Life After Law School

With as much womens-lib that I preach, my family knows the truth. I love domestic stuff. That is, the good domestic stuff.

For my birthday, Josh and I ventured over to my parents house in the afternoon where I received a very cute birthday card from “Archie and Gizmo.”

Then, as I unwrapped my gift, I was excited to see it involved a Chicago Metallic Bakeware set (which will assist me in perfecting my quiche!) I was so excited about the bakeware that I opened it up right there to check out the pans and on the inside of the bakeware box I found a photo of a Dyson DC17 Animal vacuum cleaner taped to it.

After a short search, I found the Dyson. And, let me tell you, it is amazing. Archie, our white pup, sheds hair like it’s his job. As a result, cleaning our house is very challenging because of his constant new white coat. I asked Josh if I was allowed to use the attachments on the Dyson to groom Archie, but he told me he thought that might border on animal abuse.

 So yeah, I received a vacuum cleaner (and some sweet bakeware) for my birthday and I’m loving both. Next weekend, Josh has something special planned and he won’t spill the beans on the details, but I’m sure it will be delightful.

Thank you for the warm birthday wishes. The many phone calls, emails, text messages, and snail mail has made me feel very loved. Which, I must say, was much needed for this particular birthday. Not that I was depressed about the new age (a glorious “27″) I must embrace for the next 363 days, but this birthday just reminded of how much more I had hoped to accomplish for the grand ole age of 26.

(( Yes, I graduated law school. Yes, I married an amazing man. Yes, we went on the most incredible dream vacation to Greece. But, the stupid bar exam hangs over me. ))

The year of 26 was one where I spent SIX months of the entire year STUDYING for the bar exam and the OTHER six months stressed out about my bar exam fate.  

This upcoming Friday at six o’clock PST, the February bar exam results will be released.

A cloud has been following me for weeks and each day it becomes a little darker.

The aftermath of the Burma cyclone is heart breaking. How a government can deny its own citizens assistance in recovering from a natural disaster is incredible. Last night, I read an entry on Anderson Cooper’s blog and I found myself choked up. What a dire situation.

Gawd, I hate doing laundry. I know my feelings about laundry are shared as Ehlan has also lamented about this tedious chore. And Liz definitely understands the pain involved as she generously washed 7 loads of Cory’s laundry as part of his birthday present:

Wash. Dry. Fold. Wash. Dry. Fold. I know, really, how hard can it be? It’s not like cleaning the bathroom. But, that’s just it. Cleaning the bathroom takes 20 minutes…maybe 35 depending on how dirty the shower is. Doing one load of laundry takes approximately 80 minutes, and once you add on extra loads, this chore can stretch on for days.

 I know many persons who beg to differ. They claim that laundry isn’t “that bad” because it’s a chore where all you have to do is start an appliance and then walk away. And yes, while that statement is true, that is also the problem with laundry. Once I walk away from the washer/dryer, I am off happily mult-tasking away in Never Never Land and just about every time I forget about the load(s) whirling away in the laundry room.  

 But last night, Josh was my savior as he folded two loads of laundry that have honestly sat in baskets for weeks. Then, he proceeded to wash and dry and fold two more loads. This morning, I had a buffet of underwear to choose from. It was awesome. Maybe this act of kindness stems from the fact that my birthday is tomorrow?

Tax season was a bit stressful this year. We ended up writing a  little check to the government which, as expected, was painful. But today, when Josh told me that Wesley Snipes had been sentenced, I gleefully grinned. I find tax protest arguments to be baffling. If we have to write a check, so should he.

…and this is something that I have come aware of during my five week blog writing sabbatical.

This post is to confirm, that yes, I am alive.

And, I have a ton of things to share, but I need to find the time to sit down and write. Please bear with me until April 15th. I am a bit of a tax nerd, so right now life is slightly more chaotic than the rest of the year. Not that I’m making excuses. I’m just asking for an extension.

In meanwhile, here’s a preview of my pretty upcoming posts:

1) “Campfires and Karma” (the post-bar surf trip review)

2) “Riding in a Tort Liability” (the drive home from the post-bar surf trip which involved josh’s car catching on fire on the 5 freeway with us inside the car)

3) “Will I ever leave high school?” (The beginning of my last season coaching track and field)

4) “Mr. Lou takes on preschoolers” (My dad helping my mom with her Sunday school class)

Stay tuned. I promise I’ll be back.

Many people have told Josh and I that the first year of marriage is the hardest. I don’t know if that phrase will necessarily be true for us, but it was fun to celebrate our six month milestone this past weekend. For kicks, here’s a photo of us on March 1, 2007, exactly one year before our six month-versity.

The last ten days have been a whirlwind. Fear, anxiety, sleeplessness, coupled with joy, accomplishment and exhaustion.

Due to my lack of posts during what appears to be a time of increased readership, here is a recap on my three days of bar exam hell:

Day 1: The worst night’s sleep in the history of bar exam applicants. In complete honesty, it was so bad that I believe I may have only slept three hours. And I dreamt of contracts, crim law, and evidence rules for those three hours. Fast-forward to the morning session where I sat shaking like a leaf for about 15 minutes before the start of the exam: Essay 1 (Torts - Negligence and Strict Liability), Essay 2 (Professional Responsibility), and Essay 3 (Crim Law - Miranda, 6th Amendment, Murder & Self-Defense).  Each seemed to go well. Afternoon session involved writing a persuasive memorandum of points and authorities which I also think went well.

Day 2: Slept much better, but still woke up with a sick feeling in my stomach. Morning session: 3 hours of multiple choice questions on six different legal subjects. Walked away thinking, “this isn’t too bad. I can do this,” only to return to the afternoon session (an additional 3 hours of multiple choice questions) and felt pummeled by long fact patterns and mental exhaustion. Yet again, overall, I think it went well.

Day 3: Slept like death. Woke up feeling somewhat refreshed and alive. Morning session: Essay 1 (Wills & Trusts - I rocked!), Essay 2 (Community Property - Putative Spouse, Bank Accounts on Dissolution), and Essay 3 (Corporations/PR - Agency) went okay. Only “okay” because I was terrified that I analyzed the community property question incorrectly and then didn’t fully discuss essay 3’s PR issue. By lunchtime, I felt defeated. Luckily, I met Karen for lunch (as I did each day during the exam) and she reminded me that even if I received a low score on one essay, I could still pass the exam. She urged me to not give up. So, I barrelled ahead into the afternoon session, which consisted of researching and writing an objective memorandum. And, I think the afternoon went well.

Overall, I think I did okay. Josh has told me that even with the lack of sleep and increased stress that I appeared more composed. I pray that his instinct is correct. I pray that I passed.

In honor of what I hope will be the last time I will spend a Sunday afternoon in my office studying for the Bar Exam:

About 36 hours to go until game time…

Yesterday, I received a very kind gift. And not just any gift. But the gift came in the mail (few things are more thrilling than receiving a package!) and it was from Ehlan, who knows one of my favorite stores on earth is Bibelot.

So when this  box arrived, I was estactic:

And better yet, the box contained some much needed inspiration:

Totally true. And, right on point. Thank you Ehlan!