I'm staying pretty busy at work. Life at Big Firm is good. My group is still awesome. A member of my group left the firm a few weeks ago to go in house (meaning that he's working for a company now and not at a law firm--a common path for people in my practice area--people at my firm generally don't quit to work at another firm. We've got it pretty good as far as firm life is concerned). So now he's gone and the case we used to work on together is now just me and the two partners on the case.
It's sort of like teaching someone how to swim by throwing them in a pool and hoping they don't drown.
I have stayed afloat so far. Mostly I work during the weeks and don't work on the weekends, but this week, I didn't get the weekend to rest--I have a bunch of work to do. Unfortunately, I'm also completely exhausted and must now take a nap.
Gonna have to work later.
Anyway, things are good at work. Although obviously my life goal would be to be wealthy and not need to work at all, since I have to have a job, this is pretty perfect.
19 January 2014
07 January 2014
The Heat is On
I finally got heat back in the middle of the night Friday. It took the weekend for my building to warm back up, but I'm relieved to no longer be so very very cold.
I spent the cold days using hand warmers in gloves and socks, sitting on a heating pad, and then ultimately buying a space heater for a wintery day of working from home due to snow.
My apartment is covered in piles of blankets and fuzzy socks, but I"m warming up.
Next adventure: finding a place in my apartment for the space heater!
I spent the cold days using hand warmers in gloves and socks, sitting on a heating pad, and then ultimately buying a space heater for a wintery day of working from home due to snow.
My apartment is covered in piles of blankets and fuzzy socks, but I"m warming up.
Next adventure: finding a place in my apartment for the space heater!
03 January 2014
Long, Cold, Dark Night
My heat is currently out.
How did this happen?
Well, earlier this week, my smoke alarm started chirping. It's hardwired into the electricity here, so I figured it was just the backup battery wanting to be replaced. I'm blessed with very high ceilings, and at 1:30 in the morning, I was unable to do anything about it, so I closed my bedroom door, put in earplugs, and tried to sleep.
Eventually, I woke back up just before four in the morning. It was louder and I was a bit confused. Then I realized someone was pounding on my front door. I was somewhat delighted, because I figured my smoke alarm had bothered one of my neighbors enough to have them come over. I was delighted because this meant I could ask them to help me get it to shut off already.
It was not my neighbor. (A side note here: I honestly do not know the name of a single one of my neighbors, so that would've been an awkward conversation no matter which neighbor it was.)
It was a nice firefighter from the FDNY.
All of the fire alarms in the building, including the ones in the hallway that automatically call the FDNY, were going off.
They came into my apartment to look for a fire. Apparently, they thought it could be an electrical fire in the walls. If you ever wonder what it looks like when firefighters use their cool tools to look at your walls to decide if there is hidden fire, well, wait until they show up at your apartment. I can't explain it.
I generally feel that leggings are not pants, for the record. One should not wear leggings in public. I happened to be sleeping in leggings that night though, and I answered the door in leggings and a sweatshirt. At first I felt kind of awkward about it, but then I figured I was not the least decent person the firefighters had seen this week.
Lots of my neighbors were out in the hall. It was loud and crazy and there were firefighters going up and down the stairs for about an hour. Eventually, they decided the problem was in the basement; the new boiler that had been installed had suffered a major malfunction, somewhat exploding and melting a substantial portion of the basement. Yeehaw! So that explained the fire alarms and sounds. The NYPD showed up, and then so did the super. It was a whole party. They turned off the boiler and everything down in the basement, which meant that I would keep my electricity and gas but no longer have heat and hot water.
But we were all safe, and after exchanging first names with some neighbors, we all went back to bed.
I have forgotten all of those neighbors' names, for the record.
And my heat hasn't been restored. It's about 40 degrees in my apartment. It's like a really long, really unpleasant camping trip.
Additionally, we're in the middle of a really ugly storm in New York. It's in the single digits, with serious wind bringing the wind chill well below zero.
And in the middle of all of this, I discovered a new mouse in my kitchen. Apparently, it's a really hearty mouse, since it's like a refrigerator in here.
So that's how my new year is going.
How about you?
How did this happen?
Well, earlier this week, my smoke alarm started chirping. It's hardwired into the electricity here, so I figured it was just the backup battery wanting to be replaced. I'm blessed with very high ceilings, and at 1:30 in the morning, I was unable to do anything about it, so I closed my bedroom door, put in earplugs, and tried to sleep.
Eventually, I woke back up just before four in the morning. It was louder and I was a bit confused. Then I realized someone was pounding on my front door. I was somewhat delighted, because I figured my smoke alarm had bothered one of my neighbors enough to have them come over. I was delighted because this meant I could ask them to help me get it to shut off already.
It was not my neighbor. (A side note here: I honestly do not know the name of a single one of my neighbors, so that would've been an awkward conversation no matter which neighbor it was.)
It was a nice firefighter from the FDNY.
All of the fire alarms in the building, including the ones in the hallway that automatically call the FDNY, were going off.
They came into my apartment to look for a fire. Apparently, they thought it could be an electrical fire in the walls. If you ever wonder what it looks like when firefighters use their cool tools to look at your walls to decide if there is hidden fire, well, wait until they show up at your apartment. I can't explain it.
I generally feel that leggings are not pants, for the record. One should not wear leggings in public. I happened to be sleeping in leggings that night though, and I answered the door in leggings and a sweatshirt. At first I felt kind of awkward about it, but then I figured I was not the least decent person the firefighters had seen this week.
Lots of my neighbors were out in the hall. It was loud and crazy and there were firefighters going up and down the stairs for about an hour. Eventually, they decided the problem was in the basement; the new boiler that had been installed had suffered a major malfunction, somewhat exploding and melting a substantial portion of the basement. Yeehaw! So that explained the fire alarms and sounds. The NYPD showed up, and then so did the super. It was a whole party. They turned off the boiler and everything down in the basement, which meant that I would keep my electricity and gas but no longer have heat and hot water.
But we were all safe, and after exchanging first names with some neighbors, we all went back to bed.
I have forgotten all of those neighbors' names, for the record.
And my heat hasn't been restored. It's about 40 degrees in my apartment. It's like a really long, really unpleasant camping trip.
Additionally, we're in the middle of a really ugly storm in New York. It's in the single digits, with serious wind bringing the wind chill well below zero.
And in the middle of all of this, I discovered a new mouse in my kitchen. Apparently, it's a really hearty mouse, since it's like a refrigerator in here.
So that's how my new year is going.
How about you?
30 October 2013
Sorry
Today, I had big plans to write a fun blog post for all of you.
I came home, went to dinner with a friend from my ward, and while at dinner got an emergency email from work.
So . . . then I had to work after dinner.
And that took up all of my time that I had planned for fun blogging.
Why did I need to write a fun blog post?
BECAUSE I PASSED THE BAR!!!!!
I found out very late last night. I'll tell you all the details later, but I wanted to let you know.
Thanks for all the love and support and encouragement.
We did it!!
More Bacon, Esq., here we come!!
I came home, went to dinner with a friend from my ward, and while at dinner got an emergency email from work.
So . . . then I had to work after dinner.
And that took up all of my time that I had planned for fun blogging.
Why did I need to write a fun blog post?
BECAUSE I PASSED THE BAR!!!!!
I found out very late last night. I'll tell you all the details later, but I wanted to let you know.
Thanks for all the love and support and encouragement.
We did it!!
More Bacon, Esq., here we come!!
07 October 2013
One Week
Some of you have kindly inquired as to how things are going at work.
It's going great, thanks!
I'm in a great group. It's small enough that I'm getting to work right with the partners and getting really included in things, but big enough to have great work to do.
My office is lovely, albeit chilly, and I'm adapting to my Blackberry.
-----------
Others of you have kindly inquired as to when I'll know if I passed the bar.
The answer to that is that it will likely be another six weeks at least, so please stop asking, because you all freak me out when you ask. :)
It's going great, thanks!
I'm in a great group. It's small enough that I'm getting to work right with the partners and getting really included in things, but big enough to have great work to do.
My office is lovely, albeit chilly, and I'm adapting to my Blackberry.
-----------
Others of you have kindly inquired as to when I'll know if I passed the bar.
The answer to that is that it will likely be another six weeks at least, so please stop asking, because you all freak me out when you ask. :)
30 September 2013
Starting Again, Again
Well, here we are. It's the night before I start my full-time gig with Big Firm.
I feel mostly ready, in that people's expectations of you are pretty low upon graduating from law school. (Law school isn't like medical school--and I'm technically not even allowed to practice the law, seeing as I have not yet received my bar results and been admitted to any bar.)
It's strange to be headed back to full time employment. For a long time, I worked while I went to school. A long, long, long time. So I was always working toward graduation, assuming I'd figure out what to do professionally (if a change needed to be made in my career) after I graduated. By the time I had graduated, although I had only told a few people, I had decided to attend law school and was working on application materials and selection of a school. Then, for the past three years, I've been working through law school.
But now it's done.
This is the job.
The job for a while.
As I've met new people in my ward this fall, a few have asked how long I'll be in New York.
Indefinitely.
So here we go.
This is it.
The rest of my life.
No pressure.
I feel mostly ready, in that people's expectations of you are pretty low upon graduating from law school. (Law school isn't like medical school--and I'm technically not even allowed to practice the law, seeing as I have not yet received my bar results and been admitted to any bar.)
It's strange to be headed back to full time employment. For a long time, I worked while I went to school. A long, long, long time. So I was always working toward graduation, assuming I'd figure out what to do professionally (if a change needed to be made in my career) after I graduated. By the time I had graduated, although I had only told a few people, I had decided to attend law school and was working on application materials and selection of a school. Then, for the past three years, I've been working through law school.
But now it's done.
This is the job.
The job for a while.
As I've met new people in my ward this fall, a few have asked how long I'll be in New York.
Indefinitely.
So here we go.
This is it.
The rest of my life.
No pressure.
22 September 2013
Cracking Myself Up
When I'm really tired, sometimes as I'm falling asleep or just waking up, I think the most random things.
I often write them down because I somehow have the presence of mind to know that I'll find them funny later, even though I don't find them funny at that moment.
Some recent funny things I've thought during this time:
Nope, I don't know what any of them mean. But I laugh about them a lot!
I often write them down because I somehow have the presence of mind to know that I'll find them funny later, even though I don't find them funny at that moment.
Some recent funny things I've thought during this time:
- "Counting to one in Russian is the same as counting to one in Picard."
- "Pavlova is like Roman fillet sausages."
- "Ohio is really the North Korea of the American Midwest."
Nope, I don't know what any of them mean. But I laugh about them a lot!
11 September 2013
Life After the Bar
You might be wondering what life is like after the bar.
No? You weren't wondering that? Your life isn't totally consumed by the schedule and weirdness of being a recent law school graduate?
Huh.
Well, I'll tell you anyway.
What do I do now that I'm done with the bar?
No? You weren't wondering that? Your life isn't totally consumed by the schedule and weirdness of being a recent law school graduate?
Huh.
Well, I'll tell you anyway.
What do I do now that I'm done with the bar?
- Visit family
- Sleep in--WAY in
- Walk around the city for hours because I CAN
- Shower slowly
- Watch lots of Netflix--plenty of TV to catch up on
- Nap
- Get lunch with friends
One of my friends says that I am "funemployed." I think this is the nicer version of how I describe my current unemployment. She's probably right; my unemployment isn't really stressful because I have a job beginning in a few weeks.
So for now, it's just funemployment all day, every day.
I keep trying to find someone to find me in my life of leisure, but sadly, everyone seems to be busy working...hmm...
31 July 2013
Stick a Fork in Me!
I'M DONE!!!
Holy cow, the bar is over. I'm working on a full post that tries to capture the experience that is taking the New York Bar Exam.
In the meantime, I just wanted to thank you all for all of the love, support, prayers, thoughts, texts, emails, good vibes, care packages, snacks, visits, hugs, and other general wonderfulness you've all given me for the past three years, particularly in the past couple of months as I've been preparing for the bar.
I sure love and appreciate each of you!
Holy cow, the bar is over. I'm working on a full post that tries to capture the experience that is taking the New York Bar Exam.
In the meantime, I just wanted to thank you all for all of the love, support, prayers, thoughts, texts, emails, good vibes, care packages, snacks, visits, hugs, and other general wonderfulness you've all given me for the past three years, particularly in the past couple of months as I've been preparing for the bar.
I sure love and appreciate each of you!
26 July 2013
For the VERY LAST TIME!!!
This is what I'm singing today, for the very last Friday EVER!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWleD1rrat4
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWleD1rrat4
25 July 2013
Hitting the Bar
Well, the bar exam is just a few days away now (four, basically). YIKES! I'm incredibly nervous but simultaneously incredibly ready for it to be over. I've done harder things emotionally and physically, but bar prep has just been mentally draining. My poor brain has just turned to mush and I spend most of my days thinking that I know absolutely nothing anymore. I may be getting dumber instead of smarter. It's tough to say.
After I finish, I'll try to do another post with some common questions some of you have asked about the bar. Hopefully, there will be a good story or two to share. (There are about 6,000 people taking the bar exam at the location where I'll be taking it; every year, something interesting happens.)
So, July 30th and 31st are the big days. After that: FREEDOM!
Looking forward to seeing you all on the other side.
After I finish, I'll try to do another post with some common questions some of you have asked about the bar. Hopefully, there will be a good story or two to share. (There are about 6,000 people taking the bar exam at the location where I'll be taking it; every year, something interesting happens.)
So, July 30th and 31st are the big days. After that: FREEDOM!
Looking forward to seeing you all on the other side.
15 July 2013
A Poem/Song
(I was going to write a song about today, but who are we kidding--I don't write songs. I don't really write poems either, but I ended up sending this to my sister...)
This day makes me say AAAAAAAARGH!
I would write on my BLAAAAAAAARGH.
But I have no time,
So instead I'll just whine,
And perhaps sail away on a BAAAAAAARGE.
This day makes me say AAAAAAAARGH!
I would write on my BLAAAAAAAARGH.
But I have no time,
So instead I'll just whine,
And perhaps sail away on a BAAAAAAARGE.
04 July 2013
Independence Day!
Happy Fourth of July to all of my American readers.
Wish that I had something more exciting to share, but right now, I'm celebrating the holiday by basically suffering through my bar prep. YEEHAW!
But since I am preparing for a career where I will take an oath to support the Constitution of the United States, I'm sure grateful today to live in this country where I get to do that, and where I get to have a career I want, and where I have so many wonderful opportunities.
I don't know what the future will hold for any of us, but I'm grateful for the past that has led us to this point!
Wish that I had something more exciting to share, but right now, I'm celebrating the holiday by basically suffering through my bar prep. YEEHAW!
But since I am preparing for a career where I will take an oath to support the Constitution of the United States, I'm sure grateful today to live in this country where I get to do that, and where I get to have a career I want, and where I have so many wonderful opportunities.
I don't know what the future will hold for any of us, but I'm grateful for the past that has led us to this point!
10 June 2013
M.I.A.
Sorry I've been missing in action. After I enjoyed a wonderful graduation (post to come when I have time) and a lovely visit with my family (post to come when I have the time), I headed immediately into preparation for the bar exam.
What's prep for the bar exam like, you ask?
It's the least fun thing I've voluntarily done. Ever.
Seriously.
It's like preparing to take the final for 15 different courses simultaneously, although you probably have only actually taken about 6 of the courses. It is simultaneously mind-numbing and exhausting and overwhelming. For some of the subjects, I actually have to learn two sets of law that are often the same, but then have wild differences at points, so not only do I have to learn one rule, but I have to learn two, and I have to learn which one to apply when.
The bar exam is July 30 and 31. I'll try to keep you all posted on funny stories and wonderful happenings, but I am just so tired all the time that I don't know if I have it in me!
To be continued . . .
What's prep for the bar exam like, you ask?
It's the least fun thing I've voluntarily done. Ever.
Seriously.
It's like preparing to take the final for 15 different courses simultaneously, although you probably have only actually taken about 6 of the courses. It is simultaneously mind-numbing and exhausting and overwhelming. For some of the subjects, I actually have to learn two sets of law that are often the same, but then have wild differences at points, so not only do I have to learn one rule, but I have to learn two, and I have to learn which one to apply when.
The bar exam is July 30 and 31. I'll try to keep you all posted on funny stories and wonderful happenings, but I am just so tired all the time that I don't know if I have it in me!
To be continued . . .
13 May 2013
And Then There Were None
Today I took my last final. I have a little bit of work left for my law journal, but I'm really done with law school.
I have so many feelings swirling around in me today, but tonight, I just want to say thank you.
Thank you for all of your support.
Thank you for all of your love.
Thank you for sharing in three years of ups and down, triumphs and defeats, tears and laughter.
Here we are, at the end of one thing and beginning of another. It is so wild to think that I'm done.
Yet here we are.
Nothing left to do but put on my cap and gown and go to commencement.
So commence I will!
I have so many feelings swirling around in me today, but tonight, I just want to say thank you.
Thank you for all of your support.
Thank you for all of your love.
Thank you for sharing in three years of ups and down, triumphs and defeats, tears and laughter.
Here we are, at the end of one thing and beginning of another. It is so wild to think that I'm done.
Yet here we are.
Nothing left to do but put on my cap and gown and go to commencement.
So commence I will!
08 May 2013
TEN!
My newest nephew was born very early this morning. I'm so excited! He is completely gorgeous and wonderful.
That brings me up to a total of 10 niblings. (I read that word online once as a word coined to encompass nieces and nephews--there's not actually a good word for it in English, so I'm trying to get that one to catch on.)
I haven't met my niece, or this newest nephew, and it's all I can do to stay here and study instead of getting on an airplane to go meet those sweet babies.
But I still have one final to go.
Heaven help me!!
That brings me up to a total of 10 niblings. (I read that word online once as a word coined to encompass nieces and nephews--there's not actually a good word for it in English, so I'm trying to get that one to catch on.)
I haven't met my niece, or this newest nephew, and it's all I can do to stay here and study instead of getting on an airplane to go meet those sweet babies.
But I still have one final to go.
Heaven help me!!
05 May 2013
Closing In
Sorry I've been so absent. I've been very busy, and I'm only going to be more busy for the next couple of weeks. I have my first final tomorrow morning, another final Tuesday afternoon, and I also have to turn in a research paper tomorrow, which wouldn't be as big a deal but for the fact that I haven't finished writing it yet. Sigh.
Anyway, those of you who pray/think good thoughts/send happy vibes, I could use some. And then once this is done, I will return you to your regularly scheduled programming of pictures and delightful stories.
Here we go!!
Anyway, those of you who pray/think good thoughts/send happy vibes, I could use some. And then once this is done, I will return you to your regularly scheduled programming of pictures and delightful stories.
Here we go!!
11 April 2013
Conversations
I very rarely am spoken to on the street here. I have lots of friends who get yelled at or hollered at by guys, but I've never had a problem. Sometimes I stop to give tourists directions, but other than that, I pretty much mind my own business and don't have any issues.
Today, I was walking to the subway with a friend from school, and a man walking the other way shouted, "Cover your mouth when you smile! You're going to catch bugs!"
I don't really know what to do with that.
Today, I was walking to the subway with a friend from school, and a man walking the other way shouted, "Cover your mouth when you smile! You're going to catch bugs!"
I don't really know what to do with that.
05 April 2013
Compulsion
In earlier posts, I've discussed my unnatural compulsion for collecting water bottles. Love it. Nothing makes me happier than getting a water bottle, refilling it (or just keeping it if it's already full), and sticking it under my bed for storage. It makes me disproportionately happy.
In the past couple of years, I've developed another weird compulsion to collect an item. This item? Air sickness bags.
My sister once told her hubby that she wanted an air sickness back to put in her van, in case one of her boys was ill. I guess in the past she had wished she had one for the car. On one of his business trips, he brought one back for her. Shortly after that, I was flying and quietly collected my air sickness bag and placed it into my backpack.
It was exhilarating. I started to think about how I could collect more and more of them.
So I have.
I seem to have a few on my shelf at any given time, waiting to send to my sister or take when I visit.
When I traveled for spring break, my departing flight did not have a bag! I was so disappointed.
But my return flight did, and I slipped it into my bag with a smile. I'm not sure my sister actually has a need for dozens of air sickness bags, but at this rate, she's going to have them.
Maybe there's some arts and crafts project she could find to use them . . .
In the past couple of years, I've developed another weird compulsion to collect an item. This item? Air sickness bags.
My sister once told her hubby that she wanted an air sickness back to put in her van, in case one of her boys was ill. I guess in the past she had wished she had one for the car. On one of his business trips, he brought one back for her. Shortly after that, I was flying and quietly collected my air sickness bag and placed it into my backpack.
It was exhilarating. I started to think about how I could collect more and more of them.
So I have.
I seem to have a few on my shelf at any given time, waiting to send to my sister or take when I visit.
When I traveled for spring break, my departing flight did not have a bag! I was so disappointed.
But my return flight did, and I slipped it into my bag with a smile. I'm not sure my sister actually has a need for dozens of air sickness bags, but at this rate, she's going to have them.
Maybe there's some arts and crafts project she could find to use them . . .
01 April 2013
Oops
LL so lovingly noted this morning that I haven't posted in quite some time.
Sorry.
I have so many fun pictures to show you all, but I've been entirely too busy to do anything about it. Rest assured, I still have the pictures and I will get around to it . . . eventually.
At the moment, I'm returning from a lovely vacation in Georgia. I got to spend some time visiting with my sister and her family, and my folks were there for a visit as well, so it was a double treat! My sister's oldest son, Bean, turned eight and was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I was privileged to be with them all for it!
It was a fun, fun weekend. One of the best things about my nephews is just sharing hilarious conversations with them. In no particular order, here are a few things we discussed this week:
Sorry.
I have so many fun pictures to show you all, but I've been entirely too busy to do anything about it. Rest assured, I still have the pictures and I will get around to it . . . eventually.
At the moment, I'm returning from a lovely vacation in Georgia. I got to spend some time visiting with my sister and her family, and my folks were there for a visit as well, so it was a double treat! My sister's oldest son, Bean, turned eight and was baptized a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and I was privileged to be with them all for it!
It was a fun, fun weekend. One of the best things about my nephews is just sharing hilarious conversations with them. In no particular order, here are a few things we discussed this week:
- Allergies
- Dairy allergies
- How I can be so old, yet not correspondingly tall
- Why I have no children
- Why I am not married
- Why we cannot marry our relatives
- What happens if we drop porcelain
- Why toilets need water
- Why a fan is not a substitute for a toilet with water
- My inability to speak Spanish
- People who do not bleed
All in all, it was a wonderful, wonderful trip. I took hundreds of pictures (literally--I got out of control) so I'll try to share some soon.
It's always sad to leave my family. I love New York deeply, and it's good to be going home; the only thing that would make home better is if I could get all of the people I loved to live there, too.
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