Big Thangs Poppin’ – 2008

A blog post, huh? Indeed, I haven’t been around the blogging tree (yes, I planted a blogging tree – get off me) in quite a while. When law school is in session, I type more than enough during the day and night to despise the thought of sitting down and typing even more purely for recreation. With the Christmas break and no school work for at least another week, though, I don’t really have any excuse. So here I am, to try and fill in the blanks from the last few months, as well as look towards the New Year. 2008. Two years away from my ten-year high school reunion. Ughhh.

LAW SCHOOL

It’s a time consuming beast that threaten to steal your soul, crush all that is good inside of you, and turn you into a bitter and twisted machine that’s incapable of feeling emotions such as kindness and mercy. Other than that, it’s been great! Honestly, looking back on the first semester, it’s hasn’t been too different than what I expected. Having expectations turn to reality, though, was still pretty rough. The constant demand on your time, the ever present thought that, “I should probably be reading or writing something for ______ class right now” is pretty ridiculous. Weekends become a one night affair, with the rest of the time needed to prep for the coming weeks work. Because, in realty, as much as you try to “work ahead”, there is always something else that needed doing. The concept of finals in law school was in itself crazy. Your entire semester comes down to one test, one day. For three and a half weeks, your work yourself numb. I spent many an hour in late November, early December, holed up in the reading room of the law school library (mostly because it’s all windows, and so looking at downtown makes me feel a little more normal . . . at least till I turn my attention back to subject-matter jurisdiction and res ipsa loquitor.) So if faced with the chance again, would I still go to law school? In a heart beat. Bring on semester number two.

THE LAW SCHOOL-MED SCHOOL HOUSE

I’d be lying if I said that it’s always, 100% a cinch to make work. The majority of the semester, Holly and me were able to handle our dual schedules fairly well, with a good mix of school work, house work, and time with each other. There was, though, a perfect storm right after Thanksgiving. It’s was the result of Holly being in the middle of one of her harder rotations, requiring a wake up time of almost 4 a.m. Combine that with the start of my finals study juggernaut of a schedule, and there was probably a good week and a half where tensions around the Heaton household climbed to a Red Level on the National Security Threat Level Indicator (I think that’s a bad thing . . . honestly, I have no idea what colors are bad on that thing). But once finals ended, things got more leveled out, and now we’re actually handling things really well. With that said, Holly is still on a killer schedule with Peds Surgery, and I am currently typing this at 4:40 after getting up at 3:30 a.m. Grad School rules! {cheesy 80’s thumbs up}

CHRISTMAS/NEW YEARS

After trying to figure out some type of getaway, Holly and myself eventually gave in to the fact that we were low on both time and money (she only got 10 days of vacation vs. my nearly four weeks). So, despite our efforts to get away, we ended up spending most of our time at her parents place in southern Indiana. Regardless, we both agreed that we actually had a pretty great holiday break. We enjoyed some good family time, and we also get to go out a lot with friends that we’ve been missing all semester. New Year’s Eve was a blast, seeing us ring in the New Year with our friends Chris and Ashley at the Rathskeller with Polka Boy. I almost got into two fights over paper NYE hats. That in itself made it a great night. My Christmas gifts were highlighted by a set of golf clubs and a poker set from the wife. She received a set of D&G sunglasses, and has been thrilling us all with her best Paris Hilton impersonations since.

SPORTS

It’s been an up and down season as a Detroit fan, but luckily, it’s been more up than down. The Wolverines finished the regular season with ANOTHER loss to the Buckeyes, but redeemed themselves by taking it to Tim Tebow and the Gators in the Capital One Bowl (I didn’t talk to one Michigan fan who thought we had a chance in that one. The Lions promised ten wins on the season, forgetting apparently that they’re the Lions! Still, seven wins was better than anything else they’ve done recently. The Pistons and Red Wings are both dominating they’re respective sports. And of course, my personal favorite – the Tigers signed D-train and Miguel Cabrera. Yup, the spring of 2008 can’t get here quick enough.

2008

Before looking ahead, I shall reflect quickly on what my goals for 2007 were and see how I did:

• Enjoying a full calendar year with my wife – Done
• Reading as many books as possible – Done till law school started, then pleasure reading went out the door.
• Regaining my summer body before spring gets here – I was in pretty good shape for the summer. Once again, law school took its toll.
• Starting law school – Done
• Trips to bama, including College Night – Done
• Picking back up my volunteering habit – Ehhh, not really, thanks law school.
• Learning even more about life – Easy Enough
• Traveling in general – I was about to say no, but realizing that there was a trip to Cali, Chicago, Cincy, and a few other spots, I’ll say done.
• The Tigers getting another shot at the World Series?? – Not this time
• Truly making Indianapolis my city – Done
• Expanding my networking in school and around the city – Not quite as much as I’d hoped.

So what does 2008 hold in store? The biggest goal for the year that I’m setting for myself is to run a marathon. That’s right, I’m stepping up my game this year, and before 2009 get here, I plan to have run at least one full marathon. I’ve set a schedule for myself with some warm-up 15K’s and Half-Marathons. This is gonna be a challenge, and I think that’s why I’m actually getting pretty jazzed thinking about it. That’s pretty much my main goal for 2008. Some other goals include: Work as hard as I can in law school ~ Get out of the country at least once ~ Read about a subject that I know nothing about (aside from legal stuff) ~ Start getting sometime of internship or associateship in the pipeline ~ Go to a Tigers game ~ Call my family and fraternity brothers more often (maybe the second biggest challenge behind that marathon – I’m awful at calling people back, maybe one of my worst flaws) ~ Love my wife as much as possible.

 

That’s quite a lot for one blog, and thus, that’s all for now. One love, holla.