Our recent vacation was only tangentially related to a deadline I had for submitting a draft chapter for my dissertation. The real reason for our sudden surfeit of leisure time was that Emily quit her law firm job.
I talk a lot about myself here, slightly less about the kids, and only rarely about Emily, and the fact that for the last few months a very high pressure job crisis has been dominating our lives accounts for a lot of my own reluctance to write anything of substance. If you Google “Backpacking Dad” now you might not even be directed to my blog anymore, it’s been such a wasteland. I didn’t want to involve the Internet in what was a pretty personal and difficult process for our family. It is only now, after the dust has settled, that I feel comfortable talking about it. If you Google “stressed-out family” you will see pictures of us.
Emily found herself with choices. Her options were fantastic and it was the hardest decision she’s ever had to make, and Googling “how to make hard choices” wasn’t helpful at all. But we are both very happy with what she chose to do.
That she had the options she did is entirely due to her work ethic and her refusal to change into someone who would step on or belittle subordinates. She doesn’t have a manipulative bone in her body and I am so proud of her for creating opportunities without sacrificing her integrity or her family. Google “awesome” and there will be seven fan pages to her.
Her new job means no more billable hours, so no more stressing about the conversation at the water cooler that might cost her a bonus because she missed the minimum billable hours by a tenth of an hour. It means no more trying to make up hours on the weekends or at night, when she could be spending time with her family or just reading a book. It means an almost non-existent commute. And it means practicing exactly the kind of law she wants to practice.
After Emily quit I started calling her “No-Job” and “The Freeloader” even though she already had a job lined up, because I thought it was hilarious that for about two weeks I’d be the one with the paycheck. In retrospect I should have tried to get her to do yard work or something. But Disneyland was beckoning, and neither of us had the patience to Google “how to landscape a yard”. So while Emily was briefly unemployed we took a vacation.
And now Emily is happily ensconced in her new job trying to figure out how the details of it work and seeing how very different it is to work in a company that has lawyers instead of a company of lawyers. She’s been spending a lot of time looking things up on Google.
Was that too subtle?
She’s working at Google.
Congrats to her. Sounds great. But can we still complain about how ugly Google mail looks?
Nope. All parent bloggers and their entourage are now required by G-law to
only say positive things about G-od.
Aw, congrats. Happy for you guys!
One of the perqs is that I get to search the Internet for free. I'm stoked.
That's awesome! Congratulations to Emily for scooping up a great job opportunity, and congrats to Dad, for marrying such a smart wife. ;)
I married well. It's in my bio.
Yay for Emily! I was wondering why you google so much….
Is there another way to search the Internet?
Well, sorry to tell you, but I did search stressed out family and apparently the title goes to some family in New York. But that doesn't make what you went through any less stressful I"m sure! Congrats to your wife on the new job, I've always wanted to work at the Google Bio-dome where you never need to leave because they have a grocery store, parks, elementary schools, police station, farmland, gym, cafeteria, theme park and cubicles!
I've driven by, and didn't see a dome, but I'm pretty sure you're right
about everything else. They also have teleporters.
Hey! Nice gig! I actually didn't see the punchline coming. I never think of actual people working at Google. Is the office on a cloud or something?
Anyway, less work stress is worth a lot. My wife cut down to 4 days a week and I'm currently working…um…about 4 days a month. We've never been happier, even though we've been richer.
The office is built out of cotton candy and rainbows.
Once she figures out that she married down instead of up and goes to correct that, she can use her new power to wipe you from the Internet. Congratulations, Emily!
Does she ride unicorns on her shorter commute? Seems like an office made of clouds & rainbows should involve unicorn transporation too. =) Congrats.
WOW. And you get free internet searching too?? Bonus!
You did marry up if she can score a job at goooooooooogle. Sounds like a fantastic move all around. Congrats to you all.
What's the chances she can drop a cease and desist on that Nigerian ambassador who keeps flooding my email and demanding money now that she's got this great new Google gig?
Good for her! As I'm sure you're well aware, the Google job market is exceedingly competitive. Getting a response from them is practically a coup. Actually get a job there… She must be REALLY good at what she does!
Congratulations to all of you.
sweet! my husband is an attorney, so i know how nice it is to have the stress of billable hours gone. someday, we hope he can get rid of that aspect of his job. congrats to you all!
Great news. Is it true what they say about working at Google? Do they have ping pong tables in lunch rooms? Do they have opium-smoking breaks?
That's kind of awesome. Yay for Emily and making her way in the big bad corporate world on her terms.