Weekend Talk

Since the Bar exam, weekends have taken on new meaning. Instead of a chance to catch up on things I let slide during the week, that time is just for catching up on family time. We no longer procrastinate on weekends by going to look at open houses (for places we could never afford) because we would rather just enjoy every minute we have together.

Something about being together as our family of three without distraction leads us to plan with desperation and reckless abandon our next step. Usually, it involves leaving Los Angeles and moving somewhere slower paced where we could live in a house with a yard and plant fruit trees and adopt some dogs (PJO thinks he's getting two mastiffs and naming them Thor and Zeus ... riiiiiiiiight).

The plan this weekend was for PJO to re-take the GRE (his scores expired) and apply for a top computer science Ph.D program. I would work at Big Law until he finished and then he would be a professor in a beautiful college town and I would find some practice with a flexible schedule so we could be present and active in our kids' (Timmy + any future) lives.

He has a B.S. and M.S. in Comp Sci and has always wanted to be a professor. Right now, he's at a cross-roads, deciding whether to pursue something more in finance or computers. When I start working at the Firm next year, I will be starting my career. He feels like he just has a job, and it seems only fair that he should have the chance to build a career too.

Other plans have included PJO going to business school, starting his own business on the side while keeping his current job or taking a job at a financial firm in Orange County (the 'burbs) so we could move down there. On the weekends, this all seems completely realistic and within reach.

Then Monday comes. PJO goes to work. And I come back to reality. There is a reason I decided to go to the Firm I'm headed to. I like the office, the culture, the practice areas, and the people. I also like that I have A JOB.* Moving anywhere else would mean sacrificing that. If I'm honest with myself, I realize that I probably wouldn't be able to get a job right now. Once the market crashed, big firms pretty much stopped hiring from my low-ranked law school. It has some name recognition in LA, but not outside of southern California. My 3L transcript is pretty lackluster and I didn't do much "extra" in law school.

So while chasing dreams and exploring a new city is romantic and exciting, it just wouldn't be the right decision now for our family. That isn't to say it definitely won't happen, but let's just say that the new meaning of weekday is pulling me back down to reality.

*Incidentally, I like that I got a big, fat check from them last week for doing nothing; I wish that more than half was left over for me, but oh well