Good News; Bad News

I've been a lazy blogger. April has been pretty good so far.

First, I passed the Illinois Bar Exam! Woot Woot! The reason I had to take the exam is because I didn't have five years of practice which is required for reciprocity in Illinois. I have been working under a limited admission to the bar. I have been getting several questions since passing the bar:

1. Are you relieved?

     Yes. (What kind of question is this? If you ask me this question, I will think you are stupid.)

2. Do you get a raise?

     No. I don't get fired.

3. How did you celebrate?

    That day, I went out to eat with friends from my church congregation. That weekend, I went to Michigan and I made my mom make me cake. It was chocolate with chocolate frosting and rainbow sprinkles. It was delicious.

Now I can get on with my life.

The first weekend in April was a doozy! I drove to Michigan to spend time with my family for the weekend. I grossly misjudged the weather thinking that it was spring and did not have warm enough outer gear, so I did not go outside. 

We celebrated Passover.

Passover dinner

 My family celebrates Passover as well as Easter. I celebrated Easter with my parents on Sunday while we watched "General Conference." It was wonderful.

Niece selfie

 Chicago is moving toward spring. I can feel it. We probably still have a late April snowstorm or something. But I'll take the 60 degree weather! Even if it is a little foggy.

The bad news is that my car may have breathed it's last breath on Saturday. As I was driving, it just completely shut down. Luckily, I was able to coast into a parking lot. I tried jumping it, and it would turn on and work fine. However, as soon as I removed the jumper cables, it just completely shut off.

Maybe I just need a new alternator and all will be well. Maybe it's something more serious than that. The question is, do I just retire the car, or do I plug one hole while waiting for the next to burst? I bought this car in 2007 as a salvage car. It has served me well. Within the last year, it has been struggling. I had to replace the wheel ball well, new tires, new brake pads and rotors, and now, whatever is wrong. It is a 2006, so it's lived a pretty decent life, especially for being a salvage car, I think. (But I really don't know what I'm talking about). I will have to wait the verdict from the shop that I towed it to, but it just might be time.

I'm just grateful that I have AAA since I've towed my car 3 times in the past 8 months. Also, living in a city with public transportation doesn't hurt. I don't have to make any decisions today.

The final hoops

 

When you try to become a lawyer, you have to jump through a bunch of hoops.

You know - go to law school, listen to professors try to confuse you and back you into a corner of their Socratic Method of questioning, take a bunch of exams on stuff that you'll never use in practice, then apply to take the Bar Exam, take the Bar Exam, which is miserable, and then once you pass, you still have to show up in court and motion the judge to let you practice law.

Well friends. I finally finished all of the hoops. I was hoping that I could get sworn in from D.C., but that was a no go. So I visited Michigan to get sworn in. I can now officially practice law!! :)

 The judge and I after I'm official.

I'm kind of a big deal in my family.

 

 

Now I'm on to happy lawyering. 

October Oops!

Where did October go? I cannot believe I didn't post at all.

The best news of my October was the fact that I passed the Bar Exam! Woot! My bar passage came with some drama, because let's face it, it wouldn't be my life without drama.

If you look up the official list of July 2012 Michigan Bar passers, I won't be on that list. It's because my MPRE scores were misplaced since I initially sent them to Illinois and then had to send them to Michigan. So that caused me to be on a different list or something, and so I had to call and tell them I really did pass the MPRE. All is well and it is all worked out now. I did in fact pass the arguably hardest bar exam for Michigan since only 55% passed. I am so happy and relieved! :)

So now, you can write Esquire or Esq. whenever you write me a letter. ;)

In other October news:
I went to Michigan for the U of M v. MSU football game (and Michigan won!)
I watched a lot of Justin Verlander and the Detroit Tigers

I made Halloween crafts

I ran an adventure/scavenger hunt race in DC called Urban Dare

I dressed up as a replacement referee (I'm blind) for Halloween

I got a new phone and a new laptop since all of my devices died at the same time
I survived my first Hurricane!

All in all, a pretty eventful month!

The Beginning of the End

I have begun my final semester of law school. And I'm ready to be finished.

Our first day of classes was yesterday. (The rest of the university - undergrad and other grad programs - didn't start until today).

It makes me really frustrated that we started school yesterday because nothing was open on January 2 to get stuff done in this great town. The law school wasn't even open!

And the kicker... THE REST OF MY CLASSES FOR THE WEEK ARE CANCELLED. I am so annoyed. I could have stayed home for another week. I could have gone to New Orleans to watch the Sugar Bowl in person. I could have done a million other things, but no, I came thinking I would have classes, and I don't. It really irks me!

In other complaints. I'm working on my Michigan Bar Application. It is the most ridiculous thing I have ever seen in my entire life. I have to get a certified driving record and a criminal background check in every state that I have been in (lived, vacationed, driven through) for 14 consecutive days. Or 14 days out of 30 days. Are you kidding me? I guess I can understand the background check because I could be running from a conviction. But the driving record. I've only ever had a Michigan driver's license. And Texas, Utah, and Illinois don't keep records for people who do not have state issued driver's licenses. So I have to fill out all these forms, send all this money, and waste all of this time for NOTHING. For a piece of paper that says: No driving record.

Sometimes the hoops you have to jump through are ridiculous. If I ever become anybody, I want to eliminate some of the hoops.

And just so I can post a photo, here is a $20 I had in my wallet. It's a little blurry, but someone disguised Andrew Jackson as Harry Potter. :)