Monday, January 14, 2008

Blogging From Work

Day 4 back at work. I just thought I'd log on to update everyone on how it's going, since as far as I know, no one at my workplace has the blog address (or knows of its existence, unlike certain strangers in foreign countries, but that's another story).
Oh, that, and I've just been given a 269 page loan agreement to review and summarize the release provisions of. (BARF!)
FAQ:
1) Is it weird being back? Yes. Super weird.
2) What are the good parts?
--It's fun to see my friends. (The hallway where my office is located is referred to as "sorority row." Perhaps that reputation indicates that we're not making the most professional impression, but hey, we're having fun at least, right? Some would say that is no small accomplishment in a large law firm.)
--Lunch out with adults and no babies.
--The obligatory "you look great" comments I've received. (I am not trying to sound conceited, but this has been like pulling off a fun magic trick, because I seriously weighed about 50 lbs more the last time I was here, and in these people's minds, I presto-change-o'ed overnight.)
--No one here has thrown up on me yet.
3) What are the bad parts?
--Getting used to being away from Georgia (and Sam, Alice and Beth) all day. (Duh.)
--See above reference to 269 page loan agreement.
4) How's pumping going? So far, so good. Partially disrobing in my office is slowly starting to feel less strange each time, but it still scares me. Production is fine. Scheduling is easy because I'm not busy with a full workload yet, but I expect that to change in short order. (See how I did that? Avoided using the b-word all together. Nicely, nicely.)
5) Did you go back full time? I went back at 80% of the firm's standard billable hour requirement. So, by the firm's standards I'm now "part time." By my own barometer, though, hitting the 80% mark will still be a full time job, requiring childcare 5 days a week for 10 hours a day. So, you be the judge and call it what you want. I'm excited about the 80% and am hopeful that it will make my days a bit shorter. We'll see, and I'll have to report back later, because I'm well aware that many of my predecessors here have failed at making the whole 80% thing really work.

I have not printed any photos of Georgia to bring in yet, so I find myself frequently checking our own blog to look at her little face. How embarrassing - I better not get busted doing that!

I have resolved to never use the vending machines here again. Why? Because I don't have vending machines (or free bagels and donuts, or weekly birthday cakes, for that matter) in my house, and I managed to get by just fine. Some people eat worse when they're around their own fridge all day. I guess I do better getting out of the office environment.

I think I need to change my Blogger identity from "Kate & Joe" to "Kate." I wouldn't want anyone getting confused by my use of the first person here (as if there were any risk of that), and my co-blogger has thus far been serving in more of an editorial role.

I think I had better wrap up by getting back to work and stating that I'm grateful to even have a job to come back to! Law firm layoffs are all the scuttlebutt around here these days, as evidenced by this WSJ article.

EDIT: Regarding #4 above, I'm not the one who has a problem with certain anatomical words, but I'm pretty sure most men (and plenty of the women) in my office do. The other day my boss innocently asked what the little black box plugged into my wall was and then nearly fainted and ran away when I answered, "A pump." So, I'm trying to be sensitive to this and not really mention the BREASTFEEDING unless it's unavoidable, which is like, never.

2 comments:

Danni said...

I hope the transition is smooth and you rock the 80% set up. If anyone can do it you can. You're just laid back enough to make it work.

Funny, although my blog is supposed to be both of us Ted only serves an editorial role too.

Angelique said...

Kate,
Maggie sent me a link to her blog and I found a link to your blog on hers.
Congrats on the birth of Georgia, she is beautiful!!! I would love to catch up sometime.
Love, Angelique (amclapper@gmail.com