These are a Few of My Favorite Things....

I know, I've been bad about posting lately, but law review is KILLING me right now.  EVERYTHING is due in the next two weeks and I have been (quite literally) running back and forth across Chicago looking for sources.  On the plus side, everything will be done on February 25th, and I can ride off into the sunset.  (Or dance my way through my tiny living room after drinking too much wine.  That's the same thing, right?)  On the minus side, I am going to be grumpy and depressed for another two weeks while I finish everything up.

So in honor of Valentine's Day, I give you a list of things that I am LOVING right now and that are keeping me sane:

Baking -- This weekend I made muffins AND soda bread.  Yummy.  I don't know if I've mentioned this before, but there's something about baking that keeps me sane.  The process of reading a recipe and making something out of it appeals greatly to my control freak nature.  And yes, to those of you who asked me about it, I will probably feel the need to bake cookies at some point this week/weekend.  Be prepared to reap the fruits of my labor.

Running -- I get tired of sitting in a chair all day, and even though I have to convince myself with ALL MY PERSUASIVE POWER, running five miles before bed feels good.  Plus, I'm so tired that I fall asleep at eleven and don't wake up all night.  Win.

This weather we're having -- It was almost 50 degrees yesterday!  In February!  In CHICAGO!  I really hope this keeps up.  If it does, I may have to go track down Punxsutawney Phil and kiss him for his blind, non-shadow seeing ways.

Surprises -- Because I won't see him for Valentine's Day or my birthday, which are but one week apart, the Boy keeps dropping hints at surprise gifts.  Then he discusses them with other people who drop hints at me too.  Whenever I get depressed, I just think, "Soon I get PRESENTS!"  It's materialistic.  It's shallow.  It makes me less enraged about my lot in life.

The Fam--Getting calls from my parents or text messages from my little brothers really makes my day.  Even if they say nothing more than "I just lost a lot of respect for you."  That's brotherly love right there. Also, it's this guy's birthday today:

Cupid Dog Loves You

So that's what's keeping me pushing through.  How are you getting through February? 

Happy Days Are Here Again!

How Can You Not Love This?

Let me announce right here my retroactive holiday break.  It should have lasted about a week and a half.  

Okay, now that that's over, back to your regularly scheduled Running With Fireworks Content.  But before we speak of the future, let's speak of the past.  Here's what has happened to me in the past few days:

• I learned to drink my coffee black because I was too lazy to hunt down milk and sugar at my parents house, knowing that those two items are kept on opposite sides of the kitchen from the coffee pot.
• I wrote a final exam!  In two days!
• I went to two different Christmas celebrations.  Other people's family traditions are weird.  But then again, so are ours.
• I went to Cebolla's twice.  If you have ever been to Cebolla's in Fort Wayne, Indiana, you know this is cause for celebration.  However, I had to go to the Fernhill location, because they closed the bar for the night at the Dupont location.  What is UP with that?  Who goes to a Mexican restaurant where they will be denied tequila-laden beverages?
• I played with Loki-fur.  If you play dead in front of him, he tries to wake you up, and then when you stand up, he jumps around excitedly.  "Hey, I'm Jesus Dog!"
• My parents won a new Wii at the company Christmas party.  Realizing I wouldn't get the new one, I started dropping hints that I wanted the old one.  Then I pleaded.  Then I begged.  Then, not receiving an answer one way or the other, I just boxed it up and stole it.  New Wii for me!

Next up?  Headed back to Chicago tomorrow to celebrate 2011 and better days for all of us.  Also to kill myself finishing up my article.  Also to start my reading for my first classes.  Also to try to remember where and when I said I'd volunteer this semester.  I know I'm at Pritzker and doing DV work, but....yeah.  

Anyway, while I'm not one for New Years Resolutions, I thought I'd throw a couple out there just for the fun of seeing how long I have until I break them.

• Stay a week ahead in my reading.  I've done this before and it really helps me stay on top of things.
• Exercise at least 3 times every week.  The goal is every day (except one day on the weekend of my choice) but 3x a week is much more manageable.
• Go do something social once every month.  (I can hear you all saying, "Really?  That's it?" but that's pretty good for me.)
• Buy coffee no more than 2x per week.

Four is probably plenty, since my resolutions never last past February and because I've got all my bases (academic, physical, social, financial) covered.  But hey!  I'll keep track of how things work and let you know how long I can hold out for!!!

How was your break?  Any New Year's Eve plans that you'd like me to join you for?  Do you have any resolutions that you intend to leave behind in less than two weeks?  Let me (and everyone else) know in the comments!!

It's Beginning To Look a Lot Like Christmas

I tried to get a good picture but he's crazy this morning

First, let me just say Congrats!  To you, and you, and you, and me, but most especially to the first years.  Way to survive!  And you know what, exams get easier from here on out.  They're still just as difficult substantively, but you know exactly what they look like now.  No scary surprises to be had.

And with that being said, I'm assuming you're all at home now with your families.  I've been here since Wednesday, and let me say I know I'm home, since my mom just uttered the words, "You do all the baking, and..."  Yep, I'm home.

Now, I don't know about you, but I still need to write an exam and get some serious work done on my article.  So I've got quite a bit of writing to do.  But there are also cookies to make and a big white lab to love on who just came in from his morning walk, with the drool around his mouth frozen into icicles.

I guess what I'm saying is, enjoy your holiday and get some relaxation in.  You need it.  I would also recommend getting a giant 100 pound lab puppy to keep from getting on the kitchen counters with a resounding chorus of "Loki, NO!"  It keeps everyone occupied.

Every Thorn Has Its Rose

It's been a whirlwind couple of days. My mom came to get me in Chicago, but got off on the wrong exit and ended up in the ghetto. West Jackson WAY past Malcom X University. In a great big shiny red truck. She finally got to me, we got everything loaded and we got it home. Of course, by the time we got home the basement was about to flood because it rained for about a week straight and the ground was super-saturated. And we have a psycho puppy. Who will kamikaze you. As in, you're sitting on the couch, he'll get a running start, jump on you, jump off, run back across the room and do it again. (He's awesome.)

Then yesterday while unpacking, I realized I was missing some clothes. Specifically undergarments. I left all of my bras except the one I was wearing and the sports bra that was in the laundry in a drawer in my apartment in Chicago. And the dorm I lived in informed me that everything that was left behind would be donated to charity. It was The Worst. At least the one I had been wearing is the newest one.

But I got to go shopping and get margaritas with my friend, the other Amanda. And when I woke up this morning, it was a gorgeous day of sunshineyness that's going to be in the 70s. So I put on shorts and a long-sleeve t-shirt and took Loki out for a walk/run. It was great. He may be mischievous, but his legs are so short that ten minutes of running has him sleeping on the floor by the time you get back. He'll be sedate and compliant the rest of the day. Which is just the way we like him. He's a good dog. He just gets excited about the weirdest things. But how can you NOT love a dog who loves chasing birds and butterflies and goes out of his way to stomp on dandelions? You would have to be dead inside.

I think I'm finally figuring out this relaxing thing. It's going to be awesome. For a week.

It's A Quarter after [3], I'm All Alone (and I'm Thirsty and Can't Sleep)

It's getting harder and harder to make the song titles relevant.

So it's over. Sweet Jesus, so awesome, it's over. I was listening to the 1L song, though, and the lyrics that stuck in my head were, "They say it gets better, but the damage is done. I bleed reasonableness and jurisdiction." I think I make some sort of legal joke EVERY DAY. The only difference is that no one is going to get my (admittedly bad) jokes all summer long. I'm going home.

First of all, because there's a puppy there, and I hear puppies and kittens are good for relaxing. Actually, it's a 3 month-old 40 pound yellow lab puppy. So it's a big puppy. But since I discovered today that I have no idea how to relax, I think a big puppy is just what I need. I really don't know how to not do anything anymore. After the criminal law final on Friday, I immediately picked up my contracts final. I worked on it for nine hours straight for three days in a row, and after a final edit Tuesday morning, I turned it in. I came home, sat down and watched one episode of Full House and immediately started packing. I wasn't supposed to leave Chicago until Thursday, but by 5 pm, I had packed everything I own, and decided to just go home Wednesday. And then, because I STILL had time to kill I started cleaning the apartment. So you see I'm not kidding. I do not know how to relax anymore. I'm working on it.

The second reason I'm going home is that after much (okay, not really) searching*, that's where I found my job for the summer. I use the term "job" loosely, since it's actually an unpaid internship. I contacted the Volunteer Lawyers' Program of Northeast Indiana over Spring Break back in March. I finally heard back from them at the beginning of May, had a phone interview Wednesday morning at the crack of dawn, and had a job with them by noon. What will I be doing you ask? I have no idea. I think I'm supposed to spend half my time at the VLPNEI office doing things like intake interviews and whatnot, and then I spend the other half my time with two of their attorneys helping them with whatever they're doing. It's all very vague, but I have an orientation on the 21st.

I'm pretty excited. VLPNEI works with lower-income people who otherwise wouldn't have access to the judicial system. It mostly deals with things like family law and landlord/tenant law issues from what I understand, so I'm going to be doing good, down-to-earth work that has a real day-to-day effect. I'm sure it's going to be a challenge at times, and I'm going to make mistakes (hopefully just little ones), but it should be eye-opening at the very least. I'm happy that I get to put all these legal skills to use so they won't just collect dust this summer.

The best part, of course, is that for the first time in my whole life, my job is Monday-Friday, so I get weekends off. I will be spending my weekends at the lake, perpetratin' a tan.**

Anyway, goodbye ChiTown. I'll miss you, but I'll make sure to visit lots so you don't feel sad that I left you.

________________________

*Cut me some slack. By the time I realized I should be applying for things, a lot of application dates had passed.

**Yes, that was a "Gold digger" reference. Bonus points if you got it.