studying paralegal and the garden

This is my first blog post in quite a while. I have been studying for a criminal paralegal course this year, so that tiny element of time, that is laughingly called my "free time" has been spent on studying criminal law.

It is quite a while since I did any proper studying, so going back to a series of lectures and studying is a bit of a culture shock. Studying when you actually have a full time job is a world different from studying when you don't. Basically I now realise that full time studying was largely a case of mooching around, and if you actually did a couple of hours studying, you felt positively bathed in glory. With a full time job, any study time is quarried out of a packed day, and you just need to hit the books.

Hopefully I have done enough to pass, I am getting to the stage where it does all seem to be largely falling into place, with the exception of the stuff that is just too detailed and process related for me to pick up. I'm the sort of person who does not bother to learn my own phone number! Rote learning has never come easy. In fact it is probably a surprise to some people that I can manage to hold down a decent job.

It has been a surprise just how much work needs to go into the studying. I've been taking the odd day off to study, just to keep up. Unfortunately our text book is really poor, and criminal law is one of those subjects where you need to see the links between different areas, so it is really a case of putting in the hours getting the stuff into your head. I have however really enjoyed it. Not the studying/exams/worry stuff, but the subject is interesting and it does make you think. I've been reading a bit of criminology, which I have found rather abstract and theoretical, criminal law is much more to my taste.

The subject is of course huge, and a paralegal course merely scratches the surface, so I don't expect to know everything. I suppose part of the key to remaining sane when studying is accepting that you won't know everything at the end of it, and not beat yourself up too much on that count.



The garden has been getting distinctly unkempt, so I spent the latter part of the afternoon mowing the lawns (first cut of the year!), and a little bit of weeding and pruning. The lawn just needs cut. However there are plenty of other jobs that you can just dabble away at in a distracted fashion, as the mood takes you. I have plenty else to worry about, so I was more than happy to just dabble away at the garden in a distracted fashion. Doing a bit of weeding here, a bit of pruning there. I was getting worried that it was turning into a complete jungle, but actually there is enough stuff planted up now, that a lot of it more or less looks after itself, with only a little light weeding. In fact it has gone from jungle, to not too bad, in less than an afternoon. I am keen for future planting to be restful, attractive, nature friendly, and low maintenance. Accordingly, the banking that I have long struggled with, will just be allowed to grass over, and I can just run a mower down it every now an again, rather than trying to weed it.