An update...

[eyesroll]

Remember this thread?

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=236&topic_id=16766

I'm currently in Finals Mode for my fifth (of six) semester. That's right--I'm graduating in May. Near or at(!) the top of my class. No bar exam, so as long as I pass everything, I'll be an actual lawyer. I have a job (!) lined up after graduation--no, it's not a giant law firm, but it's the tiny firm I've been clerking at since last October, and I really like it there. I have no desire to do corporate law, so why (other than pay--I'll be making about half of what a big firm would pay, which is still more than I've ever made in my life) would I want to work at a corporate law firm? I will be debt-free (thank you, Scholarship Fairy).

My relationship is doing quite well, thanks for asking. I made a four-course dinner for my partner on Valentine's Day my first year (the year that was supposed to be all-consuming), and cook regularly for him and my six-year-old stepdaughter (though she thinks most food, if it doesn't come from a can, is poison--homemade cheese ravioli gets her attention, though).

I have not gotten drunk once during my time in law school. I have gone to museums, ball games, movies, sometimes even with people who have nothing to do with law school. I *have* made bread and cooked other stuff for stress relief. I've contributed to bake sales and potlucks (and even made hundreds of cookies--in September--for my birthday, which has been a tradition for the last several years). I've cared about my diet because when it has sucked, I've felt lousy. We've grown a garden (though my SO has really managed that--he's found a bit of a passion in it and may pursue it further after he graduates). We've frozen very little except stuff from the garden (we never did get that basement freezer). I made gazpacho (and brought manchego cheese, quince jam, almonds, and olives, too) for my negotiation class last year, and after that, my professor called me the go-to person for cooking questions.

Tonight, I'm roasting a whole chicken (butter, salt, pepper, onion), and I have the neck plus vegetable scraps on the stove for stock (for gravy and to use in a couscous side dish).

It's quick, it's easy, it's relatively cheap and several meals will come from it.

I'm also writing a paper on the sucktasticness (technical legal term) of the family court system.

It's been a trip, and really nothing of the doom-and-gloom predicted has come to fruition. If I haven't spent enough time studying, it really hasn't mattered.

So...in honor of that thread...

Anyone have cooking tips for when you're super-busy and not broke? :D (Just kidding. I'll still be cheap.)

[hippywife]

1. Wow!

I got tired just reading that! LOL Congrats on doing so well and for everything going so well. :hi:

[Stinky The Clown]

2. First of all

C O N G R A T S ! ! !

:hug:

:yourock:

Next ...... treat yourself. For that next special dinner, make .......




















.... reservations!

:hi:

[sandnsea]

3. Wonderful!

How exciting that you made it through all of that and sounds like its everything you had hoped when you started. Busy and not broke says a Weber Grill to me. Congratulations!

[eyesroll]

4. Thanks (everyone).

I actually have a Weber kettle.

It's snowing mad outside, so it'll be awhile before I can use it again.

I made a conscious decision to enjoy law school--I was quitting a perfectly good job and foregoing income (and spending the Scholarship Fairy's money, my grandmother's estate's money, and my own money) to do this, I might as well enjoy it. Sure, some moments are unpleasant (though watching the righties in my law and language class squirm when we watched a Chomsky video made up for it).



The chicken was fabulous, by the way.

[wildflower]

5. Wow!

Well, my tip would be to make things ahead...

During one period in my life when I was really busy, I was able to carve out a chunk of time on the weekend to make 2 or 3 big dishes that have a couple of ingredients in common; I would divide them up into lunches and dinners for the week. And put some in the freezer.

Just off the top of my head, take an ingredient like tomatoes. Say you got a whole mess of them at the farmer's market. You could make tomato sandwiches (or BLTs) for lunches, tomato sauce and pasta for dinners, and a tomato pie, all in a couple of hours on Saturday afternoon (or whatever day you can do it).

Actually, maybe tomatoes aren't such a great idea, as they wouldn't last well in a sandwich for a long time. But you get the idea.

On edit: white beans might be a better example. You could make bean pate' sandwiches, bean soup, baked beans, bean loaf, and/or bean cookies. You might get sick of beans, but once you get it started and you're doing it each week, you can rotate some things in and out of the freezer.

[eleny]

6. Congratulations!!!

And btw, I have a friend who lives in the Chicago area. She uses her charcoal grill 12 months a year. She hates to roast in the oven so she uses the grill for everything from burgers to roasts even when it's snowy.

I hear you all are having a lot of snow up there. So it may not be the right time to get into it. But have some fun. You know how great burgers of any kind are off the grill.

You deserve the best in all things!

[NashVegas]

7. Congratulations

And thanks so much for the update.

[yellerpup]

8. I am in AWE of your energy!

I can't believe you did all that while being front and center for Kerry AND Obama in the past two elections. I'm happy all is going well with you on every front. You deserve every happiness and every success. :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :headbang: :yourock: :yourock: :yourock: :woohoo: :applause: :applause: :applause:

[hippywife]

9. No shit!

She's awesome! I was exhausted just imagining all of that. LOL

[yellerpup]

10. You ain't no slouch yourself, hippywife!

But she IS A MANIAC! :hi: (and a smart maniac at that...)

[hippywife]

11. No way!

I'm really lazy by comparison, trust me on this. I love to cook but housework just ain't my thing. I do it but not everyday and kind of grudgingly. ;)

I think anyone, and that includes everyone in this group, who goes to all of the trouble to cook their own food rocks. So few people do it anymore.

:hug:

[yellerpup]

12. I invite people over when I need to clean house.

Shame of being found out what a slob I am motivates me to get it done. I do love to cook, though, and for the past few years have been concentrating on food-as-medicine. Wildeyed has a big brain and a big heart and a work ethic that puts me in the shade. (Besides, I've read your posts that go something like--and I'm paraphrasing here...made four loaves of bread before I checked into the hospital, raised heirloom chickens to adulthood before noon and sent six handmade pizzas to the neighbor's house after I cooked Mr. Hippy's lunches for a week.....LOL! You KNOW you do!) Everyone in this forum rocks. :loveya:

[hippywife]

13. No hyperbole there at all!

You crack me up. :rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

And I do the same thing with regard to house cleaning. It really gets me going. LOL

[eyesroll]

14. Thanks...I wasn't really 'front and center' on this election, though.

I wasn't in law school in '04...I did do a bunch for '06 midterms, though. This time, my craptastic schedule relegated me to armchair activism, sending in money and baking cookies for volunteers (and supporting my partner--he was a dedicated volunteer).

I should be able to do more for '10 midterms, though.

[yellerpup]

16. Everything counts.

And you just keep preparing yourself to do more and better as time goes by. Again, my hearty congratulations!

[NMDemDist2]

15. wow, has it been that long??

congratulations!! :yourock:

:hi: