First Assignment Done!

I just sent in my first assignment for school. It was a brief 250 word essay on Ethics for our legal writing professor. Unknowingly, I used the IRAC (Issue, Rule, Application/Analysis, Conclusion) Method, which is common in law school (Thanks Andi for pointing that out!). I think that's just from the motion practice that I do everyday at work & getting red-lined by my boss all the time.

I also did lots of reading over the summer - John Delaney's publications helped me out immensely. I have to give credit where credit is due. At times, it was difficult to get through (I'm still sloushing through his Criminal Law as an Advocacy Book), but I hope it'll be worth it in the fall.

I need to reclaim my kitchen table

Our kitchen table has been taken over by my sewing machine and quilt. Two weeks ago I put the leaf in to make the table bigger and it's now become my quilting area. We've still eating off of the damn snack tables.

You can clearly see how I've given up with keeping things neat until this quilt is done.

Poor husband. Thank you for putting up with me.

Here's my beautiful binding, though, that I made last night. It took several hours. I used a continuous bias cutting method recommended by my friend Kristen that I was actually shocked worked (not because of the directions, but because I thought I was too spastic to figure it out). I should have enough to go around the entire quilt and if I don't, I'll probably start to cry because it was such a pain in the ass to make.


In fact, I accidentally burned the carpet with the iron with folding it over. You are going to have to look closely to see the two spots where this happened. Luckily, I have a seriously wonderful and understanding husband who just turned the carpet around and the burned spot will now be under an ottoman.

Tonight - we attach binding! I thought I'd do that last night, but sadly, making the binding took ALLLLLLLLLLL night.

Congratulations, Penn State!

One of my favorite mediums to work with are corkboards. This is one I made for my cousin, Sam, for her high school graduation. She obviously is going to Penn State (Class of 2011). I'm sort of jealous, since Penn State was just named the #1 Party School in the Nation. I just checked and did not see Seton Hall Law on there. Newark just doesn't scream party like College Park!

I *think* when I was at Carolina (SOUTH CAROLINA) we were ranked a few times.

I need to make myself a Gamecock Corkboard for my office at work.

I'm an ESTP

Have you guys ever heard of the Myers Briggs Personality Test? One of my sorority sisters suggested I take it - you can too.

I'm an ESTP - Extroverted, Sensing, Thinking, Perceiving. I think this definition fits me pretty well.

The Doer

As an ESTP, your primary mode of living is focused externally, where you take things in via your five senses in a literal, concrete fashion. Your secondary mode is internal, where you deal with things rationally and logically.

ESTPs are outgoing, straight-shooting types. Enthusiastic and excitable, ESTPs are "doers" who live in the world of action. Blunt, straight-forward risk-takers, they are willing to plunge right into things and get their hands dirty. They live in the here-and-now, and place little importance on introspection or theory. The look at the facts of a situation, quickly decide what should be done, execute the action, and move on to the next thing.

ESTPs have an uncanny ability to perceive people's attitudes and motivations. They pick up on little cues which go completely unnoticed by most other types, such as facial expressions and stance. They're typically a couple of steps ahead of the person they're interacting with. ESTPs use this ability to get what they want out of a situation. Rules and laws are seen as guidelines for behavior, rather than mandates. If the ESTP has decided that something needs to be done, then their "do it and get on with it" attitude takes precendence over the rules. However, the ESTP tends to have their own strong belief in what's right and what's wrong, and will doggedly stick to their principles. The Rules of the Establishment may hold little value to the ESTP, but their own integrity mandates that they will not under any circumstances do something which they feel to be wrong.

ESTPs have a strong flair for drama and style. They're fast-moving, fast-talking people who have an appreciation for the finer things in life. They may be gamblers or spendthrifts. They're usually very good at story telling and improvising. They typically makes things up as they go along, rather than following a plan. They love to have fun, and are fun people to be around. They can sometimes be hurtful to others without being aware of it, as they generally do not know and may not care about the effect their words have on others. It's not that they don't care about people, it's that their decision-making process does not involve taking people's feelings into account. They make decisions based on facts and logic.

ESTP's least developed area is their intuitive side. They are impatient with theory, and see little use for it in their quest to "get things done". An ESTP will occasionally have strong intuitions which are often way off-base, but sometimes very lucid and positive. The ESTP does not trust their instincts, and is suspicious of other people's intuition as well.

The ESTP often has trouble in school, especially higher education which moves into realms where theory is more important. The ESTP gets bored with classes in which they feel they gain no useful material which can be used to get things done. The ESTP may be brilliantly intelligent, but school will be a difficult chore for them.

The ESTP needs to keep moving, and so does well in careers where he or she is not restricted or confined. ESTPs make extremely good salespersons. They will become stifled and unhappy dealing with routine chores. ESTPs have a natural abundance of energy and enthusiasm, which makes them natural entrepreneurs. They get very excited about things, and have the ability to motivate others to excitement and action. The can sell anyone on any idea. They are action-oriented, and make decisions quickly. All-in-all, they have extraordinary talents for getting things started. They are not usually so good at following through, and might leave those tasks to others. Mastering the art of following through is something which ESTPs should pay special attention to.

ESTPs are practical, observant, fun-loving, spontaneous risk-takers with an excellent ability to quickly improvise an innovative solution to a problem. They're enthusiastic and fun to be with, and are great motivators. If an ESTP recognizes their real talents and operates within those realms, they can accomplish truly exciting things.

What I want for my Birthday

His name will be Rock.

Phil won't mind. Seriously.

I've wanted a Boston Terrier going on five years now. I anticipate I will be wanting one for at least another five before my dream becomes reality.

My weekend of Quilting (and Harry Potter)

This is the current view from my kitchen table. We're eating on snack tables tonight. Sigh.

So, as I predicted on Friday, I spent the weekend quilting. It actually wasn't as difficult as I had originally thought, but it is time consuming. Especially when you have to move Frank off of the quilt every few minutes.


I first finished "stitching in the ditch" which means that I sewed around every single block on the quilt.

Here's a photo op of the back:

Don't mind the copious amounts of cat hair. I swear, he's addicted to the quilt.

Now I've started machine quilting the border. I practiced for a few hours on Saturday. I did lots of internet research on how to machine quilt and most tutorials started with, "Drink a glass of wine before you attempt this." So I did. Or two. Whatever. I was following the directions. Clearly.

This is called the meandering stitch and it takes forever. I'm hoping to finish the quilt before law school, but this machine quilting part is ridic. It looks nice, but damn.

Anyway, I left the house yesterday afternoon to watch Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince with Phil. Yes, I've read all of the Harry Potter books. I own all the movies and all the books. Phil had no idea what was going on (it was like watching Twilight all over again, LOL). I felt bad and kept leaning over and trying to explain who people were and why they hated other people and what certain things were. The Room of Requirement is really hard to explain.

Law school news: My tuition bill came with my schedule on Saturday. I'll be in class from 6 - 10 Monday - Wednesday & 6 - 8 on Thursdays. That's insane. We also got our first assignments. I have to write a 250 word essay and take a 75 minute diagnostic test by August 10. I should probably get on it.

13 more days in my twenties!

The T-Shirt Quilt and Frank

This is a photo of my t-shirt quilt. I have never attempted to quilt before, and I chose one of the largest and cumbersome quilts to start with. Go me. There are 49 Delta Zeta t-shirts on here (guess what sorority I'm in. I dare you. Go ahead. I bet you won't get it).

After cutting the shirts into 12.5 x 12.5 squares, I interfaced them. Then I layed them out, sewed them together, put on a pink border, bought some batting online, and here is the quilt sandwich. And then there's Frank laying on it. Frank loves this quilt something fierce. No matter where I put it or how it's folded, he's all up in it. I'm serious. I currently have it on the dining room table rolled so that I can machine quilt it. He unrolled it and crawled under. Frank is also hairy as hell. You know where he's been. Hence, there are Frank hairs ALL over the quilt. He doesn't care.

All I have to do now is machine quilt it. I say "ALL" like that's easy. I only did ONE seam and my arms are about to fall off, it's so heavy. I had to have hubs help me out with it because I couldn't manage moving it myself. And of course, I've never used a walking foot before, so I need to tear out the one seam I did do and redo it. Guess what I'm doing this weekend!

The New Blog

Welcome to the Crafty Law Student - after getting into law school this spring, I realized that my previous blogs weren't, er, career-friendly.

So I had to kill them.

It was really, really sad. There was some good material on there.

Anyways...I do like to blog. I'm a sarcastic one, you see, and I usually just make the people around me mad with my cracks on them. It's a family thing, though. One time an ex-boyfriend of mine came to a family function and was around me and my brother and dad for like nine minutes and asked why we were so mean to each other. It's love, I tell you, love. Anyway, I need a creative outlet to let my inner-snark out and this is what I came up with. I just have to keep it clean.

A brief bit about me - I'm almost thirty (gasp, I can't pass for 24 anymore). I've been a medical malpractice and personal injury paralegal for the past eight years or so. I always wanted to go to law school, but I didn't go right after undergrad and then I didn't feel like taking the LSAT again. Do you know how horrific that thing is? I would prefer being bitten by spiders and bats or eating some of that crap from Fear Factor. Anyway, my husband finally registered me for the LSAT and I took it and now I'm going to law school in the fall.

I'm also a craft whore. I love crafting. I'm constantly starting new projects. Right now there is a quilt on my dining room table that I'm learning how to machine quilt, umpteen scrapbook pages half done, three corkboards that need to be painted with various college mascots, two bibs that I meant to have ready for our friend's babies first birthday, and an entire closet full of other crafts I haven't gotten around to finishing.

So hence, the title - "The Crafty Law Student." I figure I'll blog about my journey through law school and my craft projects and try not to bore the snot out of people. If I do, though, stop reading. I won't mind.