I think I lost my driver's license today.

I'm not too happy about it.

Back With a Vengeance

Sort of. I flew in yesterday morning with just enough time to be half an hour late for my Torts class. Oops. The snow etc. didn't help my quick commute from airport to classroom, there was some furious scraping and brushing. While I was de-icing my car (I've decided to use airplane lingo from now on when talking about my car, it's just a little bit cooler), a Grandpa pulled up behind me and waited for my spot. Now, I'm all about perseverance and hard work paying off and all that, but MAN ... de-icing under pressure ... I think I prematurely evacuated my parking spot ... as I was driving out of the parking lot I started to think that I needed to get my eyes checked ... either that or there was still a bit of a fog on my windshield.

Anyway, made it back, and spent a long day in classes yesterday. I'm caught up with my Torts reading, my Criminal reading, and that's about it. I'm almost caught up with the rest, but this taking a long weekend thing has kind of put me behind a little.

I found out that I'm responsible for some property reading tomorrow, so today I have to get on that, prepare for my Contracts tutorial, and try and finish setting up meetings with Profs for reference letters (so I can transfer - hopefully - to U of C next year and actually live in the same city as my Husband), and finally, compile a bit more of my Pro Bono project.

Yup - busy week's worth of work crammed into three days.

But ... I do work best under pressure.

My Mom and my Sis are back from Cuba - I have to talk to those two as well, and get the lowdown on their trip.

SO MUCH TO DO!

Better get at 'er.

Le Sigh. Not Depressed at Home

Well, I flew into Calgary yesterday morning, super early as always. I arrived to some houseguests (yay Brother-in-Law and his friend), and we did a sideways version of the money breakfast (no bacon, but hashbrowns, eggs and toast). They went skiing, while Jason and I went back to bed and slept till almost noon. Ahh ... it was glorious ... I haven't slept like that in awhile. It was the kind of sleep where you feel almost drugged when you wake up, can't tell who you are, or where you're at. I think it was a long week for both of us.

Last night we had 6 people over, and made a big lasagna dinner for everyone. There was garlic, wine, beer, and rum. Who could ask for anything more, really.

Today it was another sleep in (ah ... luxury). A little bit of WOW, and dinner at my Parents house - Jason and I are bringing a left-over lasanga.

I opted to stay for an extra day this weekend, so tomorrow I'm going to work on my Pro-Bono project while Jason is at work (and ... yup, probably sleep in again). Jason's cousin comes in tomorrow, so we'll probably hit some kind of fun pub.

Sigh. I love being home. Sigh, sigh, sigh.

Saskatoon better get ready though, I'm back on Tuesday morning. With a vengeance? Maybe. Depends ...

I'm Not Sure What It Is ...

Whether it's the most depressing time of the year, or if it's because of the moots this week ... but law students are frazzled this week ... and with the frazzlement comes other things (not to be mentioned on this PG-rated blog).

I've been nothing but whiny and depressed, and I can't tell if it's PMS, the moot stress hangover, or just random blah-ness ... but it's awful I tell you.

Luckily, I scheduled an extra long weekend at home for this weekend. I leave Saturday morning, and come back Tuesday morning. Sigh.

In the meantime, I'm going to wear sweatpants, cuddle up in the fleece blanket that Carrie made me, and keep my whining internal (too bad I can't internalize the pouting ... that's too hard to stifle).

AND NO ... I'm not resorting to chocolate. I just had an apple and peanut butter, and it's going to have to do it for me. I've been doing really well with the "eat healthy in Saskatoon" plan, so chocolate will have to wait a few days.

Thank GOD Grey's Anatomy is on tonight. Those characters are pouty and whiny enough to suit my mood. Anything less melo-dramatic, and I'd have some problems (namely, having to throw the remote control at the TV ... ah ... who am I kidding, that just may happen anyway).

And .... Done.

The moot, that is.

What a freakin' experience. I felt that I prepared as well as I could, practiced a few times, and tried to stay calm and un-nervous leading up to it. That worked through my opponents argument, during my opening statement, and up until I got asked the first question from the bench. Yes, the judges were two 3rd year students and my Torts prof, all people that on their own aren't menacing or threatening in any way, but put me infront of them as Judges, and I felt like a deer in head-lights.

I did have an audience, quite a few of my classmates, and even another prof ... but it could have been 1000 people, I was so focused on what I was doing, and I never would have noticed anyone. When the first question was asked, I felt like I was on shaky ground. The questions weren't earth shattering or devastating, I knew what I wanted to say to answer them, but getting it out in an articulate and rational manner, as well as persuasive, seemed like a real challenge at the time.

I was really happy when it was over. Afterwards, we hit the student pub and relaxed and took a deserving break, and when I reflected on my performance, I was disappointed with myself. My perspective and my internal voice were anything but confident.

The next day I was scheduled to review my performance with my Prof (part of the mooting process). When I watched myself on video (which is horrifying enough in any case), I was surprised. My internal self-doubt didn't transmit (as much) in the way that I delivered my argument. Horay! My Prof said that I had done a good job, which made me feel about 1000% better. Next time, I'll destroy any moot that I take on.

I'm glad that it's over, and if I had to offer any tips, this is what they would be:

1. Prepare like a crazy person. I did do up summaries on each of the cases in the factums, but I feel like some of them should have been more complete (with more of the facts).

2. Practice like a crazy person. I feel like I practiced enough, and that consisted of going through my whole argument about 4 times. It wouldn't have hurt to do it a few more times, though.

3. Remain calm. Remember that taking a pause can be a good thing, and when it seems like 10 minutes to you, it really only seems like a few seconds to the people watching. Don't let it phase you.

4. Remember to use inflection (I probably could have done better with this), and remember not to say "I think" (I did that far too often, and everytime that I said it, I gave myself a mental slap - remember not to mentally slap yourself either, just keep rolling with your gig ... the mental slap doesn't help you out, save it for after the moot).

5. Remember that the court is not "out to get you". Be persuasive, and really try to swing them to the dark (or light) side of the force.

6. Prepare only 10-15 minutes of your argument ... you'll not have time to get through everything if it's any longer (for a 30 minute moot, that is). The questions take up a lot of the time, and it's better to finish earlier than to not get through your material.

7. Present your argument in a SIMPLE and ORGANIZED fashion. I can't stress this enough. Simplicity is the key (in my humble opinion).

That's all I can think of right now.

Now, to catch up with all the reading that I'm behind on ... that should be fun. I'm also going to try and make some Sunny-Boy muffins, I found the recipe on http://www.edibleprairie.ca/, which looks like a stellar site that I'll have to examine a bit closer when I've got time.

Ah ... blessed freedom from assignments (for the time being), how liberating!

P.S. My Mom and Sister are in Cuba right now. I am ever so jealous. I could use some beach action .... mmmmm .... mojitos and the beach!

Preparing for Moot.

Too busy to post.

Monday ... all will be well after next Monday.

What a Weekend, What a Day

On Saturday I flew home super (i.e. crazy) early. I had to work on my oral argument summary for a lot of Saturday, and then Saturday night we went for sushi with some friends to Sushi Kawa on 4 St. They must have been having a crazy night, because one of their waitresses snapped on us when we asked how long the wait would be. We heard the word "reservations" being repeated while she ranted about something unintelligible and walked away. It was kind of awkward, but worth persevering through since the food is so good there. We invited some friends back to our house afterwards, and I got to catch up with some people that I haven't seen in a long time.

Sunday morning we did brunch at the Diner Deluxe on Edmonton trail (mmmm .... ), with some more friends that I haven't seen in a long time, and then I went home and finished my oral argument summary.

As for the assignment, I'm not 100% sure what the expectations were, but I guess I gave it my all. We'll see how they mark it.

Today, it was a go-go-go day. I had to hand in my assignment, go to class, listen to the rescheduled (due to the Blizzard of '07) guest speaker, Justice Bob Richards (who was excellent), and then attend the CBA's "How to Find a Job" workshop. The workshop was stellar. I highly reccomend it to anyone that has an opportunity to attend in the future. The best part was one-on-one mock interviews with lawyers from Saskatoon firms, which included a resume critique. Luckily, they didn't run for the hills afterwards, so my confidence has been slightly bolstered (at least ... they weren't running while I was watching).

I spoke with an Associate from McDougall Gauley, and an Associate from MacPherson Leslie & Tyerman. Both were very helpful, and provided some good tips for my resume. It was so nice to have a chance to ask "real lawyers" the types of questions that have been smoldering on the brain for awhile.

I stocked up on some recreational reading at the library today, so my computer loses out to the books.

The Drama is Over, But Not the Cold

Yup ... it was so cold today, but it was bright and sunny, and all the snow sparkled.

I found out my Constitutional Final mark today, and it was pretty good (not SUPER great, but more than where I thought I'd end up).

I don't know how it relates into a letter grade yet, hopefully I'll figure that one out soon.

Work on my Oral Argument Summary is going along swimmingly, I wanted to get it finished up tonight, but I think I'll have some residual work to do on the weekend while I'm at home. Oh well. I already have plans for brunch, sushi, and skating (although Jason doesn't know about the skating yet).

I got the "Best Moots" video out from on reserve at the law library, and some peeps are coming over tonight to watch it with me. Yup ... law nerds ... Friday night what are we up to? Watching moots from last year. I think it should help out a bit with the oral summary, and give us SOME indication of what we'll be dealing with in a week or two.

I guess I better go make myself/my place look presentable before people start getting here.

Other Bloggers on the Saskie Blizzard of '07

http://saskprairiefire.blogspot.com

http://michilnewman.blogspot.com

http://goingtothecountry.blogspot.com

http://jameskalyn.livejournal.com

Post-Blizzard Pics I Took This AM

These are the kind of snowdrifts that built up around cars in the parking lot, the Cavalier is my roomate's car. Some people have already started digging their cars out ... but ...


... even once you get your car out of the parking spot, the ordeal isn't over yet:


You can tell who has left for the day already, and who's still sleeping:


Everything looks like it has just been beaten with snow ... snow has gotten into every nook and cranny that it can:

UH .... Yeah

I will never laugh in the face of Mother Nature again. NEVER.

Yesterday, getting to school wasn't so bad. I set out at about 9:00 in the morning, walked to my bus stop (I was well bundled up, so the cold wasn't too bad, just the snowdrifts that were past my knees posed a problem). Got to the bus stop, and started to wait.

A Saskatoon Transit minivan with a little light flashing on top pulled up, and told me to hop in. I didn't question it (good thing it wasn't one of those fake Saskatoon Transit scams that rapists like to pull .... ), hopped into the nice toasty van. We picked up a few more people waiting for busses at various stops, then he drove us to the bus. Talk about first rate service. This encounter alone will yield my never complaining about Saskatoon Transit again. Service with a smile in the face of a blizzard is what I got.

The white-out conditions were extraordinary. On my way to school the police had begun shutting down roads in the city where visibility was not only an issue, but a non-issue (i.e. you could not see - that was the issue ... heh heh heh).

I got to school, met with a group of peers, got a lot of really good work done, and then at 1:30 got ready for our speaker, learned that the speaker was cancelled and that we'd have a class instead with our Prof, and then ...

... we got the announcement (@ 1:30 PM) that the College of Law was closing, and that if we could get home safely, we should go.

I found out that the busses were only running until 6PM, so I figured it was time to high-tail it out of there.

At just about 2:00, I got to the bus-stop. There were about 300 (modest estimate) people there waiting for various busses, and the busses were few and far between. So, I waited outside (instead of sheltering in the foyer to the nearest building). If a bus came, I was going to be on it.

Well, at a little after 3:00, I had to go inside for fear that my toes would fall off (my pinky toe had gone numb). At 3:30, a bus finally came that said it was going to Sutherland (the right direction, towards my house). I got on that bus like nobody's business.

I'm going to post a map, to illustrate the next part of my story:


So ... as anyone can see this is a highly magnified map-shot, where on a normal day driving from the red circle to the blue circle would take about 30 seconds (from Cumberland to the Circle overpass, if you weren't stopped by the light on Preston). Yesterday, on the bus, it took us 2 hours. Yup. 2 hours to go from the red circle to the blue circle. I kid you not. The bus was PACKED too ... standing room only. Luckily, I got a seat. There were abandoned cars like crazy littering the road (I'm sure some of them ran out of gas), with snow drifting up over them so you could barely see them - it was kind of spooky looking.

Eventually, though, 3 hours of bus-time later, I was dropped off as close to my house as possible (which, was closer than I thought I'd get - again, kudos to Saskatoon Transit), walked home with frozen feet, and slumped to the floor when I got inside. I'd been trying to get home for 4 1/2 hours. BUT ... I MADE IT!

So ... today, I'm not leaving the house. On the radio they said that U of S was open, but that (probably) a lot of classes would be cancelled. Well, there's no way that my car is getting out of the snowdrift that piled up behind it, until I dig it out, or am ploughed out. AND ... I'm going to save my further bus adventures for a day when I've had some time to come to grips with it all. So ... yup ... I'm going into cocoon mode, and I don't care. Pretty much everything else is closed, schools, libraries, etc.

Oh - and last night, on the news they announced that our neighbourhood was closed. How funny is that. Yup ... you can't come to my neighbourhood, we're closed ... sorry, come again.

Here are a few pics I took this morning, I want to go for a bit of a walk later, and take some more, but with -40 C windchill, I'm not sure how feasible that will be.

Oh - And I Almost Forgot

The only "class" I have today is to go see speaker Mr. Justice Bob Richards speak about apellate advocacy (supposed to help with our moots). Should be interesting!

It's a Blizzard BABY!

Here's a picture from standing in the doorway of my townhome this morning. On the radio, they're officially calling it a blizzard!

Now, usually when I'm talking about the weather in Saskatoon, I'm complaining (some would call it whining, but I wouldn't go that far). As for the blizzard .... I love it! It's so beautiful ... so dramatic! I plan on taking the bus, so I'll avoid the heart attack that will go along with driving ... as long as nothing prevents me from flying home on Saturday, I say ... bring it on!

When I opened the door to take the picture, the blizzard gushed it's way into my living room. I think it just wanted to play. It was one of those moments where I had to move fast, and then close the door for fear of having to shovel my hardwood floors later.

I put on my long underwear already, and my nice wool sweater. I'll make the trek to the bus stop (the busses are a little late as per the radio guys), and hopefully I'll get to school in one piece. By about noon, it's supposed to be -41 C with windchill. Yup ... that's a bit chilly ... but now that I've got the long undies, I'm not afraid!

I wonder what it takes for a snow day here in Saskatoon? I should google that.

So ... About Easing Into Term Two

Apparently, that doesn't happen in law school. My first written argument is due on Monday, my moot is a week from then, and I already feel like I'm behind in my readings (even though, technically, I'm ahead in more classes than not .... just FEELS like I'm swimming just to keep my head above water).

On the fun side (yikes, what has my life come to if this is the fun) ... I signed up for the CBA's How to Get a Job Workshop which runs on January 15th for a half day. I'm going to have to miss a Contracts class for it, but they have a panel of lawyers give you a mock interview, they critique your resume, and they do a whole info session on getting summer jobs/articling jobs etc. I think it's value should overide my guilt at missing a contracts class. Thanks to my CBA student membership, the workshop is free (woo hoo).

Anyhow, I'm so busy even writing this is making me feel guilty ... more later!

Got my Mid-Term Marks Back

Still waiting to hear about my Constitutional final, but ... that's another anxiety story.

As for the mid-terms, I was THRILLED with my Contracts and Property marks, but less than thrilled with my Criminal mark (which ... I must admit I fully expected, didn't study for this one as I did for the others, since I was in GET ME OUTTA HERE mode). At least I see that making flowcharts REALLY works for me. For the classes where I did make flowcharts, I rocked. For Criminal, I didn't finish my flowchart, and it shows. Well ... I've got my tactics for Finals, at least.

Friday night I spent a nice quiet night at home, catching up on a few things, and I hit the gym (yay).

Yesterday, I hit the early yoga class (which my back muscles feel right now, you know, the good kind of pain, the pain that you earned), washed my car, and got an oil change. I hit the library, as well, and picked up Paulo Coelho's book "The Devil and Miss Prym", which I've had on hold for quite awhile. I posted about his book the Alchemist awhile back, which I loved, so I can't wait to really get into this one.

Last night, with some of my classmates (girls night out!), I went to see Children of Men, which was a second choice since the Pursuit of Happyness was sold out. I looked it up this morning on Rotten Tomatoes, and am not surprised to see one of the highest ratings that I've ever seen on that site. I hadn't heard of this movie, so wasn't expecting any particular thing, and what I got was THE MOST INTENSE MOVIE I've seen in awhile. It was really good, a super nail-biter, and has got the old gears grinding away on it ever since I left the theatre. It seems to contribute to a scary cultural pattern of prediction that I've seen out there, on the bleakness that looms on the horizon. Very scary ... and something that by subconscious is sure to consider over the next period of time.

It's (somewhat loosely, from what I've been reading) based on the book (of the same name) by P.D. James. Guess I'll have to put that on my reading list ... fun.

Today, I'll be in school mode. Hopefully, I won't have to leave the house (since it looks cold out there). I have a lot to do if I want to stay on top of all this school business, and now that I know how I study for exams, I should be able to help myself out over the semester so that I don't have SOOOO much work to do at the end of it.

Ah finals, how I shudder at your quick approach.

And now, my roomie is watching Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, seems like a good idea (before I settle into the school stuff).

Congratulations to my Newly Engaged Classmate (you know who you are)!!

Back in Saskatoon

I flew in yesterday morning, it was a little windy getting into Saskatoon, but it wasn't too bad for turbulence (luckily). Funny thing happened at the airport, though. First of all, I actually checked some luggage, as there were a few things that I wanted to bring back to Saskatoon (including some awesome Christmas prezzies), which necessitated more baggage than usual. One thing you have to know is that I have some super distinctive luggage:
I was using the large suitcase and the carry-on sized suitcase, and both had been checked. I rolled my eyes at having to wait for the luggage to come out on the luggage carousel (I'm so used to just motoring it after landing, I never check luggage). I was waiting at the end of the carousel, and when I saw my first bag come out, I watched another girl pick it up, and roll away with it. I remember thinking "Weird, I can't believe someone has the same luggage as me ... I hope she took the right one."

I got my large suitcase, and when my small suitcase came around, I pulled it down, realized that it seemed lighter, and saw a nametag on it. My luggage wasn't labeled. Luckily, there was a phone number on the tag, and luckily it was a cell-phone, so I phoned it right away, and the girl who answered had her cab turn around to make the suitcase exchange. I realized right then and there how important it is to label your suitcase with a phone number.

I did end up having a class yesterday, luckily I was at school working on my Pro Bono project, so I was able to attend. It was basically an explanation of how our moots are going to work. My moot is on Jan. 22 (yikes).

Today it was so hard to get out of bed, I can't even describe it. Tomorrow's not looking too good either, as it's late, and I can't quite get to sleep yet. Tomorrow, after our last class, we get our exams back.

Scary.

We had our first Charter themed Constitutional class today - I think I'm really going to like it - it seems like just about as much of "Lisa's Cup of Tea" as you could possibly get.

Tired.

I'm going to try and sleep now.

I chopped up veggies tonight to try the corn chowder recipe in my new vegetarian slow-cooker cookbook that my Mom-in-Law gave me! Sooo excited. The Christmas haul was a good one this year, today I used my mango and grapefruit body butter from my sister, my new scarf from my parents, I wore my necklace from my Dad-in-Law, used my hand-lotion from my Sister (and the chapstick), my Starbucks giftcard from my Brother-in-Law, my Tic-Tacs from my stocking ... it goes on and on my list. I'm so spoiled! Right now, I'm even wearing the PJ's that my Mom gave me!

I Love the Zoo Lights

Went to the zoo lights with my family today, love, love, love them!

Tomorrow is my last day home, then on Wednesday morning it's back to Saskatoon. Will write all about my vacay when I get back to SK, but here are some pics: