I'm stuck...

I've registered for my summer and fall law classes, and as I did so I was overwhelmed with sentimentality. This is the last time I'll ever have to register for classes again.

Hopefully.

Prayerfully. Please God, don't make me have to take any more classes ever, ever again!

Most of the students in my evening section of law school are graduating in May. I'm behind because I had a baby... and well, that kind of lays wreck to one's perfectly planned class schedule. I only need 10 more credits to graduate, so I could hypothetically graduate this summer, but I won't. What's the hurry, really? Even if I graduated this summer, I'd have to wait until February to take the bar, and I really want to take the Legal Analysis Strategies (i.e. pre-bar prep) class this fall, before I take Barbri this winter.

So I'll take my last required class this summer, Legal Profession which will help prepare me for the MPRE, (Multistate Professional Responsibility Exam) the "ethics" exam I'll have to take in July. Since I'm still going to busy this summer maintaining our water law review website as the online content editor, editing and writing blog posts all summer long, I'll be taking 3 journal credits as well.

(Am I the only one who feels guilty by taking the law review/journal credits? We can only take 6 total if we're on the editorial board of a journal-- which I am-- to count towards graduation. But I always feel like I'm taking an easy out. 6 credits out of 90, but really, I feel like I should be suffering more for these credits. Being on a journal is a ton of work, but I still feel like I'm somehow cheating they system. Maybe I'm just weird.)

Anyway, that leaves me needing 4 credits to graduate this fall. 4! That's it.

But, since for the first time ever, I was registering with the most credits, I got to register for whatever class I wanted. So I registered for:

• Legal Analysis Strategies (3 credits)
• Bankruptcy (4 credits)
• Economics of Natural Resource and the Environment (3 credits)
• Energy Law (3 credits)
• Contemporary Issues in Oil and Gas Development (3 credits)

Yeah, that's right. I only need 4 credits to graduate, so I registered for 16 credits. I have issues (but that's not surprising).

The problem is, I really want to take all of these classes. Why are all the classes I want to take offerred all at the same time during my last semester ever?

Legal Analysis Strategies is the class that I'm almost definitely going to take, its the pre-Barbri class, and I'm already having nightmares about failing the Bar.

Bankruptcy is the class that will be the hardest, but one that I think might be the most useful. And I'm just wait listed for that class, I'm not even in it officially.

Economics of Natural Resource and the Environment is a weekend class, it meets all day Sat and Sun for two weekends, and then I have to write a paper... and I love the professor.

Both Energy Law and Oil & Gas Development are classes that I've wanted to take for semesters, but they're never offered when I can take them, or they fill before I can register for them. I know I probably won't take these classes, but I want to, and for once I could register for them.

So here's my problem. I need 4 credits to graduate. I can take up to 7 credits for free through my tuition waiver at work. I could  apply for a scholarship which allows law students to take additional credits beyond 90 for free during their last semester...

I'm stuck... what do you think I should do?

I'd Rather Be...

Quilting of course. ;)

Despite assurances from my husband in the contrary, some days I feel like a 57 year old woman trapped in the body of a twenty something. Maybe it was all those days in junior high and high school when I would go with my mom and grandma Marge to homemaker meetings, quilting clubs, library association meetings, etc. to "further my social experience." Maybe spending that much time with women at least twenty five years older than me made me grow up "old fashioned" or not modern in some way. Hmm...

But anyway, I've always loved to quilt. I love going to a craft or sewing store, picking out colors and finding a pattern that catches my eye. I love it! And I like the idea of creating something so spectacularly unique that no one will ever be able to duplicate it.

This is the first quilt I made completely by myself, without my mom being in the same room to answer questions. It's a very simple log cabin, with fussy cut cowboys in the center of each square. To this day, it's still one of my favorites.



The next quilt I made was for my mother-in-law. I found a picture of a quilt like this online, it's antique and selling for over two grand. I thought it was interesting enough to copy, and I spent hours studying the quilt and designing my own pattern. Here it is... (note all the blocks are one inch... I think for a while I went temporarily insane).

The bottom picture is an image of the individual block. I made nine of these X's and then put them all together. It really was fun. I made another one just like this but blue for my other mother-in-law. It's been a few years, and I'm tempted to make another one.

If only I had some extra time in my day! Just a few hours here or there, that's all I need.

This is a repost: original post found here: http://www.thecowgirlinthecity.com/2008/01/scrappy-days.html

Work in Progress: Tumbling Blocks

This month has flown by in a flurry of crazy conferences, work, moving an entire university department across campus, law school, internships, writing deadlines. 

But I have been able to relax a bit by quilting. And have been working on these tipsy tumbling blocks. I'm not sure yet if the pink, green, and white blocks will come together as a lap quilt, or if I'll make a couple baby quilts out of them. But these tipsy-turvy blocks are fun and a breeze to whip together. 

Law Students: the Importance of Being Memorable

This is a great resource written by Scott Allen. I hope you find it as helpful as I did!

Five ways to help people remember you (in a good way!)
Have you ever attended a networking event, collected a bunch of business cards, and when you go through them the next day, you can't remember who many of them are? Or try to think of someone you met and had a conversation with, but you can't remember their name or their business to look them up?
Well, you certainly don't want to be one of those that other people can't remember, do you? It's all well and good to pass out business cards, but if people don't remember you well, they probably won't be calling you to follow up, and they certainly won't keep you in mind for their future needs or possible referrals.
Here are four tips on how to make yourself memorable (in a good way) when meeting other people face-to-face:
1. Be fully present.
Be fully engaged and fully aware of the people you interact with. You can break this down into smaller, somewhat mechanical pieces -- listen well, respond promptly, maintain eye contact, etc. -- but if you are truly present in the moment, those things will happen naturally. Many people only seem to be "half there", so being fully engaged helps you stand out.
2. Ask thought-provoking questions.
Networking expert Bob Burg has some good suggested questions in his book Endless Referrals: Network Your Everyday Contacts into Sales, such as "How did you get started?" or "What do you enjoy most about what you do?" But the very best questions can't be communicated in a book because they're specific to the person you're interacting with and will arise in response to your initial conversation. Do #2 and this will flow naturally. As Dale Carnegie suggested, you must "take a genuine interest in other people".
3. Reinforce your keywords.
People aren't going to remember long descriptions of what you do, or likely even that 15-second intro that many experts teach you to make. People will at best remember a few key things about you:

Your name

Your company name

Your business/industry (in three words or less)

Your product

Your location

 

What you want to do is find ways to unobtrusively increase the occurrence of these things in your conversation. For example, is there some kind of story behind your name? Have it ready to use if there's an opportunity. Does your business have an unusual name? What's the story behind it - what does it mean? Refer to your place of business when telling an incident that occurred ("I was driving down 17th Street leaving my store, when...").

Anything you say that reinforces one of the five items above helps make you more memorable. And if they can remember just three of them -- "Joe the barber from Soho" or "Maria the translator who wrote 'Spanish in Six Weeks'" -- you're doing great.
4. Contribute to the group conversation.
Don't hog it, and don't say just anything in order to say something publicly, but saying one really smart thing at your table or in front of the whole group will make you much more memorable than half an hour of semi-conscious small talk. Create value for others and you create value for yourself.
When we look at brand strategy in marketing, one of the most important concepts is that a brand is not just a memorable name or logo -- it's an experience. A great brand communicates values and emotions that get called to mind whenever someone thinks of the name or logo.
Here we're talking about your personal brand. Remember that you are your business. The impression that you make on people is the impression they will have of your business, so make it good and make it memorable.

Suggested Questions (as referenced in the article)

Develop profitable, win/win relationships with practically every new person you meet - whether one on one or in a social setting.
How? Ask questions. Specifically, "feel-good" questions. These are questions designed to put your conversation partner at ease, and begin the rapport-building process. These are not intrusive, invasive, or in anyway resembling those of the stereotypical salesperson. Feel-good questions are simply questions that make your new prospect/potential referral-source feel good; about themselves, about the conversation, and about you. Vital, because "all things being equal, people will do business with, and refer business to, those people they know, like and trust." Asking feel-good questions is the first step to accomplishing that goal.

So what are some of these "Feel-good" type questions?

1. 
   
2. "How did you get started in the 'widget' business?" I call this the "Movie-of-the-Week" question because most people love the opportunity to "tell their story" to someone. This, in a world where most people don't care enough to want to know their story.
3. "What do you enjoy most about what you do?" Again, you are giving them something very positive to associate with you and your conversation. You are making them feel special, important.

You've begun to establish a nice rapport with your new prospect. You are focusing on him or her, as opposed to you and your awesome product, as most salespeople do. He or she is starting to feel good about you and has enjoyed answering your first two "Feel-good" questions. Now it's time for the "One key question," and here it is:
"Pat, how can I know if someone I am speaking with would be a good prospect for you?"
Here, you've continued to establish yourself as being different from all others they meet who are in business, who only seem to want to know, "How can you help me." Also, since you are asking for help in identifying their prospects, she will gladly supply you with an answer. And the fact is, nothing builds trust and credibility with a prospect than actually referring business to them whenever possible.
Your conversation has ended and you never even mentioned your products or services. Good, since your relationship with this new prospect may not be far enough along for him or her to be receptive to this. (At other times it's very advisable to bring up.) That's fine. Hopefully, you've gotten your prospect's business card. Now you are in the position to follow up correctly and systematically in order to nurture this new relationship.

Whenever meeting new people, the above questions will help you to very quickly build your prospect list with high-quality people. And, in a manner that is fun and without stress. You'll never again feel the "discomfort" in the pit of your stomach, knowing that you have to nervously and clumsily approach someone you don't want to approach, and whom you can just sense, does not want to be approached.

Know this: the typical person knows about 250 people. Thus, every time you meet one new person, and develop a relationship based on the fact that he or she now feels as though they "know you, like you and trust you" you've actually just increased your personal prospect list a potential 250 people, every single time. Do this often enough and before long, you'll cultivate a network of endless referrals.

Giveaway! Blog Hop Party!

I'm participating in the Quilter's Gallery blog hop party for quilting today! Why? Because I've never done this and I love giveaways! ;) 

Yay for giveaways!

To let you know a little more about myself, I'm a transplanted country girl trying to make my way in the Big Ole City. This blog shares my life and adventures as a law student, a working mother, a wife who wishes she was more like the Proverbs 31 woman, a writer, and as a quilter. Read more about me, Here, or my quilting adventures here.

My life is often way too busy, but when I get overwhelmed, I just start quilting. Quilting is my escape from stresses of my mountain of homework and life in general.

Because I've never done a giveaway on my blog before, and because I'm very nice, today I'm giving away this: Flirt Jelly Roll by Sandy Gervais for Moda Fabrics Flirt Jelly Roll includes 40 2 1/2" strips of fabric rolled up and tied in a cute ribbon. (See more accurate fabric colors here). 

How to get 3 Chances to Enter the giveaway.

1. Leave a comment telling me why you quilt? Is it a creative outlet? If you are a follower of my blog, leave me a comment below -- or if you become a follower of my blog, and leave me a comment that you are now following. One entry per person, and make sure you leave contact information so I can email you to let you know you won!

2. For an additional entry, please like my blog page on Facebook, and then leave me a comment here telling me that you did so. 

3. For another additional entry, please follow me on twitter, @citycowgirl, and then leave me a comment here telling me that you did so. 

The Giveaway closes March 15, and Winners will be chosen randomly March 17th. I'll contact the winner and arrange to ship your jelly roll to you! I can't ship internationally, sorry. Good luck!

The Giveaway is CLOSED! Thank you all so much for participating... and the winner is... Miss Meghan! Congratulations.