Just a quick catch-up before I get back to reading Contracts before class…

I’m at school a tad earlier than usual this morning after dropping my Sweet off at the airport. He heads to Mississippi today to fix some computer problem resulting from Katrina. I already want him back home…

Passed a lovely Labor Day weekend with A and another couple, N and B. We headed to Niagara-on-the-Lake to have a nice weekend revolving around wine-y goodness. We arrived at our B&B on Saturday and met the two fabulous owners who also happened to be world travelers, backpackers, and general granola types. That day we walked to the neighboring winery to sample a few wines and try some cheese before heading into town for dinner. Hilarity ensued over the discovery of a Jungle Bench, but there’s really no way to explain it and make it as funny as it was.

Sunday, after an amazing breakfast and some very good advice from our hosts, we headed to a local park to hike into the gorge and see the rapids on the Niagara. As we watched the jet boats travel up and down the river heading for the whirlpool, we dipped our toes in the water (colder than I’d anticipated), unaware that, apparently, just below the relatively benign surface, the water travels in excess of 30 knots. Luckily, no one was sucked away and dragged out to sea...

The hike out of the gorge pretty much kicked my ass (lousy shape I’m in, no surprise there…I’m still sore) and, after assembling our bikes, we headed for the Falls for N and B’s first viewing. In case you’re wondering, I do not recommend biking that close to the Falls. Oh no. Unless, that is, you really enjoy fantasizing about killing tourists. Because you will.

After our ride back we cleaned up and headed to a great, affordable, non-touristy restaurant (again at the recommendation of our hosts) for the best veggie burger I have ever, and I mean EVER, eaten in my entire life. I want another one. Right now. Yes I do. After joining our hosts and their kindly friends for a drink on the patio, we headed to the neighboring town, St. Catherine’s, where we discovered a relatively hopping club district. We managed to find a place that we could all abide called the Rum Garden where B snagged us some prime seats out on the deck.

Note: Apparently, T&Vs (tea and vodka) are pretty popular in Canada. And yes, they’re pretty good. Do not, however, make the mistake of ordering a shot of So Co and lime. What you will get is something so disgusting that, again, I don’t have words to adequately describe. Just trust me on this.

Monday we had another leisurely and delicious breakfast before sadly parting with the most comfortable bed I could have possibly imagined. We stopped at a few more wineries and A and I ended up with a few bottles of fantastic wine (and, it must be noted somewhere, some cloves of garlic pickled in Chardonnay). Add that to a $15 bottle of Bombay Sapphire that I picked up at the duty free on the way home, and I think my studying is going to get *much* more interesting in the very near future.

And…speaking of studying…school is…interesting. I’m not quite sure what to make of everything yet, a sentiment that I think will continue for some time to come. Last weekend was my last hurrah, of sorts, and now I plan on buckling down both in school and where my wallet is concerned. I can’t have any more of these shenanigans or I’ll never make it to January with that FAFSA check (oh, by the way, have to remember to thank FAFSA for my lovely bottles of wine!).

As for my classes, my thoughts are still mixed. My Torts professor is apparently much feared for his ruthless use of the Socratic Method and general tendency to embarrass students in class. He doesn’t bother me at all. He’s the perfect caricature of your Paper Chase type prof, only I think he’s kind of funny. He’s seen my amusement in class from time to time and smiles back, so I don’t think he’s offended. Of course, he hasn’t called on me yet so we’ll see how that goes…

My Property prof. is pretty cool. The pace of the class is a bit slower than I’d like, and each class is beaten to death three times over, but she’s pretty animated and entertaining, so it could be much worse. I really love my Civ Pro prof, a First Amendment lawyer and something of an activist, as well as one of those kind, gentle professors that practically takes your exams for you. Only problem with him is that I end up doing work for that class last, if at all (no Socratic Method with him, he tells you at least two classes in advance if he’s going to call on you), and so I’m already a hair behind.

Then, there’s the glory of Contracts. Boring. And yes, in case you’re wondering, we’re talking History of Magic boring. And the prof? What an ass! I don’t mean ass as in the guy’s a jerk sense, I mean ass in the sense of ‘who the hell told you they thought it would be a good idea for you to teach?’ kind of ass. He’s all over the place, and if I didn’t understand the reading pretty well, I’d be ready to impale myself over friggin’ Contracts. He’s the worse teacher I’ve ever had, which is really something if you are one of the few that had Mrs. Carr as a sixth grade teacher. I’m still looking for that awful lady to have a word with her…

Then, of course, there’s the joy of Legal Writing. The class is just too long, and it’s on the afternoon of a relatively long day, so it’s really tough to pay attention. I know the class is important, and my prof has a great reputation for getting people on the Law Review (9 out of 12 of new 1/2Ls that ended up making it last year had her for Legal Writing). It’s just, really, the whole “here’s how you write a bibliography” and “this is how to write a topic sentence” isn’t all that new to me. Nor could it possibly be interesting to anyone…ever. Yesterday I ended up on cnn.com for the entire class and missed everything, which of course means I have to chat someone up to get the lowdown on what we need to do for next week…

I’m trying to find what I consider my “peers” in all of this madness. I’m having a tough run of it, but so far I’ve got 1.5, which *almost* gives me a study group. Other than that, I’ll keep my opinions to myself until I know for sure what I really think about it all…