Done

At last, the bar exam is over! Finished up yesterday evening and popped open some bubbly. Now is the part where I reclaim my life.

Here's a little bar exam related anecdote for you. After the exam ended yesterday, I drove straight home. As I parked my car in the neighborhood, I reflected on the last couple of weeks and realized that the prophecy I received when I took the exam in Chicago, "What can go wrong the week before the bar exam, will go wrong," didn't come true this time around. No disasters of any sort befell me. Strange.

In Chicago, the crystal ball did not lie. My car battery kicked the bucket a few days before the exam (and as a consequence I got a parking ticket for "street cleaning" because I couldn't move my car). I also walked out of the Northwestern University law library one afternoon a couple days before the test to find five kids trying to steal my bike, or at least parts of it since they had basically taken it apart piece by piece. The bike ride back to Wrigleyville was, consequently, an adventure as loose pieces wobbled and shed themselves every couple hundred yards.

But nothing this time. Weird.

I pulled into a street parking spot last night that was two car lengths long. For some reason, I decided to back the car up to the area closer to my house. As I sat in the car preparing to get out, I thought, Nothing has happened yet...bet a tree falls on my car tonight.

After getting home and having a celebratory margarita with my wife, we decided to go out and get some Mexican food. With the bar exam, the little things get more special. Like being able to go out to dinner with my wife for once. At last! As we walked out the door, we noticed the sky was black. A big storm was on the way.

We raced to the Mexican restaurant as the sky got blacker and blacker. No sooner had we sat down then it started to pour. Lightning, thunder, wind. Pure misery. But we were inside, drinking some tasty drinks, chowing down, and best of all, NOT STUDYING!

By the time we finished eating, the storm was over. We drove back home. As we pulled into our neighborhood, I noticed a police car blocking the next block down, and some utility equipment in the road. I turned to my wife and said, "Bet a tree fell on my car. I had a premonition earlier this evening." Sure enough, a tree had fallen on my car!! Luckily, the car in front of me (owned by another guy who had just finished taking the bar exam, naturally) took the brunt of the blow. He was parked in the same spot that for some reason I had decided to back out of earlier. My car just had leaves and branches sticking out of it in all directions. No damage...whew!

A little late, but I finally received my bar exam disaster. I think that's a good sign.

Next week, I am off to the islands for some much needed R&R. Sadly, after being married for two months, we are finally getting the chance to take our honeymoon. Don't expect to see anything here between the 1st and 9th of August. I'm taking a break!

Can't wait...

I've been dreaming of this for two months. Cocoa Beach, FL. January 2003.