Something to look forward to...
I've finally booked a couple of flights for trips I've been wanting to take. But here's how skewed my view of "vacation" has become since I've started working: both trips are over long weekends (Thursday afternoon-Sunday).
The first weekend in May I'm going back to Chicago. I'll chill with old friends, visit some of my old haunts, and probably rack up tons of debt on the ol' credit card. As a bonus, by then the temperature in the Midwest should be somewhere slightly above Arctic Chill. Score!
The third weekend in May I'm visiting the old folks and bro and sis. Sis will be turning 21 just a few days before my trip, so Mom and bro and I will be taking her out to get hammered. I love my part-Irish family. I wish I was 21 again. How sad is it that I'm only 24 but I already feel old? I blame Hollywood. And my job.
I'm glad I finally booked these because it gives me something to look forward to. Kind of a sad/scary thing about life as a working stiff is that there's no end in sight. In school, everything is measured by semesters or quarters. You finish a term, you get a nice long break before you have to go back. I was fully aware in law school that school kicks Real Life's ass, any day of the week and twice on Sunday, and like the smart person I am I took advantage of it. Work has been fine since I started, at least until recently. I think I've finally hit that slump where you realize that life has permanently, irreversibly changed. I mean, I *knew* that before but lately I am really *feeling* it. I've been sick lately and my work has suffered as a result -- one of the downsides of Real Life is that the feedback when you're good is all but nonexistent. But the feedback when you're bad is immediate and painful. In law school I at least had the buffer of the several weeks (or in some cases, several lifetimes) between the exam and the grade. In Real Life, I'm lucky if a day goes by where I'm not made painfully aware of how I'm screwing up.
I'm probably overdramatizing. It has been a *rough* past few weeks. I don't *think* that means I'm a bad lawyer, but that remains to be seen for sure.
At any rate, the point is that now I have something to look forward to: two trips. And I *made* them happen. Breaks don't come automatically in Real Life, so I have to get out there and create them. So I did. And hopefully my accompanying good mood will boost my work. At the very least, I have a few days off coming up so I will get to drink off the pain around friendly faces.
posted by Law Fairy @ 11:32 AM
7 comments
7 Comments:
At least you realized while you were in school that the Real World sucked. I had to school a lot of my straight-from-undergrad friends when they'd bitch about law school.
Here's a tip: become a teacher and you'll get summers off and Christmas/spring breaks. After my brother became one (after being a cop), he remarked, "I don't see why teachers are always complaining. This is the biggest scam."
Have fun on your trips. I'm "between gigs" right now, so I can fully enjoy an all-expense paid weeklong trip to the beach with my fam in April. I wanted to swing by Philly on my way back to VA and spend some time with friends, but due to my deferrment and graduated payment plan paperwork being delayed, I have a pretty large student loan payment this month, so I had to nix that idea. Guess just the beach'll have to do.
Blech, student loans. Shudder.
I was interested for a while in becoming a law school professor, since you get the benefits of being a teacher plus a pretty decent salary -- but SHIT those jobs are hard to get. But who knows what I'll be doing in five years? Hint: not me! :)
I'm ALL ABOUT family-paid vacays. Why do think I'm headed to CO Spgs in May? Hint: not for the cultural experience!
I figure the only thing I'll be shelling out money for on the trip is the bottle of Captain Morgan's that I'll be bringing.
Teaching...what a sweet gig. Hell, I'm considering it, albeit not at the law school level.
Darcy, I'll totally go on Oprah's show if she does that. I hope she's still giving away cars.
Micah, if you're ever in LA (and you'll have plenty of time for vacation if you opt for the teacher thing), here's how awesome of a friend I am: I will buy you that Captain Morgan's. No, no, you can thank me later :)
Off to Expedia. :)
Yay, the Law Fairy comes to Chicago. Hope I'll get to see you this time!
And yes, people call me a slacker, but I try to explain that I've treated law school as a 3 year vacation. My job before school owned me, and I'm pretty sure my big firm job will own me too. My plan is to pay off the loans, then go back to school for another vacation.. I mean, degree.
Darlyn, I like the way you think :D
I'm actually flying in on a Thursday and was thinking if bar review is someplace cool I might drop by and say hi to some old friends... I'll def give you a call before I'm in town!
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