I love December

Happy things about December:

• My birthday is December 6. Happy birthday to me!
  
• I LOVE Christmas. Such a happy, sparkly, merry time of year!
  
• Finals stink, but I get the entire second half of the month off to enjoy myself and make merry!!
  
• Presents! Getting AND Giving. I love giving presents.
  
• It's cold, so I get to wear lots of hand-knit stuff.
  
• Snow. If we ever get any.
  
• If we get any snow, SKIING!
  
• Generosity of spirit that seems to be lacking for the rest of the year.
  
• Christmas music.
  
• Advent.
  
• Fabulous smells- evergreen, cranberry, cinnamon...
  

Edited to add:

• Pinon fires! Thanks for the reminder, Jeannie! Pinon fires make me think of...
  
• Christmas Eve. Dinner at the Pink Adobe, church, walking around Santa Fe to look at all the farolitos, smell the luminaria pinon fires, and sing Christmas carols at my Godparents' house in a fabulous old adobe courtyard. Have I mentioned I love Christmas???
  
• Food. So many wonderful tastes and smells. My grandmother's recipe for Christmas cookies is fabulous, and Christmas wouldn't be Christmas at our house without chocolate yule logs.
  

Happy Turkey Day!

I'm back from Texas, where it was obscenely warm (85 degrees on Sunday!) Had a great time seeing friends and hanging out with the BF.

I did get a lot of relaxing in. Read half of the Julie and Julia, which is fantastic. Makes me want to cook all the time. Also got some knitting in. I finished three mini sweater ornaments from the pattern in Last Minute Knitted Gifts- they take about an hour each and use up scrap yarn- yay! Worked on a retro rib sock and a scarf and that's about it. Pictures maybe someday?

Now it's crunch time. Posting will be light for the next 2 weeks. I'll try to pop in if anything interesting happens, which it won't, because this is finals season. Whee! Finals!

Startitis has set in.

See Sunday Undies's Calendar of Death for an explanation of why. Except that I haven't started reading yet, and I don't anticipate doing so until December 3 because I have YET ANOTHER section of my law review note due December 2. My calendar of death looks something like:
Nov 21-27: Veg and knit. Hang out with BF in TX, drink margaritas.
Nov 28-Dec 2: Crank out 25+ pages of research paper for law review note, edit (read complete overhaul) existing 20 pages of a different section.
Dec 2-6: Panic about Evidence
December 6: Turn 29. (GAAAH! I'm almost 30!!!!!)
Dec 6-7: Panic about Constitutional Law
Dec 8: Take Evidence exam, hope for the best.
Dec 9-10: Finish panicking about Constitutional Law
Dec. 11-12: Panic about Civil Procedure II
Dec. 13: Take Con law exam, hope for something other than the worst.
Dec 14: Finish panicking about Civ Pro II
Dec 15: Take Civ Pro II exam, hope I can still spell my name.
Dec 16: Lay on couch and drool.


In KNITTING NEWS, I finished the reindeer thingy. It looks pretty darn good, if I do say so myself. Pictures on December 26.

I started a pair of socks with my Plain and Fancy Sheep and Wool in minty green- this stuff is AMAZING. I found out that they specialize in merino sheep- so it's soft, single ply merino handspun sport weight sock yarn. MMMMMMM. I'm making the retro rib socks from that issue of IK, adjusted for sport weight yarn. (Alison at the Blue Blog did these adjustments in her April 10 entry- THANKS, ALISON!)

I also started River from the latest Rowan in orange kidsilk haze, BUT had to rip it out in row 4. (Ouch. Ripping mohair sucks.) So. I might not cast back on for this. The pattern isn't that complicated, but I still managed to screw it up less than 3 rows in. Maybe this one will sit in the knitting basket for a while.

New Kid On The Blog!

Trial is over. WHEW! We won, which feels really good.

In more important news:

Rebecca from our KnitNight has started blogging!!! Go say HELLO!

ANIMALS!

Bored pets:

Well, DUH.

You Should Get a JD (Juris Doctor)

You're logical, driven, and ruthless. You'd make a mighty fine lawyer.

What Advanced Degree Should You Get?

At least my student loans are going toward the right degree. I'd hate to find out halfway through law school that I should have gotten an engineering degree!

New Yarn!

Just one ball.



The Schaffer Anne my sock pal gave me was so spectacular that I got this one to keep it company. (Shut up, I exchanged other yarn that was left over from another project for this!)
I might actually combine the two skeins of Anne for a pair of socks like THESE. But I might also make two pairs of socks!

By the way, Sock Pal of Mine, I LOVE MY SOCKS. They are so soft, so perfectly fitted... And they're thin enough for me to wear with my Dansko clogs, which means they're getting worn A LOT. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU.

RANDOM

So my boyfriend's best friend knows Vickie Howell, hostess of Knitty Gritty on the DIY network.

Apparently this came up while boyfriend and said friend were discussing possible career paths for the boyfriend. He assures me he's not thinking of becoming a TV Knit Show hostess.

Whew! Although, he'd be really good at it.

Actual Knitting Content!

I have been knitting a LITTLE bit.



I can't tell you about this, other than that it's about 15" long and is obviously Christmas-oriented.



Wrist warmers for Mom. Her arthritis is really bad. These will go from about 3" below the wrist to her knuckles, with a fitted thumb. Debbie Bliss Baby Cahsmerino. MMMMMM.

Several projects are in the wings, panting to be cast on. Probably a pair of socks for me, either Birch (though I'd have to buy yarn) or River (have yarn). I still haven't ripped out the hourglass sweater. I might carry on with that- though I am still worried aboout the shrinking length.

You can definitely expect another massive period of productivity/startitis during finals. Helps me manage my stress! Better than doing drugs!

Is it just me, or does this sound weird?

I love Patagonia- cool company, cool clothes.

But their "Change Your Underwear for Good" program just sounds weird to me:

"For the past 20 years, Patagonia Capilene(R) base layers have
accompanied hundreds of thousands of outdoor enthusiasts on countless
adventures. When your garment has made its last trip, give it back to
us. Through the ECOCIRCLE(TM) fiber-to-fiber recycling system, your
old favorite will be turned into fiber for new garments."

I guess it makes sense, but the thought of some guy's ratty old underwear becoming my underwear is not particularly attractive...

You can learn more about this program here.

Looks like fall... When will it feel like fall???

It looks like fall outside, in spite of the string of 70+ degree days we've had...



According to the Weather Channel, we're finally about to dip in to more normal weather for November- upper 50s/lower 60s. It's about *@&#$(& time!

It's Official!!!

I've accepted a summer job. WOOOHOOOOOOO! It feels really good to have that handled. I'm going to be working for THESE people (the law firm with the sense of humor) and I am THRILLED.


I start May 30, which gives me quite a while between my last final and starting work. A great friend is getting married in Austin on May 20 and I'm in the wedding, so I think I'll have a lovely Texas break!

I am SO relieved that this is done.

OH YEAH- I also spent this morning writing some posts, so I'll be around more than expected over the next week. Blogging is WAY MORE FUN than law review. Just sayin.

Swamped

Hey gang! Sorry to be so MIA. Posting will be intermittent at best until after Thanksgiving. I'll try to pop in with something if anything comes up.

EDITED 11/12: Instead of starting my law review article, I wrote up several posts, so I'll be here more often than anticipated! YAY!

Evidence and Trial Practice

I'm taking a REALLY FANTASTIC class called evidence and trial practice- the class is designed to teach us how to run a trial from start to finish without embarrassing ourselves or experimenting on real clients in the real world.

Part of the course is a mock trial, which we're doing on November 19. I know which witnesses I need to direct and cross, how my story fits together, all that jazz. It should be a lot of fun.

Our opposing counsel is driving us nuts. They're trying to exclude some evidence that is key to BOTH sides. So that's adding a lot of extra work- they're drafting a motion to exclude the evidence, so we'll need to write a response, along with a brief in support of our response complete with case law and stuff. As if I have a ton of free time to do this in...

Part of what's intimidating about the trial is real judges will be participating. Our judge is one of the Justices on the New Mexico Supreme Court. Uh, YIKES! This will be fascinating, but intimidating. I don't care about winning, I just don't want to look like an IDIOT.

Anyway, I'm consumed with trial prep right now. And with my law review note, 25 pages of which are due 3 days before the trial. Happy happy joy joy! AND an application for a spring semester internship with one of our federal judges due three days before the law review note. Yeah, no time pressure here!

Fall Weather

The trees here are changing colors, despite the freakishly warm weather we're having. Where is fall? Cold? Crisp? Not here. It was actually muggy on Thursday evening. Whattup with that?!?!

I'm in holiday knitting mode, and can't share two projects because the recipients will probably know exactly what the items are and therefore who they're intended for. Sorry! Not real exciting around here. But I'll have at least one really cool thing to show you on December 26!!!

I'm working on fair isle again. Going pretty well. Still pulling the stranded yarn a little too tight, but it's getting better. I'm using Dale of Norway Heilo yarn. I can totally see how a steek would hold together out of this yarn- it's like velcro. This yarn has a very different texture than the Brown Sheep Sport Weight I used on Mom's mittens- the Dale is much more Norweigian and rustic, thicker even though they're the same gauge, and a rougher texture, but still really pleasant to work with.

Finally found a copy of Rowan 36, the issue with Birch. I bought it because there's a super cute polka dot sweater made of 4-ply yarn, which I have a TON of. But... intarsia polka dots? Notsosure.

Nothing else to report- will hopefully get some pics of the gorgeous trees along Montano to share- bright yellow and gold. Really spectacular. I've been feeling under the weather- sore throat and sorta snuffly- but not rising to the level of being sick. It's ANNOYING.

Oh yeah- if anyone wants to buy a 1999 Lexus RX300 SUV with 125K miles, lemme know. It's white, fully loaded, gorgeous.

Gratuitous Cat Photos

It's been a while since Scooter has made an appearance on the blog.

He has found a new sleeping spot:





But he still likes to crash on piles of clean dark laundry...

iPod Nano Sock

I'm finally posting a picture of my iPod Nano sock...



It's simple, FAST, used up scrap yarn, and is protecting my sparkly new iPod from scratches. YAY!

It's That Time Of Year....

There's no escaping now, it's CRUNCH TIME. The time of year when stress gets the best of me and I grind my teeth in my sleep. Also clenching my jaws during the day. There's just a LOT to do, and not a lot of time to do it in! Deadlines are looming!

In the next 3 weeks, I have the following to do:
School

• A complete mock trial, representing an insurance company defending against a claim... The guy making the insurance claim torched his company so he could collect the insurance money.
  
• Find jurors and witnesses for the trial.
  
• Put together my arguments, prepare for examination of witnesses, develope visual aids and exhibits.
  
• Pretrial conference where we decide how easy or how hard getting evidence admitted will be.
  
• Law review stuff. There's a lot.
  
• Checking 2 or 3 articles' worth of citations. BORING and work-intensive, but necessary nonetheless.
  
• Research and write 25 pages of background on Rule 23, relating to class actions, complete with footnotes.
  
• Find and read a ton of cases on Rule 23, synthesize what they say, and incorporate in to my background.
  
• Revise my existing 25 pages of the Court's rationale- requires a lot more research, major revamping of what I've written.
  
• Research and start 25 pages of analysis. This one is a bear. Fortunately, not due till December 2.
  

And that doesn't include normal school work, stuff for work, or sleep. Oy.

At least I've gotten down the main chunks of stuff to do. That makes it a little less scary.