PS is in her school's robotics club and their first competition is on Saturday. PS has been going into school early and staying late almost every day for the past two weeks working on the robot. A few weeks ago she brought home a release that was required for her to participate in the competition this weekend.
Now, I don't usually mess around with the releases for my kids' activities. But this one contained a broad-form indemnity clause. I'm 90% sure that the form was drafted by a nonlawyer who lifted some legalese from some another document and threw it into this release because it sounded good without any appreciation for the legal effect of the language. So I modified it because there was no way in heck I was giving broad form indemnity, but they still got a very broad release (that I would never agree to if I were negotiating a contract.)
Anyway, today, two days before the competition, PS texted me, "I can't participate in the robotics competition because you modified the form." I know she was furious with me, and I was envisioning her trying not to cry in front of her friends.
So I jumped into mama bear action. First I emailed her teacher for the contact information of the competition organizers. Then I consulted a co-worker who told me just to sign the damn form (and he agreed to defend me if I get sued). Besides, broad-form indemnity isn't enforceable except under very certain circumstances in my state, and this form didn't meet those circumstances. When I didn't hear back from the teacher in an hour, I started searching the internet for the organizers' contact info. I sent sweet-as-pie emails (as opposed to my typical aggressive-lawyer emails) to three different people begging them to allow my daughter to participate.
Everyone I emailed responded by the end of the day and they were all very, very nice and helpful, although I'm sure they all think I'm a crazy helicopter mom. Unfortunately, the form is required by the university hosting the event, so I can't change it (and I really didn't push the issue because I'd rather risk an unreasonable indemnity clause than have PS thinking that I ruined her life.)
So all is good and PS can participate. Let's just hope nothing happens that could trigger that indemnity provision.
10/28/10
10/24/10
Good Weekend
Watched the best baseball game ever Friday night.
Saturday the girls and I volunteered at the pumpkin patch again. I'm so proud of them for being excited about volunteering and being such good helpers (I'll admit that I had some concerns about them getting bored and whiny before the end of our 4-hour shift, but they did great.) It was rainy, but business was still steady.
Then I went home and took a long nap. It was cool and stormy and we had the windows cracked, which made for perfect sleepy weather.
We topped off our Saturday by carving our pumpkins. I hope they hold up for a week, but this was really our only chance. PS has a robotics competition next Saturday (and I have somehow volunteered myself to drive the entire team to the competition an hour away), and there's no way we would have time during the week.
We put on The Goonies (my favorite childhood movie!) and ET while we worked on our pumpkins. I baked cookies while the girls were scooping out the guts, and then we roasted the seeds. Yum!
This morning DH and the girls have gone to church. I think I'll surprise them when they get home with the Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes that I found yesterday and am dying to try.
Then work--blech! But there has been a lot of chaos in the office lately, so I need to do a little catch up.
Saturday the girls and I volunteered at the pumpkin patch again. I'm so proud of them for being excited about volunteering and being such good helpers (I'll admit that I had some concerns about them getting bored and whiny before the end of our 4-hour shift, but they did great.) It was rainy, but business was still steady.
Then I went home and took a long nap. It was cool and stormy and we had the windows cracked, which made for perfect sleepy weather.
We topped off our Saturday by carving our pumpkins. I hope they hold up for a week, but this was really our only chance. PS has a robotics competition next Saturday (and I have somehow volunteered myself to drive the entire team to the competition an hour away), and there's no way we would have time during the week.
We put on The Goonies (my favorite childhood movie!) and ET while we worked on our pumpkins. I baked cookies while the girls were scooping out the guts, and then we roasted the seeds. Yum!
This morning DH and the girls have gone to church. I think I'll surprise them when they get home with the Cinnamon Swirl Pancakes that I found yesterday and am dying to try.
Then work--blech! But there has been a lot of chaos in the office lately, so I need to do a little catch up.
10/20/10
A week in the life of a working mom
One of my most frequently hit post is entitled A Day in the Life of an Attorney. Unfortunately, that post isn't particularly instructive of what a day in the life of an attorney is actually like. I've been thinking I should update it with a post that is more reflective of what I actually do in a typical day--but there are no typical days, so I'm not sure how to go about that. So you're getting this post instead.
Wed: Get to work at 9ish. Answer email, return telephone calls, research a memo, ignore email from asshat opposing counsel. Leave office at 12:45 to make 1:30 teacher conference in the 'burbs 30 miles away. Despite my pleas that a morning conference was preferred, 1:30 was the only time slot offered by the teacher. Teacher conference over by 2:00. Decide to work the rest of the day from home instead of losing another 1.5 hours of my day to traffic. Accomplish little, but get some quality time with the girls.
Thurs: Attend conference for women in the industry in which I practice (not lawyers). It starts at 7:30 and is 40 miles away. Leave the house at 6:30, terrible traffic, arrive at 8:15. Still hear opening remarks from the Secretary of State. Attend workshops, network. Pick a table for luncheon. It is already set with plates, flatware, dessert, and a tomato-bisque soup topped with a puff pastry. Giant cockroach* crawls across table, women start screaming and flipping out. I flick the roach onto the floor with my program and a man runs up and stomps us. We are moved to a new table.
Conference over at 1:45, I head straight to the Girl Scout store to purchase vests, insignia and handbooks for the twins before their meeting on Friday.
Back in office by 3:00. Read email, return calls, work on response letter to opposing counsel. Stay until 8:30 to make up for my absence the last two days. Head straight to craft store 5 minutes before closing to buy glue for Girl Scout badges. Home by 9:30. Glue badges until 10:15. Collapse into bed.
Friday: Arrive in office by 9ish. Easy day. Work on designation of experts, review documents. Attorney meeting over lunch. Out of meeting, at 2:30, text from nanny that she is sick, can we please come home early. Grab two Redweld's full of documents, Leave office at 2:45, home by 3:30. Wait for PS to get home at 4:15 to go to Target. Out of necessities. Head to Girl Scout meeting at 6:30. Stick around for 30 minutes to help with bracelet making., then leave the girls and go to Costco. Fridge is empty. Pick up girls at 8:30. Go home, watch baseball.
Sat: 9-1 Girls and I volunteer at pumpkin patch benefiting our local library. They don't usually let kids volunteer, but the girls were awesome helpers. Treat them to pizza afterward. Home by 2:30. Take allergy pill. Collapse into 3 hour nap. Force myself awake. Mother-daughter bingo at 6:30 for Girl Scouts. Home by 9:30.
Sun: Errand day. Twins need jeans, must buy supplies to build bats for their bat research project, need groceries beyond what I bought at Costco, need frames for my federal admission certificates because bosses are complaining about the bareness of my office walls. Home by 4:00. Start pre-cooking meals for this week. Make dinner. Help kids with bats. Order reef-friendly sunscreen and snorkel gear for cruise. 7:00 watch the Amazing Race and Desperate Housewives. 9:00 start preparing for depo on Monday. 12:00 give up and go to bed.
Monday: Up at 5:45 to finish prepping for depo set for 10:00. Arrive at office at 8:15 Deponent is a no-show. Chat with court reporter--learn he is my long-lost twin. We are from same Hometown, went to same high school and same college with same major. Review email, return phone calls. Analyze procedural rule. Start drafting discovery. Review documents. 1:00 deponent suddenly shows up. He was sent three notices for the same day because he is the representative of three different entities, and only read one of them. Get court reporter back to the office and proceed with depo. Done by 5:00. Depos exhaust me. Leave office by 6:00.
Tues: Arrive at office by 9ish. Analyze motion from opposing counsel. Legal research regarding response. Prepare scheduling order. Conference call with client. Conference call with another client. Leave office at 3:30 to work at Legal Aid clinic. All family law clients. I do not practice family law, but don't think I screwed anything up too badly. Done by 5:30. Head home for dinner with girls. Review folders, read spelling words. DH has bowling. PS cheering at football game at 7:00. Home by 9:30. Watch baseball. Collapse into bed at the bottom of the ninth.
Wed: Take PS to ortho appt at 8:00, arrive at office by 9:30. Draft discovery. Respond to email. File third-party petition. Clean office and hang frames before event at office tomorrow. One of the frames mysteriously broke overnight. Leave office at 5:15 to attend teacher conference at 6:15. Home by 6:45. Air conditioner making terrible noise. DH investigates while I start dinner. Done by 8:00. Air conditioner still making terrible noise. Must go to store to replace broken frame before firm event tomorrow. Home by 8:30. Blog while watching Survivor.
This week is not entirely typical. I had a lot of appointments that pulled me out of the office early. I usually work until 6ish and have maybe one late night a week. But otherwise, this is pretty close to a typical week.
*You have not seen a cockroach until you have been to the south. Also known as water bugs or palmetto bugs, these suckers are 2 inches long, the fly and they make creepy clicking noises.
Wed: Get to work at 9ish. Answer email, return telephone calls, research a memo, ignore email from asshat opposing counsel. Leave office at 12:45 to make 1:30 teacher conference in the 'burbs 30 miles away. Despite my pleas that a morning conference was preferred, 1:30 was the only time slot offered by the teacher. Teacher conference over by 2:00. Decide to work the rest of the day from home instead of losing another 1.5 hours of my day to traffic. Accomplish little, but get some quality time with the girls.
Thurs: Attend conference for women in the industry in which I practice (not lawyers). It starts at 7:30 and is 40 miles away. Leave the house at 6:30, terrible traffic, arrive at 8:15. Still hear opening remarks from the Secretary of State. Attend workshops, network. Pick a table for luncheon. It is already set with plates, flatware, dessert, and a tomato-bisque soup topped with a puff pastry. Giant cockroach* crawls across table, women start screaming and flipping out. I flick the roach onto the floor with my program and a man runs up and stomps us. We are moved to a new table.
Conference over at 1:45, I head straight to the Girl Scout store to purchase vests, insignia and handbooks for the twins before their meeting on Friday.
Back in office by 3:00. Read email, return calls, work on response letter to opposing counsel. Stay until 8:30 to make up for my absence the last two days. Head straight to craft store 5 minutes before closing to buy glue for Girl Scout badges. Home by 9:30. Glue badges until 10:15. Collapse into bed.
Friday: Arrive in office by 9ish. Easy day. Work on designation of experts, review documents. Attorney meeting over lunch. Out of meeting, at 2:30, text from nanny that she is sick, can we please come home early. Grab two Redweld's full of documents, Leave office at 2:45, home by 3:30. Wait for PS to get home at 4:15 to go to Target. Out of necessities. Head to Girl Scout meeting at 6:30. Stick around for 30 minutes to help with bracelet making., then leave the girls and go to Costco. Fridge is empty. Pick up girls at 8:30. Go home, watch baseball.
Sat: 9-1 Girls and I volunteer at pumpkin patch benefiting our local library. They don't usually let kids volunteer, but the girls were awesome helpers. Treat them to pizza afterward. Home by 2:30. Take allergy pill. Collapse into 3 hour nap. Force myself awake. Mother-daughter bingo at 6:30 for Girl Scouts. Home by 9:30.
Sun: Errand day. Twins need jeans, must buy supplies to build bats for their bat research project, need groceries beyond what I bought at Costco, need frames for my federal admission certificates because bosses are complaining about the bareness of my office walls. Home by 4:00. Start pre-cooking meals for this week. Make dinner. Help kids with bats. Order reef-friendly sunscreen and snorkel gear for cruise. 7:00 watch the Amazing Race and Desperate Housewives. 9:00 start preparing for depo on Monday. 12:00 give up and go to bed.
Monday: Up at 5:45 to finish prepping for depo set for 10:00. Arrive at office at 8:15 Deponent is a no-show. Chat with court reporter--learn he is my long-lost twin. We are from same Hometown, went to same high school and same college with same major. Review email, return phone calls. Analyze procedural rule. Start drafting discovery. Review documents. 1:00 deponent suddenly shows up. He was sent three notices for the same day because he is the representative of three different entities, and only read one of them. Get court reporter back to the office and proceed with depo. Done by 5:00. Depos exhaust me. Leave office by 6:00.
Tues: Arrive at office by 9ish. Analyze motion from opposing counsel. Legal research regarding response. Prepare scheduling order. Conference call with client. Conference call with another client. Leave office at 3:30 to work at Legal Aid clinic. All family law clients. I do not practice family law, but don't think I screwed anything up too badly. Done by 5:30. Head home for dinner with girls. Review folders, read spelling words. DH has bowling. PS cheering at football game at 7:00. Home by 9:30. Watch baseball. Collapse into bed at the bottom of the ninth.
Wed: Take PS to ortho appt at 8:00, arrive at office by 9:30. Draft discovery. Respond to email. File third-party petition. Clean office and hang frames before event at office tomorrow. One of the frames mysteriously broke overnight. Leave office at 5:15 to attend teacher conference at 6:15. Home by 6:45. Air conditioner making terrible noise. DH investigates while I start dinner. Done by 8:00. Air conditioner still making terrible noise. Must go to store to replace broken frame before firm event tomorrow. Home by 8:30. Blog while watching Survivor.
This week is not entirely typical. I had a lot of appointments that pulled me out of the office early. I usually work until 6ish and have maybe one late night a week. But otherwise, this is pretty close to a typical week.
*You have not seen a cockroach until you have been to the south. Also known as water bugs or palmetto bugs, these suckers are 2 inches long, the fly and they make creepy clicking noises.
10/13/10
Finally, some good news this week
So back in this post I was complaining that our nanny turnover was going to cause problems with the cruise we had booked in November. Our new nanny is a high school student, and while she is great for a few hours in the evening, there is no chance in heck that I am leaving my kids with her while I leave the country.
So I looked into changing our cruise around before the final payment was due, but I really, really like our itinerary. In the end, I made the payment and left the cruise as it was booked. My plan was to try to come up with some kind of reliable child care option, and if that didn't work out we would just take the darn kids.
After much pondering, we finally decided to ask our grandmotherly neighbor if she had any interest in watching the girls for us. We told her there was no pressure and to think about it. Tonight she called back and agreed to do it! Woohoo!
Our regular nanny will pick the girls up from school as usually and stay until about 8 when they are getting ready for bed. Then she'll hand off to the neighbor, who will watch them overnight--either at our house or hers.
I have been super stressed about this, and I am so glad that the neighbor agreed. I feel much more comfortable leaving the girls with her than any other option I could come up with, and it's super convenient, since she's right next door.
And our passports showed up yesterday. It finally feels like this is all coming together.
So I looked into changing our cruise around before the final payment was due, but I really, really like our itinerary. In the end, I made the payment and left the cruise as it was booked. My plan was to try to come up with some kind of reliable child care option, and if that didn't work out we would just take the darn kids.
After much pondering, we finally decided to ask our grandmotherly neighbor if she had any interest in watching the girls for us. We told her there was no pressure and to think about it. Tonight she called back and agreed to do it! Woohoo!
Our regular nanny will pick the girls up from school as usually and stay until about 8 when they are getting ready for bed. Then she'll hand off to the neighbor, who will watch them overnight--either at our house or hers.
I have been super stressed about this, and I am so glad that the neighbor agreed. I feel much more comfortable leaving the girls with her than any other option I could come up with, and it's super convenient, since she's right next door.
And our passports showed up yesterday. It finally feels like this is all coming together.
10/10/10
So I forgot about the part of fall that I don't love...
Allergies. I don't get the snotty, runny, sneezey allergies. I get them in my eyes. Every year at about this time my eyes completely dry out. My contacts feel like rocks in my eyes. Wearing my glasses isn't much better.
Reading is torture. Reading a computer screen is worse. This is not a good thing in my line of work, where 90% of my day is spent reading, mostly on a computer.
For several years in a row I visited my eye doctor about this time. He was of little help, advising me to take OTC eye drops. They don't help for more than 5 minutes.
So once again I am suffering. Don't know how to make it better, and will be glad when the fall allergy season passes.
Reading is torture. Reading a computer screen is worse. This is not a good thing in my line of work, where 90% of my day is spent reading, mostly on a computer.
For several years in a row I visited my eye doctor about this time. He was of little help, advising me to take OTC eye drops. They don't help for more than 5 minutes.
So once again I am suffering. Don't know how to make it better, and will be glad when the fall allergy season passes.
10/6/10
I Love Fall
It's my favorite season. Gone with the hotter-than-hell summer, in with brisk mornings and perfect afternoons complimented by clear blue skies.
I can finally bring out my tall boots, tweed skirts and cozy sweaters.
There's football. Even PS's middle school games are enjoyable on a cool fall night, with the lights shining bright, eating nachos and Frito pie.
And the fall holidays are the best. Halloween is all about fun--crazy costumes, lots of candy, tacky decorations, carving pumpkins. This year we have volunteered to work at our town's pumpkin patch, which benefits our local library. The kids are so excited, and I'm glad to see them psyched about volunteer work.
And then Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving. It's just about being thankful for what you have. And food. I love Thanksgiving food. I love cooking Thanksgiving food. I love not having the pressure of buying the perfect gift. And you don't even have to go to church.
And then there's the fair--the kickoff of fall. Every year my kids get a random day off from school for "fair day." Today was that day. We haven't actually gone the the fair in several years, but this year DH and I played hooky from work and took the girls to the fair.
We just walked around and ate. And ate. And ate. We tried chicken fried bacon (looks and sounds disgusting, but was actually quite delicious. But thank goodness we were splitting it 5 ways, because I'm sure that any single person consuming an entire serving would suffer an instant heart attack.) We tried Fried Frito Pie (ok, not sure it was worth the very long line). And corn dogs (the best corn dogs in the world are at the fair), funnel cakes, tornado taters, cotton candy.
Overall, a very good day (well, except for the part where TT got pooped on by a bird. She was a little traumatized, but I'm sure she'll be laughing about it by tomorrow) and a nice midweek break.
I'm so happy it's fall.
I can finally bring out my tall boots, tweed skirts and cozy sweaters.
There's football. Even PS's middle school games are enjoyable on a cool fall night, with the lights shining bright, eating nachos and Frito pie.
And the fall holidays are the best. Halloween is all about fun--crazy costumes, lots of candy, tacky decorations, carving pumpkins. This year we have volunteered to work at our town's pumpkin patch, which benefits our local library. The kids are so excited, and I'm glad to see them psyched about volunteer work.
And then Thanksgiving. I love Thanksgiving. It's just about being thankful for what you have. And food. I love Thanksgiving food. I love cooking Thanksgiving food. I love not having the pressure of buying the perfect gift. And you don't even have to go to church.
And then there's the fair--the kickoff of fall. Every year my kids get a random day off from school for "fair day." Today was that day. We haven't actually gone the the fair in several years, but this year DH and I played hooky from work and took the girls to the fair.
We just walked around and ate. And ate. And ate. We tried chicken fried bacon (looks and sounds disgusting, but was actually quite delicious. But thank goodness we were splitting it 5 ways, because I'm sure that any single person consuming an entire serving would suffer an instant heart attack.) We tried Fried Frito Pie (ok, not sure it was worth the very long line). And corn dogs (the best corn dogs in the world are at the fair), funnel cakes, tornado taters, cotton candy.
Overall, a very good day (well, except for the part where TT got pooped on by a bird. She was a little traumatized, but I'm sure she'll be laughing about it by tomorrow) and a nice midweek break.
I'm so happy it's fall.
10/3/10
Russian Jewish Weddings Rock
The ceremony was lovely and the reception was awesome. We were among the few non-Russians in attendance, and the Russians at our table were very nice about explaining everything to us.The tables for the reception were overflowing with hors d'oeuvres when we arrived. But I didn't recognize anything on the table--except for shrimp and caviar, and I don't care for seafood. I am not an adventurous eater, so I picked to most innocuous looking thing to start off with. It turned out to be beef tongue. I have never been so happy as when the bread basket finally arrived.
And every table had its own (big) bottle of vodka. And cognac. And wine. And shot glasses for toasts. (Trivia tidbit: Russians chase their vodka with pickles. I actually liked the pickle chaser.)
And there were lots of vodka toasts. The Russians kept telling us that us that we did not have to try to keep up with them. And I made the fatal mistake of taking that as a challenge.
Most of the toasts were in Russian and the wedding singer spoke in Russian about half the time, and sang in Russian 90% of the time.
I think the highlight was finally getting to do the Hava Nagila.
We had a great time--right up until I started seeing double. Yes, literally. I told DH that I needed to go back to the room--and that was a perfectly timed exit.
Turns out, I can't keep up with Russians and their vodka toasts. I'm horrified that I got so smashed. I'm a little too old for drinking to excess. And now I'm paying for it with the second hangover in my 35 years. (Children, both of my two hangovers were created in controlled situations where neither me nor my companions would be driving at all.)
So I totally feel like crap today, but it was hands down, the most fun wedding I have ever attended. If you ever have the opportunity to attend a Russian wedding, I highly recommend it--but if you're not Russian, don't even try to keep up with the vodka toasts.
9/26/10
Am I Rich?
There has been a lot of chatter this week in the blawgosphere about what makes one rich. Of course, there's no easy answer. It all depends on experience, perspective, where you've been, where you want to go and where you live.
The short answer to "am I rich?" is no. But that's based on my current perspective. When I was a kid, I would have thought that someone in my position was "rich." Of course, when I was a kid, anyone who lived in a brick house was rich. I lived in an 1000 sq. ft. asbestos-sided house with a swamp cooler (no central air).
In 1993--the year I graduated from high school--my mom earned $17,000 per year. According to this calculator, that's about $26,000 in today's dollars.
We never had any government assistance, but there were plenty of times we were "charging" our school lunches until the next payday, or digging in the couch cushions to find enough change for milk (or mixing up powdered milk-ewwwww!), or eating pancakes for dinner (with powdered sugar because we didn't have syrup) because that's all we had in the house.
So compared to when I was a kid, yeah, we're pretty darn rich. And there are plenty of people in this country who still live the lifestyle I had as a kid, and I guarantee that they would view us as rich.
And compared to them, we are rich. Our annual income is many multiples of what my mom was making back then. We've never had a utility turned off or not had enough food in the house. My kids don't even know what powdered milk is. They've never been told that they can't participate in a school activity because we can't afford it.
And more than that, they have all the right "stuff." The clothes the other kids are wearing, the gadgets the other kids have. I'll admit that PS got a cell phone when she turned 10 not because she needed one, but because everyone else had one. I remember being the only kid who didn't have the new "in" thing,or the right shoes, or the Guess jeans. I don't want my kids to be those kids--but I also want them to appreciate what they have. (PS bought her iPod touch with her own money--I won't spend $200 on a gadget for a kid. And she won't be getting a iPhone until she has a job and can pay for the data plan, even though many of her classmates have them.)
But in the great grand scheme, no we aren't rich. I don't work in Big Law and don't earn the corresponding salary--but I'm also well above government and public service salaries. DH also earns a professional salary. But of course, we have the massive debt associated with putting ourselves through school. Our student loan payments exceed our mortgage. Right now we are comfortable--without the student loan debt we would be very comfortable.
Our mortgage payment is small fraction of our monthly income. Our house is a 2800 sq. ft. two-story brick home. I know that is massive in some parts of the country, but it is pretty average here. We live in an average middle-class neighborhood.
Our splurges are two-new cars. Mine was a necessity because the tranny went out on my 9-year old Suburban. I drive a Nissan Armada with plenty of bells and whistles and I LOVE it. I have no desire to ever have a luxury vehicle. DH drives a Honda CRV which neither of us love, but it gets great gas mileage and he has a long commute.
Our other splurge is a nanny/housekeeper. The nanny because I want my kids to be in their own home after school, and so that they have someone to drive them to ther after-school activities. (I'm not sure this is really a splurge--with 3 kids, the nanny/housekeeper costs less than day care.) The housekeeper because I hate cleaning house, and I'd rather spend my weekends playing with my kids than scrubbing toilets.
We do not own a flat screen TV, a second house, or a boat. (All of which we would like one day.)
I never had vacations as a kid, so we try to take some kind of vacation every year, but usually it involves renting a cabin somewhere. Neither DH nor I have ever left the country. Our Disney trip last year was a big splurge. Our upcoming cruise is a much-smaller splurge.
We've started saving for retirement and our kids' college, but we have a long way to go. I don't want my kids to start out their lives in debt like we have.
So I guess, to consider myself rich at this point, we would have to pay off our student loan debt. Have the kids' college funds funded. Be able to take a big vacation every year without considering it a splurge. Get the flat-screen TV, the second home and the boat.
And being able to walk into Barnes and Noble and buy anything that I want without even thinking about it. That, to me, is the greatest luxury.
The short answer to "am I rich?" is no. But that's based on my current perspective. When I was a kid, I would have thought that someone in my position was "rich." Of course, when I was a kid, anyone who lived in a brick house was rich. I lived in an 1000 sq. ft. asbestos-sided house with a swamp cooler (no central air).
In 1993--the year I graduated from high school--my mom earned $17,000 per year. According to this calculator, that's about $26,000 in today's dollars.
We never had any government assistance, but there were plenty of times we were "charging" our school lunches until the next payday, or digging in the couch cushions to find enough change for milk (or mixing up powdered milk-ewwwww!), or eating pancakes for dinner (with powdered sugar because we didn't have syrup) because that's all we had in the house.
So compared to when I was a kid, yeah, we're pretty darn rich. And there are plenty of people in this country who still live the lifestyle I had as a kid, and I guarantee that they would view us as rich.
And compared to them, we are rich. Our annual income is many multiples of what my mom was making back then. We've never had a utility turned off or not had enough food in the house. My kids don't even know what powdered milk is. They've never been told that they can't participate in a school activity because we can't afford it.
And more than that, they have all the right "stuff." The clothes the other kids are wearing, the gadgets the other kids have. I'll admit that PS got a cell phone when she turned 10 not because she needed one, but because everyone else had one. I remember being the only kid who didn't have the new "in" thing,or the right shoes, or the Guess jeans. I don't want my kids to be those kids--but I also want them to appreciate what they have. (PS bought her iPod touch with her own money--I won't spend $200 on a gadget for a kid. And she won't be getting a iPhone until she has a job and can pay for the data plan, even though many of her classmates have them.)
But in the great grand scheme, no we aren't rich. I don't work in Big Law and don't earn the corresponding salary--but I'm also well above government and public service salaries. DH also earns a professional salary. But of course, we have the massive debt associated with putting ourselves through school. Our student loan payments exceed our mortgage. Right now we are comfortable--without the student loan debt we would be very comfortable.
Our mortgage payment is small fraction of our monthly income. Our house is a 2800 sq. ft. two-story brick home. I know that is massive in some parts of the country, but it is pretty average here. We live in an average middle-class neighborhood.
Our splurges are two-new cars. Mine was a necessity because the tranny went out on my 9-year old Suburban. I drive a Nissan Armada with plenty of bells and whistles and I LOVE it. I have no desire to ever have a luxury vehicle. DH drives a Honda CRV which neither of us love, but it gets great gas mileage and he has a long commute.
Our other splurge is a nanny/housekeeper. The nanny because I want my kids to be in their own home after school, and so that they have someone to drive them to ther after-school activities. (I'm not sure this is really a splurge--with 3 kids, the nanny/housekeeper costs less than day care.) The housekeeper because I hate cleaning house, and I'd rather spend my weekends playing with my kids than scrubbing toilets.
We do not own a flat screen TV, a second house, or a boat. (All of which we would like one day.)
I never had vacations as a kid, so we try to take some kind of vacation every year, but usually it involves renting a cabin somewhere. Neither DH nor I have ever left the country. Our Disney trip last year was a big splurge. Our upcoming cruise is a much-smaller splurge.
We've started saving for retirement and our kids' college, but we have a long way to go. I don't want my kids to start out their lives in debt like we have.
So I guess, to consider myself rich at this point, we would have to pay off our student loan debt. Have the kids' college funds funded. Be able to take a big vacation every year without considering it a splurge. Get the flat-screen TV, the second home and the boat.
And being able to walk into Barnes and Noble and buy anything that I want without even thinking about it. That, to me, is the greatest luxury.
9/25/10
Internal alarm
Every morning for the last week or so I have awakened at exactly 5:33. Weird. I have absolutely no reason to be up at 5:33. Even on school days, I don't need to get up until 6:15. And today is Saturday.
This morning, like most mornings, I woke up thinking about work. How sad does that make my life? I've always tended to work out problems in my sleep, and sometimes I wake up with the perfect solution to my problem. Sometimes I wake up thinking that I have screwed something up (most of the time I have not).
This morning I work up thinking about how I am going to defend a particular client. I don't like my planned defense, but so far I haven't come up with anything better. If I'm going to be dreaming about work anyway, this would be a good time to come up with the perfect solution.
This morning, like most mornings, I woke up thinking about work. How sad does that make my life? I've always tended to work out problems in my sleep, and sometimes I wake up with the perfect solution to my problem. Sometimes I wake up thinking that I have screwed something up (most of the time I have not).
This morning I work up thinking about how I am going to defend a particular client. I don't like my planned defense, but so far I haven't come up with anything better. If I'm going to be dreaming about work anyway, this would be a good time to come up with the perfect solution.
9/23/10
Can you revoke a birthday party invitation?
PS's birthday party is Saturday. We sent out invitations a week and a half ago and asked for a response by yesterday. Of the 9 girls invited, 5 have said yes, 2 have said no, and 2 don't know yet.
WTF? What do you mean you don't know yet? Either you're coming or you're not. This party is in TWO days. And I asked for a response by yesterday.
It's a scavenger-hunt-type race around town. We will load up the girls into our two cars and run them all over town while they accomplish the tasks required by their clues. I need to know how many kids are going to be there because if it is more than will fit in our cars, I will need to have the nanny stay home with the twins. But if only the 5 who have confirmed show up, then we can include the twins and divide into two teams of 4, which works out perfectly. Argh--I hate making the nanny hold open her Saturday because people can't make up their minds. Not to mention I'm trying to plan for enough food and party favors.
WTF? What do you mean you don't know yet? Either you're coming or you're not. This party is in TWO days. And I asked for a response by yesterday.
It's a scavenger-hunt-type race around town. We will load up the girls into our two cars and run them all over town while they accomplish the tasks required by their clues. I need to know how many kids are going to be there because if it is more than will fit in our cars, I will need to have the nanny stay home with the twins. But if only the 5 who have confirmed show up, then we can include the twins and divide into two teams of 4, which works out perfectly. Argh--I hate making the nanny hold open her Saturday because people can't make up their minds. Not to mention I'm trying to plan for enough food and party favors.
9/20/10
Long day
Rushed this morning because PS was pokey and then had about 5 minutes to blow dry her hair before her television debut on her school's morning news program.
I got to work to find two inches of coffee left in the pot, so I started new pot of coffee. Forgot to put pot in place. A stream of coffee started pouring directly onto the burner. I shoved the coffee pot under the stream of pouring coffee. Couldn't set it down in the coffee puddle--afraid the glass would break. Couldn't find an emergency shut-off and the more I wiggled the more coffee I spilled. Ended up holding the pot until the coffee finished. Cleaned up giant mess. Miraculously no one saw this.
Busy day culminating in a client meeting at 4:00. I left the office as soon as the meeting over and headed straight to PS's first cheerleading event. Finally made it home at 10:00 at which point I found out that she has to wear her uniform again tomorrow, so I start a load of laundry because she is a sweaty mess.
I intended to do a quick research project that a partner asked for this morning, but the choose-you-own-adventure that is UCC article 9 evades me and I give up and settle in with a glass of wine to watch How I Met Your Mother and Weeds on the DVR.
Tired. Should go to bed. Have a doc appointment at 8:00 in the morning to confirm my feet are no longer broken (they do not feel or act broken anymore).
I got to work to find two inches of coffee left in the pot, so I started new pot of coffee. Forgot to put pot in place. A stream of coffee started pouring directly onto the burner. I shoved the coffee pot under the stream of pouring coffee. Couldn't set it down in the coffee puddle--afraid the glass would break. Couldn't find an emergency shut-off and the more I wiggled the more coffee I spilled. Ended up holding the pot until the coffee finished. Cleaned up giant mess. Miraculously no one saw this.
Busy day culminating in a client meeting at 4:00. I left the office as soon as the meeting over and headed straight to PS's first cheerleading event. Finally made it home at 10:00 at which point I found out that she has to wear her uniform again tomorrow, so I start a load of laundry because she is a sweaty mess.
I intended to do a quick research project that a partner asked for this morning, but the choose-you-own-adventure that is UCC article 9 evades me and I give up and settle in with a glass of wine to watch How I Met Your Mother and Weeds on the DVR.
Tired. Should go to bed. Have a doc appointment at 8:00 in the morning to confirm my feet are no longer broken (they do not feel or act broken anymore).
9/18/10
Updates
So I was checking out my Blogroll and realized that the two lawyer blogs I had linked were both out of commission now, and all of the law students linked are now lawyers. Obviously time for an update.
So I added the blogs in my reader and then stole Butterflyfish's MILP roll.
If you are not on the list and would like to be, please leave a comment or email me at legallycertifiable at gmail dot com.
There is one blogger I intentionally left off because she changed blogs and I don't know if she wants to be linked or is trying to maintain a low profile. It that's you, let me know if you want to be linked.
So I added the blogs in my reader and then stole Butterflyfish's MILP roll.
If you are not on the list and would like to be, please leave a comment or email me at legallycertifiable at gmail dot com.
There is one blogger I intentionally left off because she changed blogs and I don't know if she wants to be linked or is trying to maintain a low profile. It that's you, let me know if you want to be linked.
Girls Weekend
DH left last night to visit his dad for the weekend. He's going to help with cleaning some of MIL's thing out, since we think that might be contributing to FIL's depression. It seems like FIL is getting better, but there were a couple of really rocky weeks and I'm sure he will be up and down for a while.
So, its just me and the girls. We went to dinner last night and then spent an hour wondering around Target. They wanted to check out the Halloween stuff, and it gave me an excuse to go looking for a wrap, per Dinei's suggestion. They usually hate shopping (except SS), but we all had fun.
We found a collection of colorful, skull partyware that isn't too Halloween-ey and perfect for PS's party next week. (She has a thing for skulls.) We even got a string of super-cute colorful skeleton lights that she can hang in her room after the party. (She doesn't know it yet, but her b-day gift is re-doing her room. I've ordered this bedding and this chair.)
BTW, I need to come up with prizes for the winners of PS's scavenger hunt party. Not too pricey, since there could be as many as five girls on a team. And I need a consolation prize(or as PS said, the loser prize)--because I don't want the non-winning team to be too bummed out. Or maybe just something for all the girls, with something small to set off the winners. Hmmm. Any suggestions? I've been wracking my brain for a week and haven't come up with anything.
Not sure what we're doing with the rest of our weekend. I woke up feeling kind of crappy, but hopefully it will pass and we can do something fun.
So, its just me and the girls. We went to dinner last night and then spent an hour wondering around Target. They wanted to check out the Halloween stuff, and it gave me an excuse to go looking for a wrap, per Dinei's suggestion. They usually hate shopping (except SS), but we all had fun.
We found a collection of colorful, skull partyware that isn't too Halloween-ey and perfect for PS's party next week. (She has a thing for skulls.) We even got a string of super-cute colorful skeleton lights that she can hang in her room after the party. (She doesn't know it yet, but her b-day gift is re-doing her room. I've ordered this bedding and this chair.)
BTW, I need to come up with prizes for the winners of PS's scavenger hunt party. Not too pricey, since there could be as many as five girls on a team. And I need a consolation prize(or as PS said, the loser prize)--because I don't want the non-winning team to be too bummed out. Or maybe just something for all the girls, with something small to set off the winners. Hmmm. Any suggestions? I've been wracking my brain for a week and haven't come up with anything.
Not sure what we're doing with the rest of our weekend. I woke up feeling kind of crappy, but hopefully it will pass and we can do something fun.
9/16/10
Fashion Advice Please
We've been invited to a Russian Jewish wedding in a couple of weeks. I've never been to a Jewish wedding. Or a Russian wedding. Or a catered wedding. (Every single wedding I have ever attended has had a simple desert reception.)
The wedding is on a Saturday evening in an upscale hotel. We've already made reservations to spend the night, just in case we try to keep up with the Russians during the reception. Apparently the thing about Russians and vodka isn't just a stereotype.
So I've ordered this dress. Is this appropriate for this type of wedding? Am I committing any major faux pas? I know that at a Catholic church wedding, for instance, this dress would not be appropriate because of the bare shoulders--but that would only apply in a church, I think.
Anything else we need to know so that we don't embarrass ourselves? We do not have a large Jewish community here, and we just aren't familiar with Jewish customs.
I'm so excited about the event. I don't know the couple well--the groom is one of DH's work buddies--but it will be a fun date night and a new cultural experience. And I do like vodka.
The wedding is on a Saturday evening in an upscale hotel. We've already made reservations to spend the night, just in case we try to keep up with the Russians during the reception. Apparently the thing about Russians and vodka isn't just a stereotype.
So I've ordered this dress. Is this appropriate for this type of wedding? Am I committing any major faux pas? I know that at a Catholic church wedding, for instance, this dress would not be appropriate because of the bare shoulders--but that would only apply in a church, I think.
Anything else we need to know so that we don't embarrass ourselves? We do not have a large Jewish community here, and we just aren't familiar with Jewish customs.
I'm so excited about the event. I don't know the couple well--the groom is one of DH's work buddies--but it will be a fun date night and a new cultural experience. And I do like vodka.
9/15/10
PS
Despite my fears, PS seems to be doing really well with middle school. There are so many opportunities, and the school seems so much better organized than our elementary school. She tried out this week for an anchor position on her school's daily news program and made the cut despite tons of applicants. Woot! She is so quiet and timid that I was afraid she would get nervous and blow the audition, but I guess she brought her game. Hopefully this will help her come out of her shell a little bit. And today she got her school-issued laptop, which she is totally psyched about.
Her birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks. She informed me that 12 is a big year and that we should do something big. We are doing a scavenger hunt/amazing race type party followed by a sleepover. We're dividing the girls into teams and they have to solve riddles to go find things or take pictures doing silly things around town, like the chicken dance in front of the local fried chicken place. I've had so much fun making the clues for our race--I think this is going to be a great party.
She's also created a birthday wish list that includes a few video games, an itunes gift card and a laptop (new, not hand-me-down, with internet). Yeah, no chance in heck she's getting the laptop. We have 5 household computers of various ages, and she has her school computer. I don't want her to have internet on a laptop that she can take in her room. (I also won't let the kids have televisions in their rooms.) But I think she knew it was a long shot, and doesn't seem too bothered by my assurance that she won't be getting a computer.
She also has her first dance coming up. I think I'm more excited than she is. But it is the same night as a wedding that we are attending. So we won't be here for her first dance! I am so bummed about this. But maybe we can go get our nails done or something that morning and then she can get ready at a friends house.
So much going on, but it's all good. I'm so happy for her, because I was worried about how she would make the adjustment, but no problems so far!
Her birthday is coming up in a couple of weeks. She informed me that 12 is a big year and that we should do something big. We are doing a scavenger hunt/amazing race type party followed by a sleepover. We're dividing the girls into teams and they have to solve riddles to go find things or take pictures doing silly things around town, like the chicken dance in front of the local fried chicken place. I've had so much fun making the clues for our race--I think this is going to be a great party.
She's also created a birthday wish list that includes a few video games, an itunes gift card and a laptop (new, not hand-me-down, with internet). Yeah, no chance in heck she's getting the laptop. We have 5 household computers of various ages, and she has her school computer. I don't want her to have internet on a laptop that she can take in her room. (I also won't let the kids have televisions in their rooms.) But I think she knew it was a long shot, and doesn't seem too bothered by my assurance that she won't be getting a computer.
She also has her first dance coming up. I think I'm more excited than she is. But it is the same night as a wedding that we are attending. So we won't be here for her first dance! I am so bummed about this. But maybe we can go get our nails done or something that morning and then she can get ready at a friends house.
So much going on, but it's all good. I'm so happy for her, because I was worried about how she would make the adjustment, but no problems so far!
9/7/10
Really???
When I was on my way to the office (don't worry, I was at a stoplight) an email popped up informing me that my secretary wouldn't be in until the afternoon because her dog was sick. Seriously, you say? Your secretary called in because her dog was sick? Oh yes, and it is not the first time. Two weeks ago she called in and missed the entire day because her dog had diarrhea.
O.M.G. Some seriously bad words came out of my mouth when I read that email. You see, my secretary has not been present for an entire 40 hour week in at least the last 6 weeks. Twice she has overslept. About 5 times she has called in because she just didn't sleep the night before and was going to try to get some rest. Another time it was allergies. Oh, and she was throwing up one Monday because she "got too much sun" the weekend before (when she just happened to be out of town attending her high school reunion). Yeah, right.
So I was pissed this morning. Because my secretary had gone around me and asked the office manager if she could leave early last Friday. So all the crap I gave her on Friday got shoved in her inbox, and then she wasn't there to deal with everything I needed sent out today, so I had to go plead with the other secretaries (who are sick of picking up her slack) to take care of my projects.
She finally did show up this afternoon and was in a royally pissy mood. A paralegal was helping me index an upcoming document production, and I instructed to paralegal to use my secretary so that she could finish up as quickly as possible. Secretary informed Paralegal that she "might not have time to get to it." Bullshit. I had already handed all of her projects off to other legal assistants and I checked in with the associate with whom I share Secretary to confirm that she wasn't overloaded. So I specifically instructed her that this project was top priority, and once I intervened, she managed to actually help out but was none too happy about it.
I am just about ready to pull my hair out at this point. Until recently she has done a good job and had good work product. But lately her work product is slipping, she complains constantly, she tries to wiggle out of work and the unreliability is insane. I have never in my adult life overslept for a job. Or called in because I was just too tired. And I sure as hell didn't call in because one of my animals was sick.
I've talked to her and so has our office admin. At this point I think she is trying to get fired so that she can collect unemployment. But my firm hates trying to hire new people, and therefore nobody ever gets fired. We have another secretary who is rude and hateful and a miserable person to be around (even to Big Boss) and she is still around. (She has been on vacation for the last week and it has been so quiet and peaceful!)
The funny thing is that my firm has the nicest lawyers of any firm I have ever been in. There are no major assholes. I guess you have to have some crazy somewhere in an office--but in a law firm you usually expect it to be the lawyers, not the staff.
O.M.G. Some seriously bad words came out of my mouth when I read that email. You see, my secretary has not been present for an entire 40 hour week in at least the last 6 weeks. Twice she has overslept. About 5 times she has called in because she just didn't sleep the night before and was going to try to get some rest. Another time it was allergies. Oh, and she was throwing up one Monday because she "got too much sun" the weekend before (when she just happened to be out of town attending her high school reunion). Yeah, right.
So I was pissed this morning. Because my secretary had gone around me and asked the office manager if she could leave early last Friday. So all the crap I gave her on Friday got shoved in her inbox, and then she wasn't there to deal with everything I needed sent out today, so I had to go plead with the other secretaries (who are sick of picking up her slack) to take care of my projects.
She finally did show up this afternoon and was in a royally pissy mood. A paralegal was helping me index an upcoming document production, and I instructed to paralegal to use my secretary so that she could finish up as quickly as possible. Secretary informed Paralegal that she "might not have time to get to it." Bullshit. I had already handed all of her projects off to other legal assistants and I checked in with the associate with whom I share Secretary to confirm that she wasn't overloaded. So I specifically instructed her that this project was top priority, and once I intervened, she managed to actually help out but was none too happy about it.
I am just about ready to pull my hair out at this point. Until recently she has done a good job and had good work product. But lately her work product is slipping, she complains constantly, she tries to wiggle out of work and the unreliability is insane. I have never in my adult life overslept for a job. Or called in because I was just too tired. And I sure as hell didn't call in because one of my animals was sick.
I've talked to her and so has our office admin. At this point I think she is trying to get fired so that she can collect unemployment. But my firm hates trying to hire new people, and therefore nobody ever gets fired. We have another secretary who is rude and hateful and a miserable person to be around (even to Big Boss) and she is still around. (She has been on vacation for the last week and it has been so quiet and peaceful!)
The funny thing is that my firm has the nicest lawyers of any firm I have ever been in. There are no major assholes. I guess you have to have some crazy somewhere in an office--but in a law firm you usually expect it to be the lawyers, not the staff.
9/6/10
Oooohhhhhhh
Yesterday we did an 8-mile float trip. The canoe outfitter said it would take 3 to 3.5 hours. It took 6. The river was completely flat, if we weren't rowing we weren't moving. And then the wind started blowing upstream. So if we weren't rowing, we were moving backward. So we were pretty much rowing the entire time. DH in one canoe, me in the other. We did not pack enough water and all thought we were going to die by the time it was over. (I don't know how we managed that, we usually pack way more than we need.) And SS and I passed right by two enormous floating turtle corpses that have left us both scarred for life--and me wondering what the heck is going on that is killing the turtles. We also rescued a two-foot catfish that had been caught in a line hanging from a tree with no fisherman in sight. We fish, but leaving an unattended line with a fish struggling for hours just seems inhumane to me. So we cut it free.
We finished out our day by catching a double feature of the newest Shrek and Toy Story movies at the drive-in theater. The weather was perfect and it was a nice way to finish out our day, but boy were we pooped. The movies didn't end until after midnight and we still had a 1.5 hour drive home. It was two before we finally made it to bed. We are never, ever out that late. I'm usually dragging well before midnight.
Today I don't think there is a part of my body that doesn't hurt. And I have random sunburned areas, where I missed putting sunscreen. Like my cleavage and the top of one foot and my ears. Nothing says fun like sunburned cleavage.
We finished out our day by catching a double feature of the newest Shrek and Toy Story movies at the drive-in theater. The weather was perfect and it was a nice way to finish out our day, but boy were we pooped. The movies didn't end until after midnight and we still had a 1.5 hour drive home. It was two before we finally made it to bed. We are never, ever out that late. I'm usually dragging well before midnight.
Today I don't think there is a part of my body that doesn't hurt. And I have random sunburned areas, where I missed putting sunscreen. Like my cleavage and the top of one foot and my ears. Nothing says fun like sunburned cleavage.
9/1/10
Homework
Two of PS's teachers have taken it upon themselves to assign parents "homework"--an essay about their students. This bugs the shit out of me. I have a job. I work about 10 hours a day. I spend at least an hour and a half every day commuting. When I come home I want to spend time with my kids. And when they go to bed I want to spend an hour watching tv or mindlessly surfing the internet before I collapse into bed. That is, when I get home early enough to do these things. I am excessively busy this week and have had lots of late nights and working from home. I do not want to write an essay. I spend all freaking day writing. And I have 20 years of schooling--I don't need any more fucking homework.
Hahaha--now I just got the irony of my writing on my blog while I bitch about having to write. But it's not the same. My blog is stream-of-consciousness writing. Half the time it probably makes no sense to anyone but me. I don't proofread (I'm sure you've caught that if you have ever read my blog before--DH is forever pointing out my typos). I don't take any particular effort to structure comprehensible sentences and paragraphs.
Am I being unreasonable? Am I excessively irritated about this?
For the record, I did do the fucking assignment. But I am biting my tongue to keep from adding a snarky footnote about what a PITA it is. Maybe I should call my brother. He's a middle-school teacher and would have no trouble telling me that I am just being bitchy.
Hahaha--now I just got the irony of my writing on my blog while I bitch about having to write. But it's not the same. My blog is stream-of-consciousness writing. Half the time it probably makes no sense to anyone but me. I don't proofread (I'm sure you've caught that if you have ever read my blog before--DH is forever pointing out my typos). I don't take any particular effort to structure comprehensible sentences and paragraphs.
Am I being unreasonable? Am I excessively irritated about this?
For the record, I did do the fucking assignment. But I am biting my tongue to keep from adding a snarky footnote about what a PITA it is. Maybe I should call my brother. He's a middle-school teacher and would have no trouble telling me that I am just being bitchy.
8/30/10
Definitely Monday
Spent a good hunk of my weekend doing doc review. I was supposed to finish up a very long memo for a meeting with Big Boss this afternoon, but it just didn't happen. So I got up early this morning so I could get in extra early and try to finish the memo. But traffic was a disaster and at least four different cars tried to run me off the road. Finally made it in just a little early.
So I closed my office door so I could finish up my memo before Big Boss arrived. And every five seconds someone knocked on my door with some inane question. I snapped at Big Boss' secretary who takes all of his crap and sticks it in my inbox so that my secretary has to distribute the filing instead of her. Probably should have handled it more diplomatically.
Never did finish up the memo, but it was mostly just polish left. Big Boss seemed satisfied with his cursory review, and he gave me a new assignment for another long, complex memo. And then I went back to work on my doc review. Because despite the fact that it has been handed off to another associate, he refuses to work on it if I am not in there. And it's my ass on the line if it doesn't get turned around ASAP. Grumble.
Brought home two boxes, but I'm so tired I can't bring myself to open them.
New nanny started today, and everything went mostly ok. But she forgot to mention during the interview process that she was going to be out of town the week of Thanksgiving. It wouldn't have affected our decision to hire her, but it would have been nice if she had been more up front about it.
And I notified my other nanny candidate that we had offered the position to someone else. She sent back a smart-ass response, griping about how bad the economy is. Looks like we made the right decision. I really liked her after our initial interview, but she seemed to get a little flaky after that. Glad we were thorough with the interview process.
And then SIL just called to update us on FIL. It's not good. He's been seeing a counselor and is being treated for depression. Despite his assurances a few months ago that he had done his grieving, he is finally acknowledging that everything is not ok. He's been missing work and sleeping all day. It's bad enough that DH just called his sister back and told her to go get FIL's guns. Oh, and MIL's birthday is Thursday. Looks like we may be visiting Hometown this weekend.
So I closed my office door so I could finish up my memo before Big Boss arrived. And every five seconds someone knocked on my door with some inane question. I snapped at Big Boss' secretary who takes all of his crap and sticks it in my inbox so that my secretary has to distribute the filing instead of her. Probably should have handled it more diplomatically.
Never did finish up the memo, but it was mostly just polish left. Big Boss seemed satisfied with his cursory review, and he gave me a new assignment for another long, complex memo. And then I went back to work on my doc review. Because despite the fact that it has been handed off to another associate, he refuses to work on it if I am not in there. And it's my ass on the line if it doesn't get turned around ASAP. Grumble.
Brought home two boxes, but I'm so tired I can't bring myself to open them.
New nanny started today, and everything went mostly ok. But she forgot to mention during the interview process that she was going to be out of town the week of Thanksgiving. It wouldn't have affected our decision to hire her, but it would have been nice if she had been more up front about it.
And I notified my other nanny candidate that we had offered the position to someone else. She sent back a smart-ass response, griping about how bad the economy is. Looks like we made the right decision. I really liked her after our initial interview, but she seemed to get a little flaky after that. Glad we were thorough with the interview process.
And then SIL just called to update us on FIL. It's not good. He's been seeing a counselor and is being treated for depression. Despite his assurances a few months ago that he had done his grieving, he is finally acknowledging that everything is not ok. He's been missing work and sleeping all day. It's bad enough that DH just called his sister back and told her to go get FIL's guns. Oh, and MIL's birthday is Thursday. Looks like we may be visiting Hometown this weekend.
8/26/10
TGI almost F
This week has been insane. Three of my bigger cases have all decided to explode at once. I was just surprised with 90 boxes of documents that need to be reviewed within the next week. And to make doc review even more fun, they are nasty, rotten, moldy boxes. Literally, huge globs of black mold growing on some of the documents. Ah, the glamorous life of a lawyer. And while I was enduring all of this fun, Big Boss was frantically calling me to arrange an emergency meeting involving several parties in another case while he was stuck in meetings all morning. My phone range off the wall all freakin' day.
In other news, I've hired a new nanny, contingent upon a successful test-drive on Saturday morning. I always leave the girls with a new nanny for a couple of hours while DH and I hang out somewhere nearby before I make a final offer. She is a senior in high school, but she seems very mature, and will hopefully be just what we need for this 3-hour per day school-year position. Whew--one big to-do off my list.
But there is no way in heck I could leave my girls with a teenager for a week while we cruise the Caribbean--so it looks like we will be making some changes to our cruising plan. The only way we can go is if we take the kids with us. I am not happy about this. We have not traveled anywhere without the kids in 8 years, and we deserve some grown-up time for our anniversary. But alas, it was not meant to be. To add salt to the wounds, I am going to have to change ships and itineraries. I loved our itinerary--we were going to see Mayan ruins, ziplining, snorkeling and have a beach day. But that cruise just totally blows our budget when there are five of us instead of two. I've found an alternative, but it sails to the Bahamas and Grand Turk--so no ruins and no ziplines. Only beach days (oh the torture!)
We are also going to pull the kids out of school. I have never allowed the kids to miss for vacation or non-illness/dying grandma reasons. I'm generally opposed to taking the kids out of school for vacations--particularly non-educational ones. But I can't reschedule. I have trials set every.single.month from February through next November. Of course, probably none of them will actually go, but I still have to plan around them. So it looks like I will be breaking my own rule. I'm sure their teachers will be thrilled.
But I guess I can't complain too much. A vacation with my kids is better than no vacation, and any cruise is better than no cruise.
In other news, I've hired a new nanny, contingent upon a successful test-drive on Saturday morning. I always leave the girls with a new nanny for a couple of hours while DH and I hang out somewhere nearby before I make a final offer. She is a senior in high school, but she seems very mature, and will hopefully be just what we need for this 3-hour per day school-year position. Whew--one big to-do off my list.
But there is no way in heck I could leave my girls with a teenager for a week while we cruise the Caribbean--so it looks like we will be making some changes to our cruising plan. The only way we can go is if we take the kids with us. I am not happy about this. We have not traveled anywhere without the kids in 8 years, and we deserve some grown-up time for our anniversary. But alas, it was not meant to be. To add salt to the wounds, I am going to have to change ships and itineraries. I loved our itinerary--we were going to see Mayan ruins, ziplining, snorkeling and have a beach day. But that cruise just totally blows our budget when there are five of us instead of two. I've found an alternative, but it sails to the Bahamas and Grand Turk--so no ruins and no ziplines. Only beach days (oh the torture!)
We are also going to pull the kids out of school. I have never allowed the kids to miss for vacation or non-illness/dying grandma reasons. I'm generally opposed to taking the kids out of school for vacations--particularly non-educational ones. But I can't reschedule. I have trials set every.single.month from February through next November. Of course, probably none of them will actually go, but I still have to plan around them. So it looks like I will be breaking my own rule. I'm sure their teachers will be thrilled.
But I guess I can't complain too much. A vacation with my kids is better than no vacation, and any cruise is better than no cruise.
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