I Had a Dream Last Night

And it wasn't good.

I dreamt that I got a letter from U of C telling me that I didn't get a transfer. But ... the weird thing was that the letter had such poor grammar and spelling that I could barley read it. I wonder what this represents? I don't even know where to begin.

Last PS of the Day ... Maybe

This weekend our Sister-in-Law Jackie was commenting that she heard something about new 7 Wonders of the World being announced ... which made us all wonder, since most of us thought that the 7 Wonders of the World are pretty much a static categorization of man-made achievements.

So ... of course, I've looked it up.

According to Wikipedia, there are many "7 Wonders of the World" type lists including Ancient Wonders, Medieval Wonders, Underwater Wonders, Man-Made and Natural Wonders etc. I guess what happened was that on July 7, 2007 (i.e. 07-07-07) this announcement was made:

New 7 Wonders of the World

Looks like a definitive list as globally voted upon to decide what wonders should stand as a testament to "global heritage throughout history".

There were 21 finalists, but the 7 wonders that made the cut are:

• The Great Wall of China
• Petra, Jordan
• Christ Redeemer, Brazil
• Machu Picchu, Peru
• Chichen Itza, Mexico
• The Roman Colosseum, Italy
• The Taj Mahal, India

Avril PS

Here's Avril Lavigne's myspace reaction to all the allegations that have been buzzing about:

http://blog.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=blog.view&friendID=6407230&blogID=284724569&Mytoken=B53C5F05-92C9-4738-AB9729C5AB3B2B2E889027

Interesting ... I wonder how this will all shake out. Having read her side ... does this change my mind about her? She still comes off a little bratty ... hmmmm ... so tough to say.

Will be a neat thing to follow, in any case. I'm sure it'll all be settled, but it would be interesting to see if it isn't.

The Weekend to End Breast Cancer

While I've never participated in this event, I think it would be an amazing experience. I was talking about this event with someone, and about how it is the largest breast cancer fundraiser in Alberta (bringing in $19 Million dollars in 2005 and 2006), and the woman I was talking to expressed dismay at how unfortunate it is that that money doesn't necessarily go towards breast cancer itself. Her impression was that it just went into a cancer research pool. Her comments got me wondering.

When you go to the Weekend to End Breast Cancer website, there is a section called "Your Dollars at Work" that talks about where some of the money has gone, but these are pretty general types of descriptions.

There are better descriptions on the Alberta Breast Cancer Research Initiative website, where the research stories link gives a brief overview (again pretty general), but if you click on each researchers name, you can see much more detailed research initiative descriptions.

So ... while ALL the money raised doesn't appear to go DIRECTLY to breast cancer research, it appears that most of it does, and that some pretty important projects and clinical trials are directly funded by the money raised by the brave weekend walkers.

As for transfer news, still nothing. I'm supposed to get an e-mail sometime this week (maybe) with the official YAY or NAY ... so I'll keep this site posted.

Jason and I got to spend a wonderful weekend at Buck lake with his family. It was a gorgeous, sunny, cloudless weekend, and we were really able to unwind and relax (well ... me as much as I can, the transfer stuff has me wound up a little, I'm not gonna lie). We got to go wakeboarding (and Jason got to go tubing - Jackie actually drove the tube for Jason and Clay, and DUMPED JASON OUT ... yup ... Jackie is officially a bad a$$ boat driver).

I sunburned my knees (of all places ... speaks as to why cancer is on the brain too ... I suppose).

No pics, since I lost track of my camera out at the lake. I'm going to have to ask if anybody found it ... yikes. It's either in the boat, or in the trailer. Hmmm.

I'm excited because the outside of our townhome is getting power washed today. It's needed it for quite awhile, so when I get home tonight, it should be sparkling and brand new looking.

Wearing jeans to work rocks (I <3 Stampede week for this reason).

Also - with the three weekends in a row away from home, our place is a disaster. Looks like we're getting company for the weekend, so I'm going to have to sort our place out. This week all of my Calgary Sports and Social Club sports start, as well, so on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday I'm playing soccer, ultimate Frisbee, and volleyball.

Also - MUST pick out my U of S courses so that I can ballot for them.

So much to do, so little time.

Tinkering Is So Fun

I'm having fun tinkering with the colours and layout of my blog. This probably won't be the final version, so get used to a revolving design over the next few weeks.

Still no news.

I <3 Strawberry Milk (with spicy salmon rolls).

Stampede officially starts in Calgary today. Parade was this morning. I was @ work, so I'll probably catch the highlights on the news tonight.

Not much to report today, but as a side note, I sure think that all this Avril Lavigne stuff is pretty funny. First of all, I read on Lainey's site that Chantal Kreviazuk, in an interview with Performing Songwriter, describes how Avril Lavigne "stole" a song from her. Seems pretty serious to be putting OUT THERE in a public interview. Then, in the next few days, I hear about a copyright lawsuit naming Avril (among others) for her song Girlfriend.

I find this especially hilarious, because Avril was featured in Jane Magazine (love, love, love Jane Magazine) in April 2007. When I read the article, back in April, I thought Avril sounded like a pretentious little girl trying to sound like a worldly woman. I think she came off fake, defensive, and generally brat-ish. And now ... all of these scandalous accusations ... yikes. Avril is probably going to a serious publicity makeover (at the very least)!

Too bad ... Canadian girls definitely need some female role models.

Random and not so coherent thoughts, I know. But it's Friday, and it is GORGEOUS outside. HELP! Get me out in the sun ... STAT!

I'm Doing It - As Promised

Updating the look of my blog, a little. I've changed a few things around, and I'm going to play around with the colours for awhile. I need something a little less generic, something a little more modern ... but I'm also lazy and don't want to recode the whole page ... so ... we'll see how far I get.

Checked in with the U of C today, and it sounds like the successful (and unsuccessful) transfer candidate(s) to the U of C will be getting an e-mail sometime next week. I'm literally going a little nuts.

As Promised ... Here are Some Pics From the Long Weekend

Our Camping Spot


Fireworks on Canada Day


Jason Enjoying the Awesome Campfire



The weather here has been awesome, so what do I decide to do tonight? Bake, of course. May as well heat up the house a bit with an oven. Oh well, I don't get the urge very often, so when I do I indulge it.

I tried a variation of the Strawberries and Cream Tart as posted about on Leslie's Blog, http://definitelynotmartha.blogspot.com (located on my sidebar, Leslie also did a guest post on the food networks website, here).




I couldn't find a vanilla bean at Safeway, so I had to resort to plain old vanilla extract, and I'm not exactly a DIY pastry kind of girl, so I bought pre-made tart shells. I'm thrilled with how my tarts turned out, though, and I'm going to try and save them for this weekend so I can share them.

But now, I'm tired, and my bed is calling my name.

Will post more tomorrow. G'night.

New Dean

At the U of C's Faculty of Law:

http://www.ucalgary.ca/news/july2007/deanlawappoint

Happy Belated Canada Day!

Had a great long weekend, although my legs look stricken by some kind of skin disease due to all my mosquito bites. Seriously, I've NEVER seen mosquitoes like that before. They were literally in a thick FOG for about two hours when we wanted to sit around the camp fire, those little vampires.

We went camping near Rocky Mountain House, took the ol' MH which lovingly (read: labourously and wheezingly) hauled a trailer with our quad and one of Jason's dirtbikes. At camp, we ate like kings, got to piddle around a BIT with the ATV's, and I (along with the ladies we were camping with) got to watch Jason partake in a marathon and cross-country bocce game with the three other men we were camping with. They literally played for about 5 hours, and we watched them tramping through bush, crossing gravel roads, and whooping and hollering ... it was hilarious.

Two couples we were camping with bought $400 worth of fireworks for the Canada Day celebration weekend, and we got our own private spectacle.

I have some pics, which I'll add once I get them uploaded (my batteries died before I could get them off the camera).

And ... thank goodness it's a short work week. Finally, it's summer, and I want my weekends to come as quickly as possible. Next week all the sports start up, so this will be my last "quiet" week until August. Of course, August may be hellish if I'm moving to Saskatoon, but ... we'll cross that bridge when we come to it.

Also, have to go to the dentist today (yikes). For once, I've actually been flossing sporadically, though, so hopefully I won't have to be fully chastised!

PS.

My Star Trek dreams are closing to becoming a day-to-day reality ... one step at a time!

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2007/06/28/holodeck-tech.html

It's My Birthday.

Well ... not my birthday, birthday ... but it's the one year anniversary of my life as a blogger.

My first post was June 29, 2006, and I've been going strong ever since. It was pretty neat to take a walk through memory lane, and dance through some of my previous posts. The last year went by so fast, it's nice to have the blog as a testament to my trials and tribulations.

In honour of my anniversary, I decided that I'm going to make some changes to the look of my blog, but slowly and over time, so watch for a new look!

As far as news goes, nothing much to report here. Plugging away at work, no news yet about the transfer, and I'm looking forward to a July long weekend of camping and relaxation (via ATV use, of course).

I've been reading Clan of the Cave Bear by Jean M. Auel for the first time ... which is funny, since I've almost read it so many times before. Friends of mine in high school LOVED this series, and I could have borrowed the books whenever I wanted, but it's almost like I've been saving them ... until now. And ... I love them. Very different reads ... but I'm really enjoying them. The kind of reading that stays with you throughout the day until you can get back to it and continue the adventure.

Also, I got an Alan Turing biography out of the library, and I'm so excited to start it. I know, it's a little bit high on the embarrassing scale, but I don't care. I no longer have any shame ... so don't even try.

I've really been thinking about the book I've been reading, In Praise of Slowness: How a Worldwide Movement is Challenging the Cult of Speed by Carl Honore. It has really helped me with some of the life decisions that I've had to make lately, and really forced me to think critically about my future, and about how being faithful and honest about priorities is really a good thing.

As a law student, I don't want to fall into the trap of feeling as though I MUST work 20 hour days in order to "get ahead". I don't personally believe this, and I don't ever want to work for a place that would try and make me believe this (a la http://www.anonymouslawyer.blogspot.com/) . Not sure if this is naive, but certainly something that's staying in the front of my mind.

In this book, there's a whole section on slow cooking, which makes me think that Hubs and I have been missing out on an opportunity to really make our meals events ... to really take pleasure in the choice of ingredients and the preparation of our meals, and to turn cooking into a joy rather than a chore. This is something that I must work on.

As a kick start to this, I've added a new blog to the sidebar:

http://definitelynotmartha.blogspot.com/

It's a cuisine blog written by a fellow poster on a forum that I frequent, and I'm looking forward to going through it and trying out a few of her works of art!

We live within walking distance of the Calgary Farmer's market, so I vow to take advantage of this resource ... and branch out a little with my culinary prowess. I'd love to take some cooking lessons (especially with Jason ... how fun). I've taken a vegetarian workshop at the Cookbook Co. Cooks before (which was awesome), but they fill up so fast, and Jason and I are pretty committed to our team sports schedule over the summer months (starting in two weeks I'm doing soccer, ultimate Frisbee, and beach volleyball ... exciting). We'll see how it goes.

Oh ... oooh oooh oooh ... how excited am I about the movie Stardust that is coming out August 10th. I read Neil Gaiman's book (of the same name) back in Saskatoon, and loved it dearly. I'm just starting to hear things about the movie, and they all seem to be pretty good. Really seems to be a star-studded cast, VERY excited. Neil Gaiman has some movie Q&A on his journal, which is fun to read through.

Anyhoo - have a good long weekend everyone. I'll be back on Tuesday, hopefully with some sweet pictures to show you how I'm doing with handling my quad!!!

Am Feeling Depressed.

There are so many good reasons why ... but today, the main reason is that I got an e-mail from the U of C saying that there are still no transfer decisions, as there is only one spot open right now. "ONE SPOT" is the part that I'm finding depressing. I can wait for my answer ... but "one spot" seems so scary.

I might need some Dairy Queen tonight. I know, it was an exam-stress coping mechanism that I'm now paying for ... but at the time ... it felt so good.

Beautiful Fairmont

Spent the weekend at Jason's work's Family Fairmont trip. We stayed at the Fairmont Hot Springs Resort, where we had a fabulous time. The staff were accommodating, and the people at Jason's company really put together an amazing weekend of organized goodness. Unfortch, the batteries in my camera died, so I have no pics to share.

Friday, we arrived to a cocktail reception in the lounge, there were people in the hot springs, people all over. Was great, got to meet a lot of the people that Jason works with (that weren't at the Christmas party), and their significant others.

Saturday was nice and leisurely, after breakfast we hit the Copper City Amusement Park where Jason beat me at mini golf (although, I think I got more hole-in-ones than him), and where we both got to go-kart like crazy (him, a little more crazy than I, natch). Dinner was back at the hotel, with drinks and a DJ in the lounge afterwards.

Sunday, after breakfast, we stopped in to Invermere, and slowly made our way back home, where we both promptly fell asleep and napped the night away (before getting up and going to bed).

Kinda sucks being home now, since when on a company trip like this, every single thing is taken care of for you. We didn't spend much except for a tank of gas to get there, and one lunch that we had on our own apart from the rest of the work gang. Pretty amazing, we're pretty lucky.

Still no transfer news, I promise to keep my Transfer Watch 2007 sidebar information updated.

AND ... I think it's about time to have a Summary part 2 for my first year of law school - I'll start working on it, so stay tuned for that one.

I've Been Published!

Heheheheheh. A New York picture of mine from Flickr was chosen to be put into the Schmap New York guide. Neat, hunh? Here's the widget form:

Thank Goodness It's ...

... yup. Friday. I've been fighting the chocolate demons all day, and so far I'm winning ... we'll see about later on, though. Later on my resolve usually dissolves.

This weekend we're heading out to Fairmont for Jason's work's family weekend. Should be a blast ... a real treat. I'm just thinking of the laundry that I have to do before I go ... not sure when that'll happen ... but dreams do come true, don't they?

Still no news yet from U of C, but I'll post as soon as I know. I should really give this an official name ... Transfer Watch 2007 ... something like that. Then I can shorthand it for those keeping track with me. TW2007. I'll put this code in the sidebar ... and when I know I can update it. That way, my whining will be subtle!

I'm finally less sore today from my soccer match on Tuesday ... I guess playing forward (as opposed to defense) the whole time really makes a difference to my ol' muscles. Ouch.

Other than the ramblings above, I got nothin' else. Quiet day today. I don't even have any rants, as a last blog alternative. Rant free ... it's a new Lisa era.

It Was a Real Doozy

... of a headache yesterday. Ouch. I think I didn't drink enough water the day before (Tuesday), and then I played soccer in the glorious, glorious sunshine. Wednesday, I was a wreck. BUT ... I drank water like a crazy woman, and I'm back in tip-top shape today.

HOW MUCH DO I LOVE THIS WEATHER?!?!?!??!

A lot ... basically. That's no sarcasm ... I LOVE THE SUN.

HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SUMMER EVERYONE!

Still waiting on transfer news, but have found lots to do to distract myself. With the sun shining, I'm getting to do all that I've wanted to do for quite a while. Now ... I just need to lay my hands on a bike so I can start riding to work. Hmmmm .... must check my best friend - Craigslist.

ALSO - I found a website that I didn't know about before --> http://www.etsy.com/

You can buy/sell handmade things ... I must keep this in mind for gift-giving time. There are some really awesome things on there - a definite spot to check out.

My flower box plants are still alive. Surprisingly. It looks like the rain made them very happy, so that's a bonus. I've been remembering to water them and everything. I want them to be lush, and rich looking, so I may add a little fertilizer in a week or two ... not too much though ... I recently heard a story about a guy who burned his lawn off from adding too much fertilizer ... I'm doing so well with my plants, I can't wreck them now that patio season has officially arrived.

Chilling in SUCH a Good Way

Went to see Mr. Brooks last night. First movie that I've really loved Kevin Costner in. I KNOW! I didn't believe it was possible. Sure, I've LIKED him in different things, he was good enough in Robin Hood, people seem to love him in Tin Cup ... yada, yada, yada. BUT ... but. Mr. Brooks ... first time I've ever seem him be really different in a movie. Loved it. He even had a naked scene (from the back of course). Movie reminded me a great deal of Lucky Number Slevin, same kinda flavour. Chilling ... in a good way.

Saw two bunnies frolicking as I walked in to work. No joke. Frolicking. Made me feel like I should have more energy this morning.

Got an e-mail from the U of C yesterday (responding to my inquiry of when the transfer applications will be processed). They said I should hear "very soon". So ... I'm figuring by the end of this month. I thought that news would make me feel better, but now that I'm actually faced with the reality of knowing my fate for the next two years, I'm feeling a little panicky. In a way, there's a comfort in knowing that a big decision is looming, but that you have time to deal with it.

Once I know, I'll either be able to move on with my life here (cross your fingers), in which case Jason and I have a lot of organization things to do (house stuff, selling a car etc.), OR ... I'll be planning a move to Saskatchewan, the thought of which brings be chest pain. Yeah ... I know, I'm a whiner.

Anyhoo ...

PS.

Stephen Hawking and his daughter are writing a children's sci-fi novel. Sign me up!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/5075516.stm

One Thing You'll Always Hear ...

... as a law student is ... "What kind of lawyer do you want to be?"

Not only is it a super tough question, it usually puts me into a spin. I start feeling overwhelmed because I don't REALLY know that much about the law yet ... I start feeling as though I have no direction, because I REALLY don't know the answer to that question.

With a background in technology and health care, and a passion for the protection of rights and freedoms, I didn't know where I wanted to end up. I was leaning towards intellectual property, because it made sense (with the technology background) ... but the more I looked into it, I realized that I wasn't getting fired-up over the idea of trademarks and copyrights.

How important is it to get fired up about something? When I go back and read things that I've written when I'm fired up about an issue, when I feel somewhat passionate, somewhat righteous, somewhat angry, or somewhat appalled over something, the words I put together seem to be more powerful, more convincing, more persuasive, and even more artistic. While this may seem to be common sense to many of you, I finally realized that the only way that I can truly be the best advocate that I can be is if I am fired up about the issue I'm arguing.

So .. what does get me fired up? Feminist law, and the idea of sexual discrimination cases, anything in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms class that we took (my best mark in 1st year law school) ... but when it comes to the feminist law area, I don't know that I want to make my career in it. The issues are so close to home, that I think working in this area would be too much for me. I want to be able to pursue these issues on a personal level, on my own time. So ... where does that leave me?

I came across this site which I posted back in May on my blog:

http://www.privacylawyer.ca/blog/

On here, there was one story in particular that twigged some kind of neural dance in my brain. Here's the story:

http://www.privacylawyer.ca/blog/2007/04/clerk-fined-for-inappropriate-access-to.html

After reading it ... I got fired up. All the aspects of law that I want to put together ... finally ... have come together for me. Technology, health care, rights protection ... it all fits in privacy law. The power imbalance is extraordinary in health care settings especially; patients truly are at the mercy of their health care providers, and there is SOOO much information that we trust providers to take care of on our behalf.

My summer job with the Alberta Cancer Board has given me an inside perspective for the way that patient information is protected by a large Albertan health provider. It has cemented for me that there is still so much work to be done in terms of the law and policy and setting standards in a technical context as opposed to an information flow context.





I have had an epiphany. I think I want to be a privacy lawyer.

Am Actually ...

... rather busy at work. I have a grunt summer-student project going on right now ... mini version, but it's keeping me busy.

One note, though. I got the weirdest bruise at dodgeball last night - on my wrist, it wraps around. If it's vivid enough I'll put a pic on after work tonight.

I'm Fighting the Neuroticism, and I Think I'm Winning

The comment left on my last post is what really helped. My goal today is to NOT check the U of C website in the hopes that I can continue living a normal and meaningful life free from the ticks I develop every time I check myUofC and see no change. While I had hoped that the ticks would constitute "exercise" while sitting at my desk all day ... the mental affliction that comes along with the ticks is enough of a detriment to make me search for exercise in the form of a walk at lunch instead.

In the pursuit of my "normal and meaningful" life, I went for dinner last night with some friends (one of my Saskie roomies, it was her B-Day, and some of the girls she knows from school here in Calgary). We went to Melrose and enjoyed a nice dinner and drinks. It was funny being back at Melrose, which is where I met my husband. Here's an excerpt from our wedding website:

It's a place that's near and dear to my heart (cough, cough ... sappy, I know). I've had some great girls nights out there, and it was funny to do a spin around the bar when I've been gone for awhile.

Oh yeah - and since I've decided to NOT focus on the transfer thing, I need everyone to mentally will the loonie to reach 1$ US. My Father-In-Law made a promise to my Mother-In-Law and I if the loonie gets to 1$ ... and it's a really good one! So ... brain waves unite! Let's get that loonie above and beyond the US dollar!!!

One of my U of S classmates is in town for a "firm tour". I got to talk to him for a bit, which was nice. Weird, since my worlds had been so segregated ... it was like Saskatoon and Calgary worlds crashing together. I've been so focused on the transfer deal, and normalizing myself to living with my Husband back in Calgary, that it hasn't occurred to me that things like "firm tours" actually take place.

For a second it made me feel like I should be initiating like connections and tours, and then I realized that this is the rub of law school. It is so hard to acknowledge that you have quite enough on your plate, I always feel like I COULD be doing more. You can see how it is so easy to fall into a lifestyle where you actually do work 20 hours a day (or something equally ridiculous). The thing that I've learned about myself is that in each decision that I make, I want to make it according to how I actually want to live my life. NOT according to how others are living theirs, or according to what I think I COULD do ... but according to what is best for me and my family. Spending all summer thinking about anything other than what I've already got going on inside my head would truly send me over the edge.

Ya KNOW?!?!?!?

PS. I love the show Scrubs.

PS.

Good luck to everyone that wrote the LSAT yesterday! I'm sure you did just fine ... it took me just about a month to get my score back ... so don't even think about it until the beginning of July (easier said that done, trust me I know, I have transfer-itis right now).

Exciting

Yesterday was Dad's 60th B-day party, a nice gathering with family friends at the family home with some wine, cheese, yummy dips, and of course, B-Day cake.





One thing I have to comment on ... Mom found this great place downtown that makes edible flower arrangements - out of fruit! Here's the one we had for Dad's party:





And ... there are tons more on the website here:

http://www.ediblearrangements.com/

Gorgeous, yummy, I'll have to remember these for future parties and soirees!

Also, Jason and I (with the help of Joe and his truck) picked up a table and 8 chairs today that I found advertised on Craigslist. I'm so excited. There's an insert that makes the table square (and seats 8). They're a little rough in a few spots, but with my handy-hubby, we should be able to smooth them out. It is so worth it, because we got the table SOOOOO cheap! SO EXCITING!

My New Bookshelves:

I'm starting to go a little password mental ...

... I can't keep track of them all. It's a real exercise in memory. Hopefully this will keep my mind youthful and sharp.

I'm the luckiest girl in the world. My Husband is just finishing the second of two bookshelves so that I can store all my wonderful books without having him trip all over them! I'll post a picture later, since as per usual, my camera batteries are dead.

Also ... I'm writing from my deck, enjoying the morning time temperatures, and relaxing while Jason's at golf. Heavenly.

Part of the heavenly morning ritual was getting the Herald so that I could peruse through it at my leisure (with a Tim's coffee, of course), and I saw an article that caught my attention like crazy. On page A5 there's an article entitled "Scientist wants to patent life form" about Dr. Craig Venter wanting to patent the "building blocks of life" that he has claimed to have isolated. Sounds exciting, but also scary. The legal/moral/ethical implications are so huge ... I searched it out a bit more, and here's what I found:

http://genomicsgtl.energy.gov/pubs/2005abstracts/html/file42.shtml

http://www.world-science.net/othernews/070607_mycoplasma.htm


Interesting stuff. Can you imagine releasing a man-made organism into the wild? What kind of effect would it have on the balance of our eco-system? Seems almost like a science fiction short story. I'm reminded of Ray Bradbury's story A Sound of Thunder. I think I read it in Junior High, but it's certainly a chilling read. Highly recommended to anyone.

How exciting, though, to be living in an age when science fiction is truly becoming reality. I suppose that could be said for any age, as science fiction is always ahead ... but truly ... I'm always amazed by what is going on around us.

I haven't checked the U of C website yet ... I'm hoping that this is a sign that the neuroticism is dying down a little.

Also - the plants on my deck appear to be doing well. Hopefully I can keep them going the entire summer. I'll be so excited if I can.

Success!

I'm not referring to the transfer ... that jury is still out ... please cross all your toes and all your fingers for me (I was thinking again today about having to sell my house and move to SK, and I could feel the weeping trying to get out). SUCCESS ... because I fit back into a pair of dress pants that were getting a little too snug for comfort. So ... looks like eating like a normal human being as opposed to a blizzard eating binge-machine truly is starting to work. YAY!

Dad's B-day was nice last night. We went for dinner to the Red Lobster ... mmmm ... garlic cheese biscuits. Why are those dang garlic cheese biscuits so freakin' good? I think I dreamed about them last night ... we were on a date, garlic cheese biscuits and I, and let me tell you, there was no need for a main course if you know what I mean. After the red lobster dinner, the family went back to the house and had some prezzies and b-day cake ... an ice cream cake from Lic's. Mmmm ... rollo ice cream cake. Needless to say, I was rather surprised that my pants fit me this morning.

I'm starting to get antsy about the transfer for more than just my personal reasons. I'm getting a little nuts in thinking about course selection. One thing about being in this limbo is that I've been trying to scan the course options for both schools, so that I'll have an idea of where I'm at once I get the word on where I'll be. If it takes a long time to find out about the transfer, I may have to pick courses @ U of S, and then see about U of C afterwards. Sigh. I'm getting a little crazy.

Living in limbo is not fun. Even the poor Hubster is suffering; choices about career, and leisure activity investments (read: ATV purchasing) are all on hold until we figure out where we're going to be.

Poor me, poor me, poor me ... yeah right. I know ...

OH - and the crazy flooding that went on here ... yeah ... it was nuts. I didn't get any pictures myself, so I don't want to post any online ... but it was nuts. On Tuesday night, there was a ravaging thunder storm that went through here. I was in the middle of playing Heart Shaped Box on Guitar Hero (and let me tell you, I was rocking), when there was a huge lightning blast, we could actually hear the sizzle, and thunder right away, and then the power in our house went out. We were without power for 2 hours! Jason, my in-laws and I sat on our window seat and just watched the spectacular lightning display. There are some pictures circulating via e-mail of the flooding that went on in some parts of the city, cars were almost entirely submerged ... I guess all do to the fact that we got 72 mm (or so) of rain in less than 3 hours.

The CTV website has a bunch of stories on it:

http://calgary.ctv.ca/

HAPPY (60th) BIRTHDAY DAD!!!

Been Feeling A Little Under the Weather ...

... again! It's the bug that won't give up. But ... I'm on the upswing.

Exciting news release from the gov't of Alberta:

Government Approves Province-Wide Smoking Ban in Public Places

Had dinner last night at Oceana restaurant ... oh so good. I had halibut and it was heavenly.

Will write more later on today.

HAPPY 1ST BIRTHDAY ERIC!!

Still ...

... no update on the transfer. I know ... aren't you go crazy with anticipation, just like me? It's awful.

I've been feeling pretty yucky - Jason is super sick and I think my body is trying to fight it. Haven't done much the last two days. ALTHOUGH, I'm pretty excited about wearing the pants that my sister brought back from Thailand for me (I think they're called Fisherman's Pants). I feel so exotic in them. Very exciting. They look like this:

... but where these ones are grey, mine are purple, and where they're black, mine have a pretty purple patterned kind of fabric. You fold these pants and tie them, and they are super slick, comfy, and make you feel very skinny. Wearing them today made me think about a law classmate of mine who notoriously hates capri pants. Ahahahahaha. He'd hate these pants, even with the cool exotic flavour.

The hard part was finding shoes to go with. I feel naturally drawn to wearing them with flip-flops, but flip-flops unfortch aren't work appropriate. Went with some black slip-on kind of shoes ... but still seems off. Hmmm ... maybe the goal for the summer (in addition to all my other goals) can be to find the perfect Fisherman's pants shoes.

Work has been pretty busy today and yesterday, which is nice for me, but frustrating for all the people having computer problems.

I'm craving beach time in Penticton. Is that weird? Mmmm ... beach.

I Woke Up Coughing Last Night

So ... needless to say I'm not impressed with today. Hopefully the lungs won't quit on me at soccer tonight. To top it off, I decided that today is the day that I'm giving up coffee. Not necessarily for good, but for long enough that the dependency is gone. I do enjoy it, but I don't enjoy being it's slave.

Just checked U of C website, still no news with regards to the transfer.

In my quest for legal blogs/legal news sites that are going to be my frequent hits, I've come across these to try out:

e-legal, David Canton's Blog
Canadian Privacy Law Blog, David T.S. Fraser's Blog
The Estate House, Blog of The Estate House Law Firm in Edmonton
The Court, Osgoode Hall Law School Initiative to Debate/Discuss the SCC
Michael Geist, Canada's Research Chair of Internet and E-Commerce Law @ U of Ottawa
Precedent: The New Rules of Law and Style (I think I'm in love with this site)
Rob Hyndman, Business and Technology Lawyer
Slaw, co-operative blog about Canadian legal research and IT (I think I love this one too)
U of T Faculty of Law Faculty Blog

Looks like a few that I already know I'll keep going back to, but I'll try the rest out and see if they're worthy a coveted spot on my sidebar. Also - I actually do visit my sidebar links at least once a week - it's true. I try to keep the updated, too.

PS.

Found a neat site, added it to the sidebar:

http://www.lawtimesnews.com/

Interesting ...

Last semester I completed an online survey for a research paper, and I finally had time to read it (the student author was gracious enough to send me a copy). "The Ethical Values of Law Students: A Comparison of Students at Osgoode Hall Law School and the University of Saskatchewan's College of Law" by Joshua J.A. Henderson is a compelling read.

Among other things, Henderson explores where students fall on a continuum between viewing "law as a profession" vs. "law as a business". Hopefully when I practice law, I'll fall more on the "law as a profession" side of the spectrum.

Definitely something that I'd love to do further reading on.

I did go for making the roast last night, and had all of my siblings over for supper. They didn't seem to keel over from the cooking, so I must have done something right (although I did have to endure Joe comparing my roast to my Mom's ... ).

My sleep on the mattress was much better last night, but I fear that Jason still isn't sure about it.

AND ... I've only checked U of C twice today (still no answer). I know. Neurotic. But ... I'm trying to reign it in. Baby steps, people. Baby steps.

It Doesn't Make Sense ...

... that even after I washed my Huskie Hoodie, it still smells like campfire. I hope it really is campfire remnants, and not some kind of burning toast smell ... we all know what that means (yikes). Speaking of which, all of the Canadian "Part of Our Heritage" commercials can be browsed and viewed at this site: www.histori.ca. Do you have a favourite?

It seems ridiculous that two people can create so much laundry. I spent a lot of time yesterday doing laundry. I guess part of the reason is that I finally unpacked all of my Saskatoon clothes, and Jason and I had clothes from the May long weekend that weren't necessarily unwearable except for the campfire smoke smell, so into the wash they went. Oh well. It'll be nice to start this week with a closet full of clean clothes and a bedroom floor empty of dirty ones.

Makes me realize that Jason and I really need to do a purge. It's time to go through our closet together, and really be tough about deciding to get rid of things that we don't wear. Why is that always so hard?

I've been keeping the neuroticism under control over the weekend, and haven't checked into the U of C to see about my transfer (which isn't really that big of an achievement, since they don't work on weekends and nothing would change anyway, but I need to pat myself on the back where I can when it comes to keeping the crazy under control).

We got to sleep on our new mattress last night ... and it's actually pretty tough to say if we love it or not. We're both kind of sick right now (we blame our nephews ... everytime we see those kidlings, we come home and get sick ... just kidding, we don't really blame them ...), so we were both pretty uncomfortable. Hopefully we'll get a good sense of it in the next little while.

Got to play WOW yesterday, which was pretty fun. I'm thinking about throwing a roast and some potatoes into the slow cooker for supper tonight. Sounds like a good idea ... just need to get down to the kitchen to do it. Mmmm ... slowcooker roast ....

Ah Breakfast ...

... my favourite meal of the day. I got to meet two friends for breakfast this morning, and catch up with them over eggs and toast. It was glorious, and my favourite way to start a weekend. Made me realize how much I missed everyone while I was gone. SNIFF!

Washed my car, since we're going to try and sell it ... AND ... our new mattress was delivered today (not a moment too soon ... woke up with a real crick in my neck). I can't wait to give it a whirl tonight.

Luckily it looks like my flowers made it through the snowy weather, and since it's so beautiful today it looks like Jason and I are going to forego the housework and go for a rollerblade by the river.

Sigh.

I'm so happy here at home.

If only the ever-present worry in my head about the transfer to U of C would go away. It's really the only cloud on my horizon. Well ... that and trying to adjust to being at home again ... I underestimated how hard it would be to re-integrate into a life that I've been away from for 8 months. BUT ... that cloud is really more of a wisp now ... I'm almost through that one.

I'm also looking for a good legal news site to check into once in awhile. I want something easily scan-able ... let me know if anyone has one that they like (oh - CANADIAN too).

Captain Jack and Neurotic Lisa

Le sigh. Captain Jack Sparrow. How I love thee. Saw Pirates of the Caribbean last night ... was so good. SOO GOOD!

Takes me back to my post last July when I saw the last Pirates movie. I'm just as in love with Captain Sparrow now as I was then ... good thing he's a fictional character, or I may be in trouble with the Hubster.

LOVED Keith Richards in it. Didn't have a huge role, but he was really the ULTIMATE pirate. Dark, mysterious, sulky and sullen.

Also ... I thought I'd give you all a taste of my neuroticism. About a billion times a day I'm logging into "myUofC" to check the status of my transfer application. This is what it looks like ...

So ... as you can see ... it's complete. I'm hoping that I'll log in eventually and see a green check mark instead of the circle ... but the more I think about it ... if I see anything else, I may have a heart attack. A mini one, but it would definitely mark as precursor to a break-down. Well ... maybe not a break-down, but some real disappointment.

Instead, maybe I should just google some nice pics of Captain Jack. That could be just the diversion that I need.

PS.

I added my cousin Jaycee and her BF Jason's trip website to my sidebar. Check it out!

Wow.

Check out the view from my window this morning:









Unbelievable. I woke up to snow. At least it isn't accumulating on the street, and it wasn't too snowy when I walked in to work, but it is so heavy that I guess there are split/fallen trees all over, and I made sure I didn't walk under any trees since they were dropping snow globs by the handful on unsuspecting heads. I covered my little flowerpots on the deck last night, and brought them in close to the house ... hopefully they'll be OK.

And ... as promised ... pics of this past weekends shed building extravaganza:





I told you ... it's a gorgeous, totally luxe shed. Awesome work boyz.

Last night Jason and I bought a new mattress. We went to Sleep Country, and the service was pretty good. It's a much softer mattress, so we'll have to make use of the 60-day guarantee if we just can't take it. I'm so excited ... we get it delivered this weekend. Goodbye old IKEA mattress that sags in the middle!!!

PS.

My U of C transfer file is complete. They got my U of S transcripts yesterday ... and I have confirmation that everything is in. That's relief #1 (actually ... relief #1.5 ... since relief #1 was getting my marks back and seeing that they're decent). Now ... waiting hopefully to achieve relief #2 (i.e. THE TRANSFER). It's a waiting game to hear now. I'll be running home everyday checking the mailbox like a crazy woman. Fingers crossed for me ... everyone out there. I thought about having to pack up to go back to Saskatoon in the fall, and I almost cried. I'm just starting to get used to being around the hubster again!!!

I Was So Lucky This Morning

The rain held off long enough for me to walk from where I park to work. I was worried, because I couldn't find my umbrella this morning, and my new haircut isn't so good with the drowned rat look (not to mention how professional it looks to have mascara running down your face).

Anyhoo - I was grabbing a coffee at the hospital cafeteria this morning when I realized how much I miss our Tim Horton's runs at U of S. So good ... so cheap ... so nice in the morning/early afternoon/evening/whenever we needed a perk. Sigh.

I got a membership form for LEAF yesterday (Women's Legal Education and Action Fund), so I have to send that in so I can join up and hopefully get involved. There isn't a Calgary branch ... but maybe that's something I can help fix in the future.

It's so funny how sometimes I'm surprised by certain things about myself. For instance, last night I wasn't feeling great (awww ... I know ... I know, thanks for the sympathy), so I logged onto my computer and did some work on a website for a friend that's getting married next year. What surprised me was how much I loved it. I always forget that the reason I actually did do an undergrad in computer science was because I do like the creative side of programming (not that I was "programming" in Flash, but I was getting a little more advanced than I had been before ... I've been trying to expand my Flash knowledge). When I went to bed afterwards I got that same feeling that I used to get when I was working on an exciting assignment where my brain just kept going a million miles a minute.

Sigh.

Fun. I like dabbling in websites on a volunteer basis - since I feel like that way there isn't the same demand on me ... pressure ... stress ... I CAN'T TAKE ANYMORE OF IT ... whew ... sorry ... flashback to school and Saskatoon ... I'm OK now.

AND ... the plan to wean myself from coffee isn't going as well as I had hoped. I was blaming school on the need for caffeine ... but it looks like I need it for work too. Humph.

I'm off to read more about Flash now ... I want to see if I can create some super funky menus where I move buttons around on mouse clicks. Hmmmm ....

May Long Weekend - Always Bliss

I'm not ready to continue my summary of law school yet - so stay tuned for that.

As for my long weekend, Jason and I went to Buck Lake where my in-laws have a spot. It was rather rainy and somewhat chilly, so the outdoor fun was somewhat limited ... but they did raise a shed in 2 1/2 days. I'll attach pictures later, since the shed that was built almost deserves to be classified as a piece of art, if not a thing of beauty.

I got to read much of Fried Green Tomatoes by Fanny Flagg (I'm so excited because I just got a Calgary public library card ... I intend to use the cr@p out of it by the end of the summer), sit by the campfire, make/eat s'mores, play with my nephews, and play Wii. It was super relaxing, and even sleeping in a tent was kind of fun.

I signed up an ultimate Frisbee team for the summer, and I'm so excited (and thinking of Leah and John). I've never played before, so it should be pretty interesting. I think I'm going to try and catch a game in the league that's playing now (spring), so I can get a feel for what it's all about.

Still haven't heard about my transfer to U of C yet ... and I'm dying! It's killing me to have to wait. It's all I think about (besides chocolate, and s'mores ... since this weekend ... my mother-in-law bought those chocolate covered digestive cookies which we s'more-ed up ... OH MAN were they ever heavenly).

Hopefully the rain holds off for soccer tonight. I need everyone out there to send Calgary sunny vibes. Starting ..... NOW!

Wow.

One call I got at work today was about how to share custom e-mail groups with another person in Outlook.

Hilarious that it took me so long to answer. Needless to say, the user had a different version of Outlook than I did, and it was about a billion times easier to do on her workstation (basically, consisted of some copying and pasting).

Wow.

Being on the hardware side of support (as opposed to the software side that my experience is in), I find I've finally wrapped my head around the fact that most calls can be fixed by (as my co-worker put it today) the three R's; reboot, re-install, re-image. I always think that the problem is going to be more complex than just a re-start ... and sometimes it is, but more often than not ... it isn't.

Just a lesson for everyone out there ... reboot your computer first ... you just may feel like a computer genius if that alone fixes your problem.

Dodgeball last night was pretty crazy. There were some dodgeballs flying at what seemed to be warp speeds, sometimes a little too close to my head for comfort. I'm feeling like dodgeball is great, but that one season will be enough for me. Don't need to add reconstructive nose surgery to my "to do" list this summer.

I'm feeling a little Martha-ish right now ... looks like some baking in my future ... possibly my immediate future!

Alrighty Then ... Law School 1L the Summary: Part 1
(as written for those yet to experience the bliss of law school)

I know ... I've been thinking about how to go about putting this all down for some time now. Hopefully this turns out more coherent than confusing, but I'll do my best.

So ... 1L. How to summarize in a useful and meaningful way. First of all, I want to address some of the questions that I had last summer that I couldn't seem to get answers to.

1. What's the workload really like?

For me, at the U of S, the workload was really quite manageable. Law school consists mostly of keeping up with your readings for each class, some assignments (we had four assignments throughout the entire year), and exams.

Readings: Assigned readings consist of mostly cases, but sometimes we were assigned current event clips, and journal articles. Readings were anywhere from 6 - 40 pages per class, they took me longer than the readings that I used to do in undergrad, but I only had class twice a week for each class ... so you had quite a bit of time between classes to get to the reading. Since I treated law school like a job I was at school at 8:00 (ish) every morning and did my readings then, and in between class. I rarely read at home, and I kept up with almost all my readings. I also took lunch in the law lounge with my buddies, and sometimes didn't even get to the readings between classes. The 2 hours in the morning really helped me stay on track.

Assignments: The four assignments that we had were

The Closed Memo (i.e. your research is handed to you). This is the first 1L assignment, and so some people really freak out. Basically, you have to read about 6 cases (which you'll have had practice doing already), and write a memo about them within a week. The memo is about 12 pages long double spaced. The best piece of advice that I have about this is to really use this as an opportunity to understand legal writing. It is different from other types of writing. Don't freak out, it isn't worth it. It is a little bit ridiculous to have a melt-down over an assignment worth so little, and where any kind of feedback that you get is really helpful. Also - don't leave it to the last minute. It may take you a bit longer than assignments you did in undergrad (not the theory, but the actual construction ... took me awhile to organize in a way that I liked).

The Open Memo (i.e. you do your own legal research). You'll have about 10 days or so to research and write a memo about a fact pattern. This, I found to be easier than the closed memo because I had a better idea about what was expected. I think I wrote a lot about it after I finished the assignment in November.

The Written Summary and Oral Advocacy (MOOT). This was a little terrifying, but didn't take nearly as long to prepare (although, I'm fairly comfortable with public speaking). Again, i think I wrote a lot about this after I finished the moot in January.

The ADR Assignment. A paper type of assignment, not like legal writing assignments, applying the alternate dispute resolution methods that we'd been learning about. This assignment was relatively quick compared to the others, I did most of mine leisurely over spring break.

Exams: I prepared like crazy. All exams were open book and worth so much of your mark, you really had to be prepared. Last minute cramming won't fly, and this is where staying up with your readings really helps out.

Summary: I didn't work while I went to law school, but I think I could have swung a part-time job, especially in first term. This would require extreme organization, but I think it could be managed. Part-time work would have to be evenings and weekends, though. There isn't much time during the day, as your classes span regular business hours (at U of S, anyway) from Monday to Friday.

2. What are the classes really like?

One things that is important about law classes is preparation. The profs don't lecture, really, and tell you what is what ... they discuss the cases from your assigned reading, and show you how the cases fit together to form a dynamic picture of the law. Discussion is key - and if you haven't read, there's not much to discuss. I got a lot more out of classes when I was prepared for them.

Should be a Good Summer

Still waiting to hear from U of C (oh puh-lease, puh-lease, puh-lease let me get a transfer).

Love my new job. I'm actually learning a lot, and I really like working on the hardware side of things. I get to answer the help desk line, and go visit people at their computers to help them make everything work. My co-workers are pretty awesome and helpful too - which makes a HUGE difference.

I found a nice secret little parking spot that's about a 10 minute walk from the hospital, so my mornings have been starting with nice saunters in the sunshine. I'm a happy camper.

Went to a friend's baby shower on Saturday, and had a great Mother's day with my MUM on Sunday. The fam went to Nakoda Lodge for brunch. We've been for brunch there before, and with a reservation we usually walk right in ... but on Sunday, with a 12:00 reservation, we were in line (in the rainy, cold, overcast weather) until 1:00. I'm not sure what was going on, whether they overbooked, or what the case was ... but it was chaos, and really unsatisfactory. We were seated in a back room where we missed out on the Aboriginal dancing display.

I've been hitting the gym, eating healthy, and I play soccer again tonight. Hopefully the blizzard pudge starts coming off like crazy!!!

Happy Mother's Day

I swear ... soon, soon I'll get back into the swing of blogging.

Things to Report:

I like my new job.
I'm back into playing soccer, I'm trying dodgeball for the first time, and I've been hitting the gym regularly ... all of which, in combination with trying to eat healthy, has left me rather exhausted lately.
We got our marks back for school, so my transcripts have been requested to be sent to the U of C ... the final step in my transfer application. The only stressful thing left right now is waiting to hear about the transfer. AURGH! Jason and I are in total stasis until we hear about whether I'm going back to Saskatoon in the fall (i.e. and whether he can come with me), or whether I get to stay at home. Sigh. Hopefully I find out sooner rather than later.

Wow, So I Know I Have a Lot of Catching Up to Do

So ... where to start.

Things I want to talk about:

1. Summarize various aspects of my first year of law school.
2. Outline my Oregon vacation.
3. Pat myself on the back for getting a SUMMER JOB today!!!

So ... we'll start with #3, since it's the easiest! I got a summer job today that I'll be starting next week. It's a summer student position in an Information Technology department with the Alberta Cancer Board ... kind of like my last job, but as a summer student I'll have less responsibility, and more grunt work (I'm assuming), and NO ON-CALL ... tra-la-la.

Now ... I think I'll discuss #2, since I think #1 will take more than one posting over the course of some time, as I ponder and deliberate about it all.

Oregon was great. We took our 1979 motorhome down there (drove almost 2000KM round trip). We went with my brother (and his bud), Jason's brother (and his wife and kids), and Jason's parents. There were two motorhomes, and a truck pulling a trailer with four quads and a dirtbike. I wish I hadn't forgotten my camera ... there was some awesome quadding on the dunes of Oregon. We stayed in Reedsport (Jackie - as per Wikipedia: "It was named for a local settler, Alfred W. Reed, who founded the city in 1912."), which is hailed as "the gateway to the dunes". My SIL (a pro photographer) got some neat shots of the quadding, and my brother took some shots with a film camera, so when I get some permission/scan some shots, I'll try and post some of those pics here.



The vacation was driving for three days down there (stayed in Cranbrook @ Mt. Baker campground in town, was a great one-night stop, and just outside of the Dalles in a State Campground ... was great for a one-night stop too), ATV-ing like crazy for four days, and then driving three days back (stayed in Boardman @ the Driftwood RV Resort, and Cranbrook).

I got a little bit of shopping in, but not as much as my feet would have liked (I did get three pairs of shoes though, you'd think my feet would be happy with that, but they're never happy ... they always want more shoes).

On the trip, pretty much all of us (except for my brother and his friend) got sick. I'm still recovering, and may have to make a trip to the Doc since my throat and ears are STILL SORE.

All in all, it was a good time. I even jumped my quad, and I got a pink ATV helmet, pink gloves, and a pink flag for my quad that says "Girls Kick Ass". It was pretty awesome watching the "hard-core" guys ride my quad with that flag flapping in the wind.

I even read two books, which is always the sign of a good vacation.

Sigh. I'm too tired now to even get into #1. Must save that for tomorrow and the days following. You readers will have to be satisfied with this for now. It is the first day since I got sick that I actually feel human again. Hopefully, the mend trend continues, and tomorrow I can take on even more.

AND NOW ... dinner and ANTM. WOO HOO!

I Was UnPlugged AND Plugged-Up at the Same Time

Oregon was great. Forgot my camera, so pics aren't plentiful. There were no wi-fi internet connections where we were staying, so I had no internet, and most of the time I had no cell phone connection (plus my battery died, and I didn't bring my charger). I was totally unplugged from my techno-communication, and then I got sick (hence, the title).

I'll write more, as I get through unpacking both the motorhome and my hatchback (which is still waiting to be unpacked from Saskatoon).

But ... sigh, sigh, sigh. Back in Calgary. Got to spend some QT with the Husband, and we're slowly adjusting to being around each other again.

Still looking for a job, though.

Finished.

Unbelievable. Still alive. Finished Thursday afternoon, drank Thursday night, moved Friday, today I leave on vacation.

Will write more when along our vacation. Yowzers.

Four Down. One to Go.

And ... Crim almost killed me, so no comment on that one. EVER. Don't even mention it to me. Well, maybe next week you can ... but DON'T even think about it until then.

Some Comments

So ... Contracts exam was ... not difficult per se. The test was NOTHING that was unexpected. If you're reading this and planning to attend U of S law school, Axworthy's Contracts exams don't change from year to year. You may get a tiny tweak in the fact pattern, or in the case that the fact pattern surrounds ... generally the facts sound like one case, but the law is from another case ... either way ... if you do the practice exams, you'll know what to expect. I don't mean this to say that I think I did well, but I wasn't surprised. OH - and look at past tutorials too, those revolve in and out of exams. Plus side is you'll be prepared, down side is that so will everyone else ... remember the wicked curve that ruins peoples' lives ... yeah.

As for yesterday, I did a lot of sleeping, dabbling in studying, and generally tried to avoid a melt-down. Oh, and I packed up my room a little, did the last load of laundry that I'll do here in Saskatoon.

This exam schedule is killing me, I'm drained, tired, exhausted, and so ready to go home. I'm dangerously close to having a pity party, and I am losing the energy to combat it all. Upside is, only two exams left, and less than a week to go. This time next week, I'll be in Oregon. Sigh. Oregon.

Three Down. Two to go.

A Few Comments About the Exams So Far

Property: Test seemed kind of tough, was really about being able to identify issues ... it wasn't clear cut which way you could take each question, but I think that was the point ... you had some freedom and flexibility to apply many different concepts ... you just had to pick and choose because of the time constraints.

Test consisted of: 4 definitions, 1 short policy essay, 1 short aboriginal property law question, 1 short question with estate/perpetutites type problems, and a longer fact pattern type of question. I was writing like a demon for the full three hours. I felt relatively prepared, but as I still feel like somewhat of a newbie when I write law exams, I wasn't sure how far I could take my assumptions to apply a certain concept. We'll see.

Charter: Test was exactly as previous tests in form, with a few twists on the fact patterns. Wasn't surprising, but was another test that kept me writing for the full three hours. 3 Fact patterns and an essay. I found that the book "The Charter of Rights and Freedoms" by Robert J. Sharpe and Kent Roach really helped with everything. Especially the essay question.

And now, I'm going to see if this coffee shop has some ice for "the claw" ... you know, that thing that my hand is turning into from all the exam writing it has endured so far.

I Just Burnt My Tongue ...

... and surprisingly I don't care about it. Why? Because I'm feeling rather Carrie Bradshaw-ish at the moment. I was sipping my Caffe Broadway in the Roastery, while typing on my laptop, basking in the sunshine in their big window. Burnt my tongue, but the atmosphere here is about 1000% better than the frenzy of the law library.

Here's a tip to anyone that's thinking about law school - avoid the law library once it gets close to exams. Before exams, it's not bad ... but the close you get, the more you can feel it in the air, smell it on the students around you, and taste it in your gulps of anxiety. Find yourself a place that has an internet connection, good coffee, and excellent background music (Roastery fits all these things - especially the background music).

Now, I turn to Contracts.

Two Down. Three to go.

Happy Birthday Jock!

One Down. 4 to go.

Congratulations Nick & Carrie!!!

I'm So Hungry Right Now

I'm afraid that I might keel over.

BUT ... fear not ... pizza is on it's way. And ... I'm on my way back to contracts.

Don't you all love reading about how boring my life is during exam-prep time? Last night, I did watch About a Boy, though. LOVE that movie (makes me think of my Sister Julie).

This May Be Helpful

A fellow classmate showed this to me today:

http://www.ratemyprofessors.com/index.jsp?country=1

Am I a Geek ...

... for liking my Charter class? It's all so very interesting. I like it all. I like the statutory interpretation aspect of it ... I like the policy/fundamental law building aspects of it.

It's so very exciting.

AND ... I'm almost done preparing for my Charter exam.

1 Class down, 4 to go.

I'm about half way through property, 1/3 of the way through contracts, and I haven't started torts and criminal yet ... but criminal has 33 cases to prep, tort ~50 ... so in comparison to the 100 or so cases I had to prepare in both Charter and Contracts ... I feel like I'm ahead of the game, so to speak.

Onward, fearsome Tuesday April 10th ... I think I may be ready for you. I fear you not, although I anxiety you (wink, wink), my heart is palpitating and my palms are sweaty ... my knees are weak too ... but that's muscle atrophy from all the time I've been spending in the law library. It's a shame, really. I liked my leg muscles.

Oh - and ...


... yesterday while I was avoiding studying, I updated my sidebar links. There are a couple of new ones, and I took away the ones that are either stale, broken, or ones that I just never check out. The rest are ones that I actually read somewhat regularly.

If anyone has any good sites as reccomendos for adding to my sidebar, feel free to suggest in comments.

This Mornings Re-Cap ... so Far

- Decided not to go to school to study, but to study from home (roomies are both out)
- Ate oatmeal and left-over Chinese food
- Applied for another summer job (took a long time to write the cover letter for that one)
- Started my Property studying, again (day 2)
- Tried to think of a nickname for myself for my Dodgeball team shirt (AND ... came up pretty empty, I don't really have any nicknames)
- Planned out dinner with the roomie (in honour of our weekly ANTM dinner party)
- Had a shower, did my hair
- Loaded the dishwasher and ran it
- Wrote on my blog.


AND ... now I'm going to try and get back to studying.


WHY IS IT SO HARD TO REMAIN FOCUSED?!??!?!?!?!

AND ...

Happy B-Day U of S (She's 100 years old today, you know.)

Bloggers Are Everywhere ... AAHAHAHAHAHAHAAAA!

When I started blogging last June, I had no idea how huge the blogging community was. I'm still a newbie, but the power of the blog seems to be on a roller-coaster of recognition.

For legal blogs, here are some tips from the Canadian Bar Association when it comes to blogging:

http://www.cba.org/cba/PracticeLink/TAYP/blogpolicies.aspx

Now, if only the subliminal messages that I plant in my blog will finally come to fruition. One day ... one day.

Contracts CANS

In some of the CANS I got from the LSA it says that the Judicature Act bit can be found in Saskatchewan's Queen's Bench Act in Section 7 ... but I found it in Section 64 (PART IX).

I figure that anything I find to be "off" in the CANS, I'll post it here.

Oh Yeah ...

... and when the BF of my Roomie was over watching NASCAR, he used a phrase that I can't get out of my head - reminds me of law schooling and the dreaded marking curve.

Word of the week; Co-opetition.

Do you love it as much as I do?

So ...


... I'm in exam mode, which explains the absence. If I'm not at school, I'm at home sleeping, basically.

And ... ever since I switched my blogger to beta with Google, I've had problems remembering my password, and I haven't had the time to go through the steps to recover it until now.

So ... lucky you, whoever you are reading this, I'm back.

For a bit.

But ... I'm going again. To study. I need to pass my first year of law school, or else the entire idea of this blog would be really embarrassing.

Anything exciting to catch everyone up? Let's see ... I did make peanut butter chocolate chip cookies tonight while I was studying. That was fun, and a highlight of the week, so you can see how my week has been.

Sigh.

I'll be a better blogger when this first year is over, I promise, and I'll write a lot about my experiences. Girl Guide's honour.

I've never had a year-long course before this year, and now I know that I was smart to avoid them. You feel like a rockstar in December when you only have midterms, but now ... remembering back to Sept/Oct is pretty hairy, especially since right now I can barely remember what I ate for dinner ... tonight.


Yikes.

There's just so much material to go though. Hopefully I can crank away at a reasonable rate. So far I'm almost done getting through one course, so ALMOST 1 down, 4 to go. I've made tiny starts on two others, and I've got almost this whole week to try and attempt the rest.

So ... please, everyone who reads this ... send me some exam-lucky kind of vibes, and hopefully I'll pull through this alive.