The End.

The exam ended nearly 5 hours ago. I'm still alive but really exhausted. The answer to the million dollar question (when are results published?) is October 18 at http://www.wsba.org/.

Besides that, I don't really know what to write.

I have gone through 20 years of formal education, 2 months of torturous bar prep, and 2.5 days of exam craziness...all waiting for this moment to arrive. Now that it's finally here, all I can get my brain to do is alternate between random, geeky legal thoughts and urges to sleep. I have no idea how I feel (besides tired). I have no idea what I feel like doing (besides relieving the constant feeling of guilt for not studying). It's going to take some time to feel fully human again (i.e. live without reducing everything to elements of a legal issue, type without counting characters, live more than 45-minutes at a time, relax without thinking of how many essays await).

I'm going to attempt to get back to normal by watching a movie, having a drink with friends, doing laundry, getting a massage, and celebrating a friend's wedding. That sounds like a good start. :-)

Day 2

I'm pleased to report that I have survived the substantive portion of the bar exam. In the past two days, I wrote 18 essay questions totaling 13.5 hours of writing time. I feel moderately confident, though I felt a lot more confident before those last three questions this afternoon. (Can they possibly fail everyone when the call of the question was completely unclear and facts pointed to a topic supposedly not tested?)

Needless to say, I'm exhausted and less than excited about diving into professional responsibility, tested in 6 short essay questions after 6:30am registration tomorrow morning. Here goes...

Day 1

I'm pleased to report that I have survived the first day of the exam, and I'm even smiling about it.

T-Minus Way Too Little Time

I am feeling an overwhelming, paralyzing amount of stress with the start of the bar exam approximately 18 hours away. And, because I'm short on time to type out how I'm feeling, I'll leave you with a link to Above the Law and just a few words of my own.

Do I think I'm going to pass? Probably, but plenty of people who are smarter and better prepared than me have not passed the bar the first time through, so I know that failure is a very real possibility. Ultimately, I do not know (and will not know until mid-October) whether what I know is enough, but I do not know what more I could have done to prepare over the past two months. So, I'll study for a few more hours, eat some dinner, attempt to forget about the exam, attempt to sleep, and go to the Meydenbauer Center in the morning knowing that I'm about to leave it all on the field.

(Thank you for your cards, calls, texts, and email. I promise to respond eventually.)

Treat Time

Even though I still had 3 essays* ahead of me, I just had to take a break to make dinner tonight. These days, little things like walking out to get the mail or making dinner or buying groceries are big treats for me. :-)

Inspired by an appetizer from Chateau Ste. Michelle's Riesling Rendezvous, I set out to create a pizza out of a pile of yumminess. The project was a success, so I've decided to write down the "recipe" and share it with all of you. Enjoy!

Crust:

One Pillsbury Pizza Crust (homemade or frozen crust would work fine, too)

Sauce:

BBQ Sauce (We like mixing Sweet Baby Ray's Sweet n' Spicy and Rufus Teague Honey Sweet.)

Cheeses:

3 ounces of blue cheese, crumbled

3 to 4 ounces of mozzarella, shredded

Toppings:

6 ounces of mushrooms, rinsed and sliced

1 medium to large onion, sliced and caramelized [how to caramelize an onion]

8 ounces of meat, cooked (we used chorizo from Bill the Butcher)

Cook meat. Caramelize onions. Add some or all mushrooms to the onions for the last 2-3 minutes (just to soften the mushrooms a bit).

As meat and onions are finishing, roll out dough on greased pan or pizza stone. Spread BBQ sauce across entire surface. Cover with 2/3 of the blue cheese. Add other desired toppings (onions, mushrooms, meat, other veg). Add rest of blue cheese. Cover with mozzarella. Bake at 400F (204C) for 10-15 minutes or until melted and browning. Slice and enjoy!

*In case you're curious, I finished them all!