Back in Lawyer Land
18.5 hour work-day.
Yeah, I vaguely remember this...
Good night.
18.5 hour work-day.
Yeah, I vaguely remember this...
Good night.
Monday, 29 June 2009
For the Record
I had a very full weekend.
18.5 billable hours between Saturday AM and Sunday PM does not make for a very good hostess.
But, I managed to fit in some breaks for some nice meals with our guests, including one where we had to drive on the freeway.
Apparently, a PT Cruiser can flip through the air and roll for a total of 3 rotations or more, including one going over the front end, and another where the car appears to be suspended and spinning on its long axis, shedding glass from a fountain of sparkles that begins with a car suspended higher than the tops of the other cars on the freeway. I thought that type of crash only happened in the movies, but, it turns out, it can happen in real life.
More impressively, it is possible (if you have a good driver, thanks E!) to observe a PT Cruiser do this ridiculous performance while riding only 2 cars behind it and to watch it finally come to rest on broken rims, right side-up, 4 lanes away from where the flipping started without hitting a single car.
Most amazing, it is possible for the driver to find herself seat-belted in facing on-coming traffic at 30 degree angle, completely alert, only slightly bloody on her hands and knees, calmly (in shock, most likely) sitting behind the exploded airbag, staring at the sunken safety glass blanket, above the dropped engine, beside the crushed door, looking curiously across the broad expanse of freeway where all of her personal items have scattered (don't turn your head!) and able to answer your questions when you are the first person on the scene and call 911.
I'm still processing that one.
In less dramatic news, Garlic scapes are a wacky botanic miracle, taking the warm weather queue to spontaneously twist into a tangled mess of curly hair on the top of your hard-neck garlic crop.
When cooked, they have the consistency of green beans and taste slightly spicy and very earthy with only a warm hint of their garlic nature. They are definitely one of the reasons to consider growing garlic yourself.
B is an awesome out-of-state houseguest who worked with me to start a home-cooked dinner of garden and farmer's market leftovers in our fridge. I had hoped it would turn out well because the starting ingredients has so much California-produce potential. When I had to stop cooking to take my half-hour conference call (that ended up being an hour of course), she just kept on cooking and prepared the meal in my absence so that when I finally got a break, I could enjoy it with E and the guests. Bonus, it turned out delicious.
Summertime Pasta Bake
For the Vegetables:
-1 red onion chopped
-1 cup chopped garlic scapes (chop into 1-inch long pieces until you reach the portion of the scape stem once it gets slightly woody)
-1 Tbsp olive oil
-1 head cauliflower, washed and chopped
-2 lbs mixed summer squash, washed and chopped
-4 Heirloom tomatoes
For the Pesto:
-6 cloves garlic
-1/2 C pecans (all we had, turned out great)
-1 C mixed basil from the garden
-1/2 C olive oil
-1 T salt
-2 T red pepper flakes
For the bake:
-2 C fresh mozzarella pearls
For the pasta:
-1 box penne, water, salt
1. Sautée onions & garlic scapes in olive for 1-2 minutes & pre-heat oven to 450F.
2. Add Cauliflower & continue to cook for 5 minutes.
3. Add squash & cook for 3 minutes.
4. Add chopped tomatoes, bring to a simmer, pour off excess liquid (reserve) and stir for 2 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and cover.
6. Prepare pasta according to directions (this step may be done first, if you prefer) and strain, return to pasta pot.
7. While pasta is boiling make the pesto in cuisinart.
8. Toss the pesto, pasta, and vegetables in the pasta pot. Arrange in baking dishes.
9. Top baking dishes with mozzarella and pour reserved vegetable juice on top. Place in oven and bake until cheese is melted and slightly browned on top.
Enjoy!
I had a very full weekend.
18.5 billable hours between Saturday AM and Sunday PM does not make for a very good hostess.
But, I managed to fit in some breaks for some nice meals with our guests, including one where we had to drive on the freeway.
Apparently, a PT Cruiser can flip through the air and roll for a total of 3 rotations or more, including one going over the front end, and another where the car appears to be suspended and spinning on its long axis, shedding glass from a fountain of sparkles that begins with a car suspended higher than the tops of the other cars on the freeway. I thought that type of crash only happened in the movies, but, it turns out, it can happen in real life.
More impressively, it is possible (if you have a good driver, thanks E!) to observe a PT Cruiser do this ridiculous performance while riding only 2 cars behind it and to watch it finally come to rest on broken rims, right side-up, 4 lanes away from where the flipping started without hitting a single car.
Most amazing, it is possible for the driver to find herself seat-belted in facing on-coming traffic at 30 degree angle, completely alert, only slightly bloody on her hands and knees, calmly (in shock, most likely) sitting behind the exploded airbag, staring at the sunken safety glass blanket, above the dropped engine, beside the crushed door, looking curiously across the broad expanse of freeway where all of her personal items have scattered (don't turn your head!) and able to answer your questions when you are the first person on the scene and call 911.
I'm still processing that one.
In less dramatic news, Garlic scapes are a wacky botanic miracle, taking the warm weather queue to spontaneously twist into a tangled mess of curly hair on the top of your hard-neck garlic crop.
When cooked, they have the consistency of green beans and taste slightly spicy and very earthy with only a warm hint of their garlic nature. They are definitely one of the reasons to consider growing garlic yourself.
B is an awesome out-of-state houseguest who worked with me to start a home-cooked dinner of garden and farmer's market leftovers in our fridge. I had hoped it would turn out well because the starting ingredients has so much California-produce potential. When I had to stop cooking to take my half-hour conference call (that ended up being an hour of course), she just kept on cooking and prepared the meal in my absence so that when I finally got a break, I could enjoy it with E and the guests. Bonus, it turned out delicious.
Summertime Pasta Bake
For the Vegetables:
-1 red onion chopped
-1 cup chopped garlic scapes (chop into 1-inch long pieces until you reach the portion of the scape stem once it gets slightly woody)
-1 Tbsp olive oil
-1 head cauliflower, washed and chopped
-2 lbs mixed summer squash, washed and chopped
-4 Heirloom tomatoes
For the Pesto:
-6 cloves garlic
-1/2 C pecans (all we had, turned out great)
-1 C mixed basil from the garden
-1/2 C olive oil
-1 T salt
-2 T red pepper flakes
For the bake:
-2 C fresh mozzarella pearls
For the pasta:
-1 box penne, water, salt
1. Sautée onions & garlic scapes in olive for 1-2 minutes & pre-heat oven to 450F.
2. Add Cauliflower & continue to cook for 5 minutes.
3. Add squash & cook for 3 minutes.
4. Add chopped tomatoes, bring to a simmer, pour off excess liquid (reserve) and stir for 2 minutes.
5. Remove from heat and cover.
6. Prepare pasta according to directions (this step may be done first, if you prefer) and strain, return to pasta pot.
7. While pasta is boiling make the pesto in cuisinart.
8. Toss the pesto, pasta, and vegetables in the pasta pot. Arrange in baking dishes.
9. Top baking dishes with mozzarella and pour reserved vegetable juice on top. Place in oven and bake until cheese is melted and slightly browned on top.
Enjoy!
Sunday, 28 June 2009
Gearing Up
I've had a relatively mellow first half of 2009, as far as being a lawyer is concerned.
I've been averaging somewhere slightly below 150 billable hours per month and enjoying my nights and weekends for the most part, plus taking some vacations.
Last weekend, however, I had to work all day Sunday. This weekend, I'm working both Saturday and Sunday. One of the attorneys in my group just went out on maternity leave, and it looks like business is picking up. I was just staffed on two very large deals, at least one of which will require some cross-country travel for negotiations over the next few months in addition to my regular client-work.
I'm actually excited about the big deals. As I've said many times before, I love the law and I adore what I do. It's just the stuff that comes with it that is sometimes difficult to manage.
As the years have gone by, I've gotten better at dealing with the associated stresses and the last-minute cancellations (we have guests this weekend, so my need to work all weekend has not been ideal, but they've understood).
But I'm certain my feelings of being a well-balanced lawyer as of late have been partially attributed to the reasonable amount of work that has been coming my way: enough that I have felt fortunate not to fear for my job, but not so much as to overwhelm me very often.
However, given the trends I'm seeing and being down one attorney in my group, I suspect the mellow portion of 2009 may be waning and have warned E of as much.
I'll do my best to keep some of the balance I've been better at managing when the workload was lighter, but if my prediction is correct, I suspect my life for the next few months is going to be a little heavier on the lawyering and lighter on the social, family and food.
Wish me luck...
I've had a relatively mellow first half of 2009, as far as being a lawyer is concerned.
I've been averaging somewhere slightly below 150 billable hours per month and enjoying my nights and weekends for the most part, plus taking some vacations.
Last weekend, however, I had to work all day Sunday. This weekend, I'm working both Saturday and Sunday. One of the attorneys in my group just went out on maternity leave, and it looks like business is picking up. I was just staffed on two very large deals, at least one of which will require some cross-country travel for negotiations over the next few months in addition to my regular client-work.
I'm actually excited about the big deals. As I've said many times before, I love the law and I adore what I do. It's just the stuff that comes with it that is sometimes difficult to manage.
As the years have gone by, I've gotten better at dealing with the associated stresses and the last-minute cancellations (we have guests this weekend, so my need to work all weekend has not been ideal, but they've understood).
But I'm certain my feelings of being a well-balanced lawyer as of late have been partially attributed to the reasonable amount of work that has been coming my way: enough that I have felt fortunate not to fear for my job, but not so much as to overwhelm me very often.
However, given the trends I'm seeing and being down one attorney in my group, I suspect the mellow portion of 2009 may be waning and have warned E of as much.
I'll do my best to keep some of the balance I've been better at managing when the workload was lighter, but if my prediction is correct, I suspect my life for the next few months is going to be a little heavier on the lawyering and lighter on the social, family and food.
Wish me luck...
Saturday, 27 June 2009
How Do It Know?
Remember the great garlic planting back in October?
After following the Gourmet Garlic Gardens instructions, every single clove sprouted in November (bonus -- check out the sprouts in the far part of the box -- those were the baby artichoke plants, back when we thought perhaps we could fit more than one in our raised bed):
From there, each sprout grew to be a stalk of grass-like leaves about 4-5 feet tall, eventually, some sent up scapes and finally, it was harvest time:
Towards the end of their growing season, I commented to E that garlic was somewhat anti-climactic and quite a bit of effort for a fairly easy to obtain return. Last weekend, at the Farmer's Market they had California Early Garlic Bulbs--one of the varieties we grew--for 50 cents each.
However, the satisfaction I got from pulling each large head out of the ground and the wonder at its reproduction changed my mind.
Just put a clove in the ground. With water, winter, spring, and summer, it'll clone itself into multiple cloves, each associated with a huge blade of energy producing monocot leaf.
DNA, and the miraculous replication of life is so amazing!
Remember the great garlic planting back in October?
After following the Gourmet Garlic Gardens instructions, every single clove sprouted in November (bonus -- check out the sprouts in the far part of the box -- those were the baby artichoke plants, back when we thought perhaps we could fit more than one in our raised bed):
From there, each sprout grew to be a stalk of grass-like leaves about 4-5 feet tall, eventually, some sent up scapes and finally, it was harvest time:
Towards the end of their growing season, I commented to E that garlic was somewhat anti-climactic and quite a bit of effort for a fairly easy to obtain return. Last weekend, at the Farmer's Market they had California Early Garlic Bulbs--one of the varieties we grew--for 50 cents each.
However, the satisfaction I got from pulling each large head out of the ground and the wonder at its reproduction changed my mind.
Just put a clove in the ground. With water, winter, spring, and summer, it'll clone itself into multiple cloves, each associated with a huge blade of energy producing monocot leaf.
DNA, and the miraculous replication of life is so amazing!
Saturday, 20 June 2009
Corpse Flower
E and I had the luck of visiting the Huntington two weekends ago.
We were able to see the Amorphophallus titanum (aka, nondescriptly shaped huge phallus) prior to its bloom.
I just heard that the phallus (helpfully located along the path of signs with photos and the tagline, "something's getting bigger...") we were lucky enough to view finally bloomed (and stank like rotting meat... mmmm...) last Thursday.
We were able to see it in its huge (nondescriptly shaped) phallic glory pre-stink and pre-bloom, which, apparently is a once-in-a-decade-or-so-event.
How cool is that?
E and I had the luck of visiting the Huntington two weekends ago.
We were able to see the Amorphophallus titanum (aka, nondescriptly shaped huge phallus) prior to its bloom.
I just heard that the phallus (helpfully located along the path of signs with photos and the tagline, "something's getting bigger...") we were lucky enough to view finally bloomed (and stank like rotting meat... mmmm...) last Thursday.
We were able to see it in its huge (nondescriptly shaped) phallic glory pre-stink and pre-bloom, which, apparently is a once-in-a-decade-or-so-event.
How cool is that?
June Bloom
We've got fruits galore!
Tons of Tomatoes:
Baby Eggplants:
More Artichokes ('cause the plant is out of control! Look closely. How many can you find? It's like one of those hidden treasure pictures, I swear...):
Overall, in the last two weeks, we've gone to this:
From this:
Which means they look different *every* day. It's fun!
In other news, we're still waiting (not so patiently), on a few laggards.
Peppers (refer to the tomato plants on the left for scale):
Okra:
And Winter Squashes, a vining and non-vining cucumber, and onions:
And finally, remember our Very Californian Easter Sunday? Well, this is what San Gregorio looks like in late spring. Absolutely breath-taking:
Have a great week!
We've got fruits galore!
Tons of Tomatoes:
Baby Eggplants:
More Artichokes ('cause the plant is out of control! Look closely. How many can you find? It's like one of those hidden treasure pictures, I swear...):
Overall, in the last two weeks, we've gone to this:
From this:
Which means they look different *every* day. It's fun!
In other news, we're still waiting (not so patiently), on a few laggards.
Peppers (refer to the tomato plants on the left for scale):
Okra:
And Winter Squashes, a vining and non-vining cucumber, and onions:
And finally, remember our Very Californian Easter Sunday? Well, this is what San Gregorio looks like in late spring. Absolutely breath-taking:
Have a great week!
Friday, 19 June 2009
No Plans Tonight!
After 7 evenings straight of social commitments (sometimes multiple events in one night), I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am to stay at home and interact with no one except E tonight.
I have been getting more and more exhausted with each evening of social fun.
I would prefer to stay home and avoid the office today for many reasons, but the largest one is I'd rather avoid all smalltalk for at least 24 hours.
This weekend? After I recover? We've got 2 parties to attend. I am actually slightly relieved that I will be required to miss one due to work.
One of the greatest things about summer is that the warm weather makes people more likely to go out and interact with each other. Summer, for me, means barbeques and opportunities to see friends I haven't seen in at least a year.
And yet, the thing that's got me most excited about this weekend is the one-on-one runs with 2 good friends and the alone-time I've got scheduled for the garden.
It's times like these that I am convinced that I'm definitely an introvert.
After 7 evenings straight of social commitments (sometimes multiple events in one night), I cannot begin to tell you how excited I am to stay at home and interact with no one except E tonight.
I have been getting more and more exhausted with each evening of social fun.
I would prefer to stay home and avoid the office today for many reasons, but the largest one is I'd rather avoid all smalltalk for at least 24 hours.
This weekend? After I recover? We've got 2 parties to attend. I am actually slightly relieved that I will be required to miss one due to work.
One of the greatest things about summer is that the warm weather makes people more likely to go out and interact with each other. Summer, for me, means barbeques and opportunities to see friends I haven't seen in at least a year.
And yet, the thing that's got me most excited about this weekend is the one-on-one runs with 2 good friends and the alone-time I've got scheduled for the garden.
It's times like these that I am convinced that I'm definitely an introvert.
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