Things That Confuse Me

Right now, I'm a little puzzled why the IRS would decide it was worth their time to audit a pair of newlyweds who probably could have made twice as much money last year and still have gotten all their taxes back.

Also, why is it so easy to stumble across delicious looking recipes when you're not looking for them, but so impossible to figure out what to make dinner once you get hungry?*

*in full disclosure, it would probably be easier if I planned ahead and A) made it to the store to get things like bread, eggs, flour, and pasta sauce and B) wasn't trying to make dinner twenty minutes before I wanted to eat it... but that would actually require foresight.

Reasons I Wish I Were Still a 1L

I've decided I'm going to just go back to being a 1L. Why, you might ask, would I want to give up being able to choose my own classes and occiasionally have new students look up to me like I'm smart or important for having finished a year of law school, only to go back to the bottom of the pile?

1. For 1st years, 15 credits involves reading about 180 pages a week. Which takes about 18 hours to get through. For 2nd years, 15 credits involves reading about 300 pages a week. Which, as you might deduce if you have the math skillz, takes about 30 hours a week to plow through.

2. Because of their lesser reading load, plus not being allowed to work, not being on journals, and not having to find a job for after graduation, first year students occaisionally have time to go to the grocery store/load the dishwasher/have brief conversations with their husbands.

3. So far, it seems that a substantial part of the 2L experience is gettting letters of rejection from various firms you were hoping would hire you

4. The busyness, the emerging journal cliques, and the fact that you don't have classes with the rest of your cohorts mean that you never really see any of your friends anymore

5. Getting to choose your own schedule means having to worry about final exam conflicts

6. All those 1L's might look up to you, but they also overrun all your favorite study spots and spend a lot of time complaining about how they have a ridiculous amount of reading. It was much more fun to be the one blissfully comiserating about the 180 pages.

7. 1L orientation is still going on... which means lots of free food (for them)

8. The most important reason I wish I was still a 1L? As a first year, I spent my days sitting in class, hoping I didn't get called on. Totally innocent, normal behavior. As a 2nd year, though, I challenged myself to occasionally volunteer in class, because class participation actually factors into our grades. The problem is, once I started talking, it became really comfortable, and now I'm having a hard time sitting on my hands during class so I don't overvolunteer. It's obnoxious... I spent all of graduate school getting chewed out my teachers for never participating, and now law school's turned me into a gunner. Sounds weird, but I miss my formerly timid 1L self... it was much less embarassing.

Ok, so maybe I'm being a little dramatic. I love my job, I love the journal, and I like almost all of my classes (one class I'm taking only for a graduation requirement wasn't quite as interest grabbing, but it's definitely growing on me). I'd just like 50 hour days (with mandatory nap times, of course), a job offer for next summer, and some kind of muzzle. Ooohh... and some brownies!