Law Students

Monkeys in the house

Posted on January 22, 2010
"Why is the mommy upset about the monkeys?" asked K while listening to the TMBG song "One Dozen Monkeys.""Probably because she doesn't want them in her house.""Why not?""I bet they would make a huge mess. Can you imagine if we had monkeys in our house? It would be chaos!" (I made faces and waved my arms and jumped up and down to demonstrate chaos...

Sock pocket

Posted on January 21, 2010
Sometimes toddlers say things that just make you want to squeeze them. Yesterday K announced that at school, he had "learned the dance of the hokey pokey" (which he pronounced "hockey puckey"). Then he said, "Mommy! Why are you squeezing me?" My favorite is "sock pocket...

Corporate law in a nutshell

Posted on January 18, 2010
I usually probe K for details about his day. Today he turned the tables on me.K: "How was your day? Tell me EVERYTHING you did today."Me: "Everything?"K: "Everything!"Me: "Well, I did a lot of work --"K: "What kind of work?"Me: "I read a lot and learned things...

Community involvement

Posted on January 16, 2010
Last fall, I ran unsuccessfully for local office. (48-51%!) Now I have two opportunities, both related. One is to join the board of a local nonprofit that I volunteered for in the past. The other is to join a town strategic and planning effort. I can only do one at most...

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The thrill of the first time

Posted on January 14, 2010
---------- Forwarded message ----------From: JW <jw@mail.com>Date: 2010/1/14 Subject: I just looked up a law!!! To: CM <cm@mail.com>49 C.F.R. § 1244.9 !

Post-holidays

Posted on January 09, 2010
Christmas:K had fun at Grandma and Grandpa's, as always. It was his first Christmas when he understood what was going on. He was wary Christmas morning when all the grown-ups kept asking him a little too enthusiastically, "Do you think Santa came?" He scowled at everyone and silently ate the leftover carrot and cookie scraps left by Santa and the reindeer, but perked up when he got his stocking...

How to eat a gingerbread man

Posted on December 22, 2009
I told K I had brought home a gingerbread man for him. I wasn't sure if he would know what it was, but apparently this is something every kid knows. "I can't wait to see the gingerbread man!" he exclaimed, hopping out of the tub.When I gave it to him, he took a big bite out of the head...

Sitting around

Posted on December 21, 2009
There are dishes in the sink and toys all over the floor.There are a few last holiday cards that need to be sent.There are cookies to be baked.There are gifts I still need to buy that need to be delivered on Wednesday.I have a work assignment that I could easily do from home...

Talking about God

Posted on December 20, 2009
I don't believe in God. It's not that I don't believe in anything. I just don't think there's some supernatural being who created everything, or is in charge of everything, or is watching over you to make sure you're being good. And I certainly don't believe that you need a book or a God to teach you right from wrong...

Free!

Posted on December 18, 2009
Even though I like my job, I feel this sense of euphoria when I leave the building. At the end of the day, I take a few steps out the door and then break into a sprint. I know it looks silly, so I restrain myself when I'm leaving at a reasonable hour and there are other people around...

Rugelach

Posted on December 17, 2009
I've always loved rugelach, but found it too intimidating to attempt myself... until this year, when I decided to make it my main Christmas cookie. I looked up a bunch of recipes and realized it sounded easy -- make a simple cream cheese, butter, and flour dough in the food processor, chill it, then roll it out, sprinkle on toppings, and roll up and cut the cookies...

Winter boots

Posted on December 17, 2009
I bought K some green snow boots off Craigslist a few weeks ago. "They're BEAUTIFUL," he exclaimed. The rest of the day, he said to everyone we met, "Look at my boots! Aren't they BEAUTIFUL?" He's worn them every day since...

Christmas train

Posted on December 15, 2009
K has been asking to read "It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown" overand over lately. "Halloween was a long time ago," I said. "We shouldget you a Christmas book.""Christmas TRAIN.""Christmas train?""We saw it at the store," said K, "but we didn't buy it YET...

Two years, nine months

Posted on December 06, 2009
Dear K,You're nearing three. You speak in full sentences, tell us stories,and offer explanations when we don't understand. You probably won'twant to hear this when you're older, but you are such a sweet littleboy. When I pour your milk without spilling, you exclaim, "Good job,Mommy!" You ask for "more snuggles" when we start to leave your room at night, and no matter how upset you are, you're always ready for a hug...

East, west, home is best

Posted on November 30, 2009
We lived in the SF Bay Area for a year or two and spent a decadelonging to go back. But on a recent trip for a family wedding, we wereboth over it. Too many cars and too much traffic; too many stripmalls; everything looked too shiny and new. Even the city didn't seemnearly as exciting as it did when we lived there...

Conversations with K

Posted on November 14, 2009
This morning...K: Apples grow on trees. But berries do not grow on trees. They grow on bushes. SO, if you EVER see a tree... (looks uncertain and then walks away)Last night in the tub...Revisiting the "Sing After Me" song after not singing it for months:Tra la la (Tra la la)Mi mi mi (You, you, you)Ha ha ha (NO NO NO)Hee hee hee (HO HO HO)Pick a peck of peppers (Pippapippapippa)Fiddle diddle dee (Fiddle diddle dee)Be my echo (Be your gecko)Sing what I sing (I will!)Follow the leader and sing after me (looking annoyed: I WILL!) A few days ago...

I love you more

Posted on October 26, 2009
Me: I love you a LOT.K: No. A little bit!Me: No, a lot! I love you bigger than... Jupiter!K: I love you bigger than Saturn!Me: I love you bigger than the sun!K: I love you bigger than the moon!Me: I love you bigger than INFINITY!K: I love you bigger than THE TUB!

Thank you, Columbus

Posted on October 13, 2009
And thank you, The Firm, for giving me my first Columbus Day off since high school. JW had to work, so there was no hope of accomplishing anything. Instead, K and I just hung out all day and did whatever our little hearts desired. We hopped a bus to Harvard Square and browsed in a bookstore for a while...

More work lessons learned

Posted on October 12, 2009
Maybe this will be an ongoing series.Lesson #1: Read every word (and then some).Lesson #2: Find someone who's done it before and ask them, no matter how straightforward it seems!I was assigned to do what seemed like a fairly simple corporate transaction...

Daily routine

Posted on October 09, 2009
My periodic posts describing our daily routine are probably boring for readers, but I like looking at them when I go back to my archives -- they remind me of what life was like when K was smaller. Our current routine:5:30 a.m. - I wake up, exercise, shower, fix K's lunch if necessary...

What gets you a date

Posted on October 06, 2009
The OKCupid blog is awesome -- it's full of statistical analysis of people's online dating behavior. Check out this dating flowchart, and this analysis of what language in an initial message gets you a reply. Then head over to Ana's blog to give her some online dating advice...

My board of advisors

Posted on October 05, 2009
Right around review time, I got a phone call from the department chair that threw me for a loop. I couldn't concentrate after that, and went around knocking on people's doors saying either, "Did you get the call?" or "I got this call... what should I do?" I talked to a few other associates who were in the same boat, and then to some partners and senior associates who I thought would give me good advice...

Weekend baking

Posted on October 03, 2009
Tonight: Chocolate chip cookie dough. The trend these days is to let your dough rest for 36 hours before baking. It only took about ten minutes to mix the dough, and then I stuck it in the fridge. Done! Delayed gratification -- what a concept. I've been into the idea of having all sorts of pre-baked or pre-assembled meal components in the freezer, and this is part of my plan...

Too much two

Posted on September 21, 2009
Lately I've been feeling a little toddlered out. I've been gritting my teeth at behavior that I would normally shrug off, or even find charming. (For example, today I woke up at 6 a.m. to a rhythmic chant of "WIPE MY SNOT. WIPE MY SNOT.")Maybe that's why this NYT piece by Tim Kreider, a single man in his forties, resonated with me:Most of my married friends now have children, the rewards of which appear to be exclusively intangible and, like the mysteries of some gnostic sect, incommunicable to outsiders...

Socks on

Posted on September 18, 2009
"NO! Don't take my clothes off. I don't want to get in the tub!""Do you want to take your socks off by yourself, or should I take them off for you?" K considered, and then replied: "I just want to keep my socks on."Argh! That "do you want X or Y" trick is a staple in my parenting repertoire...

Memo to myself

Posted on September 17, 2009
On the subject of being a corporate lawyer, here is a lesson I've had to keep learning over and over again: NEVER STOP READING.Don't read just the first page of a document and conclude that it's not what you're looking for. Don't breeze through a provision, assuming that it's identical to all the other provisions you've seen in the same type of agreement by the same party...

Being a first-year corporate associate

Posted on September 16, 2009
Part of the reason I haven't felt inspired to post lately is that I am now an employee. My days don't vary that much and I'm wary about my blog being discovered and scrutinized. But I remember being eager to hear what being a junior corporate lawyer is really like...

Or if you only have five minutes

Posted on September 15, 2009
Watch this video, K's current obsession.It's from They Might Be Giants' new album Here Comes Science, which has been on constant rotation in our house since it arrived last week. Many of the songs are a little advanced for a 2-year old, but that hasn't stopped K...

What you should do with that twenty minutes of free time you manage to scrape together over the course of three days

Posted on September 14, 2009
Read this story.(I just kept it on my iPhone browser and every time I had to wait for anything, I would read some more.)

Catching up

Posted on September 12, 2009
I think this is the longest I've ever gone without updating.Life has been uncomfortably busy. Both JW and I are involved in major projects outside of work. K's 2.5-year doctor's appointment went smoothly, thanks to the "I Go to the Doctor" story in his "About Me" Childcraft book...

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