3 p.m.

So, I mentioned that I was working on my Motion to Compel Discovery (again...whatever that means). As of 3 p.m. today I had put about seven days and fifteen hours into an eight-page paper that is only worth 5% of my grade. Many of my classmates claim that they were not putting a lot of effort into it because it was only worth 5%. I don't believe them. These are the same people who "just don't want to be lumped into the middle of the class" with the rest of us commoners. So today I was feeling pretty good: I had the motion written. The only thing left to do was to revise. So at 3 p.m. today, I thought: This might be the boost in my grade I needed since all of the other 10 percenters were slacking on this particular paper. Uh...WRONG.

At approximately 3 p.m. today I just happened to re-read the instructions: Eight page limit. Check. One-inch margins. Got it. Double-spaced. Duh. Times New Roman. I hate Arial. Check. Check. And ...Check. Write in favor of the Defendant. Defendant? Defendant???? DEFENDANT??? Holy....freaking...crap! I had just spent seven days and fifteen hours researching cases and writing in support of the Plaintiff.

My heart dropped. I cried. I think I yelled at Jackson. I panicked. Ten minutes later I finally took a deep breath. The paper was due at 6 p.m. sharp; no exceptions. I furiously began writing and revising. My whole argument was wrong! The only thing that kept me from completely flipping out was the 5% price tag attached to the paper, but I still flipped out because I needed that 5%. This was my chance to get over on Sally (FLASHBACK: Sally was my fictional character in my pre-Atmospheric Science classes ...definitely an engineering student...that always set the curve), but once again Sally still had the edge.

I won't write about my two hours of furiously writing and changing "can" to "cannot" and "does" to "does not" to satisfy my argument in favor of the Defendant. In the end, I covered my mistake with a band-aid: It won't cover the whole injury. It will eventually come off. When you pull it off it hurts. And when the injury still exists, which inevitably it will because a band-aid is not a cast, you still have a cut.

Law school is an EXPERIENCE. Just when you think, "I'm smart." "I GOT this." Law school is there to tell you: "No" and "No...you don't."

Just what the world needs is another lawyer.

So what does law school do to people that lawyers become so disliked? Well, for me, I now see negligence in every act by every person. Scott, you HAVE to brush ALL of the snow off of your car...the snow may blow off, impeding someone's vision, causing an accident and you will get sued for negligence. I know that if I decide to use my scissors as a can opener and cut myself then sue for products liability, I will lose. I read entire contracts: credit cards, HIPPA, insurance, doesn't matter, if it says sign, I read it - word - for - word. I spell out numerals, i.e., one versus 1. And, I just called the mortgage title company to inquire about easements. Really??? Who does these sorts of things? Attorneys and attorneys in training. Everywhere I look there is a potential lawsuit. So with this house, I needed to make sure that there isn't a sewer line for lot six running underneath our house. Now most normal people wouldn't think of such a thing. But after sitting through two classes discussing a case from 1938 where a homeowner didn't inquire about the plumbing and later had raw sewage backup in his basement, only to have the court say, "Too bad, a reasonable person would have inquired about where the sewer lines run. You have plumbing don't you?".

After class I asked my Property Professor if the inquiry notice would apply to modern day cases where we take things like plumbing for granted, because surely a reasonable person in 2011 wouldn't have to inquire about why their toilet flushes, right?. Well, like everything else in law school, I was wrong. It is my duty as a home owner to make a "reasonable inquiry". So that lead me to calling NVR to ask a ridiculous question about easements.

And attorneys wonder why the rest of world hates them.

I have a midterm on Friday in Contracts. Now most law school classes do not give mid-terms. In most classes the grade is based on one three-hour final at the end of the semester. Some might think that sounds awful and stressful and it is, but a midterm that is only worth 10% of your grade kind of gives you the same feeling as slow left lane drivers: Annoying. You deal with it for awhile until you can pass the driver. You know if you pass the driver, in reality it's not going to make your trip go any faster.

This professor in particular has been teaching at the law school for thirty years! He not only thinks that contract law is "easy", but loves the Socratic method of teaching and clearly midterms.

Weather:

Well, the rain/freezing rain mix hit Columbus early this morning. Jackson had a snow day....woohoo!!! As the temperatures drops tonight, the rain is supposed to freeze again. In addition to more freezing rain, snow is forecasted overnight. Maybe another snow day tomorrow?

So that is all that is happening in the Weidner household.

A missing tooth, school, high school basketball, and football

Well, where to start? We had a very busy weekend and already a busy Monday.

The Missing Tooth:

Jackson has lost tooth number #2. No mention of the tooth fairy this time, so we won't mention it either.

School:

Aida started preschool today at Temple Israel www.templeisrael.org/preschool.htm in East Columbus. It is a wonderful program. The teaching style is similar to a Montessori program. The teacher/child ratio is 1:5! The program allows kids to explore different areas while secretly learning.

Have you ever had one of those bad dreams where you can't keep yourself from looking around the corner at something that you know is scary? Well, that is how I feel about starting my second semester of law school; just being honest. Of course I have chosen this path. I am the one that wanted to pursue a career in the field of environmental law, but honestly, I am more scared about starting this semester than last semester. The reason: I know how dreadfully hard it is. Last semester it was just speculation, but now I know firsthand. It is like having a child: You know it is a lot of work. You know you will love the child and that your life will change, but you don't fully understand until the child arrives. That is law school in nutshell. I start classes tonight.

High School Basketball:

Friday the Weidner broad drove up to northeast Ohio to attend Antoine's basketball game. We had a lot of fun cheering on Uncle A.

Some Random Pictures From the Weekend:

Saturday morning breakfast.The recliner from Grandpa Rock. It's been a BIG hit with the kids. Jackson was kind enough to allow Ivie to hang out during the commercial.
Football:

So, is it really happening? Has the college football season come to an end? Are the bowl games finally over after tonight? I feel like there is BCS college football exec out there hurriedly trying to come up with just one more bowl game, just to prolong the agony...oh I mean excitement for just one more week. Something like the Snow Belt Bowl or the Interstate 77 Bowl (this bowl would certainly get some small MAC team to play an SEC team). In reference to the NFL, Scott said this weekend, "It's a sad moment in the season when you can count the number of games left. There are 11." Sad? I can only imagine the kind of sadness he is feeling with the number of college games at 1. Scott and his dad will now have to find something else to talk about: Maybe their wives or the kids (love ya Don!). Me, I'm happy! My love of football will be rejuvenated in the off season. I promise.

So those are my Monday rants!