8 posts tagged “school”

I wrote this whole big entry last weekend.  And then I'm not sure what happened to it.  Either way, it never got posted, so here we are.

I'm technically on Spring Break this week, though it definitely doesn't hold the same thrill that it did in undergrad... not that I ever did anything really wild and crazy on Spring Break in undergrad either.  No, this week's plans are to get the house cleaned up a bit, actually go to church (Spring Break = no bar review classes on either weekend), catch up on all the homework I didn't do, finish a set of jury instructions that are due next week (perhaps I should have started those earlier), finish grading papers, maybe go to the mall and buy pants, go to the Lincoln Museum with Mom, and work a few days.

Yep, that's my week.  Sounds exciting, doesn't it?  I actually already did one of my planned things, which was to go to the running store and buy new shoes.   I like to rotate in a new pair of shoes around mile 150.  I'm only on my third pair of actual running shoes bought at an actual running store, and the first pair had to be retired at under 200 miles.  I was pretty hard on those though.  Lots of shuffle-step running, and well, I was heavier.  Amazing how that running makes you lose weight, isn't it?  So I bought some new running shoes, and a running skirt.

I don't know if it's the weather or what, but I find myself wanting to run a marathon.  Once I find out what I'll be doing after graduation, I'm going to seriously think about running the Disney Marathon in January.  I mentioned this to my Dad, who ran my first race with me, and his response was "the half, right."  No Dad, the full.  Needless to say, he's not running that one with me.  But it's all going to depend on what happens with this whole "job" thing. 

I ran 5 miles yesterday.  On the treadmill.  Yuck.  I could have done it outside, but I just had my bathtub replaced and couldn't use it (or the shower) until last night.  Therefore, I was going to have to go to the gym and shower anyway, and the idea of running and then getting in my car to go somewhere to shower just seemed ridiculous.  Plus I had this slight fear the showers would be closed for maintenance.  By going to the gym and then running, I could go up to the locker room and make sure everything was in working order rather than have to be gross the rest of the day.

So today is an off day from the running, and then tomorrow is 40 minutes.  I'm following a training schedule that puts a long run on Saturday, and then a slightly long run on Wednesday (up to 45 minutes, hills and fartleks).  But with my class and work schedule, it's hard to get that run in on Wednesdays (since I have class and work for 13 hours straight), so I moved it to Monday and just do a standard 30 minute jog on Wednesday.  I worried that I wasn't putting it far enough from the week's long run, but they're on Saturday and Monday, and Sunday is a total rest day, no other cardio whatsoever.  So far, no troubles.

In a couple of weeks, I'm supposed to add another day of running, just a 20 minute run.  But the training plan says you can drop that one if necessary. I'm going to see how it goes.  It's a scheduling thing more than anything else, plus I like to get in some alternate cardio (TurboJam, if you must know) because I like to try to tone my upper body as well.

So that's what's going on.  Not really all that exciting.

Well, one big thing in my list of "things to do" can be checked off.  The symposium I've been planning since last spring was held on Friday, and it went off so well.  I met so many wonderful people, and people who were passionate about domestic violence.  It was just amazing.  If any of you live in an area where there is a Family Justice Center (just do a Google search - there aren't a lot of them), go volunteer.  Help fundraise.  Spread the word that this resource is out there for victims of domestic violence.  I met directors of four FJCs and I want to be them when I grow up.  They were just so passionate about their jobs and their causes.  It's great to get to experience that.

So now the next big thing on my list is the bar exam.  I guess finals should be in there, but I don't have that many, and compared to the bar, I'm not concerned.  I'm actually in the middle of a bar course right now.  Yep, they've started already.  Can't say I'm enjoying it.

I think now that I have my life back somewhat, I need to get back to taking running a bit more seriously.  Oh sure, I'm still getting out there, and I'm still following a running plan, but I think that I need to do more.  Get back to eating well so that runs go easier.  Get back to keeping a good running log - I've got one that has time, distance, shoes, calories burned, and location, but I need to keep taking notes so that I can figure out why a certain run goes well and why a certain run does not go well.

Initially, I had planned to run the St. Louis St. Patrick's Day 5 Mile Run.  I don't think that's going to happen now.  I know I could do it, and could finish, but I'm at the point where I don't have anyone to run it with, and I'm not really in shape to go run it anyway.  My longest runs still aren't 5 miles, since I'm trying to keep a slow build in my times and distances.  No need to thrust myself back into injury territory.

I'm going to re-do this past week's running schedule this week.  35 minutes on Monday, 30 on Wednesday and Friday, and 55 on Saturday.  Since I haven't run since Thursday due to the symposium, I might do a bit more than 35 on Monday, just depending on how I feel.  I'm hoping the weather stays nice so I can run outside.  I can do 30 minutes on a treadmill, but any more just gets monotonous.  I think it'd be different if I had my own treadmill and could watch whatever I wanted on tv.  But I definitely don't have the money or space for a treadmill right now.  So I'm stuck with the gym or the out of doors.  I much prefer outside.  I think most runners would agree.

Well, sort of a snow day.  It's a self-declared snow day.  The roads aren't bad yet, but they're supposed to get bad around rush hour, so I told my boss I'm not driving the 45 minutes in to work just to be there for 3.5 hours.  She was cool with that.  Now I'm hoping someone has a project I can work on from here, because I'd love to be able to get some of my hours in today.  If not, no big deal, but the more hours I do, the closer I am to being done with externship hours.

Of course, it's not like I don't have eight tons of other things to do.  I've got some school work, I could clean my house, at some point I should workout... you know, the basics.  Still deciding whether to go into campus at 2:00 for my only class of the day.  I guess I'll just wait and see what the weather's like before I make that determination.

I think all those global warming people were lying.  This cold winter weather is ridiculous!

As of about 3:15 yesterday, I'm FREE!  That's right, finals done for the semester, no more school til the day after MLK, Jr.  Day.

So why don't I feel this insane sense of relief?  Oh, right, because my house is a disaster and I now have about one week to prepare for Christmas.  At least I have an excuse for being completely unprepared, right?

Because I'm lazy (and because I was sick and dude, I took a final yesterday), I was in bed incredibly early last night, so I was up before 8 and started the cleaning.  I'm counting the number of loads of laundry I do.  Which will be incredibly high, since I'm washing clothes, bedding, throws, the futon cover, and the curtains.  I hope those are washable...  So far, I've got two loads done, two more going.  And a zillion more to go.  I also cleaned the bathroom.  My life is AWESOME.

I did watch BSG last night, and I have to wait a MONTH to figure out what happens?  I won't spoil, except to say that when any show ends with a cliffhanger where all your major characters are in peril, it's pretty much a guarantee they're not all going to die.  Unless the show is ending and no one told you.

My final yesterday wasn't as bad as I feared.  Which is good, since I barely studied, due to the illness of doom.  I took in the prof's practice test and sample answer and used that as my model for my answer.  To the point where I copied some of it word for word.  That's got to get me points, right?

And now back to the cleaning.   Maybe you'll get another enthralling update later.  I'm clearly getting old, as I'm blogging about cleaning my house.  Just pretend it was a post about a crazy night at a club with drinks and dancing and scandal, ok?

(Clearly this is the most exciting Holidailies post ever.  And I am so subtle about ways to sneak that link in.)

And here we go, my first entry for Holidailies.  Hey, at least I'm starting out on the right foot, right?

Introduce yourself and your website to Holidailies readers.

Well, this prompt should be easy enough.  And really, it's probably not a bad idea to put this here on my Vox as well.

I'm Megan.  25.  Just over a month away from 26.  I'm originally from southern Illinois, about 30 miles from St. Louis, Missouri.  And no, that doesn't mean I'm from East St. Louis.  I currently live in St. Louis... well, St. Louis County, anyway (i.e. not in the most dangerous city in the nation, but just outside of it) because I'm a third year law student at Saint Louis University.  I can't say I like law school because no one likes law school, but at least 51% of the time, I don't hate it.  I'm actually gearing up for finals right now, which I'm sure you will hear more about in the next few days.

Wait, don't stop reading now!  I promise not to bore you with legal jargon.  Really!

What else.  Two cats.  No kids.  Relationship status?  Good question.  Ask again later.

I watch entirely too much tv, as evidenced by the fact that I think the DVR is one of the greatest inventions of the modern age.  That and the electric blanket (and every single time I type or say electric blanket, I think of the book Click Clack Moo - someone tell me I'm not the only one).

I have a tendency to ramble, both in real time and while writing.  I guess lawyers are supposed to be long winded.

I run.  Good for stress relief, avoidance of homework, and hey, I look good.  Actually, I run because it makes me feel powerful.  It makes me feel like I can do something.  I went from not being able to run for a minute without feeling like I was going to die to now going on runs for an hour or more.  I'm still running relatively short distances - my daily run is about 2.6 miles, and I think the longest I've ever run is 4.5.  I'm not fast, but it still feels good.  I like running 5Ks.  I like running with my dad.  But I also like being able to go outside and pound the pavement.  I was planning to run yesterday, but we got hit by a huge winter storm, and not only did really not want to run in the freezing rain, I also did not want to drive to the gym in the freezing rain.  Mostly because I didn't want to have to scrape my car.  Which reminds me, I need to find my car scraper thingy.  And gloves.  Please note that two days ago, it was in the 70's here, and now it is below 30.  I am not ready for winter.

See how easily I change subjects in the middle of a paragraph?  It's a skill, I tell you.

The sun's not yet up here, but I guess the storm wasn't as bad as they predicted.  I was really hoping for class cancellation, even though it's the last day of classes before finals.  My professors could just e-mail me my work, right?  But no.  We're on a snow schedule, not starting til 10.  Of course, my first class starts at 10.  So it's off for a quick workout and then away to school.  Welcome to December, folks.

Holidailies

• So first and foremost, finals season is upon us... well, me.  So I won't be posting a whole lot.  Just studying a whole lot.  Have many many papers to write and many tests to study for.
• Still running.  Not as much as I was, and with all my stress and terrible eating, I've put on about 6 lbs in the past 2 months, which makes me very much unhappy.  It's been beautiful here, so I've run outside the past few days, and man, it is such a better workout than the treadmill.  Dad and I went for a run on Thanksgiving which was nice.  I don't often get to run with someone else.
• Thanksgiving itself was a nice time.  It's good to see the family.  Makes me look forward to Christmas.
• I am wearing an Electric Mayhem shirt today, and while half the people don't get it, I still love it very much.
• Hope everyone is doing well!  I will be more interesting post-finals.  Promise.
  

It has been too long since I did a real update.  So let's see what happens here.

• Life is crazy busy.  School is killing me.  I thought third year was supposed to be easy and boring.  It's boring, but it's not easy!  I have so much work to do in the next few weeks that it's crazy.  I'm kind of trying to ignore the stress right now, but I think it's going to eventually hit me.
• Randomly, my fingernails look awesome right now, but they're way too long for typing on a laptop.  I think they need to be trimmed.  But they're so pretty.  For whatever reason, I have ridiculously strong nails.
• Had my Trial Ad II final this weekend.  Just voir dire.  Jury selection.  So we had a group of potential jury members assuming identities and then we had to question them for 15 minutes.  I got volunteered to go twice, which was fine.  I was much less nervous the second time, plus the jury had permission to screw with me.  It was a good time.  I'm hoping that my willingness to go twice helps my grade.  I did fine, and am sure I'll have at least a B, but I'd really like that elusive law school A.  Our school has a ridiculous curve, so A's are really elusive.
• I need to think about getting my Christmas decorations up.  I hate that finals run so close to Christmas.  I really can't enjoy the decorations or the decorating.  I love Christmas, but part of me doesn't want to bother with the tree and everything.  I barely turned it on last year.  But the idea of not having it makes me sad.
• I've been reading a ton of books lately.  Lots of fluff novels, but good times.  I blame PaperBackSwap.  But it's sure been nice to clear out my bookshelves of stuff I'm never going to read again.  I'm such a packrat when it comes to books, which makes moving tough.
• Still running, though not as much.  I've decided that I'm a wimp and don't want to run outside in the cold and dark at 6am.  So I run on the treadmill at the gym.  Not as great of a workout, but it's still something. 
  

Well, that's enough randomness.  Just wanted to say hi, I'm still alive.  I'll resurface every so often.

What was (or is) your favorite subject in school?

High school - English.  It's what made me become an English major
College - Probably still English, though I loved my Anthropology class
Law school - Criminal law

Yeah, you can see my life took a big turn there.