Anonymous Lawyer

Anonymous Wife forgot it was a holiday and went to her yoga class this morning. No class, so she turned around, came back, and just yelled at me for not telling her it was a holiday when she left.

"I didn't know where you were going."

"Sure you did. You just didn't care."

"That's ridiculous. If you're going to be like this, I'll go to work."

"So go to work."

So I'm at work. She's wrong. I didn't know where she was going. Her yoga schedule is the least of my concerns. I figured she was going to the supermarket, or to get her tan sprayed on, or shopping for a new purse. How do I know what she does on Monday mornings? I was surprised she even got out of bed. There are days when I get home at 11 at night and there's no evidence she's moved an inch since I left in the morning. She used to surprise me with little presents. Then again, I used to surprise her with big presents. Lately there are no surprises.

I don't know what she wants out of life. She says she wants to spend more time with me, but I don't think that's really what she wants. She just knows that's what she's supposed to say. Whenever I'm home I don't fit in. I'm just an extra person hanging around and getting in the way. The kids don't know what to say to me and she doesn't know what to say to me. I'm interrupting the routine. I don't know where to get the dry cleaning and how much juice to buy and what Anonymous Daughter is allergic to and any of Anonymous Son's friends or their parents. I took him to a friend's house this morning and had to explain to this woman that I'm his father and, yeah, I've always been his father, and, no, I'm not new, and, no, we're not divorced, and, yes, I'll figure out where the indoor hockey rink is, down the stairs and, oh, okay, you can just show me, fine.

They start school again on Wednesday, so there are just a few more days of summer left. I told Anonymous Wife I'd take off tomorrow and we can do something with the kids, but she said she already had plans to take them to the beach and since I don't like the beach I should just go to work. The beach is boring. I can't sit there and do nothing. I end up on my laptop doing work. And then sand gets in my dress shoes and it's a mess and I have to get someone to clean them for me.

So she doesn't want me at home, and the kids don't care, so I'm at work. There's no one here. August is a slow month as it is, and nothing picks up until after Labor Day. I've given up my crusade to get it de-listed from the holiday sheet. It's a fake holiday. No one important died today, we didn't declare independence, no one's going to scream racial insensitivity if we cancel it, it's just an excuse to extend the summer by a day.

I'm planning out some interview scheduling. I'm going to UCLA and USC this week to do some on-campus interviews. We've already taken care of a lot of our second-tier schools, like Emory and Georgetown, but this week is when we start to get to the places that will really fill our class, building up to Stanford in 2 weeks, Boalt at the end of the month, and Harvard and Yale in early October. So I send the associates in August, to spoil their vacations, and then I get to cherry-pick the trips I feel like making.

I asked Anonymous Wife how she'd feel if I pulled Anonymous Son out of school for a few days and took him with me to Harvard next month so he could see Boston. She could come too, to watch him during the day while I interviewed, but I could take a few extra days out there and we could do a little vacation. Anonymous Daughter would never want to go, but Anonymous Son is still young enough that he doesn't hate me. So I want to do that. But Anonymous Wife doesn't want me disrupting the schedule. He has a soccer game. He has a tae kwon do tournament. He has a birthday party to go to. So I'll probably just go myself.

I think I hear something down the hall. I should go check it out. Maybe it's something that needs my attention.