yes the deed is done

I TOOK THE BAR!!!

I finished on Wednesday at like 4:30 p.m. (yes that's twenty minutes early. I'm one of the ones that left like twenty minutes early...as I was walking to the parking lot I kept looking at the people around me thinking, "are we all the ones who left early and are now going to FAIL because we didn't take advantage of the last 20 minutes???" I hope not.....).

It is WONDERFUL to be done. It was definitely hard--the multiple choice I felt ok about..like I possibly did better than all of the practice problems I did because I really did try to slow down and focus and figure out what the question was asking me... I felt good about the essays too (well the afternoon, morning was another story don't even get me started about the disguised torts question and about the con law essay on the ELEVENTH AMENDMENT--I have taken SIX classes on con law related topics and they give us a question on something I'm sure everyone had nothing more than a sentence to say about--eleventh amendment, sovereign immunity, can't sue states..UMMMMM......) until I went out to dinner with a bunch of smarty pants friends who studied WAY more than me and realized many many MANY things I left out or got wrong....I know it doesn't do any good to think about all the issues you missed because everyone misses some and they don't expect you to pick up on everything in half an hour..but still....

About 75% of the people who take the bar in AZ pass. I think last year it was closer to 80% and the number is even higher for ASU grads. I am definitely (although not by much depending on how last semester grades panned out) in the top half/top forty percent of my ASU class...so statistically I should pass this thing. I worked hard, I honestly feel like I studied as much as I could given the circumstances, and I didn't freak out during the test.....so I should pass right?? I should.

But I may not. It's not unthinkable. I cringe when thinking about preparing for it all over again. For now I hope for the best and pray for understanding bar examiners who don't realize I talked about criminal case rules when discussing civil case character evidence.....

Since the test has ended I've been hanging around trying to do all the things I haven't been doing for the last two months (clean, do laundry, wash the rugs in our bathroom, oh yeah and RUN a lot--remember that half marathon in less than a month??). And my tax RA job has gotten busier and is going to fill up my time for the next couple of weeks. It's amazing how you think you are going to have all this time on your hands and you really just don't. Will I ever not be stressed out because I have a million things to do?? Probably not. But it is nice to have the bar over with. SO SO SO NICE.

And I do have to say there is no way I would have had even a SHOT of passing without my wonderful Sister in Law and Mother in Law coming into town during the final two weeks to watch Harrison so I could study. Harrison LOVED having them around to love him and play with him and I LOVED the chance to focus on studying. I AM SO LUCKY!!!! THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU for taking the time out to come to AZ in the middle of summer!!!!

here is a slideshow of recent pics of Harrison and some pics from my trip to Sacramento a few weeks ago..you can come up with captions on your own right?? Be creative.