December 4, 2011

Poor planning led to me running for two hours, twenty four minutes, and six seconds in varying levels of rain in 40 degree weather this morning.  Had I run yesterday, like I normally would, the rain would have remained, but the temperatures would have been twenty degrees warmer.  Regardless, I had 13.1 miles planned and I intended to complete them.  During the first few miles, I kept questioning my sanity and whether I had the resolve to follow through with this plan.  I kept running; it kept raining; the temperature fell.  As I completed the big loop of the two I'd planned, I started to question whether continuing would put me at risk for a cold or pneumonia or institutionalization.  I decided to keep running, it wasn't so bad.  With my feet sloshing around my shoes, water dripping from my hat, and my fingers turning into popsicles inside my gloves, I made the final turn on my route.  I also glanced at my watch:  believe it or not, despite being tired and running in rain and ridiculously cold temperatures, I was going to best my half marathon personal record by about twenty minutes!  I'm not sure how I did it, but the cold, rain, and cold rain was worth the sense of accomplishment this morning!

December 3, 2011

One of my tried and true techniques in studying for a final exam is to go through the professor's prior exams for the course.  The concepts tend to stay the same, as does the professor's testing style.  One risk of this approach, however, is that one cannot be certain that the professor covered the same material, with the same emphasize or time dedicated to a particular topic, as he or she did for your semester.  As a result, I'm left with this question:  I circled "30 acres" and "Cold Springs," ending up with a question mark and nothing else.  Why these two phrases were important, I have no clue.  Chalking it up to a changed syllabus, I cut my losses and moved on . . . to yet another seemingly nonsensical question. 

December 2, 2011

Partly because scheduling wouldn't allow, and partly because I took up our entire birthday buddy weekend, Kevin decided to postpone his birthday celebrations and gatherings until this evening.  Unfortunately, I was unable to attend all of the festivities but, as Kate astutely pointed out, a girl has to eat.  Conveniently, Kevin's chosen restaurant for dinner was right around the corner from my study spot so later in the evening, I took a break and we joined the belated birthday gentleman for some Tex-Mex and great conversation.  Moments like this remind me that this time next year, I won't be secluded from the rest of society for weeks at a time due to finals.  It's a sweet thought!  But, more importantly:  happy belated birthday, Kevin Kozak! 

December 1, 2011

As so it begins:  another round of finals for another semester of law school.  First up on the list is my oil and gas final.  Contrary to what I expected, I've found that I like this course quite a bit.  That being said, 3L-itis struck early in the semester and now I'm playing a bit of catch up.  I've set up shop away from my distracting apartment, my distracting office, and all distracting coffee shops.  I have all of my books, notes, outlines, any prior exams, a cup of water, a cup of hot tea, and am still looking for that motivation I mentioned.  As best I can, I've spent today powering through prior exam after prior exam, trying to wrap my head around the intricacies of the law I didn't notice as I wandered around in my post-graduation daydreams.  Any well wishes for this finals season are more than welcome.