Every January, I change the format of my blog. Mostly, I do this to entertain myself, but also to keep things fresh and interesting. So, here is the new theme; you’d better like it because it’s sticking around for twelve more months.
Last year at this time, we were in Istanbul. We were halfway through our around the world trip, and very excited to soon be heading to Asia. I still can’t believe that we conceived of that trip, let alone completed it. I have feelings of sincere longing when I think back on our travels, yet I am not sure that I would want to be back there, lugging my one suitcase around and pining for home. Life is so strange that way – memory distorts things, but the distance between the present and that adventure is still close enough that I remember well how challenging it was, and thus, am happy to be settled and have access to more than one pair of pants.
The New Years celebration this year was quiet. Initially, we conceived a grand plan that would take us to Edmonton to bring in the New Year at one of our favourite restaurants and then spend New Years Day with some of our dearest friends. Unfortunately, things went a bit awry when we couldn’t secure a reservation at the aforementioned restaurant and when I found myself suddenly plagued with a cruddy old flu. Needless to say, we stayed home, and I was in bed before midnight.
As I battle this seasonal bug, my thoughts have once again turned back to school. A holiday break that seemed endless has now come to a close; my first class is on Wednesday, and I am in shock. Part of me feels as though law school is a distant memory already. I have adapted quite well to sleeping in past 5:30am and not having loads of reading to do. Yet I’ve also missed it greatly. Of course, my main obsession at this time is grades. I handed in a large writing assignment at the end of November, and then headed straight into exams after that. So far, no grades have been released, and I am left feeling a bit baffled as to the process once again. There is quite a bit of administrative uncertainty within a culture of such structured certainty. I imagine time will tell.
Although I didn’t see my study buddies over the holidays, we are already plotting our semester two schedule. Instead of allowing work to pile up only to be addressed come exam time, we have committed to meeting a couple of times per week to go over material and create our study notes right off the bat. We’ve determined that this is a strong strategic plan that will help us tremendously come final exams. Instead of focusing our energies on condensing our notes in a panic, we will already have those done and in turn can focus on doing practice exams. It feels great to have a goal, and especially great to have some terrific people to work towards the goal with.
Speaking of goals, after subjecting myself to the “freshman ten” (yes, normally it’s fifteen, but ten will do, thanks), it is time to get serious about exercising again. Jeff and I have always exercised, but I have certainly become lazy as of late. For a while, we ran together, and completed the New York City Marathon and a couple of half marathons following that. One day though, I lost interest in running altogether. My body appreciates it, but my mind loathes it. Once I stopped, well, the pounds came a creeping. Last month, I bagged all of my clothes that I couldn’t fit into and was left with very few things to wear. As a result, we have pledged to get back in shape together, and I have to admit that I am quite excited about it. It will be good to have something positive to put my never ending amount of energy into.
I will spend my last couple of days of freedom reading and watching movies. Soon, there won’t be enough hours in the day to get things done. As crazy as it sounds, I can’t wait!
