Week 2...

Okay, first thing: I told everyone that I would post my address, and then I did not. Oops! So here it is:

Pepperdine School of Law
24255 Pacific Coast Hwy. #0228
Malibu, CA 90263-0228

Now that that is taken care of, I have a few other things to say. First, let’s talk about my books. I did, as some of you may recall, spend way too much money on my books this year. They were ridiculously expensive. (They’re just 1L case books; it’s not like they contain the secret to life or the formula for world peace or something!) So can someone please explain to me why my ridiculously expensive books are already showing signs of wear? I’m not just talking a bent page or two either, I’m talking about all those pretty black and gold titles on the cover and spine wearing away! Seriously! I’ve only been carrying them to and from class for the last two weeks. There is no way they should be looking so worn already. For the kind of money I paid, the publisher should be using indestructible inks and foils on my book covers, sheesh!

And now for the weather. While I am happy that the weather here in Malibu is so warm (I am hearing reports from my beloved Portland of sweaters and scarves, and I laugh at you! Muahahaha! I think I shall go to the beach today… insert evil smiley face here), I wouldn’t mind if it were a little less so. Last week was so hot! And muggy. We were struggling with our tiny, inadequate fans just to get a bit of air movement through the apartment. And then our professors come zooming into class (in their suits): “Is it hot in here, are you guys hot? Here let me crank the AC all the way up!” So there we are, dressed in tank tops and shorts and flip-flops, FREEZING because the professor feels the need to compensate for the outdoor temperature. I’ve begun toting a sweatshirt to class with me, because I would like to survive long enough to graduate law school, and frostbite has never been my preferred method of dying. At least the temp has decided to drop the last few days so the weather has cooled noticeably and things are finally pretty comfortable here (although they’re still blazing on the other side of the canyon. Whew!)

As for school itself, things are both picking up and slowing down. The workload isn’t as bad now that I know a little better what I am doing, but the assignments are getting bigger, it’s time to start outlining, and professors have started to say things like “you won’t need to know this for the exam, but you’ll need to know this and this and this…” (Keep in mind that there is only one exam, the final in December. It’s the only grade, literally. So for the professors to be talking about it in September…it’s a little stressful.)

Also, I finally got called on this week. Three times. The first was a little disastrous—the prof. asked a question about a case, but didn’t tell me which case it was. So I asked, and he said “the first one.” Which first one? The first one we discussed in class that day? The first one we discussed that week? The first one ever? (Keep in mind that discuss three to five cases per class per day…that adds up to a lot of cases!) Just as I figured out which one he wanted, he called on someone else. Failure! Not entirely my fault, but still embarrassing! So of course he called on me the next day so that I could redeem myself, and it was fine, but even so…I still have not been called on to actually go over a case brief, however. I am fully okay with this though.

On the upside, I think I’m going to love my new church. Goldman recommended that I start at Conejo Valley CoC, so that’s what I did. My roommate and I liked it so well that we’ve decided to attend there on a regular basis. There are some definite differences (they have women do bible readings there for instance, which is really weird for me) but other than that, they’re CoC as usual. And they might well be the most visitor friendly congregation I’ve ever been to. They are so loving and friendly! Our first Sunday there, we were invited out to lunch. When we declined (we were nowhere near finished reading for the first day of class) and explained that might be easier for us in a couple of weeks when we’d figured out the swing of things, we were told that they would hold us to that and that we would be expected to go out to lunch with them in the very near future.

This last week, the preacher and three or four other people caught us on our way out the door for introductions because they didn’t recognize us and they wanted to say hello and make us feel welcome. When we expressed an interest in staying and getting involved, and mentioned that we liked Conejo because it’s a family-oriented congregation (can we say kids everywhere? It’s what we wanted in a SoCal church home, so it’s good, but so many kids!), they started pointing out who we needed to talk to to get involved in the children’s ministries. We both felt very uplifted when we left, which we decided was a good thing since we are going to be spending most of our time in a very stressful environment. I really hate trying to find, and then get settled in at, a new church (especially with a home congregation like Cordova! Who can compare?), but I really feel like Conejo is going to make that transition easy, and even enjoyable. It’s a huge relief.

Other than that, things are going pretty well. I’m mostly over the weird cold/allergies thing I had going on this last week, so my roommate has (mostly) stopped following me around with Lysol spray and Clorox wipes. We have some kind of baking spree going on apparently, with some new goody being made at least once a week. (This week, I’ll be making banana pudding). I finally got my room set up, and will be taking pictures to post here or on Facebook sometime in the next few days. And this long weekend has been absolutely lovely, both for getting things done and for relaxing (we went out to see a movie last night with our neighbors, which was a lot of fun). Maybe I’ll actually feel ready when classes start up again tomorrow! (Although, I still don’t want to be called on!)