Finals and Traditions

Finals is upon us in full-swing; Katie suffered through (and probably succeeded with flying colors) the Civil Rights exam today, and Nathan and Mike tackle their International Human Rights exam tomorrow. My first final (not counting the take-homes I’ve already done) occurs on Monday at 1:00 (Non Profit Organizations)… I will bid a fond farewell to those books when that’s over! UCC Sales & Commercial Paper will kick our butts on Wednesday, a week from today, at 8:30 a.m. Then my next-to-last finals week finishes up with Criminal Procedure on Thursday at 1:00 p.m.

Then, it’s on to law review, and getting that finished up ASAP.

Until all that, though, several traditions are also in full swing, not the least of which is my chronic and world-renowned procrastination. In lieu of studying yesterday, I cleaned my apartment and did some Christmas shopping. (Side point? I cannot wait until next Christmas, when I will actually have money to spend on gifts for my family… this year, everything gets charged to my Discover card, as the money allotted to me by Uncle Sam was depleted last month, and I don’t get another loan check until mid-January.)

Today, I’ve gone grocery shopping and… um… put my groceries away. But I am going to be productive today… doing Christmas cards. While listening to holiday tunes and drinking hot chocolate. I love those traditions.

Lest you think I exaggerate by referencing my procrastination techniques as “tradition,” last night during my nightly phone call with the Parentals, Mums asked if I’d checked my tongue yet, and if there were trenchcoated strangers in the hallway. The answer to those questions were, respectively, “Yes, along with my tonsils,” and “No, just the employees from the next-door lawfirm, none of whom wear trenchcoats.”

You see, back in the days of Bloomington and undergrad finals procrastination, I received an email from a friend that was called, “How To Write a Term Paper.” It listed several procrastination methods from the usual to the bizarre–all of which I engaged in on a regular procrastination basis. One of them was “inspect your tongue in the mirror.” I don’t know why I do that, but I do. Taste buds are weird, I guess, and that intrigues me. I look at my tonsils too, but I started doing that as part of my obsessive dental hygiene (I wanted to make sure that my entire mouth looked clean, not just my teeth).

Another suggestion from the email was “Check the hallway outside your dorm room for trenchcoated strangers.” Staring out my dorm room peephole at the hallway outside was a favorite procrastination pasttime of mine, especially since my room faced directly toward the main entrance to the dorm and its lobby area. Now, my hallway outside my apartment is far less busy, making staring out the peephole far less attractive as a procrastination method, but in a pinch, I’ll do it. It’s better than flashcards. Trust me.

I was singing along with Martina McBride’s holiday album, White Christmas, on the way to and from the grocery store today. I am fairly certain I have a positively incredible voice, and as such, I may need to take a brief vacation from The Firm to try out for American Idol. Well, it’s an idea to keep on the backburner, in case the litigation thing doesn’t pan out for me. On that note (ha! pun intended! I’m also hilarious!), I am going to return to making my pasta lunch and singing along to holiday tunes. Gotta keep those precious vocal chords in fine tune.

–M

Labels: all about me, law school