Decompression

I've been trying to spend the last few days just relaxing, and for the most part I've succeeded. I've been cleaning up the piles of notes, etc., and getting the BarBri stuff together so I can send it back for my deposit. If I have to do this again, I'm not sure I'll do BarBri again. I'm keeping my flashcards and condensed outlines from the lectures, though, just in case. And the PMBR books of course.

I spent this morning baking chocolate chip cookies with my nephew. He pronounced himself the "best chocolate-chip cookie baker in the world."

Thursday I have to go downtown and do all of my "new employee" paperwork. I have reconsidered and will try to keep the blog open even after I start work, even if I can't talk about work. I'll need somewhere to talk about bar results, and the eventual new job search, after all!

Harry Potter

I spent the afternoon reading the new Harry Potter book - bliss!

Day Two

Finished! I celebrated by going out to my favorite Mexican restaurant, and having a delicious margarita. Yum.

This morning went pretty well, but I was really dragging after lunch and had to keep reminding myself to focus. I thought the questions were a bit easier than the PMBR practice ones (at least shorter!), so I'm really glad I did the PMBR class. Yesterday I ate lunch in my car, but today I sat with some friends out on the grass by the convention center because it was so nice out.

And no rain today - I walked out into the sunshine this afternoon, and felt like a huge weight had been lifted. It's all over but the waiting for the scores!

All I have planned for the next couple of days is - nothing. I'm going to relax, read, watch TV, sleep, whatever! And read the Harry Potter book, of course!

Day One

Day one down - I feel pretty good about it, but I don't know how to tell. I wrote something for every essay (12 half-hour essays). I know I misstated some stuff, and missed some stuff, and made up some stuff. I remembered more than I thought I would. It was more time-pressured than I thought it would be. It was much quieter than I thought - I couldn't even hear the laptop typers on the other side of the gigantic convention center exhibition hall - all I could hear was the hum of the air conditioner. Okay, roar, but it was the perfect white noise.

It took me forever to get home because of course there was a gigantic thunderstorm just as we were leaving downtown, and I don't live near downtown.

I feel brain fried, so I think I'm going to get something to eat and veg out in front of the TV until I can go to sleep. MBEs tomorrow!

We are the Champions

That's song was on the radio when I got in my car to go get coffee (okay, and donuts) this morning. That will be my theme song for the next few days.

Good luck to everyone taking the bar this week, especially those of you blogging along with me through all this. Special luck to Zuska and Law-rah - we've been together through law school, we can make it through this! Thanks to everyone who commented and stayed with me through this angst.

And special special thanks to Brian D., who has been the voice of reason to help me through.

Essays

I would have more confidence in the BarBri model answers if they got the names of the people from the hypo correct in the answer.

I've been alternating feeling fine with freaking out today - right now I'm going to freak out until dinner, then study some more after that.

Should be?

The other day we got an email from our local BarBri office and the first line was "About now, you should be overwhelmed, tired and scared to death." I find that less than helpful. "Should" is not the right word. I think "you are probably..." is what she really meant. Anyway, it was annoying. Today I got the Top 10 tips from Kaplan/PMBR, and I thought those were helpful. I always get caught by the correct statement of fact vs. correct statement of law trap. Also, I need to not change my answers!

Anyway, I'm too tired to worry today, so what's occupying my thoughts are what to pack for lunch for the big days. We technically should have an hour for lunch, but I don't want to worry about getting to a restaurant and back again in time, so I'm brown-bagging. Of course, it's still summer here, so that means something that can survive being in an ice chest for the whole morning, sitting in my car since we aren't allowed to bring any food into the test (unless we have a doctor's note.) Any ideas? I'm thinking yogurt and granola bars, and some fruit. And some chocolate, of course, as a mood booster.

I'm so jealous of anyone who gets to start reading the Harry Potter book. I wonder if it's possible to avoid spoilers for a whole week?

Tick tock

I can't believe it's only 5 days until the big day now. It's good to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I still feel there is no way I can get all of the information into my brain in time to spit it back out again next week. I'm still chugging along, though - memorizing, practicing - but there is always the fear that it isn't enough. I'm guessing it's normal to feel this way at this point, though.

Monday Monday

I went bowling last night with my sister and her husband and my nephew - it was pretty fun. My nephew has an interesting technique - he just grabs the ball with both hands, scurries to the line and heaves the ball down the lane. They put the bumpers in the gutter so he wouldn't get any gutter balls, so that improved my game as well. Haha. But seriously, don't people know the proper bowling etiquette? Aren't you supposed to wait for the person in the lane next to you before you take your turn? We waited for the people on either side of us, but they acted as if we didn't exist. And they weren't all kids, either.

Anyway, contracts and con law for today - review, essays and some MBEs I guess. I made up a schedule for the rest of the week (which includes buying the Harry Potter book on Saturday. I'm giving it to my sister to read and she is instructed not to return it to me until after the bar exam.) If I follow the schedule, I'll have been through all of my outlines twice, and hopefully will finish the last of the MBEs in the PMBR red book. I guess I should look at the released questions, too. I need to at least outline some more essays, as well. It'll be a fun week!

Officially Graduated!

I got my diploma today!

10 More days

Only 10 days to go. I'm feeling a bit better today - I sat out on our porch to study yesterday and the day before. It's almost like being outside, and it's cool enough in the mornings (or after a little thunderstorm, as on Thursday) to make it nice. I'm also looking forward to going bowling with my sister and brother-in-law and nephew tomorrow evening. At least it's something besides studying to look forward to.

LOL - a little comic relief

(Via A Girl Walks Into a Bar Exam)

Bar Exam LOL Cats (you'll need to log in to facebook)

Enjoy!

So tired

Tired. I really hope I pass, because I don't want to have to go through this again, ever. But this is the crunch time, so we are supposed to push through. Two more weeks, then I can read normal books, watch TV, go shopping, go to the movies, talk to friends. Hopefully I'll also stop dreaming about the exam - last night it was Commercial Paper. Seriously, it hasn't been on the exam in 15 years (since they changed the format) - couldn't my brain help me by going over Property in my sleep? No, apparently not.

Does everyone else get upset when someone says "don't worry, you'll do fine" and the person is not one who has actually taken a bar exam? I don't know what they should say instead (definitely not "you're right, you are going to fail").

Random thoughts while studying for the bar

What would professors use for hypos if it weren't for Britney Spears, Justin Timberlake, Homer Simpson, etc? I guess they are preferable to Vicky or Paula or Dave (Victim, Plaintiff, and Defendant as you all know).

I find myself so jealous of people with free time.

I get unreasonably upset whenever someone asks me to do something, and want to say "Can't you see I'm studying! I can't possibly empty the dishwasher!" Unreasonable.