The Bearable Burden of Working

These last two weeks have been a blur of long hours and lots of work, work, work.

Although I've gotten both weekends off, I can't seem to make it home on the weekdays until about 8pm on average.

Last Thursday I didn't get home until 2am!

And as I was blearily making my way out of the building, the partner called after me, "Make sure you check your Blackberry during the night and we might call you on your cell phone!"

I am officially pwnd.


And you know what? It's totally ok with me.

For now.

I kind of like checking my "self" at the door and not having to think about how to fill my free time. Free time is kind of a headache anyway. Too much of it and I always get to a point where I start navel gazing and asking myself:

"Where is my life going? What am I doing with myself? Maybe I should up and join a travelling music group? What are my dreams (a la Oprah)? Am I fulfilled? Should I even care about that?"

There's nothing like a butt-load of due diligence and contract proofing to push all those nagging thoughts and insecurities right out my mind!

And ironically, I still find the time to surf JCrew online and continue to amass a kickass wardrobe!

The Unbearable Lightness of "Working"

This week has been among the most stressful I've ever had in my working life.

I'm sure everyone has experienced the stress of having too much to do in too little time. But to know real stress, try having NOTHING to do.

I don't think I worked more than two hours this entire week. Oh I still showed up and sat at my desk from 9 to 5, but I definitely turned my monitor away from the doorway so no one would walk by and see the new J.Crew sale items emblazoned on my monitor. Or the cute new shoes at Target. Or the pretty fall basics at the Gap. You get the idea.

The whole time I'm internet shopping under duress I'm thinking three things:

(1) Any moment now, the partner is going to have a talk with me and "let me go."

(2) When the other two new associates come in a couple weeks, how can we possibly split this 2 hour work week between the three of us?!

(3) I wonder if I should move to a firm in which I'll actually learn some real skills instead of being a very well paid chair warmer...

But on the plus side, I'm slowly amassing a pretty kick-ass wardrobe.

The Simple Life

Working everyday has simplified my life significantly.

I no longer find myself wondering: What shall I do now?

Shall I watch another episode of What Not to Wear?
Shall I go to the craft store to get some new yarn?
Shall I visit my friends/family/relatives?

Nope--all those decisions and more are conclusively and pre-emptively answered for me. I wake up, go to work, come home, eat, watch tv, and go to bed.

The weekends are a little trickier, but basically one day is for chores, the other is for rest. Not too complicated.

This weekend M and I went to my office to decorate it and took some pics.

My bare office. Note the sliding glass door which leads to...


The terrace of my office and its spectacular view:


Another great view from the conference room:


For all the stuffiness of the legal profession, I certainly do work in a place of beauty and light. How ironic.