PANERA!!!!

Panera opened (after MUCH delay) on Friday.

Today is Monday.

I've been three times.

In my defense, I have not been eating the delicious treats--only the healthy soups and salads.

I probably should cut back though...or perhaps give up my apartment and just move into Panera.

Huh

Now that I'm a 3L, apparently, I'm making the Pyramid game too hard.

Sorry.

I'll try to make the next one a bit easier. (For the record, only LL has gotten it right so far.)

I'm getting too tricky for my own good.

Climate Control

It's very muggy and hot here in the summer. But in stores and buildings, it can be quite cold because of the air conditioning. The other day at the grocery store, it was FREEZING!

As I walked around, I suddenly realized I had hit a warm place.

Weirdly, it was where the fish sat in piles of ice.

Pyramid - Round 5

It's that time again...it's a tricky one this time!

(As last time, I'll wait to post comments for a few days to give everyone a chance to guess).

Let's play Pyramid!

Bruce Springsteen
Mothers of newborns
My assistant

Open Open Open

Today is June 2. I am pretty excited about that.

Why?

On June 6, a Panera is opening in my neighborhood. Right now, the closest Panera to me is in Queens.

QUEENS.

I have been watching them work on my Panera since November of last year.  I walk over to it pretty regularly to see if it's open yet. The other day, they put up a sign that said it's opening June 6.

Come on, Panera, open, open, open!

Love Hate

Big Firm gave me a Blackberry for the summer. I have a love-hate relationship with my Blackberry.

Only without the love.

Apparently, once you use an iPhone, you're completely incapable of using a Blackberry. I consider myself to be a pretty technologically savvy woman, but sheesh, this Blackberry is driving me crazy.

Then again, it does have an awesome light on the front that blinks if I have a message or an appointment to get to or anything.

So I guess I have a little bit of love for my Blackberry. Only a little though.

Weather Wear

Over the weekend, I went out to dinner. It was very warm and muggy, but finally overcast, so I hit the city in shorts and flip flops. I was wandering around, running errands, and then I stopped to have dinner. At dinner, I was reading a book, and once when I looked down for just a moment, I looked back up and realized that it was pouring rain.

But before I left the restaurant, it had stopped, and the sidewalks were drying out. Weird. On my way to the grocery store (one block away from the restaurant) it started to pour again. I ducked into the store, quickly purchased about five items I had come to get, and then headed out. The rain had stopped again.

I have no idea what to wear anymore.

Out of My World

Big Firm has coffee machines on every floor. They tell me that one of the coffee machines on one of the floors is better than the others, but since I don't drink coffee, I couldn't really vouch for that.

I've never really used a coffee machine. When I worked in fast food during and shortly after high school, I used to use a coffee pot and brew coffee that way a few times a week. I never had a traditional internship in college, so I've never had the responsibility to get someone coffee. And although my law school has several coffee machines in the cafe, I've never had the need to use any of them.

After a couple of days at Big Firm, I figured out that the coffee machine on my floor also made hot cocoa. I was pretty excited about this, particularly because my gorgeous office can occasionally be downright chilly. At first, I was just using the coffee machine to get hot water and use cocoa packets, but then I discovered that it makes cocoa all on its own.

On Friday, I found myself wishing that the coffee maker also did marshmallows or whipped cream. Who knows...I may discover that it does. It's pretty fancy.

Summer Adventure

Well, finals are over, and I'm officially a 3L. WOW!!

This summer, I'm working here in NYC for a big law firm. For the sake of privacy, and because it really doesn't matter, I'm not going to put the company's name here. From now on, we'll just call it Big Firm.

I started working at Big Firm this week, and I'm having a great time. My coworkers are all really wonderful. There are around a dozen other law students from around the country working there this summer as well. Big Firm is a really big law firm (hence the name) with offices around the world. Because I'm working at the NY office, I didn't have to move for the summer, and I'm just tickled pink by that.

This week, we had many orientation events, learned some software, ate some great food, got our offices, and started working.

So far, I'm working on some pretty interesting things. Big Firm, by virtue of being a big firm, has some awesome clients all around the world. I can't really talk about who they are, what they do, or what we do for them, but suffice it to say, I get to help attorneys working on matters for celebrities, politicians, and big companies who make or do the things we all use. It's pretty cool.

Big Firm has lots of attorneys who do all kinds of things, some of which you probably didn't know attorneys did. Big Firm has lots of litigators (what you normally think of as attorney work--people suing each other, being prosecuted, pro bono, etc.), as well as transactional attorneys (tax, trusts and estates, finance, mergers and acquisitions, employment, regulatory work, etc.). So as a summer associate, I get to work a little bit with lots of different attorneys doing lots of different things, which is really fun.

Big Firm, like many big firms, is in a big building here in Manhattan, with big, gorgeous offices. After the recruiter took me to my floor, introduced me to my assistant, and left me in my office, I looked around a bit and wondered how I got to be there.

However it happened, it's going to be a great summer.

A Letter

Dear Woman in Front of Me in The ATL Security Line,

You know, as I’ve been here visiting my wonderful sister and her fabulous family, I’ve been struck by how lovely all of the people here in Atlanta are. So warm, so friendly, great customer service everywhere I’ve gone.

You must be from somewhere else.

When you turned around and yelled at me in the security line about how my sniffles were making you sick, I was pretty surprised. I’ve never had a total stranger just yell at me standing in line like that. Although I thought I saw you turning to glare at me a few times before that, I hadn’t made eye contact because I was sure I was mistaken; why would someone glare at a total stranger in line who was just minding her own business?

For the record, I’m just a month into recovery from my tonsillectomy. My soft tissues in my throat and mouth are still recovering. They aren’t done changing shape and size, so I do still struggle with my nose and mouth functions. Also, I’m suffering from terrible allergies or a cold; I’ve been seen by a physician and have had to battle through two weeks of miserable finals feeling entirely ill. On top of it all, I just had to say goodbye to my dear family to head back home. I don’t know if you know what it is to have loved ones, but I miss my wonderful family, and it breaks my heart to not live near my adorable nephews as they grow up. So forgive me if I’m a bit misty on top of it all.

I am not your daughter. I am not your employee. I am not your student. It’s completely inappropriate for you to yell at me. 

I’m glad we’re not on the same flight, because I will continue to cough and be sniffly all the way to New York. Do I want to be? Of course not. Why would I do this if I didn’t have to?

I hope you sit next to a baby on the plane. A baby with a cold. Who cries the whole way. And then barfs on you halfway to your destination.

Actually, I couldn’t wish that on the baby, the poor baby’s mother, or those poor flight attendants who would have to deal with your rudeness. Maybe you should just fly alone. And drive alone. And not go into public until you can learn appropriate societal behaviors.

Best,

Bacon

Friends in All Places

It's so fabulous to have friends in other professions. As a law student, I'm with other law students and lawyers all day. Every day. All the time. All law. All the time. It's very nerdy, so it's good for me to be involved with others.

I have a friend at church who is a dental hygienist. Occasionally she posts interesting things that happen at her office.

The other day, she passed along this gem.

Quoted directly from her post:

Patient-Is that showing plaque affecting the heart?
Hygienist-Yup.
Patient-You would think someone would invent something to prevent that. 
Hygienist-Someone has, it's called floss.

Should Be An App for That...

I have a horrible cough. Horrible, horrible cough that is keeping me up at night and making anyone with whom I interact stare in disgust.

Sorry, folks. I'm pretty sure it's nothing.

Then again, it is pretty gross.

But I'm super busy. I'm actually going to go to the doctor about the cough on my way to school to take a final tomorrow. Yikes. But there's no other time!

I've always been a big fan of internet self diagnosis, but I think that we need to take that up a notch.

New plan: someone make an app where I plug in my symptoms, and then I connect online where I cough into the microphone, and the computer translates it into what's wrong with me.

Is your cough a cold? Pneumonia? Bronchitis? Whooping cough?

There should be an app for that. Million dollar idea, internet friends. One of you should make that. And then let me know when it's done, so I can cough for you.

Maybe there'd be an upgrade you can buy for diagnosing sneezes...

Mother's Day

Today is Mother's Day. Unfortunately, as I am a law student, Mother's Day is at a particularly inopportune time for me each year. After next year, I'll be doing all kinds of fun things for my mother on her day, but for now, a blog post will have to suffice.

I'm probably the luckiest girl in the world to be blessed with my mother. She'll tell you she's not perfect, but she's really perfect for me. This year, she came to stay with me (for ten days!) so that I could have a tonsillectomy but still go to school. Some mornings, she'll call so that we can chat and "go for a walk" together. She even agreed to still love me if I don't get good grades this semester.

I'm grateful today for my mother, and for all the other women in my life who are wonderful examples of womanhood and motherhood.

Found this on someone's Pinterest board. As I do not use Pinterest, I'm not sure how I'm supposed to credit this picture, so I'll just say that I did not take it or make it. I just like it.

Studying/Praying

As a Christian woman, my studying for finals and taking of those exams involves a good mix of studying and prayer.

Lately, lots of prayer.

Less than a week to go!

Construction

Where I live, there is a lot of construction. It's not particular to my part of New York, really, as construction sort of reigns over this city. We all sort of live in harmony with it. Streets get torn up and put back down, scaffolding comes up and goes back down, and we all just go about our business.

I don't usually notice all of the construction equipment, except for occasionally thinking of my dear nephews and how much they'd love it all, but today, I saw something new.

For some reason, parked on the street like any other car, was a giant backhoe. It was unoccupied, with a boom box hanging out the window, blasting "Taking Care of Business."

I can only assume that its owner was nearby, taking care of business. Otherwise, he or she needs to pick a new song.

Studying

Well, it's finals time again. Yippee! Well, not for the finals part, but yippee for the almost-done part!

Unfortunately, I've spent much of this semester sick, and busy, and recovering from my tonsillectomy, so I am feeling pretty behind the game. Hopefully, I'll be able to get lots of studying done this week so that I can be ready to take these suckers and be done.

Once I finish this semester, I'll be 2/3 done with law school. Crazy! But in a wonderful way. And then there's almost no time at all before I start my summer job, learning all kinds of things in a new place. And then, before I know it, it will be fall again, and I'll be back to learning even more new things.

Sheesh, no wonder I'm tired!

People Watching

There is no better place for people watching than in New York City. I just love all of the interesting people you can see as you sit on the subway or sit in a park. Unfortunately, lately, I've been so busy that I haven't gotten to do much of just sitting around and watching people.

Luckily, the people have come to me.

Two winners in the past week or so:

• Man on a bicycle, in a suit, with a helmet, bikes past me, belching as he passes. Nice.
• Normal looking woman walking down the sidewalk, presses a finger to one side of her nose, and proceeds to forcefully blow a booger out of the other side of her nose onto the sidewalk. And the way the light was, I could see it ever so well.

Keeping it classy here in Manhattan.

Allergies

I've been having crazy, horrible allergies lately. Problem here? I have no idea what I'm allergic to. Also, when I sneeze or cough, it hurts my throat because of my tonsillectomy. Yikes.

I've been wracking my brain, trying to figure out what could be my allergy trigger...

• Unfavorable court decisions
• Law school finals
• Law school, generally
• My super clean apartment (really, it's super clean right now--perhaps that's bad for me...interesting)
• My new orchid
• Sleep deprivation

What else do you think it might be, folks?

Pyramid - Round 4

Are we on round 4? That seems right...

Today it's a tricky one--let's play Pyramid!

• Fire
• Orange juice, post-tonsillectomy
• A substantial portion of my cooking

Head to the comments to guess!

Tonsillectomy

Things I've learned from my tonsillectomy (yes, I am recovering from a tonsillectomy right now. It went very well; I had one of the best doctors in Manhattan at one of the finest hospitals around, so everything is fine and dandy)

• You're never too old to let someone take care of you, even/especially if that someone is your mother
• Tonsillectomy post-op care is like a really non-fun drinking game with water and juice. Want to play at home? It goes like this: every time anything happens, take a drink. Wake up? Have a drink. Commercial on TV? Have a drink. Get up to use the restroom? Go ahead and have another drink. Hydration is key, so I feel like all I'm doing is just processing fluids.
• It's a good thing they took my tonsils out, because with how much swelling I have back there now, I wouldn't have any room for them!
• Even foods that seem bland may turn out to be spicy.
• Liquid antibiotics taste EXACTLY the same as when I was a kid and had strep throat all of the time. Too bad no doctors wanted to take out my tonsils then...I was just born in the wrong time, folks.
• Don't tell people depressing things right before surgery - the person who was originally going to be my anesthesiologist, who put in my IV, told me that a tonsillectomy "hurts like hell." Comforting. And she stuck my IV in my right arm, which was annoying. But then she ended up not being my anesthesiologist, and my other anesthesiologist told me that I was going to be fine. The second anesthesiologist ended up being right.
• Doctors act legally cautious even when other people aren't around. I joked with my anesthesiologist that she'd have to make sure I kept breathing, and she said, "I'm going to try." I thought, what an appropriate answer. But if she had promised me that she would, and then I had died, well, no lawsuit there, right? No one else was there to hear it. Maybe it's just a really good habit they're all in.

I'm now about two weeks out of my tonsillectomy. I'm still in some pain, but things are healing well. The saddest part is that my mother went home, so now I just have to take care of myself, which is not nearly as much fun. But I'll survive.

Only a couple of weeks until finals, and then time to start working. Time flies!! (In truth, the days are very, very long, but the school year has really flown.)

Probably time to start learning something about the subjects of my classes...yikes!!!