Sigh,
The job interview was not cool. The woman was fine, but she is only paying TEN dollars an hour. In college, that would have been fine, but that's really low for a second year law student. If I did ten hours of work for her, she'd bill her clients 700 dollars for it and only pay me 100!! That's just not cool...most of my friends are making like 20-30 dollars an hour at least. I'd take the job if it was something that I really wanted to do, but it's not, so I'm going to turn it down. Oh well.

I'm sitting in my Religion and the Constitution class right now, and we're discussing what the government's definition of "religion" should be. What does a belief system have to have in order to be a "religion"? What do you think? What should the courts say needs to be present in order to be protected by law?

So my computer crashed 2 days ago, and I pretty much lost everything. I got some of my notes back, but I can't get them off the computer in any way other than to retype them onto James's computer....so that will probably be my weekend activity. This will be the second time I've had to format my harddrive in 7 months...grrr. I am wondering if I have a defective harddrive. All you computer people out there, please weigh in. I could use some experienced opinions...

I have an interview tomorrow in Clayton for a job in family law, which is the area that interests me. I still need a job for the summer, and this one seems to be a good one for me....there's just one problem. She wants me to work during the schoolyear, too. I wouldn't mind picking up some hours this spring - heaven knows we need the cash - but this is the busiest semester of my LIFE so I'm a little worried about having the time to do my schoolwork. Of course, if she pays enough, I'll be taking the job no matter what - I'll just have to work on Saturdays. Anyway, I'll let you all know what I decide to do.

So we had some big news a week ago....Lisa is having ANOTHER BABY!!!! YAY!!! I just can't wait to have another Tyler or Maddy around. I got a phone call from Tyler today, and it was hilarious to talk to him on the phone. We got some little bathtub stickers at the zoo the other day and mailed them to him. They're little plastic stickers in the shape of animals, and you're supposed to stick them on the side of the tub. He got them in the mail today, and he called to tell us thank you. He's so hilarious...I asked him what he was doing, and he said "I'm playing with Mama and Daddy." Then when I asked him what he was playing, he said that he was getting into the bathtub. Then Lisa got on the phone to tell me that even though it was the middle of the day, Tyler wanted to get into the tub to play with his stickers =). Ha, ha, ha! I love that kid.

James got a new Xbox 360 game today...it's called Perfect Dark. I got it on ebay, so it was a good price, and he's been playing with it for about an hour. He says it's a cross between Halo and Splinter Cell, so it's a good game. He also has the FIFA 2006 Soccer game and the Call of Duty game for the 360, and his friends have been over here every spare moment to play them. Those guys crack me up. They have such a good time together.

Okay, well I think that I'm off to bed. I've got class and an interview tomorrow. I'll keep you posted!

Today is my first day back at school for the spring semester, and I'm really tired already. (I haven't even been to class yet.) I'm taking a seminar this semester, and that will be a lot more work than most classes - I have to turn in a big paper at the end of it, and there will be tons of reading. I'll get through it, but I feel lots of sympathy with Meghan's looming busy semester.

I finished reading the Harry Potter books last night, and I will admit that they're better than I originally thought when I tried to read the first one several years ago. I think that they are getting progressively better, and J.K. Rowling has an astounding imagination. The only problem is that the better the books get, the more predictable they are. (NOTICE: If you haven't read the books...spoiler ahead...) When one considers that Harry's parents both died to protect him as a child and that Cedric died trying to protect him (both of them) in the Goblet of Fire, it was pretty obvious that Sirius would die in book five and that Dumbledore would die in book six. Neither of them would have let Harry face Voldemort alone, as he will inevitably have to do at the end, thus we knew they were going to die. (Besides, Sirius would never have been able to have a normal life after his time with the Dementors, and Dumbledore was obviously preparing the readers for his death by talking about how it was nothing to fear...) Perhaps even more obvious was the fact that Snape was the half-blood Prince...the author threw in a few too many clues to give that one away. I won't tell you my predictions for Snape's future, for fear of spoiling the future book, but I will tell you (honestly) whether I was right after it comes out.

Anyway...I did enjoy reading them...they're really interesting, and I'm glad Jordan and Meghan talked me into it. I would never give them to a little kid to read, however, and I don't think I'm going to read them again myself. When I finished the sixth book, I had the same feeling that I had the day I met the witch doctor in Haiti. (The one who was casting spells on our missions team.) I know that some people think that "magic" is a joke, and NO I'm not crazy, but I've seen things that most people have never seen. There is no such thing as a "good" witch or wizard - the Bible is very clear about that.

Okay, well, I'd better get to class...hope everyone had a good Christmas!

Well, I'm finally finished with my marathon exam session. I actually had FIVE exams, which is a lot of exams in college, but is an INSANE number of exams in law school (where the final exam makes up your entire grade for the semester). So there has been quite a bit of stress in my life in the past few weeks...I took Constitutional Law 2, Legal Ethics, Employment Law, Evidence, and Legal History, finishing with a 24-hour marathon exam that I turned in around 10 a.m. today. I am SO glad to be done...

Anyway, I wanted to make sure to wish Tom McFarlin a HAPPY 21st BIRTHDAY from his Oasis on my blog...he was the first person to call and wish me a happy birthday a couple months ago!!!

I'm so tired...so I'm off to bed!!! Goodnight!!!

This news (which I got off Bill's profile) was too important not to post...


A 7-year-old boy was at the center of a Franklin County courtroom drama yesterday when he challenged a court ruling over who should have custody of him. The boy has a history of being beaten by his parents and the judge initially awarded custody to his aunt, in keeping with child custody law and regulation requiring that family unity be maintained to the highest degree possible.

The boy surprised the court when he proclaimed that his aunt beat him more than his parents, and he refused to live with her. When the judge then suggested that he live with his grandparents, the boy cried and said they also beat him.

After considering the remainder of the immediate family and learning that domestic violence was apparently a way of life among them, the judge took the unprecedented step of allowing the boy to propose who should have custody of him.

After two recesses to check legal references and confer with the child welfare officials, the judge granted temporary custody to the University of Michigan Wolverines, who are not capable of beating anyone.

I know it's been awhile since I posted anything....but people have been asking me for an update on the situation with Mr. Dodge Durango, so I thought I'd let you all know what's been happening. So I found out that he gave me addresses and phone numbers that are NOT his...and he refuses to call me back. I finally decided to just turn it over to my insurance company and let them go after him. They're going to pay me for my car's repairs minus my deductible, and then they're going to turn him over to a collection agency! YAY!! If he doesn't pay THEM, they'll repossess his car!!! That makes me so happy because he's such a scumbag.

In other news, James and I just got back from Washington DC, where we spent Thanksgiving weekend with his family. We had a great time, eating great food and doing fun stuff. They're so hilarious...we must have played that board game "Sorry" at least 20 times over the weekend. All of the Sagar kids are super competitive (especially James), so it was funny to watch them all cheer and yell when someone drew a card that made a big play in the game. I played a few times myself (and won a couple games) but mostly I just watched because I'm pretty competitive myself and I didn't want to get anyone mad at me! Ha, Ha, Ha!

We made it back Sunday night just fine - the airports were mostly deserted by the time our flight left at 8:30pm - and we were happy to get back and get some sleep! We have so much fun when we visit our families that we don't get much sleep, so we're zombies for the first few days back in St. Louis.

Okay, well, I'd better get to class...James woke me up early this morning because it was too cold outside for him to walk all the way to the hospital, so I've been up since like 6:30.

Wow this guy is a real piece of work. I got a call the other day from Mr. Dodge Durango's purported insurance agent to let me know that HE HAS NO INSURANCE! They dropped him 2 months ago because....big surprise....he didn't make his payments! So I called him last night to talk to him about it, and he was trying to blame ME for the fact that he didn't make HIS payments!! I told him that it was his problem and he needed to handle it with them, but that he was going to have to pay me cash. I can tell that this is going to be a fight...good thing that I'm used to that. GRRRRR....I really don't have time for this right now.

I'm NOT going to turn my blog into a series of surveys, but this is one that Robyn sent to me and I wanted to post my answers on my blog. If you've got the time, feel free to copy it and enter your answers and leave it to me as a message or comment!!


1. What is your full name? Kristen Lee Patton Sagar
(the state of Georgia wouldn't let me drop my middle name when I got married, so I had to keep all of them!)

2. What color pants are you wearing right now? i'm wearing a blue skirt

3. What are you listening to right now? Fox News - I love the news, and I don't listen to much music

4. What was the last thing you ate? A chocolate chip cookie!!

5. Do you wish on stars? Nah - I'm not much into wishing - I'm more into doing...

6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? I'm not sure what color....maybe blue....but I'd definitely be in one of those mega size Crayola packs...those were awesome!

7. How is the weather right now? Pretty good! A bit of sun...around 60 degrees (indian summer)

8. Last person you spoke to on the phone? James...who else? He called to tell me he was bored at the hospital.

9. Do you like the person who sent this to you? YES she's my buddy at law school!

10. How old are you today? 24 years, 11 months, and 3 days

11. Favorite drink? Coke.

12. Favorite sport to play? hmmm...probably soccer

13. Hair color? Brown

14. Do you wear contacts? yup

15. Do you have any siblings? 2 brothers, one sister, one sister in law

16. Favorite month? December is fun...and June.

17. Favorite food? Depends on the day. I like chocolate chip cookies, french fries, chicken, mashed potatoes, etc.

18. What was the last movie you saw? The Mummy. My favorite movie EVER.

19. Favorite day of the year? December 25th...and not because of the presents!

20. What do you do to vent anger? I wrestle with James...he loves when I blow off steam by trying to punch and kick him...he gets to practice his mixed martial arts.

21. What were your favorite toys as a child? my tea set and my stuffed animals were fun but my favorite ones were my books

22. Summer or winter? SUMMER! Everybody knows that...

23. Hugs or kisses? Both =)

24. Chocolate or vanilla? Chocolate every day of the week and twice on Sunday...the darker the better

25. Do you want your friends to e-mail you back? I love any kind of mail!

26. Who is most likely to respond? Meghan - she's all about surveys these days!

27. Who is least likely to respond? hmmm...probably James - he's never filled one of these out in his life...

28. When was the last time you cried? Yesterday...I wasn't really sad, but my arm hurt and I felt sick after my flu shot, and then I cried cause James accidentally grabbed my arm when he hugged me.

29. What is under your bed? extra pillows and the canopy for the top of the bed

30. Who is the friend you have had the longest? Probably Jonathan, with Jessica Park as a close second.

31. What did you do last night? I had class last night, then I came home and went to bed cause I didn't feel good.

32. What are you scared of? I can't really think of anything I'm scared of...but I dread the idea of getting stuck having to live somewhere cold for a long time...

33. Plain, buttered or salted popcorn? Not a big popcorn fan

34. Favorite car? I want an SUV someday

35. Favorite flower? red roses

36. Number of keys on your key ring? 7

37. How many years at your current job? I just finished 5 months of research for Professor Shields. I need a new job now.

38. Favorite day of the week? Thursday...I only have 1 class Friday, so it's sort of like an early weekend when I'm done on Thursday.

39. What did you do on your last birthday? I rode back to school on an airplane - my 6th birthday in a row on an airplane. But NOT THIS YEAR!!

40. How many states have you lived in? Georgia, Virginia, Missouri, and the District of Columbia

41. How many cities have you lived in?
Georgia - Savannah, Covington, Social Circle
Virginia - Charlottesville
DC - in the Georgetown area
Missouri - St. Louis
International - Paris, London

So Mr. Dodge Durango has decided that he doesn't feel like paying to fix my car. Fortunately I have a police report with all of his insurance information, so I just called his insurance company and filed my claim with them. They probably won't be as difficult to deal with because I have all the proof and documentation. Plus if THEY don't want to deal with me I can complain to the government because that would be insurance fraud.

So I'm trying to work on this paper for my Legal Profession ethics class. We had to read this book called The Verdict and discuss the ethics issues that come up in the story. It's a REALLY old book from like 1980 and it's not even in print anymore, so the professor had to get special permission to copy it for us. It's pretty good - not quite as good as John Grisham books, but I still liked it.

Hopefully my paper will get a good grade since it's half my grade for the course...

WOW I can't believe I forgot to put this in the blog last week, but I'm going to write about it now. James and I were driving down Manchester Avenue last week (Thursday afternoon) and we stopped behind this huge 18-wheeler that had stopped in front of us to try to turn left onto Taylor Avenue. We sat there for about 5 seconds and then....WHAM!!!.....we got rear ended by this huge Dodge Durango. It cracked our bumper right through, and we had to pull over and deal with it for like 2 hours. We called the police to get a police report taken and it took the policeman about an hour to show up, so we just had to sit there and wait. Fortunately the guy who hit us also pulled over rather than running away.

Finally, the policeman came to take down the report, and we were able to go home. It's going to be a pain to get this all taken care of, though. There's no Toyota body shop in the ENTIRE city of St. Louis, and we have to take the car to a shop about 45 minutes away. (Have I mentioned that I HATE St. Louis???) I'll try to take it this afternoon for an estimate and see how much it costs to get it fixed...then I'll have to get the money from the guy who hit us...then I'll have to take the car BACK to get it fixed....sigh. We'll see what happens.

We had a great weekend...on Saturday morning when James got back from the hospital, we went out to a vinyard west of St. Louis called Marcelle Vinyard. It's really nice up there...it's up on top of a hill that overlooks some pretty trees (which are now orange and red and yellow =) It was great because St. Louis is not a pretty place at all, so we like to get out of it as often as we can. About 12 of our friends went with us, and we pushed a bunch of tables and chairs into a long line and then just sat around talking and playing cards and trying the wine. James and I both thought that the wine was pretty terrible, but it was still lots of fun to spend time with everyone. The medical students are all doing their clinical rotations right now, so we don't get to see them (somebody is always on call) and we try to take as much time together as we can.

After we got home on Saturday, we watched one of the best movies EVER...The Karate Kid!!!!!!!!!!!!! If you haven't seen that movie in awhile (I hadn't seen it in like 18 years) you have to watch it again! I had forgotten that Elizabeth Shue played Allie, the girl in the movie. It's SO funny...just go watch it!

Sunday was nice, too. The sermon was really good - the assistant pastor Greg Johnson preached on "The Poor" and it was really challenging to think about my own attitude toward that segment of the world. We got our picture taken for the church directory (our first married picture for the church directory...it made us feel like a FAMILY =) Then after church we had lunch and made a quick trip to Walmart. (I'm SO Southern...)

When we got home, we watched a little bit of the Matrix Reloaded...the fight scenes are awesome, and maybe we'll watch the rest of it this afternoon!

Have you ever noticed

...that superheroes never kill anyone? Why are bad guys so scared of them?

...that movies from Blockbuster are alway scratched, but they don't mess up until you get to the best part - and then they FREEZE?

...that you always have more work to do over school breaks than any other time of year?

...that an hour of class lasts forever but an hour of xbox isn't even enough time to save a checkpoint?

Just a few thoughts from my day.

Also, I've decided to try to get a real Christmas tree this year if I can afford one. I think it'll be fun, and it will make our apartment feel more like a home and less like an apartment. Since we have to leave for Georgia around the 17th, I'll probably have to get rid of the tree before Christmas, but that's okay!!! It'll help me keep my energy up during exams. Also, I've already wrapped like 9 Christmas presents...I LOVE to wrap presents! It's so much fun to have them around, and they make me smile when I see them!! So what if it's not even Halloween...I've got a case of Christmasitis today!

So speaking of ninjas, did you ever see that website realultimatepower.com? Over the years, it's provided hours of fun and entertainment for drunk fraternity boys, and it was a favorite at UVA. Well, today while I was sitting at the kitchen table finishing my homework, I kept hearing these chuckles from James, who was sitting at his computer at the desk in the living room. He was writing a patient history or a note or something for the cardiology ward, but I knew that wouldn't inspire humor, so I decided to check it out. Turns out, he's watching "ninja videos" from the kids who created realultimatepower.com. AWESOME. You gotta check it out. It's super hurricane ninja sweet.

Well, it was a loooooong weekend. I was supposed to be on fall break this past weekend - no class Thursday or Friday. Normally, I go home (parents' house) for fall break, but now that I'm married, somebody has to make sure the laundry gets done and the food gets cooked, so I spent my break in fabulous St. Louis getting LOTS of work done.

Sometimes I think that there is NOTHING good about St. Louis, but today I discovered it's one redeeming quality. There are no roaches here. Why, you might ask? Well, I'll tell you why...there are no roaches because it's so cold that YOU FREEZE YOUR BEHIND OFF, that's why. I now feel much more justified in my dislike of Nelly's hometown. Even the roaches don't like it here. I rest my case.

Hello, everyone!
This is my first post on my first blog, so I'm not sure exactly what to write! Here's a cool quiz that Meghan sent to me, so everybody take it and leave me your answers to read!!

What would you do if:
1. I died?
2. I yelled at you?
3. I lived next door to you?
4. I started smoking?
5. I stole something?
6. I was hospitalized?
7. I ran away from home?
8. I got into a fight and you weren't there?

What do you think about my:
9. Personality?
10. Eyes?
11. Hair?
12. Family?

Would you:
13. Be my friend?
14. Keep a secret if I told you one?
15. Hold my hand?
16. Take a bullet for me?
17. Keep in touch?
18. Try and solve my problems?
19. Love me?
20. Hate me?

Have you ever:
21. Lied to make me feel better?
22. Wanted to be my best friend?
23. Wanted to kill me?
24. Broken my heart?
25. Kept something important from me?
26. Thought I was unbearably annoying?

More...
27. Who are you?
28. Are we friends?
30. Describe me in one word:
31. What was your first impression?
32. Do you still think that way about me now?
33. What reminds you of me?
34. If you could give me anything what would it be?
35. How well do you know me?
36. When's the last time you saw me?
37. Ever wanted to tell me something but couldn't?
38. Are you gonna put this on yours to see what I say about you?