

4. I started working out regularly. While I am still rather soft and round, I have developed a few muscles to call my own, and my endurance has improved a lot. Exercising is obviously very important for law students/lawyers. I often wonder if it keeps me from sobbing in public more often.

Other random great things about 2010:

• New Years Day 2010 was awesome. BW and I stocked the house and didn't leave all day. Lazy-fest of the decade. We tried to recreate it this year, but I don't think anything can live up to the glory that was January 1, 2010.
  
• The Winter Olympics happened. At first I was all, oh who cares, the Winter Olympics are so lame. And then I sat on the couch with my eyes glued to the TV for the next three weeks. Winter Olympics rule.
• I had two interesting jobs over the summer. I know you'll be shocked to hear, I didn't get an offer of employment from either firm. Maybe it was the porn? Or the outrageous cackling at my fellow clerks?
• I bought my very first car. I used to drive a Nissan Death Trap that my parents loaned me, but I am now the owner of a shiny new (to me) Toyota Not Death Trap and couldn't be happier.
• The bar association didn't notice that I paid a 60 year old homeless man to take the MPRE for me. And he passed!!
• I took two cool trips, one to NYC and one to Albuquerque. I got to visit family and skip class. Ultimate success.

2010 was a blast, and it ended with a lot to look forward to in 2011. Usually I'm not so peppy, but I have to say 2010 was a hell of a year. Definitely my best yet. And I have a lot of hope for 2011: my New Years resolution is to floss more, so things are already getting pretty exciting. Stay tuned.

Happy New Year!

Originally, Brandon Walsh and I were supposed to spend New Years in Paris. In fact, we were going to spend two weeks in Europe after Christmas until I started having weird feelings about the trip. And then I noticed that American had canceled our flight home. Instead of rescheduling, I took it as a sign that my weird feelings were on to something and canceled the whole trip, resolving instead to go in August after the bar exam.

Brandon and I have been lamenting ever since because we just want to have our adventure. But lo and behold! My weird feelings were correct! We would never have gotten out of the country because we had to fly through JFK during the crazy blizzard that hit New York! Plus there have been crazy snow storms in Europe too, so if we ever got there in the first place, we probably would have been big-time delayed coming home as well.

What I'm getting at here is that I am psychic. And brilliant. And so relieved that we moved our trip. We still have fun plans for New Years Eve. They aren't quite Parisian in scale, but we'll have a good time and spend the holiday together, which is really all I could ask for.

2010 has been an amazing year, here's to hoping 2011 follows suit!

Back

I'm back at my place for the rest of the break, and I just realized the school fitness center is closed until the new year. I'm taking that as a sign that I should try to gain as many pounds as possible before the gym reopens. Luckily, I got a head start over Christmas.

I don't really have any interesting legal news of note. I was selected as a semi-finalist for the Presidential Management Program (for those of you interested, it's supposed to be a great way to get in to the federal government without as much competition as the damn Honors Programs). Which means I'll fly to one of four cities and go through a day-long personal assessment some time in January or February. After that they will either select me as a finalist and I will apply to government agencies as a Fellow, or, more likely, they will send me thirty rejection letters and put me on the no fly list. So keep your fingers crossed. I want a job and I like to fly.

I also met with the firm that I have been in salary talks with. No concrete number response yet, which feels a little strange, but it seems like things are headed in the right direction. I feel like there has never really been a formal offer--just an assumption that I work for them. I'd love to get a real promise from them...but I'm too confused to try. Perhaps in the new year. When the gym reopens. And I am 300 pounds.

And that, folks, is all for now. Fascinating, I know.

Home for Christmas. Posting to resume shortly.

Thanks, I get it.

The Department of Justice has sent me like two separate emails and several letters informing me that I was not selected as a finalist for the Honors Program.

Thank you, US government, I understand. You can stop sending me rejection letters now.

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Postscript: Yes, I realize there's no pleasing me. Either I'm whining because the rejection letter is not right, or I'm complaining because someone called me to tell me I didn't get the job rather than sending a letter. And now I'm complaining that I've gotten too many letters. Perhaps I should consider working for myself, as no one can live up to my exceedingly high letter standards.

Strangely Sad.

On a side note, it seems strange to me...For so long I've been excited about what will happen once I finish with law school, but now that it's drawing closer, I am a little sad. As it turns out I like law school. I like the ivory tower of academia. I like exploring complex legal questions that will likely never come up in the real world. I like knowing that the answer is, it depends. When I took my last exam today, I was of course relieved to be finished with studying for the semester. But I was also a little sad.

One more semester to go and I'll be forced to work a job every day and pay back my student loans deal with the monotony of reality. I've heard that most employers make you wear pants and frown upon the idea of napping during working hours. We all know that I'm great at napping, pantlessness, and shirking student loan debt being a student, and as usual I'm not ready for everything to change.

So what I'm getting at here is (a) enjoy law school while you can, you whiny 2Ls, and (b) someone nominate me to become a tenured professor upon graduating. From my experience, I'd be allowed to nap and show up half naked without losing my job. And I could pretend to know more than everyone else, which I am already good at. Sounds like the perfect fit.

Finished for Now!

My last exam is over. This calls for some ice cream and a nap. Someone call girls gone wild, I'm getting crazy.

Advice for 1Ls

You could try to follow this advice:

But this method has always worked best for me:

Almost done with the semester!

Employment Law

I was super douchey this semester in Employment Law because my professor allegedly gives extra points on your exam if you participate in class. My hand was in the air all the time--I might as well have been shouting Oh! Oh! Pick meeee! I was that girl.

But let me tell you something, all that participation is the only thing making me think I will get through this exam. Because right now I am searching for Cajun music on Grooveshark, and I don't see myself stopping any time soon.

One Wise Man.

For some reason, I am friends with Curtis on Facebook. Tonight while I was pretending to work on my outline, I observed his status:


Oh Curtis, your douchebaggery entertains/repulses me even to this day.

Trust Me.

Listening to the Law and Order theme song makes me better prepared for my Constitutional Criminal Procedure Exam. Fact.

MPRE Passed!

There must be some sort of mistake. The State Bar thinks I'm ethical enough to practice law. Now all I have to do is fudge my character and fitness and find a way to cheat on the bar exam, and I'll be all set!

Oh no.

Mozilla adopted two baby fire foxes and is streaming their activity live. There goes any hope of me studying this semester.

Qualified

I am a mid-twenties law student, and my new favorite song is written and performed by a nine year old. You should hire me to take your case.

Also, I finally grew a pair and sent off my salary request on Monday night. Still haven't gotten any form of response. So that's a great sign.

It won't matter anyway because I am going to fail out of law school this semester. My brand new computer crashed today, so I wasted yet another day trying to get back up to speed. I'd write more, but I'm too busy feeling sorry for myself. Sob.

Fluent in Spanish

My resume states that I am a fluent Spanish speaker. I assume this will be a problem at an upcoming interview I have with a partner who works with a lot of Spanish-speaking clients. I am afraid he will try to have a legal conversation with me in Espanol...at which point I will have to explain that by "fluent" I actually mean "I know what thy lyrics to Enrique Iglesias's song Dimelo mean."

Because I've listened to the English version.

Mierda.