Vacation, Law Firm Style

A highly valued colleague who shall remain nameless recently went on a long-planned, much-deserved, much-needed one-week vacation in Middle-of-Nowhere, California.* One nice perk: this particular remote location did not have readily available internet access.** Of course, the trusty Blackberry was still available for emergencies. But, for one whole week, the partners would simply have to get along without him for their day-to-day tasks.

Well, the firm found this prospect entirely unacceptable.

When this nameless colleague called to ask if I could take care of a few things for him while he was away, his wife and kids were relaxing on the beach. He, on the other hand, was standing in their rental house, waiting for the contractors the firm had hired to set up his temporary internet service. At the firm's expense of course--he was on vacation, after all.

I am beginning to understand why I have heard more than one story of a harried spouse placing a blackberry in a blender...

*Names and essential details have been changed to protect the innocent.

**I would wager quite a bit that he (and more importantly, his wife and small children) deliberately selected this particular remote location at least in part for that very amenity.

The more things change, the more they stay the same

In one of her semi-annual cleaning binges, my grandmother came across this picture.

That's Melanie at 2, barefoot in the kitchen, talking on the phone, with a baby on her hip. Right out of a Gretchen Wilson song. If I didn't look exactly like that today, minus the bangs, nobody would recognize me.

The arrival of that picture spurred another of those alternate universe thoughts, which I've been having a lot recently. Last weekend Ankur and I went down to Virginia Beach for the wedding of one of my best friends from high school. The whole EMHS gang of 8 made the trip (minus one), as we have for every one of the group's weddings. Even though we've all grown up, dispersed to the far corners of the country, and acquired six friend-in-laws (it would be 8, but Zac and Julie cheated and married within the group), when we get back together it's like nothing has changed. These are my people.


At the wedding, one of my friends registered surprise at the vehemence with which I was expressing my distaste for big city life, and how much I missed Oklahoma. After all, she reminded me, in high school I had always talked about how much I wanted to escape the little town where we grew up and move on to bigger and better things. I had forgotten that. It's been ten years. And ever since I've gotten here, all I'll I've been trying to do is get back home.





But for now, I'll have to settle for looking forward to Kris and Kate's wedding in April--the last of these little reunions until we start reconvening for baby showers--and hoping that sooner rather than later I'll be able to recognize myself in pictures from my grandmother.


PS. Congratulations David and Angela!!!