Update

I am almost at the end of my month off before I start work. I haven't done much during my time off. Mostly stuff with the house and reading books. We did buy deck furniture on sale at Walmart for the deck and are going to waterseal the deck next week. I got to see my new office at work--SUPER exciting but it makes me even more nervous that I bombed the exam. To be honest--most of my time is spent trying not to think (obsess) about it.

B has next week off so we are going to try to do some fun things before my summer is officially over.

:)

I actually have been busy

The Bar is over (this time anyway). I'm not feeling too confident about the results.

The day after the bar we packed up my 2 bedroom apartment (that somehow we were unable to fit into a 15 foot Budget truck) and moved into our new house!! I have been unpacking ever since. Loving the new house--its little but cute and perfect for now--but loving more finally living with B! Although we had clearly stayed together at the apartment, this is the first time we have officially lived together. Although he hasn't actually brought all of his stuff here yet....but that may be because his mother cries everytime he visits now. (she lives 10 minutes away--seriously).

I have the whole month of August off and I'm trying to enjoy it without worrying about Bar results every five seconds. I haven't actually done much other than house stuff--but I did at least start on wedding stuff! I am waiting for the reception places to return my calls, I called the Church, and I got the wedding dress started. I am having my mother's dress remade, and I think its going to be really pretty! However, I have done NOTHING else for the wedding. That's one of the goals for August.

:)

MEE

I am wondering if the MEE will test of very specific law--as it seems to in the BarBri yellow book...or if it will test broader areas--such as negotiability and HDC in Commercial Paper. Are we really expected to know every single little exception?

An Example

In question 10 of the Corporations essays, I knew that a quorum of S/H was a majority of the S/H entitled to vote. I also knew that for voting, a majority of those shares actually voted was needed. What I didn't know was that Directors are elected by a plurality--they do not need a majority to win--the Directors with the most votes win.

Scared

Also--I'm deathly afraid I'm going to get an essay question and have NOTHING to write. This has happened when facing some of the BARBRI sample MEE's. I don't even know where to start.

Freakin

I was ok this morning--feeling like I had a lot of stuff memorized. I did a couple Secured Transactions essays--still feelin ok. A few Commercial Paper essays...ok a little more worried. I got to some Corporations essays and now I am completely freaking out again. All this shit on voting and common stock and wtf. If they ask about promoters or forming a corp or de facto corps--I'm golden. If its S/H voting--we may be up shit creek.

4 days.

I'm Tired

That is all.

Focus Grasshopper

I'm having a hard time focusing today. I kinda felt like I was cruising along yesterday...and today I'm just not feeling it. I went through the first half of the PMBR flashcards yesterday and found it pretty helpful and then reviewed my own flashcards which cover the essay topics (the non-MBE topics that is). Today? I've only gotten through 2 Kaplan flashcard subjects and reviewed the state law distinctions and Commercial Paper. I really wanted to get the PMBR flashcards finished but I'm just not seeing that happening. I'm going to have to finish them in the morning before I take the BarBri MPQ2 full day practice MBE. Good times.

6 More Days!

:)

Also

In Secured Transactions....in the priority rules for a PMSI the rule is that for inventory or livestock you take priority if perfect by the time of possession and give notice to creditors and for other inventory (equipment) you have 20 days from the time of posession to perfect.

BUT--doesn't a PMSI perfect automatically??? So what do you need 20 days for?

I don't get.....

I don't understand some things:

1. People keep saying they are, for example, now getting "60% in torts" or "80% in con law". How do they know this? Where are the percentages coming from? I used the Study Smart program to do the Barbri questions--but it keeps track of my progress from the beginning--so my average is pretty low because it includes some really low early scores. How do I know what I'm getting now? (There is probably some obvious answer but I'm too frazzled to see it).

2. No matter how many times I look at the rules for Character evidence--i just cant seem to get it down. I know in civil cases character evidence comes in in all 3 forms if character is at issue (defamation). i know the defendant can admit reputation or opinion of his own good or the victim's bad character and the P can then rebut with like evidence. i know felony convictions are at the Judge's discretion and convictions in the last 10 years involving dishonesty are coming in regardless--but only to impeach credibility. and specific acts of dishonesty can be asked about but not proven with extrinsic evidence. oh--and character evidence can come in for MIMIC. and apparently you can impeach the witness' credibility too. Its all the other character stuff that i dont understand.

3. Why is involuntary intoxication a defense for specific intent crimes but not intentional torts?

7 days!

:)

8 More Days

Took the full day practice MBE in the blue PMBR book. Scored a 145. Seemed easier than some of the other ones we have been doing. Will take the full day Barbri one in the MPQ2 book on Wednesday. I also did some of the evidence essay questions (it appears that evidence has never been tested on the MBE yet).

Tomorrow is flashcards.

I am so petrified of failing. Is this ever going to be over?

8 days.

Down Down Down

I really feel like I have no shot of passing this exam.

Keep Going

Another 5 hour day at the pool. Today I reviewed Trusts and took the BarBri Half Day MBE. I scored a 64. Better than before at least. I am going to take the Kaplan and BarBri full day MBE's later in the week.

11 more days! :)

Decent Day

I was pretty good today. I went to the MPT thing this morning--it seemed like a bit of a waste. Then I ate lunch and spent a solid 5 hours reviewing Secured Transactions at the pool. I'm feeling a lot better about that subject now. Tonight I'm doing some MBE questions and maybe an essay or 2.

Tomorrow I want to take another practice MBE and review Trusts.

We are so almost there. 12 days!

:)

Still?

I can't believe we are STILL in BarBri. 2 more days of this crap. This MPT review better be worth it. I really feel like I should be devoting my time to other pursuits (the MBE or MEE) especially since I for sure do not know Commercial Paper or Secured Transactions yet.

12 more days!

:)

Keepin on Keepin on

Well the PMBR was a real kick in the nuts--but that seems to be the consensus. I've decided all I can do is to keep plugging on. I've started a routine of doing MBE questions, some essays, and some extremely narrowed outlines. For the outlines I'm going back through all the info I've collected and condencing it into a few pages per subject. This is mostly a way to force myself to review the information--and besides its the way I studied for law school exams.

The PMBR guy suggested not studying the night before the Bar (and the night in between). I'm not sure what I think about this. I see his logic--but I'm not sure if I can do it.

Only 16 more days!

:)

Ha

Improvement?? Ha. I got a fucking 98. A NINETY EIGHT. I have done all of the MPQ 1 questions, all of the red PMBR book, and half of the PMBR blue book and half of the MPQ2 book. I am clearly fucked.

Recharged

B has been here for the last couple of days and it has truly been a blessing. Just having him here makes me happier and less stressed. Even though I'm sad he has to leave tonight, I think this little visit recharged my batteries a little for this last stretch before the Bar. I even took a nap today--and even though I felt guilty when I lied down--I feel so much better now.

PMBR practice exam this weekend, hopefully it shows some improvement.

:)

Losing It

I am slowly losing my mind. I hate studying for the bar, I hate the emotional basketcase it makes me, and I am SICK and TIRED of worrying about failing it. This just plain sucks.

I finished Torts and Property in the blue PMBR book and just started Crim Law. I need to get the Conflicts essays finised tomorrow.

I can't wait for August.


:)

Sunny Skies

After 2 weeks of rain, I was finally able to get back to the pool today. I thoroughly enjoyed my day at the pool--and it made doing the Agency and Partnership essay questions a little less tedious.

I'm feeling ok about the Agency essays--but I am afraid to touch the Commercial Paper essays with a ten foot pole. I'm putting that sucker off until the end.

Hoping to get the Conflicts essays done this weekend and maybe a subject of questions in the Blue PMBR book done this weekend.

Happy Fourth of July weekend!

A little good; a little bad

First, the bad: today was the Commercial Paper day. Whoa. I did not take that class in law school--and its rough. I think I'm just going to have to try to memorize some key points at the end and hope for the best--cause I'm not sure I can get a good understanding of the topic in a month--even if I ignore all the other stuff.

The good: I finished the red PMBR book today. At least I think that's good. I'm making progress I guess--and I am starting to remember some stuff. I remember the PMBR guy coming during last semester and telling us we would start feeling like we had stuff memorized around the 4th of July.

Also, I needed to spend the tiny amount of Westlaw points I accumulated during 3 years of law school and I was already past the deadline, so I just logged in and picked something (there weren't many choices at my point level). I promptly forgot about the order until the Fed Ex guy delivered an unexpected package today--and I am now the proud new owner of a.......food processor! Um--I think this is good. What exactly does one do with a food processer anyway? I don't remember having one of these in the house when I was growing up.

30 days!

:)

Halfway

Tomorrow is July 1st. 1 month til this is all over (and hopefully not to be repeated). I am allllllmost finished with the red PMBR book and the Barbri MPQ 1 book. I started the yellow MEE book today on Agency and hope to start the blue PMBR and MPQ 2 books soon. I'm still not scoring where I need to be--but I'm hoping that missing the questions and reading the answers why is starting to sink in (I'm pretty sure it is in some areas). I think I just need to keep plugging along doing questions and working on the essay questions.

I went to the MBE practice review--it was 2 days and around 14 hours. Truthfully though I think it was two of the most helpful Barbri days yet. The only thing that annoyed me was one lecturer said not to just keep doing questions and to instead focus on reading the outlines--and the next lady said exactly the opposite--not to spend time memorizing the outlines and instead to do as many questions as you can. One would think that Barbri would have come to some sort of consensus on that by now.

31 days--I can do this.

:)

Half and Half

We took the MBE today. I self scored my exam this afternoon and got 55/100 right on the first part and 53/100 right on the second part. That means that after almost 6 months of studying this stuff I am STILL getting almost half wrong. Talk about depressing. I'm beginning to worry that I really might not be able to pass this thing.

Unlikely

What I need to get finished before Wednesday:

1. Property review
2. 175 Property PMBR questions
3. Property MPQ 1-6 and drills
4. Review Torts
5. 175 Torts PMBR questions
6. Torts MPQ 1-6 and drills
7. MBE review for the practice MBE on Wednesday

Riiiiiiight

:)

Sweet Sweet Slumber

One of the few good things about being sick: those 2 green Nyquil pills that promise a night of uninterrupted slumber. I never ever am able to sleep through the night. I'm usually up 2-3 times to pee and one or two more for no good reason. I generally feel like I never get enough sleep. Consequently, I am almost excited when I get to take the Nyquil because I know I will wake up feeling rested for once. In fact, the one or two times I have woken up on a Nyquil night I am so confused that it takes me awhile to figure out what is going on. Too bad I can't take Nyquil every night!

:)

Sickly

Somehow I have managed to get a cold in the middle of June. I can't remember the last time I had a cold in the summer. We are talking runny nose, sore throat, and general achyness. I went to class on Wednesday and decided that I was making both myself and those around me miserable with my incessant sniffing and nose blowing, so I took the tapes and watched them at home. This morning I went and picked up the tapes for Torts and am watching them at home. To be honest, I think I actually prefer watching them at home. I can sit on my comfy couch and not freeze to death in the classroom. However, I will admit that it is somewhat more difficult to pay attention here.

I'm finishing up the Evidence questions tonight and moving on to Property tomorrow. :)

The Beginning

I met my fiancee B almost nine years ago. It was the middle of July and I was working as a lifeguard at the pool. I loved working as a lifeguard. My parents actually didn't want me to work in high school--but they were so proud when I passed the lifeguard test. (I remember vividly my Dad on the porch telling me how proud he was--obviously my parents were very supportive!).

I was very thin back then and as flat as a board in front. It didn't help that I only wore Nike onepiece swimsuits to guard in--that flatten you out even more. B definately knew what he was getting into when he met me!

I had just broken up with my first boyfriend--whom I had dated for almost 2 years. I actually at the time had a crush on one of my fellow guards--but he was much much too cool for me--and I knew it. I was up in the chair one day when a group of guys waled in. I actually thought that they probably were going to be ornery...and I was right. They purposefully disregarded the rules for the diving area and provoked me to reprimand them. However, at the same time they were so funny that I couldn't put any force behind it as I was laughing while yelling at them.

I actually thought that B was the boyfriend of one of my fellow guards because I had seen them talking on a few previous occasions. It turned out that they had played tennis together in high school. (Yes--my then 6'3 230lb fiancee played tennis in high school. and threw his racket into a tree during one of his matches. lol.)

It was increadibly hot that day, and at our pool during the last 15 minutes of every hour we have "Adult Swim" during which the kids had to get out and only the adults could swim (I guess that is obvious). During that time the guards went on break and were free to swim. I decided to get in and get wet to try to cool off. We also had to retrieve the grates from the bottom of the 12'6 area of the pool. I got in the pool and one of the guys--who I really only knew vaguely started talking to me. I was actually a little surprised cause I just wasn't the type of girl that I thought those guys would talk to. I probably need to explain how I was back then (not that its much different now!) I had only had one boyfriend--and he was the only guy I had kissed at that point. I had never had sex. I made straight A's and was a starter on the basketball team from sophomore year on. I worked out every day except for Fridays. I even worked out when I was sick--I remember almost passing out one Saturday morning before my Mom made me go home. I wasn't working out for my weight--I was obsessed with basketball. It was seriously probably one of the top three most important things in my life back then. Additionally, I had severely bad acne when I was in grade school and was made fun of badly. Consequently, I wasn't overly self-confident when it came to my looks or boys--although I was confident when it came to school and sports.

To be continued.... :)

Whoa

Today's lecture was the singing lady. Although I actually got an "A" in property first year--about which I was shocked--and thrilled--I just don't really like property too much. I don't really find it interesting and it bugs me that we need to know rules that no longer exist. I don't really get how that makes sense. If my client has a property question am I going to inform him about what the law USED to be, or what it currently is?

What made the lecture interesting was the lecturer herself. She is the first female lecturer we have had so far, and she used SINGING to make her points memorable. She sang snippets from Destiny's Child's "Survivor" and from MC Hammer's "Can't Touch This" among others. Interesting to say the least.

I can't believe we are already halfway through June. Today I am going to get the Crim questions finished (at least I'm really going to try) and then start the Evidence questions tomorrow. We have the practice MBE next Wednesday and I can't day I'm looking forward to it. Lots to do before then!

:)

Tired

I worked for about 6 hours today--a part time job that I have that involves a lot of running. Fortunately I just got new shoes--the Asics gel ones (they are awesome!! I highly recommend even if they aren't overly cute) so my feet aren't killing me. But the legs! Oh the legs. Back in the day I used to play 6 basketball games in a day and be trying to conince my Coach to sign us up for "just one more". I guess all of the hours parked on the couch aren't great for the stamina. I try to go run on the treadmill a couple days per week, but it just can't compare to the workout from a game. Wouldn't it be nice if girls got together for a couple games of pick-up like the guys do?

I read 16 pages of Evidence today on my breaks at work and am close tofinishing the Crim Law PMBR questions. I want to finish the Crim Pro PMBR questions tonight if possible. People keep telling em that the PMBR questions are supposed to be much harder, but somehow I do better on the PMBR ones than on the MPQ paced program ones. I'm not sure if its because the MPQ ones are online so I feel pressured or what.

We got my Dad a cool lamp and set of Pro V1 golf balls for Father's Day. Hopefully he will like them. I really can't wait for this to be over--yet at the same time I feel like its going too fast and I just can't seem to keep up.

:)

It can't get much worse than that, right?

Day 2 of property was mind numbingly terrible. 4 hours long and way more than I can hope to remember. I can't wait to see what my scores on THOSE practice questions will be. Doing Crim Law PMBR this weekend. I'm a little behind, hoping to catch up soon.

Only 48 more days!

:)

Evidence

Today was the first day of the Evidence lecture. It was painful--by far the most painful yet. It lasted 4 hours and 20 minutes, and apparently I had forgotten how difficult Evidence is. Its just so complicated and there are so many rules to remember. The lecturer (Rossi) was about in the middle as far as lecturers go. The positive was that he was kinda likeable and reminded me of Alan Alda (as someone pointed out in the restroom during the break). The negative was that he had a tendency to repeat himself, thereby dragging out a lecture that was alreay long and complicated enough.

No pool time today--although it was nice out B was just a little too cooked to sit in the sun again so he played GTA IV while I did Crim Law PMBR questions and a little online shopping.

More evidence fun tomorrow--but at least it will be Friday! :)

:)

This Sucks

This just sucks. I know I signed up for this and there's no choice if I want to practice--but I just don't want to study this stuff. I can't seem to grasp any of it well enough to get most of the practice questions right. I can't even imagine what it is going to be like when we start the essays.

On the bright side, today was an absolutely gorgeous day in which I both ran some errands this morning and got in some pool time in the afternoon. I did review my Crim Law notes at the pool...but I don't feel like doing any more tonight.

Top Chef season finale--I definately will not be studying from 9-10!

:)

Rejuvination

This weekend at home was just what I needed to recharge the batteries for some more Barbri fun. We'll see how Crim Law goes--that was just a mighty strange lecture. Particuraly where he told us about how he likes to stay up at night thinking about beastiality multiple choice questions for the MBE.

B is coming down tomorrow--that means good nights of sleep, home cooked meals, and plenty of snuggles! Less than 2 months left--52 days!!

:)

Last Day of Contracts

I really feel like I have a much better foundation upon which to rely for Contracts. However, there is ALOT to remember. I feel like the subjects just keep passing by and the info just keeps piling up and I have no clue how I am going to remember it all. And I'm still not doing well enough on the practice questions. Am I supposed to be doing well at this point? When we complete a subject and I have to move on to study the next subject, should I be getting good scores on the questions for the subject we completed? Seems like the answer is obviously yes--and I'm not. I'm seriously afraid I might fail the bar.

In happier news, I'm home. and it really just makes me so much happier to be here--even if I do have to study. Its supposed to be in the 90's tomorrow--I'll be spending the day in a lounge chair with my Contracts notes!

:)

Penguins

I really enjoyed watching the Penguins-Redwings series. I was for the Penguins--but I had to admit that the Redwings were a really tough team. They were dominating on both offense and defense. But speaking of tough--how about Malone who TOOK A PUCK TO THE FACE, had his face reconstructed, and then PLAYED THE NEXT DAY! After suffering a broken nose myself--I am utterly amazed at such a display of toughness and heart. I also had to respect the Redwings player that took a skate to the face and kept playing.

One more day of BarBri class and then its home for the weekend!!!

:)

Contracts continued

Today Epstein told us that "Contracts are not like masturbation." I don't even know what to say about that. Yesterday he gave us the image of him and Sharon Stone in the shower. At least it keeps it interesting, I guess.

I can't believe we have 2 more months of this--and at the same time I feel like there is not enough time to learn all of this. I am not sure how many hours per day I should be studying--and it makes me feel guilty all the time.

Just 2 more months--actually a little less. Then I can move into my new house and get a month off and start the rest of my life!!

:)

Week 2

This week we are on contracts. This is not such a bad week for several reasons. First, we only have a 3 day week since we get monday and friday off. Second, contracts was one of my favorite subjects in law school--whereas con law was one of my least favorites. In fact, while studying con law for the bar I have realized that I probably did not deserve to pass my 1L con law exam. I owe a thank you to my con law prof for saving my butt.


Today didn't really seem so bad--I actually am liking Epstein's style of lecturing much better than Chemerinsky's style. His use of examples is much clearer to me.

I also realized that I need to be looking at the CMR instead of focusing on the lecture outlines. When I was doing the questions last week I hasn't even looked at the CMR, so when I finally read the CMR on con law I realized that most of the answers to the questions I missed were in there!

Finally, I get to go home this weekend! Nothing like the family and the fiance to raise my spirits! Despite the fact that I feel like I shouldn't be seen out because I should be studying, I hope someone feels like taking me to dinner!

:)

Seriously?

After 2 days of lecture, 4 hours of outlining, 3 question sets, and a review of my notes----I just scored a 27% on a Con Law question set.

Fuck.

Test 1

I just did the first set of practice questions for Con Law--and got an 10 out of eighteen. Thats a little disappointing after four hours of outlining and 3 and a half hours of lecture on this stuff today.

Off to the gym in a bit.

:)

The first week

Bar Bri is proving just as much fun as advertised. We started with Con Law. Although yesterday was so terribly boring that I wanted to poke my eyes out, today didn't seem as bad. Maybe its because we got to hear Chemerinsky use the words "fuck" and "sex" in the same lecture. :)

After the lecture I spent aound 4 hours at the pool outlining the 2 day lecture notes. I actually got kinda burnt--and there were quite a few people there. I actually think I am more productive at the pool than I would be here because I don't have the distractions of the tv and the internet. Plus, I know there will be people sneezing and sighing and sniffling and shuffling papers during the exam and I might as well get used to ignoring the distractions now. The plan for the weekend is to spend lots of time studying at the pool (although its supposed to thunderstrom tomorrow) and lots of studying.

:)

The Weekend

This is my last weekend before Bar Bri starts. As I've mentioned, I took PMBR and while it sucked, it was only a week and anyone can get through a week. Now its two months of torture and worry and just no fun. The only bright side is that I plan to study for Bar Bri during the day by the pool so at least by the end of the summer I should have a decent tan. I didn't do too much this weekend--although I do have a graduation party to go to tomorrow. For a 33 year old man.

Happy Memorial Day! :)

What a weekend!

So I am officially now a law school graduate. Its funny--seems like this was a looong time coming--and yet it went so fast. It seems like yesterday sometimes that I was going to the admitted student luncheon. But--on the other hand--when I think about all the reading and exams it seems like the long hard work that it was.

The ceremony was actually nice--not too long and I actually felt a little emotional towards the end when I realized that I had actually done it and was beginning the next stage of my life.

Speaking of the next stage of my life--I am now engaged!! B gave me the ring on Friday and it is gorgeous!! I love it. I'm so excited.

:)

Day 5

Only one more day of PMBR!! Today was crim/crim pro. It was actually a lot better than yesterday's property nightmare. It actually went kind of fast today. Unfortunately it was FREEZING in the classroom so even in jeans and a long sleeve t-shirt I was really cold. Unfortunately this means I will probably have to wear pants and long sleeves to Bar-Bri all summer--so much for my cute summer clothes!



Hopefully this weather turns around soon. I'm itching for my apartment complex to open the pool so I can spend my days studying for the bar by the pool. If I'm going to be in hell for two months might as well get a nice tan while I'm there right?! :)

Day 3

Well today we are officially halfway finished with PMBR--the 6 day course anyway. Does it suck? Yeah. But its not as bad as I was expecting. I initally though we would have to be there from 9-3:30 as the schedule indicated, but we are allowed to take the practice tests at home and just have to show up for the 3.5 hour lecture (on tape).

I've heard a lot of people saying they should just get the tapes and watch them on thier own, but sadly, I'm not motivated enough to do it all on my own. I need the structure of going to school and watching the videos in rooms I am used to being in for class.

Tonight is a good TV night. American Idol (which I watch occasionally), Hell's Kitchen (which I almost never miss an episode), and the Law and Order SVU season finale!

4 days til graduation and my family arrives!! and 3 days til my boy gets here! :)

PMBR

Today was day 2 of PMBR. Yesterday was Con Law--the class that was one of my least favorite in all of law school. In fact, it was one of the 2 C's I got in law school. Almost killed me. I remember vividly driving the 3 hours home from a work retreat sobbing and talking to my Dad. Today was Torts--although I thought it was Contracts and so prepared for the wrong subject. Overall I think the program will be helpful, but we are just watching the videos (we don't have a live instructor) and they speak REALLY fast and cover tons of info. Its scary to think how much we have to memorize by the end of July. :)

Me

I am a law student--well I guess former law student now--soon to be graduating. I am in the beginning stages of stdying for the bar--a form of hell all in itself. I have an amazing family comprised of my dadd, brother, and boyfriend. I have a job lined up for after the bar--just need to pass the thing! I'm getting engaged soon and married next year. I can't wait for this next chapter of my life to begin! :)