My un-employment. For the moment.

I'm curled up on the couch with my laptop and a cup of hot chocolate while watching the Anaheim Ducks play the Chicago Blackhawks. It's kind of like being at home in MN, except that it's raining instead of snowing outside and because it's 80 here instead of 20. I'll just pretend that it's cold outside for awhile while I sip my cocoa.

I think I've mentioned that I was telecommuting back to MN for employment since I got here. I would work on documents from home and upload them to the computer back in MN. Magic, I know. Well, as all good things must, it came to an end. I knew it would. I mean, in the back of my head I understood that there was a finite amount of work that needed to be done so once it was done, I would be unemployed. The end just came quicker than I had anticipated. I was hoping I could get at least a few more weeks of work to get me through the holidays. Megan and Paul are coming out at the end of December and my folks are coming out about four weeks later. I was, admittedly, relying on the flexibility of working from home to accommodate my 2+ weeks of family visitation.

Zac and I talked about my options and we decided that I could take a few weeks off of working, i.e. be voluntarily unemployed. Honestly, I have to admit it is nice to have someone around the house to do things during the day. I know that somewhere Gloria Steinem or "Up With Women" (or some other like-named organization) is groaning and plotting to have me eliminated, but it's true. During the day I can run errands, do the grocery shopping, make food for the week, etc., so that when both Zac and I are home we can go do "fun" things instead of those chores. It is an absolute and total luxury. And, unlike a lot of families, we don't have to worry about losing the roof over our heads or our health insurance because I'm not working. I am not unaware of how fortunate we are in that regard. I know that when (and it is a when) I go back to work it will mean tired weeknights and chore-centered weekends. And that's okay too. I guess I'm just saying that being at home isn't as awful as I thought it would be.

With all that said, there is a job I want. It is the first, and I stress FIRST, job in the history of my job hunting that I feel like I'm qualified for. So qualified that I want to march into the hiring office and dare them to find someone more qualified than me. Since I graduated from college, heck even during college, I have never read a job description that I felt so good about. When I came across this posting I read it twice because I felt like it was too good to be true. Suddenly I want to write a cover letter, I want to update my resume, I want to put together the random documents needed. Suddenly applying for a job wasn't akin to having wisdom teeth pulled. I. WANT. THIS. JOB.

But since I want this job so badly I am setting myself up for a potentially large disappointment. I'm used to rejection letters; they're part of the job-hunting game. A particularly large part of my job-hunting game, come to think of it. I just know that this time around I will be greatly disappointed if I don't even get the chance to plead my case in person. I just want an interview. Give me a chance to explain why I can do this job better than any other candidate. I've got most of paperwork together already, but I am waiting to get a copy of a letter of good standing from the Minnesota Bar.

I am so deliriously happy about this job posting that I even called the contact on the posting to ask about the writing sample requirement. For background purposes, many legal job postings, especially entry level ones, require a 3-5 page writing sample. Usually it's a standard piece of legal writing, a brief, a memo, etc. Standard, that is, if you practice law. I haven't written one of those things since law school. I have some old copies of my work from then, but that's not who I am right now as an attorney. I don't really want to give myself a fake writing assignment just to create a new one, but I will if I have to. So today I called the contact person and left a voicemail asking her about the writing requirement. She hasn't called me back yet, and I'm just chomping at the bit. It's a federal job and the deadline is Dec 29, so I know that I've got some time, but I want to get my application in with plenty of time to take care of anything that might come up.

So for the next few weeks I'll wear my Donna Reed dresses and make cakes for the Beav's bake sale, but then, hopefully, after that I'll go get to play research attorney again.