This week has been packed to the gills with work stuff, kid stuff, and life in general. Yesterday, I had a lunch meeting with one of the six committees to which I was appointed. This particular committee is a really good mix of legal professionals and considering that one committee member has already offered me a job (which I politely declined), the opportunity for networking is fabulous.
The meeting was really good. There was lots of discussion about an upcoming conference our city is hosting, but I was totally silent when the committee chair suggested we host yet another social event because, you know, the three we already have planned simply don't offer us enough opportunities to be drunk and disorderly. Two social events are already tacked onto the tail-end of a long workshop day, so I will be away from my family from about 8am until 11:30pm. Um, isn't this the public interest line where we don't work crazy hours?
One could argue that a social event attached to a conference is not really work but as both planner and attendee of my fair share of conferences, I heartily disagree. I know I shouldn't complain. I also know I have it better than most 2Ls who don't have a job or any networking outlets. Still, it's my blog and I'll bitch if I want to.
In other work-related news, I was offered (and accepted) a Fall internship with the state Civil Rights division, working on housing and employment discrimination issues which, depending on the day, is my top career choice. I am psyched to start that internship in August.
Thursday night we had an introductory lesson with Lizzie's new piano teacher. The new teacher is intense. Lizzie's first piano teacher struck just the right balance between strictness and sweetness; Lizzie learned a lot from her in three years. Our second piano teacher was less strict and really allowed Lizzie to explore her creative side and dabble in composition. They were more like peers than student and teacher. After two years, thought, Lizzie has outgrown her.
Enter third piano teacher. For her first lesson, Lizzie chose Symphony No. 40 to illustrate her mad piano skills. She was riding high because she played it perfectly. Then, New Piano Teacher threw a zinger her way: tell me something about Mozart. Uh. Huh? Wha?! Lizzie was totally dumbstruck and understandably so. None of her other teachers ever bothered to teach her musical history so Lizzie doesn't know any. I was really impressed with New Piano Teacher's approach and I am so relieved to finally have a new teacher after Second Piano Teacher stopped scheduling lessons once she had a nervous breakdown followed by a divorce (or was it the other way around?).
Wednesday night, Madhubby was off to his coach's meeting. He's assisting with Olie's U6 soccer team and she is "super happy." I'm taking bets on how many games he can survive before he totally loses it.
Remember how I complained about my workload earlier this week and - um - earlier in this post? Well, I've called in reinforcements. My mother will arrive in nine days time to help lighten the family load a bit, which means this weekend is being spent framing and drywalling the study so Lizzie has somewhere to sleep when our house guest descends.
I still hate home improvement but I love sweat equity, so I'm not complaining too much. Through Madhubby's valiant efforts, our home value has increased considerably. When you consider that we got the house for less than market value, because we purchased in the housing off-season, we have nice chunk of sweat equity even if I do have to endure Madhubby's bitching and moaning every time I suggest a new project.
3 comments:
Hello from France ! I read your stoy life ! It's charming !
The world is small with the net now ...
Bye !
Philippe
We just got a new cello teacher for Emma, and I think it will be a good thing, too. At our introductory lesson, he spent some time explaining the physics of sound, which is right up her alley. he also was very positive about her talent, which made her feel good, and excited, which a previous bad teacher had taken from her.
It's surprising how much energy it took from me, though, to find and interview a new teacher. Phew!
Best of luck with every thing else that you're dealing with!
Philippe: I appreciate your kind words.
Zuska: Finding the new teacher wasn't too difficult because Lizzie takes lessons at a local arts academy with a good selection of teachers.
The hardest part was finally realizing we had to move on from our old teacher. Lizzie really loved her but she cancelled lessons for three consecutive months and stopped returning our phone calls. We just couldn't keep waiting for her to sort things out.
Cello is a beautiful instrument. How long has Em been playing?
Good luck and kudos to you, too for making it through law school with all that you have on your plate. Only one quarter to go!
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