Alesus has some interesting neighbors.
The second day of orientation was epic. The 1Ls shuffled in at 8am, and left for the bar across the street around 5.
One of the most important things that happened today was the introduction to legal writing. Look at all those gleaming packets of knowledge:
Snazzy.
While the 1Ls were in hours (and hours) of sessions, I worked on less glamorous projects like stacking chairs:
Orientation leaders are flight attendants with manual labor duties: we smile, answer questions, give directions, mingle, smile some more, answer more questions, give peppy speeches, and haul tables and chairs throughout the law school.
At least the 1Ls aren’t crazy this year, so there were no Steven Slater moments so far.
I started the day as a greeter, and several of my 1L twitter followers and blog readers introduced themselves – which is always great when they don’t pelt me with oranges.
Although I don’t really know what the etiquette is for those conversations:
Alesus and I decided to take a nature-tour with the krakens. Of course the path near the river was flooded and the dogs had to charge right through the middle of the muck:
Every…freaking…time…
And I, being ever so prepared, decided to wear flipflops.
Good thing the dog harnesses made it super easy to throw the dogs in the river to torture clean them off.
And yes, the back seat of my car is a hot mess.
Today was the second day of orientation training. Orientation starts tomorrow, and I’ll be posted at the front doors greeting the new 1Ls at 7:30am.
And I think I’m getting sick. Bahumbug.
The most amusing part of orientation training is that we have to febreeze the classrooms:
I recently became the foursquare mayor of the Minneapolis Popeyes Chicken. I love that place. I go there every time I order a mouthful of buttery-biscuit goodness with a side of stereotypes.
The best thing about the Lake Street Popeyes is its signage:
I am sprawled on the bathroom floor. Blood is everywhere.
The “no mess” mouse trap that I bought is in fact, very messy. Sure, I cannot see the dead mouse in the trap’s chamber, but the trap is swimming in a pool of blood.
The trap is strategically placed under my bath tub, so I have to crawl on the floor to wipe up the pool of stinky mouse blood. Ick.
Cleaning was the theme of the week. My apartment got the complete pre-semester scrub. I changed the vase water, washed sheets and clothes, and shampooed the carpets.
I also scrubbed my kitchen, replaced tiles, and finally hauled in the tumblers that collected in my trunk during the semester:
People think I clean my apartment too often, but this drool train explains why:
Note how majestically it flaps in the wind.
Alesus and I went to the H&M in Edina’s Southdale Mall. It was a hot mess. We spent about 15 minutes skipping around and gasping.
First up, Goodwill-style mom jeans with matching top ala Home Improvement:
Poor mannequin. She’s trying to work it, but alas, fail.
The guy in the stall next to me is one of those theatrical public restroom users who is overly-loud about everything he does.
My loud neighbor gets up, kicks the toilet handle with a little “Hi-Yah!” and then barges out of the stall.
Orientation training started today, so summer is officially over. Here’s what happened this summer:
May
Last night Naomi (who I only knew from twitter) told me that she planned to take a group of her friends to the Townhouse for Welfare night.
Naomi saw me tweet and blog about Welfare/$1 Beverage night before, and she decided to see the carnival for herself.
I already agreed to meet Katie (another twitter friend) at the Thursday night drag show, so I wasn’t going to join Naomi for Welfare night. Well, that was until I got into my car and my Beyonce playlist came on.
By the time I got near the Mall of America, I decided that it was time to update my shoe game and get my boomkats on.
So I found myself at Aldo at the Mall of America. I updated my foursquare status and received a tweet from Kristin, who is also a twitter-friend that happens to live in my neighborhood. Kristin said she works at Macy’s and that I should drop by, so I did.
I got an email a few days ago from my school:
UMN: “Hay! We received your FAFSA but you totally need to do entrance counseling for your loan. NO CRUSHING DEBT MONEY FOR YOU UNTIL YOU DO THIS!
Get on it, Snickerdoodle.
Toodles.”
So I moseyed down to the Department of Education website and completed their entrance counseling. This is the first time I’ve had to do entrance counseling, which is a series of pages that say “Hey, you really need to repay your loan or we’ll shank you!” followed by short questionnaires:
I finally dusted off my roller skates and made it around three of the lakes after work.
So, I wasn’t going to post these blurry pictures of the Townhouse drag show, but then I remembered that I took video with the blackberry too!
The quality is horrid, but here we go:
It feels like everyone started school already, but the University of Minnesota law school starts after labor day, so I still have a week left of summer.
I only have one week of summer left because orientation leader training starts this Friday and I will spend the entire first week of September encouraging the new 1Ls to be less awkward around each other. I think we call that mingling.
So while the other law students figure out how to read cases, stress about employment, and even represent themselves in court, you can find me at the lake.
And I know it makes for dull reading and summary posts, but it is a lot of fun.
My time is spent working, listening to MPR, walking the krakens, biking, and watching trashy TV shows online with Alesus… you know, that “relaxation” thing that they beat out of us 1L year sometime between Contracts and Torts.
Oh, and there’s the occasional night out with drag show fabulousness:
Summer is fabulous. You can find me at work, biking across the metro area, at cafes, dragging the dogs around the lake, and at home with the new boyfriend, usually watching Jersey Shore or BravoTV online.
During the past two weeks there were also missed apartment showings, foiled robberies, and an usual amount of spoiled food. I also feel perpetually behind in blogging, music production, and laundry. Blame it on the excessive amount of lake time:
