*thump**thump**thump*

As I type this (and for the past several hours), a herd of elephants is parading about above me.  Ok, so maybe they might actually be roofers with nail guns, but the unpleasant effect on my sanity is the same.

In the good news, I'm not dead - just lazy.  I'm enjoying my new job, but working full time has left me with considerably less free time than I was envisioning for this summer.  Plus, the monstrous law review packet (which finally arrived) may not have taken up all my spare time, but it has done a pretty good job of ruining those free minutes with gnawing sensations of guilt.

I did finally see Benjamin Button.  I don't know why I'm so drawn to stories and movies that explore the brevity of life and the tragedy of mortality - I always end up in tears almost from the start.  It was pretty good, though.

And I just finished reading The Prophecy of the Stones.  Maybe it doesn't quite count for my literary accomplishment for the summer, but it was really good - and written by a 13 year old, to boot.  It makes me so old to realize that I'll never be a teenage author... or an Olympic gymnast... or tall.  That's probably the best part about being a kid - your life has infinite possibilities, and there doesn't seem to be any reason that you can't grow up to do and see and be everything you want.

Well, I need to go figure out what we're having for dinner.  I'm really in the mood for some cake, but it's much too hot in here to turn the oven on.  I might have to settle for some ice cream (we just bought a tub yesterday, so it should hopefully still be icicle-free, despite our evil freezer).

Summer!

After 2 semesters as a lowly first year student, I'm now officially a 2L.  Unfortunately, unlike levelling up in a video game, this hasn't appeared to give me any special powers or even made me aware of any previously-locked secret areas.  I guess that must not happen until you become a 3L...

My exams went alright(ish).  As mentioned earlier, I forgot about the First Amendment during my Con Law exam.  My Torts exam was so severely word limited that I couldn't really explore any nuances.  The exam I'm most worried about, though, is Property - I started getting a migraine half an hour before the exam, and even though I loaded up on Excedrin when I realized what was happening, I know the first third of the test was consequentially a probable disaster.  But enough about that... there's no point in obsessing now, considering that I won't get my grades for at least 3 weeks (some rumors have even suggested that they won't be in until late June!  I don't think my sanity is that patient). 

Almost as predictable as my impatience for my grades, the end of the semester has also filled me with grandiose plans for this summer:

1. Do the law review write on (of course, this goal might be a little bit easier to accomplish if they actually gave us the packets with our topic assignments - we were expecting them 62 hours ago).

2. Assuming I make law review, start working on research for a note topic

3. Travel (visit Utah, Chicago, Michigan City, the Amish, Canada, and hopefully D.C.)

4. On campus interviews

5.  Try to get a jump-start on coursework for semester

6. Move to a bigger apartment (meaning one that actually has a bedroom).  Furnish/decorate it adorably.  And keep it clean.

7. Write another novel.  Maybe actually let someone besides my mom read it this time.

8. Find a recipe for brownies from scratch that I like as much as the box kind (a surprisingly difficult struggle, to be honest... I've already been working on this one for several months)

9. Read something literary.  I'm not sure what yet... any suggestions?

10.  Watch all my DVDs with the French dubbing on, in a probably-too-late attempt to remember the language.

11.  Start hitting the gym again.  Law school killed all those good exercise habits I built up in grad school.

12.  Actually use the pool at our apartment complex, at least once

13.  Get caught up on movies and TV shows.  Especially want to see Benjamin Button.

14.  Write letters.  And actually mail them.

15.  Take pictures of me and Mike doing all these fun things.  Maybe even blog about it.

And, of course, (16.) work.  This summer is going to be epic.

Random Ramblings of an Exam-Fried Mind

I may be in the midst of the most grueling finals week of my life, but, hey, at least one week from today I'll be free!*

Although, truth be told, as demoralizing as exams are, there's a little part of me that kind of likes the insanity.  If only that little part of me would have chimed in to remind myself about the existence of the First Amendment during my Con Law exam this afternoon...

I had the first Gyro of my life today, and thought it was delicious.  Plus, an excellent excuse to get bakalava... mmmmmmhmmm! 

*Working on a twenty or thirty page paper and an exam on citation forms for the law review competition.