A Few Little Niblets . . .

Nothing too excited is going on. I don't have much in the way of job stuff until after the 21st, which is when I'm back from vacation.

I had two horrible lunches yesterday! I met some friends at Front Page News in Little 5 Points for lunch. Shannon & I both had burgers and they were awful. His was barely cooked and mine, although cooked, was just bad. Afterwards, my aunt and cousins were on their way home from Florida and called. I met them at Doc Green's in Atlantic Station where I had a really bad Grilled Chicken Caesar Salad. So, I cooked my own dinner last night. I was afraid not too!

Charter has had cable internet and cable tv outages off and on all weekend long. My cable internet has been questionable since Friday. It's been steady for about 90 minutes now, hopefully it's back up for good.

I've already read one book over the last couple of days, and am about 1/3 of the way through another. I'm enjoying that.

Today, I had my bikini wax. It wasn't nearly as bad as I anticipated. I would totally do it again. Afterwards, I did a little shopping/browsing. Picked up a purse and 2 wallets on sale at Dillard's, a really cute and colorful passport cover, restocked my Aveda shampoo/conditioner, and restocked my face powder. All in all, a good day. Since I've been home I've been reloading iTunes. I lost all my songs when my computer crashed. They are still in my ipod, but if I add songs, it will delete my entire ipod library. So, I'm reloading what's on my ipod so I can add new things to it. It's taking forever!

I'm very excited about Project Runway this week. I think Keith is getting kicked off. "A Socialite's Life" had a blog entry a while back about Keith possibly being a cheater. That entry is here: http://socialitelife.com/2006/07/17/project_runway_how_do_you_say_cheater_in_german.php , and if you follow the link to the VH-1 blog, there's a lot more. This week's episode is when everything is supposed to go down. I hope I get to watch it. I'll be in Tennessee at my Mom's. So, it will be tivo'd just in case.

Other than all this and working out, nothing too exciting! I leave for Tennessee Wednesday, and come back to pack for Florida on Friday. I'm looking forward to the beach. This trip is my Dad, Step-Mom, step-brother, sister-in-law, and my 3 1/2 year old nephew. We always have fun. Then, on the 13th, my Mom and I are leaving for Barbados! This is how I chose to spend my graduation money. I'm really, really excited for that trip. I can hear the rum calling my name as we speak!

Exhaustion & Relaxation . . .

I've had the most difficult time figuring out how to start! I think it's exhaustion. My massage Monday was wonderful, the wax was rescheduled for this coming Monday. The exam went fine, I think. I've never been through a rougher two days. The first day, the essays, were surprisingly straight forward. They gave us a constitutional/contracts question, evidence, torts, and Georgia civil procedure. Those were all subjects that I did well in. The second day to me was much worse. I think it's the mental and physical exhaustion. By the last hour of the second 3-hour session I was having a hard time even reading the questions. I feel pretty good, so hopefully that's a good thing. I just know I don't want to have to go through all this again.

Afterwards, several of us met at a classmates loft and started celebrating the fact that we were finished. We ended up walking down to a really cool neighborhood bar called 97 Estoria. I crashed at the loft, came home early this morning and went back to bed.

Today I plan to catch up on my tivo'd shows. Currently, I'm watching the new season of Project Runway. I like Kayne, Robert, Uli and Alison. After Project Runway, I'm starting on Season 3 of Rescue Me. Today is a totally lazy day. Tomorrow I may be going to Six Flags with some friends. After that, I need to clean my apartment. Once that's done, I plan to start reading all the books I've put off for the last 3 months.

No more countdown!!!

A quick update . . .

First, this will probably be my last entry until Thursday, since the exam is Tuesday & Wednesday of next week. I'm feeling more confident. I've got my major outline down to about 20 pages of material, and it's getting smaller everyday! My MBE percentage keeps going up too, I was in the 60% range on Wednesday.

Monday is my relaxation day. I have a bikini wax & massage scheduled, with the wax first of course! This will be my first bikini wax, so I'm a little nervous. But, I don't want to deal with that crap during my 2 weeks at the beach! The massage is simply to relax me pre-exam. We've been told not to study on Monday, just to let our brains rest.

I've had a horrible grass allergy the last couple of days. I finally had to break down and go to the doctor this morning for some allergy medication. My legs were swollen yesterday and I've got tons of little red welts. Thankfully, it's already better --shots work wonders.

Today was the last day of bootcamp for this month. I really would love to do August, but since I'm going to be gone for 2 1/2 weeks, it's pointless to pay for it and miss that much. However, September through November I'm there. The first and last days are PT tests: 1 mile run, stair sprint, 1 minute of push-ups & 1 minute of sit-ups. I improved across the board, which is nice. It's nice to see improvements, especially since I can't tell physically. I'm really proud of my mile time, it went from 13:24 on the first day to 10:15 today -- that's 3 minutes! I never thought I'd be close to running a 10 minute mile!

Countdown to Exam: 3 days! (Have I mentioned the panic attacks, indigestion, shakes? Ah, they're not that bad!)

Dumb & Dumber . . . but not really!

I have finished the last of my review courses, finally. Yesterday was brutal. Not because I did poorly on the questions, just because my brain hurts! My study partners and I decided yesterday that we're all getting dumber. We're forgetting things that we already know! I'm feeling better about the MBE. We took a simulated MBE on Wednesday and my percentage was above the national average. (Talk about a relief!) In Georgia, you have to have a 115 scaled score to have your essays read. My goal is to have at least a 115 raw score (which is what the Georgia examiners actually use to calculate your score). I'm confident that I'll get at least that. I'm at that level now and continued practice until the exam will raise that number. I also have to really focus on the essays. It's been helpful to realize that all my classmates --save our resident genius who's consistently getting a raw score in the 130s -- are at the exact same level, a few are below.

I've also officially turned off my phones with a polite message that I'll have a life again on July 27th, and not to expect a return phone call before that date unless it's an emergency. Hopefully no one's offended, although I doubt anyone will be.

I'm looking forward to catching up on Season 3 of Rescue Me and the new season of Project Runway. I've Tivo'd both and can't wait to watch. I'm sure I'll have a marathon TV session a day or two after the exam. I'm also looking forward to reading all the books I've accumulated over the last few months. I swear, I have roughly two bookshelves full of books I've yet to read! Hopefully, during my two weeks at the beach in August I'll get much of those read.

In interesting legal news, Valerie Plame Wilson and Joseph Wilson filed suit against VP Cheney, Lewis Libby, and Karl Rove for allegedly outing her classified CIA status. I've been slowly reading through the complaint during meals. If you're interested, you can find the complaint here: http://news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/iraq/wilsonlibby71306cmp.html .

Countdown to exam: 10 days!

Stress . . .

Explain something please. Why is that when you are super busy or super stressed, your friends and family seem to think you have all the time in the world to a) talk on the phone about nothing, b) actually do fun things like shop, see movies, go out to eat, lay out by the pool, and c) just visit and hang out? What makes it so frustrating for me is that I'm the type of person who hates having people upset at tme, so I don't want to hurt their feelings. What does crack me up is that a couple have said stuff like, "So-and-so was going to call you today (to talk or invite me somewhere) but I told them you were really stressed and didn't have the time." For example, on Sunday the mother of my ex-boyfriend who was in town until today called me 4 times. She didn't call me because she needed something, she called "just to chat." I hated having to tell her that I really couldn't talk because I have to study.

Yesterday, I came home from taking another simulated MBE. I entered my apartment to the phone ringing, had a couple of phone calls about election candidates. While talking to my Mom later, my ex called. I called him back. While I was on the phone with him, the call waiting on my house phone beeped in AND my cell phone started ringing. Of all these calls, only one was exam related and it was my study partner. I've now turned off the ringers on my house phone. I've instructed my study partners, parents and my aunt that if they need me to call my cell, which I will check frequently for messages.

At the same time, I'm very lucky and thankful for my friends and family. My automatic response has turned into this: "I really would love to talk to you, or hang out, but I only have [insert days to exam here] left and I have to work. I'll talk to you after July 27th."

I literally feel like I'm losing my mind! I can't wait until this is over! This rant has made me feel just a tad bit better. Can you imagine how wound up I'd be if I wasn't working out? I shudder at the thought!

Countdown to exam: 12 days.

Not enough time in the day . . .

I haven't been able to update lately because of my studying. That's a good thing though. I'm really starting to feel the stress of all this. I had a "breakdown" last night. I called my Mom in tears! Luckily, she's done this, so she knows exactly the kind of pressure I'm under (she, however, did it while I was a teenager -- so she was under more stress). I just needed to vent to someone last night.

I have a three day review course Wednesday through Friday of this week. Hopefully that goes well. I don't know if I'm going to like being around 300 really stressed out people. I've scheduled a massage for the weekend prior to the exam and one for the day after the exam.

Bootcamp is still going well. People are telling me they can tell a difference in my weight. I can't. I'm so glad I decided to sign up for this. It's given me an outlet for my stress, which I desperately needed.

Some friends of mine are planning on seeing "The Complete Works of William Shakespeare" at Atlanta's Shakespeare Tavern either this Saturday or next Saturday. It's supposed to be hysterical -- three actors do all of his works in 90 minutes. I really hope they decide to go this weekend, so I can go too. It will give me a couple hours of normalcy. There's no way I could go next weekend, it's too close to the exam.

The Red Sox/White Sox game yesterday went 19 innings! That's a doubleheader! Can you imagine 6 hours in those uncomfortable stadium seats? Unfortunately, Boston -- who was primed to sweep the White Sox -- couldn't hold out. The All-Star break has arrived which is always fun to watch. Speaking of sports, what's up with the French footballer headbutting the Italian? (I'm not much into World Cup, but saw the story online.) Crazy!

Countdown to the Exam: 14 days! (Sheesh -- it's only 2 weeks away!)

Crash . . .

What a day! The hard-drive on my laptop crashed last night. I spent all day today getting myself back up. Not only did I have to purchase a new hard-drive, but also Microsoft Office, Photoshop, and a new wireless card. Not only am I broke, but I'm exhausted! Reinstalling all of this stuff is so time-consuming. Thankfully, I'm back up and running. The most frustrating losses are the portion of my law school outlines which weren't backed up and my artwork (mostly avatars, wallpapers, and a load of pictures of my favorite celeb).

The 4th was good, I grilled out with some friends. We didn't watch any fireworks since it was raining, but we still had a good time.

Countdown to exam: 20 days!

Critical Point . . .

Tuesday, July 4th, is what I've designated as my critical point for bar prep purposes. It's three weeks before the exam. I took a simulated MBE yesterday and, thankfully, I'm right where I expected to be. I shouldn't have a problem meeting my scaled minimum score. (In Georgia, you have to score a scaled 115 for them to grade the essay portion of your exam.) From now until the exam, all I am doing is MBE questions, practice essays, and performance tests. I have one more 3-day review course which is another simulated MBE.

I've done nothing but study all weekend long, save for tiny message board breaks, meals, and exercise breaks. I miss my friends! I just keep reminding myself that I get to have a life again starting July 27th! I hope to see my friend T next Friday, we're planning a little girls afternoon. I also need to schedule a massage just before the exam and just after the exam. I already know I'm going to be in knots!

Tomorrow starts week 2 of bootcamp, although we have Tuesday off for the holiday. My knees are just now starting to heal and are itching like crazy. Thank goodness for Benedryl! I'm very glad that I signed up for this. I'm sure I'll need the workouts to deal with the stress as it gets closer to the exam.

Countdown to the exam: 23 days!

Well, the "penis-pumping" judge was convicted yesterday on four counts of indecent exposure.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/06/29/AR2006062902225.html

More later. I have to eat breakfast!

Of sore muscles, hunger pangs, and blisters . . .

Ok, seriously? I'm having a lot of fun with the bootcamp thing. However, I could do without the soreness, the hunger, and my new blisters. Let's take care of the blisters first, shall we? Remember those 110 push-ups from yesterday. Well, they were done in the grass. I realized pretty quickly that I would have grass burns, no big deal. What I didn't realize is that I would have an allergic reaction to the grass! Both my knees have all these little welts and blisters all over them! It looks horrible, and it itches! Needless to say, I'm likely to wear pants every time we work out at the Chattahoochee location.

The soreness I can deal with. It lets me know that I'm working hard. What's frustrating to me is the food portion of the bootcamp. It's not necessarily a diet, just more a healthy eating thing. Aside from cutting out the occasional low-fat ice cream, chocolate, and alcohol, it's pretty much what I've been eating to begin with. We are supposed to eat 6 meals a day, each with protein. The instructors told me yesterday that I wasn't eating enough. So, naturally I increased my protein and calorie intake. Before yesterday, I was being filled up. Now, I'm constantly hungry. I realize that my body is burning through the fuel, but it's frustrating!

Anyway, a few of my friends who aren't in Atlanta, and a couple who are, have asked what exactly is bootcamp? So, I'm going to tell you! It's actually called "Operation Bootcamp" and it's done at different parks around the city. My session meets at two different parks, depending on the day of the week, at 5:45: a.m. (I think they have 6 or 7 different bootcamps going on at once, all at different parks). We work out together Monday through Friday for an hour or so, and have home workouts we can choose from on the weekends. We do a mix of running and drills, it's military style cardio and strength training. The instructors stay on you constantly and make sure that you're working out of your comfort zone, but they're very encouraging too. We have rules. For example, if someone fails to show up for a workout session without previously advising the lead instructor . . . we all do 10 push-ups on their behalf. If somebody is slacking really bad . . . we all do 10 push-ups on their behalf, or keep going until they pick it up. There are about 40 in my group and we're all at different fitness levels. There are superfit, middle of the road (that's me!) and people who've never exercised before. It's a challenge and it's structured, which is what I need to get myself in gear. The park workouts are for 30 days, and you keep a food log which the instructors check over. If there's anything you want to know that I didn't answer, just ask!

Today was tough, I swear it felt like we ran miles and miles (I really think it was only about 2). At the end, my legs felt like lead. I'm excited to see how my body changes over the next month since the training is so rigorous. Not that I'm expecting drastic changes, but noticeable ones. I won't be able to do the August camp because I'll be gone for two weeks, but I'm definitely signing up for September!

I've been on the phone off and on today with my ex-boyfriend's Mom. She's flying into town and he is unable to pick her up at the airport. She called me to see if I would. I love her to death, so of course, I said yes. I don't mind doing it at all, but I kinda worry that his current girlfriend is going to feel weird or resentful. I don't want her to be uncomfortable about her relationship with his Mom. Does that make sense? It's an interesting situation because we were together for several years, his family and I got along wonderfully, and he and I are still good friends. Who knows!

On another note, the "penis-pumping judge" case had closing arguments today. It should go to the jury anytime. I can't wait for the verdict!