hello old friend...

So it has been about 6 months since I last posted...  time flies! 

I guess its time for an update then:

I have successfully started year #2 of law school!  Woohoo!  Made it through the first cuts and surprisingly, did very well!  I am now treasurer or my women's law group and am struggling to stay afloat while juggling law review as well, along with my regular school work.  I have to keep telling myself it will be worth it... or so I think.  Right?....... 

Beyond that, we are doing great over here.  Work is still work and my crazy bosses are still my crazy bosses.  But, even though there are many many days where I want to storm out, a job is a job and it pays the bills.  I have to keep reminding myself of that often... ok well very often... ok, honestly like 50 times a day.  Atleast I am fortunate to have a job though so I can't complain too much. 

Little Munchkin is doing good.  He is almost 5 and I am still wondering where the time went.  Seems like yesterday he was just a tiny little baby.  Now he is a Spiderman-loving super-hyper maniac.   

We had an incredibly relaxing summer with no school for me, and trips to New Orleans, Atlanta, and Florida!  My sister had her baby, my adorable nephew Noah Forrest, my niece came to visit us from Germany, and my boyfriend Rob officially opened up his own law firm.  What an exciting summer! 

Here are a few photos:



My mom, sister and me at my sister's surprise baby shower in Atlanta

 






Ethan posing as a crab at the Florida Aquarium.



Mommy and Ethan looking for SHARKS!

What a cheeseball. :)

Not a great picture of us but one of few where all of us are in the picture!

St. Pete Beach

We were feeding the giraffes... we thought they were nice...

Until he tried to attack!  hahaha

But we survived and lived to tell about it!

Riding camels at the Tampa Lowry Park Zoo.

I love this picture of the 2 of them.  Rob and Ethan.

Riding the merry go round at the zoo.

Yes that is a boot.  I broke my foot weeks before our trip.  Ugh.

Mommy and Ethan after a long day at the hot zoo.

Me and my sister - New Orleans



More New Orleans with my sister (and nephew in her tummy)



My sister-in-law and niece at Knott's Berry Farm.



Knott's Berry Farm

 So after all of that... we are back to school, back to work, and anxiously awaiting the next holiday.  Now that all of the updates are done, the blog will be (hopefully) updated more frequently and hopefully next time will be a little more entertaining. 

Halloween is the next holiday so in the spirit of halloween, I will leave you with this:




Those last 10... well maybe 20 pounds...

Done with my paper!  Yay!  Lets just hope that all that hard work will get me an A.  Ok, lets me honest, I hope all that medium work will get me an A. 

The weather in Southern California has gotten very nice lately.  So nice that it is in the 80's!  Except for the fact that it is a blaring reminder that summer is coming and I am still 20 pounds away from my ideal weight.  One thing is for sure: There is NO WAY I am getting my fat butt into a swim suit until I lose this weight.  I will be happy with 10 pounds.  Ecstatic with 15.  Will probably have a heart attack due to shock if I can get it down 20 lbs. 

I didn't realize how quickly your body changes as you get older.  I have never had a problem with maintaining a healthy weight.  However, now, I find myself eating more healthy but gaining more weight than I ever did before.  This is simply not acceptable.  My New Years goals did not work.  I simply did not have enough motivation to do it.  Well, the thought that summer was so far away did not exactly help either!  But now, summer is fast approaching and I better get my butt in shape! 

I have enlisted the help of Weight Watchers to accomplish my goals.  I totally am mortified with the thought of weighing myself in front of people so I will stick to the online version, which has worked for me in the past.  I used Weight Watchers Online to lose the weight after baby and it worked great.  So now I am back, 4 years later, and trying to lose that same weight again.  So here we go.  First day back and I am optimistic.  I will look fabulous and when I do, I will proudly wear my skinny bikinis that I have saved for the day that I will be back to fighting weight again. So in the spirit of my renewed weight loss enthusiasm, I invite you to join me.  Get off the computer and take a walk.  As much as I love you reading what i have to say, I would rather you read me while you are relaxing after a hard workout while you are eating your healthy snack.  So what do you say "Mighty Blogosphere"?  Lets GET FIT!  (ok way cheesy but I had to!)

Best of luck to us all for a fit and healthy Spring/Summer 2010.

~Amy

**More on my adventures in paper writing after I have detoxed from the actual writing of it... I just simply cannot bear writing anything about that thing until I have allowed myself to relax.  :) 

                            

Why?!

So my boss walked into work today with a "new" Gucci purse that is absolutely HIDEOUS!  It got me thinking...

So, I have to ask myself, why would someone purchase something like that for that much money.  I'm not sure the price she paid for it, but it likely was around $350. or so.  So i have to wonder, did she buy it because she thought it was cute?  Well... it isn't.  It looks like luggage slung on your arm.  I'm not sure what strange thoughts were running through her head when she bought it but clearly, she needs some brutally honest friends or a sister.  Regardless, she needed some good ole advice prior to making that purchase.  Sale or no sale, designer or no designer, she paid WAY too much for that ugly thing.  But I guess we can't all be blessed with good people around us who will tell us when they would be embarassed to be seen with us because of our fashion choices.  So, special thanks to my sisters and to my friends!  Without you, I may have an oversized computer bag for a purse....  or not.

The $52,000. Louis Vuiton Bag.... the ultimate in ugly purses. 

Procrastination

I have a 10 page Appellate Brief due for my 1L writing class and have had 8 weeks to do it so far.  I have successfully completed a maximum of 2 pages of actual writing, 1 of them being the table of contents.  This paper is due in 2 weeks and is a lot more intensive than 10 pages in undergrad.  Why do I torture myself by procrastinating?

I have successfully tricked myself into believing that I perform better under stress.  There may be some truth to this... but since I have always procrastinated, I have always performed under stress so I do not know what it is like to perform under a relaxed, appropriately paced speed.  It may be that I actually perform better when given enough time to do more editing than clicking the spell check button as I frantically put paper in the printer to print and rush out the door for delivery.  I insist on waiting until the last possible second and them am left at lightning speed, typing like a mad-woman, hoping that there are no computer failures, printer issues, or brain malfunctions during the process.  Then, as I can see the clock ticking down to the final minute, my hands start to shake and I periodically have to take a breath and calm myself down because the pressure is simply getting to be too much.  You would think that one instance like that, and I would have learned my lesson.  Nope. Not so.  Not even close.  I leave myself procrastinating to last possible second and have to experience the horror all over again.  This paper, I am not going to do that.  I am going to finish with at the very least a couple days to spare.  This is the plan anyways... we'll see how it works.  Wish me luck! 

All I know is THANK GOODNESS my research isn't like this:

Some thoughts...

I was looking at my "to-do" list and thinking man, there is so much to do and no time to do it!  Where does the time go?  Since starting law school, I have gained 10 lbs.  This was not part of my law school plan.  So, I am making myself some goals and I intend to stick to them.  New Years Resolutions didn't work... so how about New Me Resolutions?  Maybe thats more realistic.

My Resolutions:
1. Work out 3x/week
2. Eat Healthy
3. Indulge myself enough so that I don't over-indulge when I'm tempted.
4. Stop looking at the size of my pants or the tag on my shirt.  Whatever size I am, if I'm healthy, I'll be happy.

So I start my goals and am really really going to try to stick to them.  Wish me luck!

Off and Running

Hi there!

As I start my journey, I have to ask myself... Why? As if I dont have enough on my plate, I am going to add one more thing to keep up and maintain. Well, the reason is simple. Law school is not easy. Being a mom and being in law school is not easy. Being a single mom, working full-time, going to law school is really not easy. There are times I want to quit, there are times I want to scream, and there are times I just want to lay down and cry (and munch down some serious chocolate too). However, I know that the insanity of law school days are limited to 4 years (yes, 4 for me because I'm a part-time evening student). There is an end of the road in sight. Granted, it is a long and foggy road. So, once the fog clears and I have successfully finished my law school journey, I want to have something to look back on. Thus, the beginning of my Tales of a Law School Mom blog.

For those of you who don't know me (assuming anyone actually reads this besides me), I am a 25 year old single mom. I work full-time in sunny Southern CA and go to law school part-time at night. My days are long and involve going from work 8-5 (or 4 on school days) and then travel from my job approximately 1 hour 15 minutes to make it to school by 6pm sharp on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Thursdays. From there, I have 3 classes on Mondays and Thursdays and 2 on Tuesdays. As I get out of school at 10pm, I am exhausted and begin the drive home from school, make it home at roughly 11:25 and attempt to calm myself down from the crazy day and go to bed. This seems like a normal day for someone, but I am not only an employee and a student, I am also a mom. My son is currently with me every other week (crazy, yes I know) and so every other week, I throw in my son to the mix. If this all seems a bit crazy, yes it is. It is a circus. Thankfully, I was able to move home prior to starting school and now have my parents and younger brother to help me take care of my son while I am away at school. I have very little extra time, but in addition to my large family (4 brothers and sisters and all the married-in brothers and sisters, nieces, nephews) I also have a boyfriend. Time is tight. Time management is not my strong point. This is a recipe for DISASTER! Although, all the balls are still in the air and the juggling act is still going strong. Here's hoping that I can keep it up for the next 4 years... wow that sounds like a long time!

The goal is to keep blogging my experiences, hoping to look back and laugh one day at how crazy life seemed to be. Until next time...

Thanks for reading,
Amy