A Belated Resolution

Each January I entertain the idea of making resolutions for the new year, but I'm never serious about them. Or I'll think of a really easy one and just half-ass it for about a month before it disappears altogether. This year will be different. Last year opened up a lot of things to me, and since I'm single once again, I have the time and energy to devote to a resolution. There's just one with some ways to make it happen...

Make myself healthier.

How?

1. Eat better.

--I have a weird eating schedule when I'm in school because of time constraints. So, I need to find a good schedule of good foods and eat them regularly.

2. Get out of unhealthy relationships when I first realize they're unhealthy.

--Heartbreak is one of the worst feelings ever... this past month has been awful, and I'm not about to feel that way again for a very long time.

3. Work out a lot more.

--This time last year I was doing yoga a few times a week consistently for a couple of months until I got kind of sick and never really got back into it again. Now is the time to start doing it again to keep myself sane.

4. Study more.

--Since I'm doing a victory semester, this is really the last semester I have to really give my GPA another boost before I apply to law school. My second try at the LSAT is five months away and there's no way I can have another mental breakdown before it.

5. Surround myself with my best friends.

--Four of my very best friends are graduating in May. Two are going up to NYC, one to Austin, and the other to grad school in either California or Colorado. All of us don't really have that much time in the same place so we're going to make this semester the very best!

6. Try to read more books for fun.

--I've always loved reading. College has made it more and more difficult to read for fun. All the stress to come is going require reading as an escape.

But, first and foremost, I need to kick this black lung I've had going since before finals. It will not go away so I'm finally going to the doctor tomorrow. We'll see how that goes.

Merry Christmas

Hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!

(And Happy Bowling for those of you with teams in bowl games!)

What a Start to Christmas Break

Since I have returned home for break, I've cut my finger while slicing a bagel, burned a knuckle trying to put a pizza in the oven, and now I have a black eye.

These are my two dogs, Macy and Bear. Macy is a 2 year old Portuguese Water Dog and Bear is a 9 month old, 80 pound Bouvier des Flandres.

They both get really really excited when I come home and come downstairs in the mornings. Bear doesn't realize how big he is so it can be painful when he starts jumping around all excitedly. Yesterday morning when I came downstairs, I bent down to pet Bear and he jumped up and his head smacked my face in just the right spot. I noticed the bruising a couple hours later.

And that's how I have a black eye for Christmas.

Happy Graduation

I get a text from Crackberry this morning saying:

-- So walking across the stage first gives me the right to say I graduated first in my class, right?

Me: Absolutely. Why did you get to walk first?

Crackberry: Because when I walked in I naturally sat in the front row front seat for the business section and wrote reserved on it--nobody asks questions.

So, congratulations to all of my friends graduating today! Especially you, Crackberry.

So Over Finals

Last night I woke up every hour or so because my throat hurts so bad and Tylenol PM doesn't do the trick. I'm almost done being sick over finals--and by that I mean, finals are almost over, not that I'm feeling better.

On a lighter note: I'm wondering if law schools will admit me solely based on the scores I've gotten in the law-related classes I've taken in college? The judge's legitimately scary mix of hypotheticals was no match for me. (And then I dreamt my dad got arrested for too many speeding tickets and I got a NG. A-thank you.)

A Wish for Good Grades

I love my school for many reasons. My dad hates it primarily for one reason (any guesses?). Like many of my school's higher-ups, our Provost is hysterical. His genuine warmth, kindness, and humor come second only to our Chancellor. People at big state schools don't get to know that about those who run their schools. They're lucky if their professors can pick them out from a crowd of 300. Maybe those of us at small private schools pay for the chance to be a friend instead of just another face among the crowd, but I don't mind that at all. My professors know that I try hard in their classes by incessantly emailing them and coming into their offices. At big schools, some people try hard by buying class notes from someone to make up for not going to class (ahem, Crackberry).

During the week of finals before Christmas Break, our Provost emails out a Christmas card. It may just be my love of Christmastime, but Christmas cards are one of my favorite things. The Provost may not give a little extra personal piece of advice in the ones he sends, but they still put a smile on my face when I see the email pop up in my inbox. I'd like to share this year's card with those who read this, in hopes that this advice will apply to you as well! (Another bit of advice: Spilling your entire plate of eggs on your couch is not a good way to start a 24-hour study period.)

The Woes of Finals

Good news! Everything is done and booked and squared away for our bowl game! I picked up my tickets this morning and I'm ready to head out there after what will be a crazy fun New Years in Dallas with my best friends.

Bad news. I have three finals this week: Due Process in the Criminal Courts tomorrow, PreCal Wednesday, and Political Science 101 on Thursday (aka the class you're supposed to take as a freshman but I didn't get around to it until my senior year). I don't need PreCal or Calculus for my degree anymore which means the credit won't really count, thus completely erasing any sense of motivation I had of passing studying for it.

All of this means that the next few days will be spent memorizing the soundtracks from the latest three Harry Potter movies, Braveheart, The Chronicles of Narnia, The Tudors, John Adams, and Pirates of the Caribbean. Then, when I watch the movies and hear the different scores, I am reverted back to a painful memory of studying. How pleasant.

The local criminal courts judge teaching my Due Process class said our final will essentially be equivalent to a law school exam. We get two fact patterns and maybe a couple short answer questions. Previous fact patterns have included mastiff beastiality, and classy people named Whitney Spears and Kevin Borderline who forge checks in blood (allegedly). The ones on the final should be pretty good. I'm making a good grade in this class since I'm most interested in criminal law and this judge is badass, but I'd like to do really well and impress her since I'm interning for her next semester.

Yay! No more congressional district offices! I'm finally done--free at last. I love politics, but casework is a bitch. I don't care that Social Security is screwing you over because you filled out a form wrong. I don't care that the US won't let you and your five wives into our country, there's a good reason for that! Learn to speak English, and then we'll talk.

Hmm. Maybe it should be time to stop procrastinating.