I Almost Died Today

In Financial Institutions Law. No, seriously. I always thought that class would be the death of me, but I never envisioned that the killer would take the form of airborne candy.

Today was the last day of my law school classes (for this semester anyway- one to go- woohoo!). For the last day my Financial Institutions professor brought in some cake and candy. He spent the first five minutes of class, meticulously cutting the cake and displaying it neatly on baking trays which he passed around the class. Then he grabbed a handful of candy and chucked it into his student audience. A hard, foil wrapped piece of Almond Roca wizzed by the side of my face with the velocity of an underwater torpedo. WHY didn't my professor become a major league pitcher? I consider myself lucky to be alive.

Now that classes are done I have my sights set on three in-class exams and two 12 page final papers. The next two weeks will be so hellish, I already want to curl into a ball and pull out my hair. Then I'm focusing on May 16th. Last week I decided to walk with my class even though I don't graduate until December. It was last minute but I know I made the right choice. Although walking in the graduation ceremony won't mean as much knowing I have a full semester ahead of me, it will be nice to walk with the people I entered lawschool with. I will say goodbye to all my old friends from Section A. I will watch them all earn their degrees. I remember when we all just started lawschool. Three years seemed like forever. We never thought we would really graduate, we weren't even sure if we would surivive one year. But we looked forward to that day the way a child dreams of Christmas.

I swear I have mentally "walked" in my graduation ceremony a hundred times over the past three years. It better live up to all my own hype.

So that's it for now. Somehow I managed to survive an entire semester as a new mom. Changing diapers at 6am before leaving the house for class after only 4 hours of sleep, studying with Jacob playing at my feet, coming to class exhausted smelling like baby spit up, this is the stuff heroes are made of. So I wanna know, where's my badge? I don't get some kind of purple heart? Not even flair?

My Baby Is Awesome

Jacob went to the doctor on Friday to have his cough checked out. I gave him a plastic fish toy to hold while the doctor was checking her chart. He launched the toy across the room and hit the doc in the chest. She laughed, handed Jacob his fish and continued to check her charts. She didn't get very far when Jacob launched the fish at her again, this time going right for the jugular.

I had to stifle my smirk and my urge to give Jacob a high five. I don't like doctors that much either.

Yesterday Jacob officially began a rough version of crawling. He inefficiently pulls himself forward while kicking off the ground with his feet. It is so cute! But it totally makes me think of how a merman might try to get around on land- flopping about while pulling forward with his hands. Too funny. Poor guy, he'll get it soon enough.

Oh and one last baby development. Jacob can scream. And he likes to scream. For no good reason. I guess it's just another form of communication. He will look at me, smile, then let out the most ear piercing screech. We discovered that if we impersonate him, he will respond accordingly. We have had a number of socially unacceptable screaming fits at our house lately.

Here he is all dressed up in a cute outfit his aunt bought him. I fished this out from the back of my closet and was sad to discover that it already is getting snug around the belly. Oh well. Cuteness!

Passing With Reservation

My UCC Sales professor allows each person two passes throughout the semester. The rule is that you have to submit a written note at the beginning of class indicating that you are "passing" for the day. For the entire class period that day, the professor is not supposed to call on you.

Except he is old. And he forgets who passes each day. And, therefore, he often calls on you anyway. This is why I never bother too pass. I'll be embarassed either way.

But one of our classmates got smart. He decided to make his "pass" note memorable. This way it would stand out and the professor would remember not to call on him. This classmate told me that he put a ridiculous excuses on his last pass. He wrote, "I pass today because I was too disheartened by the results of American Idol to concentrate properly." The student said the professor laughed when he read it and never called on him.

Thursday, this student raised his hand during class. The professor looked at him curiously over the top of his glasses and then smiled. "Are you sure you want to answer? Should I consider this voluntary?" the Professor asked.

The rest of the class must have looked confused because the professor explained, "I want to make sure I am calling on you in accordance with your note which says, 'I pass today but I reserve the right to volunteer information as the occassion arises'." We all busted out laughing. Oh I love my fellow law students.

Husband, Texas, and Floss

My husband was out of town this whole week at a conference associated with his new job. Yes, we are VERY lucky. My husband not only got a new job in this terrible economy, but he got a better paying job! To top it off, the company approached HIM with the opportunity. We are so fortunate, it is amazing!

We've been used to supporting our little family off my husband's meager, under appreciating government job. For the work and responsibility, he was definately underpaid. In three years he hadn't been given his yearly employee review or any kind of raise. He even supervised an employee that made 10K more than he did. Ridiculous!

The pay at my husband's new job is about 8K more a year. This is like manna from heaven. We are beside ourselves. We feel like we are rolling in the dough- even though by objective standards his salary is quite far from special. It's amazing to think that when I graduate and (hopefully) get a job, our income will more than double. If we are this stoked about an extra 8K (before taxes, of course), in six months we will be roasting marshmallows over a pit of burning dollar bills!

My husband gets back from his new job conference tomorrow. I'm hoping he picked me up some amazing souvenier from Dallas, Texas-- while it is still part of the country and he doesn't have to report through customs. I'm excited to see him for obvious reasons but I am especially excited to finally figure out the meaning of his last email to me.

"Cee, please pick me up at the airport at 4:30pm tomorrow. So excited to see you. Please bring floss."

Photo Caption Challenge!

Taking a break from procrastinating (wait a second.... is this a break from procrastinating or another form of procrastinating?) to bring you the two best pictures EVA.

"I Love You" by Jacob:

Finally, can you caption this photo? Comment with your best caption!

Eat That Law Snob.

After I wrote my last post I got a second wind of motivation. I think I realized that if I had to give up so much Jacob in studying for finals, I was at least going to make it worth it. I sat down and plowed through a quarter of one of my text books. And I went to bed feeling much better.

At the start of my 9am UCC Sales class, I felt pretty confident. I had reviewed the problems during my ferry ride. I even hoped the professor would call on me- yeah, THAT'S confidence right? By the end of class, I was trying to hold back tears. I was hopelessly lost in the material. I just sat there, staring at my computer with my head in my hands. I think it's time to learn Secured Transactions from my trusty friend, Gilbert.

I think the material is understandable. It's just that our professor doesn't explain it to us. This is the downfall of the Socratic Method. The professor spends all class questioning and interrogating us. Each time we think we have it right, he asks us a new question that totally contradicts everything we just "learned" and took notes on. At the end of class, no one knows what the conclusion was.

Then there is the guy who sits in the middle row. He smiles smugly while the rest of us look confused. He has his nose so high in the air, you would think he was trying to signal a sattelite through his nose. He wears stupid preppy plaid shorts or a full on suit and tie. I seriously go home hoping a bird craps on his head everyday. Anyway, today the professor called on him. After he answered in his nasally arrogant voice, the professor said, "Nope. WRONG."

That seriously made my day. I'm still indulging in the sweetness of his defeat.

Being Kicked. Then Kicking Myself

So, I'm absolutely terrified about my four credit UCC Sales class. I think our final is going to be comparable to a mini apocalypse, confined to the four corners of our designated classroom, of course, but not lacking in fiery meteors and acid death rain falling from the sky.

I think in the end, I will see the wrinkly face of my wisened professor, eyes maniacally twinkling as he suffocates me with his evil stare. Then I will lose all hope, scribble "You have won" on my bluebook and fade away into a painful darkness.

Remember how hard 1L Contracts was (even though it was my favorite 1L class)? Well my UCC Sales class is ten times worse. This class includes your typical contract enemies such as battle of the forms, contract formation, consideration and remedies. And on top of that this class also includes: risk of loss, documents of title, shipping v. destination contracts, bills of lading, express/implied warranties, disclaimer of warranties, AND limitation of damages. Oh wait, how did I forget secured transactions, priority of interest, secured leases, and priority of interests in bankruptcy. Seriously. HELL.

Reality hit me today when I realized that my final is in two weeks!!! So, sadly, I dropped Jacob off with my mom and headed to the park to study. This was my first mistake. I was sitting there on a picnic table trying to study while every mom and her child in a 30 mile radius played near me. I started to feel jealous, first of all, because all these moms were enjoying the day with their babies- chasing them aroung the grass and pushing them in the swings. It made me really want to be with my own baby. Then I started to feel guilty. Jacob has never been in a baby swing. Jacob has never felt the grass. When was the last time I took Jacob on an adventure?

Tonight is even harder. My mom is watching Jacob overnight while I whine about how much I miss him work on my outline. I've been away from him overnight before, but just not while I was at home. From my spot on the couch, his motionless toys, the unworn pjs that I set out for him to wear tonight, and the quiet throughout the house is tormenting me. I keep walking by his pictures on the walls and the fridge.

Days like today I wonder if I am making a mistake. Will I look back ten years from now and realized that I missed out on so much of his baby-hood? Will I regret going to school while Jacob is an infant. Will I kick myself from being away from him so much? Probably. But I think I would also regret putting law school off for a couple years (or indefinately). I feel like I really just can't win.

Feeling Controversial. Read At Your Own Risk.

I know this is a hard topic and that my views differ dramatically on this issue from most of the people who read my blog. Let me just say that my views on this topic were inspired by my previous life as a Catholic. BUT I do not hold my view because that church told me what to think politically. And I feel like I am on a hiatus from church- so my religious and political opinions are independent from each other. Let me also tell you that I voted for Obama.

I am a rare Pro-Life Liberal. I am sympathetic with the liberal connection to helping the vulnerable and marginalized in society, like welfare mothers, people with different sexual orientations, immigrants, and recipients of other public benefits. But I feel like the mainstream liberal platform does not extend protection to the MOST vulnerable in our society- the unborn.

We are all very aware of both sides of the issue. We both will continue to believe what we believe no matter what the other side has to say. So this post is just to allow me to express what I think. Too often we just associate liberalism with pro-choice views. But to me, that association does not make sense.

I am sympathetic with victims of rape. But the fact is that they make up only a VERY small percentage of people having abortions. In America, where birth control pills and condoms are so very easy to access, why are we even having this problem? I understand why the liberal left wants to promote feminism, rights for women and gender equality. As a liberal, these are things I support and am passionate about as well. But I'm sorry. I don't see how letting people abort babies promotes feminism. Motherhood is hard and being pregnant is scary, but I think having a baby is empowering. When you bring a life into the world, that is the most powerful thing you can do. Having a baby doesn't translate into a form of slavery for women and I feel betrayed by the left for framing the issue that way. In my opinion, people wrongly think they are entitled to living life in the exact way they want to live it. No one is entitled to that. We aren't entitled to an easy life. We aren't entitled to a life without burdens. No one should be entitled to chose their most convenient lifestyle at the expense of another human.

I love this quote by Rosemary Bottcher (on the issue of liberalism being pro-choice): “The same people who wax hysterical at the thought of executing, after countless appeals, a criminal convicted of some revolting crime would have insisted on his mother’s unconditional right to have him killed while he was still innocent."

We want to protect children from all types of abuses and harms. But we don't protect them from being killed by their own parents? I know it is awful to think that a child will be born into the world unwanted. But I don't think the appropriate answer is to let a parent end that baby's life.
If we cannot love and protect our own kind, what hope is there? True, a young fetus cannot survive on it's own or even without medical technology. But even after birth, a baby cannot survive on its own without someone to feed it or nurture it.

So there you have it. That is what I think. I respect and understand the logic of people who are pro-choice. But I will respectfully say that I think they have their priorities wrong.

"A person's a person, no matter how small." Dr. Seuss.

Ok People. Time To Lower Your Expectations.

I feel that when people ask me what kind of law I want to practice, they expect me to say something inspiring and mind blowing. Like "I want to be an advocate for abused children." Or "I want to save the rainforest right down to the endangered toucan." Or even "I want to enforce social responsibility within publicly traded corporations."

When I tell them that I will probably end up defending insurance agencies and contractors, I can almost feel their disgust. I watch the look of disappointment slowly spread across their faces. How the darkness moves across their expectant stares, it's like watching a solar eclipse.

I finally became smart and started telling people that I haven't decided yet- which is partly true. While it's kind of a let-down, it at least leaves them the possibility that I MIGHT do something extraordinary with my law degree. You know, I haven't decided because I can't make up my mind whether I want to represent sexually abused immigrant workers or whether I want to help poor single mothers fight their custody/child support battles pro bono.

The thing is, I frequently have tug-of-wars with myself. There is a part of me that strives for socially conventional achievement. This side of me encouraged me to get straight A's, to win races at cross country meets, to go to law school to learn something that society considers "difficult" and to seek out a high paying career track. But there has always been another force withing me. This is a force of compassion- compelling me to devote my life to something bigger than myself, to constantly give to others, to dream of establishing or working for a non-profit, to live a life of service.

Law school is amazing in that you can pursue a high paying career or you can pursue a career of public service. A law degree gives you the opportunity to be a high achiever, a materialistic success. Or it can give you the opportunity to truly serve the community in an important way and have a huge impact on the lives of others.

So as I finish up my first semester of my 3L year, this battle still rages on inside me. Life of luxury? Or life of service? I can see myself doing both. What should I chose? I know I need intellectual challenges in the career that I eventually choose. I know I need to have an end product or some kind of result to my work at the end of the day.

Do I want to impress my dad by landing a sought-after position in a successful firm? Or do I want to impress my mom by serving the public and helping the less fortunate? Seriously, this is way to much pressure. Maybe all I really need is enough money to buy ice cream every night of the week. What's that? I have to put my kid through college? I'm screwed.

More Than The World

I didn't realize how little I actually mattered until I met a baby who mattered more to me than the entire world.

Exhibit A: me holding my umbrella over Jacob's carseat in the pouring rain, while my freshly straight-ironed hair is destroyed.

Exhibit B: the scene that I relive every morning- prying my eyelids open and rolling out of my warm bed (I really do roll, it takes less energy) at 6ish am to enter the freezing hallway and make a bottle for Jacob. I may swear, I may grumble, I may curse the baby in the next room- but I still do it.

Exhibit C: not thinking twice before wiping Jacob's runny nose with my own sleeve.

This weekend, I had such a great time being with Jacob, tomorrow is going to be a hard day of school. I wish I could shrink him, put him in my pocket and take him wherever I go. Nothing is better than kissing his soft chubby baby cheeks and watching him grin ear to ear (especially not a 4 credit UCC class at 9am).

Happy Easter

From Jacob & the creepy Easter bunny. I feel like someone should do a background check on this bunny.

How Long Will A Law Student Wait In Line For Free Drinks?

The Social Experiment: How long will a lawstudent stand in line for free alcohol?

The Results: 45 minutes.

Last weekend was the much anticipated Law Prom. My 1L year, I went to Law Prom with a bunch of girlfriends and it was the greatest time ever! We got all liquored up, danced like we were crazy (seriously), took pictures of butts with other people's cameras and tried to see how many random asses we could slap on the dance floor without getting caught. Someone probably should have kicked us out. My 2L year, I was three months pregnant and couldn't drink. I decided that a law function without the social lubrication of alcohol would not be a good idea, so I stayed home.

This year I had a very different Law Prom experience. After dinner at a nice restaurant with a (non-lawschool) couple, where we had caviar appetizers, big entrees and a $30 bottle of wine, my husband and I headed back to our hotel room (which was in he same building as Law Prom). We got all dolled up, shared a bottle of Cranberry wine (I may be an experienced lush, but I still drink like a highschooler amateur). We arrived at the dance fashionably late only to discover that the line for redeeming our drink tickets was a mile long. But like any bona-fide law student, I waited.

And waited.

And waited.

My fellow law students were going crazy. They were cutting and pushing toward the front of the line. It was like a formalwear moshpit. I can still smell the armpit of the tall chick in front of me. We finally got to the front of the line 45 minutes later and decided to redeem all THREE of our drink tickets right away (not waiting in that line again!). Surprisingly, it's actually not THAT hard to carry three rum and cokes.

We finally made our way to the dance floor and tore it up! Ahhh, I miss dancing... and I missed watching my husband do his twisty dance (he looks like he is drilling for oil). We decided to head up to our hotel room really quick to polish off our bottle of wine. But let's just say we never made it back down (wink).

Then I got to sleep in until 9am for the first time in months! In the morning, we walked around downtown Seattle which was surprisingly warm and gorgeous! At the most fabulous breakfast ever at The Library Bistro. Then we headed down to Pike Place Market farmer's market. We bought fresh crab to pay our babysitters (husband's parents) and explored until it was time to ride our ferry home.


It was the most amazing weekend ever and the best parts of it had absolutely nothing to do with Law Prom itself. The excuse to get away was priceless.

5 Thousand Words

I'm too tired to string a series of coherent sentences together. So here are my cop-out photos.

Mini Post

Everyday seems to be shorter than the last or is it that I just have more things to try to cram into each day? And the impending doom of yet another set of finals is finally creeping over me.

Jacob is growing so much each day! It is incredible to actually watch him do new things for the first time. I think he is developing at an exponentially faster rate than before. Last month he started to slowly pick things up and feed himself. But now, I put a handful of cheerios on his plate and he scarfs them down in a minute! Today he used his baby walker for WALKING for the first time. He usually just pushes off the floor and travels backwards unintentionally. Today he was scooting all over the house, oh no! He's getting mobile! And I swear he grew three inches the night we left him at my in-laws for law prom (a post about that to come soon).

Today I had my first taste of summer as I sat in a park and did my secured transactions readings. It was in the mid seventies today! That is ridiculos considering the highs have been in the forties lately and was it just two weeks ago that we got snow? What is going on with Seattle weather?!

I wasted four hours studying secured transactions and I still don't understand priority between all the different types of creditors. It seems like the UCC just randomly piles rule on top of rule with crazy exeptions going off in all direction without reason. Every rule seems to have five exceptions. Then each exception has it's own exception. AGH! This class is going to kill me, I just know it.

Oh and last night I had a dream that some girl was forcing me to pretend to be her fiance. I had to meet her parents, trick them and win their hearts. It seemed unusually cruel. Her mom even made a cake for me that said "congrats bride-to-be." When the truth came out, and her mom was angry and heartbroken, the girl got all pissed that I hurt her mom's feelings. But Dude! You MADE me lie to her! I woke up so angry at her. If I see her in my dreams tonight, she is in for a beat-down.

Thank God Thursdays Are The New Fridays

I got called on in every one of my five classes today. Talk about great timing...ugh! I had a presentation in Corporate Governance that ate up a lot of my homework time. So I didn't complete my assignments to the fullest extent possible (read: I didn't do sh*t).

Oh well, what would be the odds that I would be called on in class out of all my classmates? Apparently I missed the memo from the Swine Aviation Association notifying the public that pigs would be taking to the skies. You woud think that the prof of the class in which I was presenting would take pity on my honor roll deficient soul.

In the first class, I actually did pretty awesome, if I do say so myself. Not quite sure how this happened still. But in my second class, I might as well have just stood up and farting the alphabet with my armpits (or legpits- yes, I CAN do that). I didn't have an answer when the prof asked me what cause of action a customer had against a payor bank under the circumstances of the problem. But I guessed each of the following:

"Conversion?"
"No."
"Breach of transfer warranty?"
"NO."
"Um. Presentment warranty?"
"What?!"
"No. I meant, negligence."
"Be more specific please."

My professor for this class is really tough. He expects us to have a detailed analysis prepared for each problem BEFORE we come to class. If he calls on us and we do not answer properly, he marks us absent for the day. Not only that but if you are unprepared, he usually will give the class a long lecture about his expectations while citing the syllabus. I thought he would rip me to SHREDS. But he simply moved on to the next unsuspecting victim.

Why did I get so lucky? He is up for tenure. And the law school was FILMING his lecture today. SAVED BY THE CAMERA.

So I survived, but I can't stop replaying my failure in my head. I thought, after my 1L year, that I was beyond caring about having the right answers in class. I don't know why, but for some reason, I want this particular professor to think I am smart. I want his respect. Instead, I feel like he goes home each night and throw darts at the picture of my face on his seating chart. I bet he conducts satanic rituals where he chants my name in Satan-Speak while jabbing sharp pins into a voodoo doll sporting my North Face jacket.

On a lighter note- LAW PROM is Saturday! I know some law students are vehemently against law prom. But it is the only law school function that I look forward to each year. I LOVE law prom. How can you hate a school sponsored event which includes too much booze, too much dancing, too many delicious appetizers, and a chance to sleep on freshly made hotel bed sheets? You don't even have to worry about getting home with a blood alcohol level of 3.5. All you have to do is clamber into an elevator and hope you push the correct floor number. If you pass out in the hall- that's ok. At least you're on the right floor. Close enough.