A new beginning

This week marks the beginning of a new era for me . . .

As of July 3, 2012, I am officially a full time, at home Mommy.

It feels strange but wonderful at the same time.

I interviewed with Bingham McCutchen LLP in September 2002 for a summer associate position.
Ultimately, I decided that was the best fit for me and accepted the offer.

 I spent the summer of 2003 being wined and dined while doing exciting legal work.

At the end of the summer, I received an offer to be a litigation associate upon graduation.

I immediately accepted.

 After spending a year clerking for {now} Chief Justice Ireland

on the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court,

I returned to Bingham in September 2005 as a second year associate.

This picture was taken during my first week at Bingham in September 2005 and was my official headshot on the website for the past 7 years.

The money was great but I was MISERABLE.

I worked with a very difficult partner and the thought of going to work made me want to cry.

I was actually counting down the days until I could quit

{I had to stay a year or pay back the bar prep and exam fees as well as my clerkship bonus}.

Then in March of 2006 that all changed. I met Jason, then a senior associate,

who staffed me on the Tempur Pedic securities case.

 For the first time since I started, I was excited by my work.

Jason began staffing me on more securities cases with he and Jordy, an amazing partner.

Soon, Jason was made partner and by 2007,

nearly all of my cases were with Jordy and Jason.

I loved my work and the firm was wonderful to me.

 Along the way, many of my summer associate class left the firm and before I knew it,

I was the last one left in litigation and one of the final four of our class of 28!

 Crazy since I never planned on working at a big firm and really thought I would last only one year.

When G and I decided to move back to WA in 2008, the firm allowed me to commute.

 I had no idea how that would work and figured it would only last a year if I was lucky.

Well, it lasted nearly four years!

It is no secret that after Eli was born, I was ready to be done with the commuting

and really wanted to stay home with Alli and Eli full time.

Financially, it just wasn't an option so I returned to commuting and

decided to branch out and work with additional partners in the securities department.

 I still enjoyed the work but the commute was becoming too much.

Then, we had the surprise pregnancy and miscarriage with

every complication possible in the last two months of 2010.

When I finally returned to commuting in January 2011,

I was exhausted and finding it harder and harder to keep doing it.

I stopped flying in August 2011 due to pregnancy complications

and went out on leave in October 2011.

 After Luke, I knew commuting would be too much but Bingham

had been so good to me for so long, I felt I had to try to return.

 I was trying to work out a return to work date with the head of litigation in Boston

but we were having a difficult time connecting due to his schedule.

Finally, on March 2, 2012, I was able to speak to him and his co-chair on the West Coast.

They gave me my annual review, which was good, but then I was told that I

had no prospect of making partner due to my commuting.

They offered me a generous severance package along with my vacation payout

 of nearly 5 weeks, which I happily accepted.

I flew back to Boston June 3-5 to clean out my office.

It's crazy how much you can accumulate in nearly 7 years!  I must say that I will miss my view.

While there, I had the opportunity to say goodbye to friends and co-workers.

 I am so blessed to have made such wonderful friends.  Mohan, Kate & Angie left Bingham before me but we remained close & they threw me a "retirment party"

It was a wonderful visit filled with three fabulous goodbye parties.

Nicole, Bill, Jason, Jordy and Brandon were kind enough to take me out for some yummy Chinese one last time.  Such amazing people to work with!!!

I have absolutely no regrets and am grateful that it ended the way it did, on a positive note.

 I loved my time with Bingham and learned so much

from the brilliant attorneys and staff with whom I worked.

 That said, I am so excited for my next adventure . . .

ouch!

My sweet little Alli is quite opinionated (as I suspect is true of most 4 year olds!) and has life figured out. 

Here was our recent conversation (to preface, I've been working tons of hours lately):

Alli:  Mommy, when I grow up, even if I have to work, I'm not going.

Mommy:  Well sweetie, it doesn't really work that way.

Alli:  Well, when I'm a Mommy, I'm never going to work because I'm going to stay home all the time with my kids.

Mommy:  I hope you get to do that if it is what you want.

Alli:  I will!

Mommy:  You will have very lucky little ones.

Alli:  Mommy, I wish you never worked.

Mommy:  Me too!

Growing up, and even in my 20s, I never thought of myself as a stay at home mommy but boy does that little girl know how to make me feel like I should! Funny thing is, I know many, many moms who have jobs outside the home, but Alli doesn't. Every.Single.One of her friends has a Mommy who is home full time so she cannot understand why her Mommy works. How do you explain that to a 4 year old???

By the way, I'm writing this at the airport . . . yet another aspect that she doesn't understand.

Garrett's Promotion

With the excitement of Eli's 2nd birthday, I forgot to mention that at the end of the day on Friday (July 15th), Garrett received a promotion from Honeywell to Operations Manager (essentially the second in charge at the Renton site).  A couple weeks ago, when the Operations Manager resigned, management and HR approached G and asked him to apply for the position.  After about 4 or 5 rounds of interviews, he was offered the job.  In addition to increased responsibilities and a raise, he gets an extra week vacation each year ~ the biggest plus and a very nice surprise!!!  We are so proud of him!

Promoted

Well, the crazy commute hasn't hurt me.  I had my annual review yesterday and got the official word that I have been promoted from Associate to Counsel.  What does this mean???  That I need to start competing for partnership and work on marketing myself.  Hmmmm, I think being a mid-level associate forever sounds good ;-)  Seriously, Counsel is just a fancy title for Senior Associate.  Once upon a time, partnership occurred around your 8th year so it made sense to go from Associate to Partner.  Now, you're looking at not making partner until your 11th year or later for some so I think they figured they would give those of us who have been around 7+ years a fancy title.  They were so kind to update my bio with my snazzy new title before my review so I knew going into it that it couldn't be a horrible review ;-)

So there you have it, I didn't think I would stay at the firm for more than a year and I am now one of four from my summer class of 28 to make Counsel.  Go figure.

in a funk

So I realize that I have been neglecting the blog lately and it is not because nothing is happening.  Lots of fun has been occurring in Casa de Fisher the past couple weeks but for some reason, I've been in a bit of a funk.  Some stuff happened at work that gave me a different view of where I work.  Nothing terrible, just different.  Doesn't help that my last two close friends at work are leaving :(  Hard to believe that I am in the "final four" remaining from my summer class of 28.  I truly thought I would be the first to leave, not one of the last to still be here.  We had a going away lunch for A today and it was a small gathering ~ of the 5 of us there, I am the only one still with our firm, well at least as of the end of the month when M leaves too.  So now I'm away from my family, sleeping in hotels, and my friends aren't even around anymore.  Geesh, this turned into a pity party ~ oops! ;-)  Have I mentioned I'm not a fan of change???  Oh well, I have no doubt that this funk will pass soon.

I promise to update in the next few days with lots of fun stories and pictures!  Until then, here's hoping I can snap out of it ;-)

so happy to be headed home

Right this very moment I am attempting to type with some major turbulence at 27,000 feet!  Definitely a new, and slightly difficult experience ;-)  Apparently we are going through some thunderstorms although all I see out the window is beautiful blue skies above fluffy white clouds.

I was supposed to be in Boston until tomorrow evening but fortunately life worked out in such a way that I am on my way home now and when I switched my flight, I was immediately upgraded to first class ~ guess it was meant to be!  I cannot wait to get home to see G and the kiddos.  It's amazing how much I miss all of them, even more than usual.  Probably because we just came off of a perfect week's "staycation" that could not have been better.

I called home to let Miss Kaitlyn know that I was headed home today and she said Alli would be thrilled because she kept asking when she would get to see me.  Made me feel so good and so awful at the same time.  I hate leaving my family.  I feel so torn right now and am praying more than ever for guidance on what I am meant to be doing at this stage of my life . . .

Fortunately, I will be home in about 4 short hours ~ WOO HOO!!!!

Mommy, Wife, Attorney ~ an interesting balance

I've been getting lots of questions lately about how it's going being back at work . . .

and when I'm planning to post a blog about it. 

Well, here it goes . . .

You can probably guess by the slower nature of our blog that life has become a bit more hectic.

Some have also guessed that the lack of blogs about work was a bad sign.

I can assure you that is not true . . . well, not exactly true ;-)

Having been back at work for a month now, I have a little better idea of how it is going.  I was hesitant to say anything too early because I wasn't really sure what the answer to that question would be.  To be honest, I'm still not.  That said, I can tell you what it has been like so far.

The first week was rough and there were more than a few tears the week before I went back.  I was a little okay, a lot on edge.  Sorry to any of you who felt the brunt of that!  I kept telling myself how silly I was being, that I would be home Tuesday night, that I enjoyed my job, blah, blah, blah.  I was trying to be logical but for some reason, my heart doesn't respond to logic very well ~ go figure.

One of the things I was dreading most was the red eye, and with good reason.  I used to have no problem sleeping on the plane but during my pregnancy with Eli it became increasingly difficult.  I had high hopes that it would be easy again but no luck.  Didn't help that the flight was delayed a long time as well.  I finally got to the office around 9:30 a.m. 

I can say that when I finally stepped outside the T (subway) I felt peace come over me.  It was warm, clear and sunny.  I looked up and saw all of the familiar buildings and felt pretty good as I made the 5 minute walk to the office.  When I got there, nothing seemed to have changed since I left.  My secretary had gotten me a lovely welcome back plant that made me smile, the attorneys with whom I work closely took me out to lunch, some friends took me out for smoothies, I unpacked my office, did a little work, then left around 5:30 to go to my hotel, which is very conveniently across the street from my office.  I was exhausted but even I couldn't go to sleep that early so I decided to take a walk around the city since it was such a beautiful day ~ I forgot how much I love Boston.  I crashed that night!  The next day, more work was done because I bugged my favorite partner for something to do ~ he told me to be careful for what I wish for . . . He wasn't kidding!!!

The first flight home was great!  Seconds before boarding, I was upgraded to first class :)  G was there to get me and I snuck in to snuggle Alli and feed Eli when we got home ~ Heaven!  I worked from home that week . . . a lot!  Yep, careful what you wish for . . .

I have been swamped since then, working most weekends and staying very late at the office when I'm there.  It does remind why I love my job so much and yes, I am being serious, not sarcastic.  I really do enjoy what I do.  Then again, it also reminds me what I hate about my job ~ i.e. it never ends and I miss out on fun things with my family.  I wish there was an easy answer but I know there is not.

Fortunately, the kids are doing great with the transition.  We hired the most wonderful young woman to watch them while I'm working and they absolutely adore Miss Kaitlyn!!!  When I'm working from home and she's there, Alli will even ask me to go back to work so I don't interrupt her Kaitlyn time :)  No, this does not hurt my feelings at all.  I am so relieved that Alli and Eli are happy when I'm not around as I've seen the opposite.  When I was commuting to Boston last time, things did not go well for Alli at all and it affected the entire family.  To see my little girl doing so well fills my heart with such joy!  I think it definitely helps that she gets to stay in her own house and not have her routine changed at all ~ plus, Miss Kaitlyn is just F.U.N.

So how is Garrett doing with everything?  Good question.  My husband is an amazing man and so understanding.  I know that Mondays and Tuesdays are difficult for him as he is essentially a single dad trying to handle everything by himself but he tells me that he enjoys the time with our children and is fine.  Of course, he does say that the end of the week is much easier than the beginning ;-)  He is incredibly supportive.  I keep waffling between being okay with work and wanting to be home with the kids.  He simply says that whatever I decide, he will support the decision.  Then he tells me (half-jokingly ~ I think!) that if I work until x-date, the house can be paid off ;-)  I love that man!!!  This past month has shown me how patient and supportive he truly is.  I've had more than a few moments where I've broken down and he responds with love ~ then does the laundry!

I guess I haven't really answered the question of "how is it going" but I think the answer simply is that it is going.  We're taking it a week at a time and so far, it's working for us.  I've heard many times that I'm "Superwoman"  This could not be farther from the truth.  I am just blessed to be surrounded by amazing and supportive people, without whom, this would never work.  Garrett and I have decided, barring any major changes, that I will not make any major decisions until the end of August.  That gives me 5 months of being back there to truly get an idea for how it is going. 

Please keep us in your prayers.  I don't know that I will ever truly figure out to handle all of my roles ~ Mommy, Wife & Attorney ~ but I know that the only way to figure it out will be to do it and have faith!

The Big Short

A glimpse into the world in which I work . . .

These days I have little time to read but for my job, I have been instructed to read a number of books that have been hot topics in recent government hearings on the financial crisis. I have to say, they are pretty good.  Most recently I read . . .

Since the Fall of 2007, my professional life -- as I specialize in securties defense -- has been immersed in the mortgage and financial crisis.  I have spent countless hours trying to wade through 1000s of documents and taken numerous interviews of those "in the know" yet even I had a tough time understanding, let alone explaining, the financial crisis.  How did things get to be so bad???  This book was without a doubt the clearest explanation I have seen.  Is it one-sided?  Probably.  Yet it still gives an idea of how we got to where we are.  If only this had been published 2.5 years ago!!!

For those of you who glaze over when I talk about what I do but are interested, I highly recommend reading The Big Short.  It is actually a pretty gripping tale!

Happy Easter!!!

Sadly, this must be a short post as I am leaving to catch the red-eye to Boston shortly.  Yes, my maternity leave is officially over and I'm back at work tomorrow ~ wish me luck!

We had a great Easter!  Here are just a few of the highlights . . .

The family after church

Our visit with the Easter Bunny the day before Easter at our church . . .

Included an egg hunt, which Alli really got into this year!

She also enjoyed the craft table.

I LOVE this shot!  Looks like the boys were less entertained ;-) 

Seriously though, we all had a great time!

Mommy & Eli after church

How cute is she?????

Me and my little side kick.

I'm pretty sure this face sums up Easter this year ;-)

I promise to update soon with more details of our Easter but I'm off to the airport now . . .

The simple life???

A couple of weeks ago, our Pastor asked G and I if we would be willing to share with the congregation during a Lenten service our story of how we are striving to simplify our lives.  We agreed to do this and tonight was the night.  Initially we thought we would just be sharing a quick snippit for his sermon but it turns out, we were giving the message ~ choosing the bible passage and all.

We chose the following passage from 1 Thessalonians 4:11-12
Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody.

Most people who know us would probably say our lives are anything but simple given our somewhat ridiculous commutes for our professional lives, and we are likely to agree if that is how you define a "simple life."  Yet, in preparing for tonight's message, we realized that our view of a simple life is more of reprioritizing what is the focus of our lives.

Back in 2007, I heard the song "Two Sets of Jones" by Big Tent Revival and it struck a chord in me.

For those who are unfamiliar with the song and choose not to play the video, it is about two young married couples, one is focused on jobs and wealth, the other is focused on Christ.  I remember thinking and sharing with G that we were the "wrong" set of Jones.  We knew we had to make some changes in our lives, which led to our return to Washington and our decision to formally "invite" Christ into our marriage and our family.

Have we achieved the simple life?  No.  But we have found a sense of peace that was not previously there and we know it is a continuous journey.  We feel we have our priorities straight now and rather than focusing on things we are focused on our faith and our family.  We have far less moments of thinking "we'll be happy when fill in the blank" and are finding the joy of each day.

It's true that in simplifying one aspect of our lives (being closer to our families), we completely complicated our professional lives -- yet, somehow, it doesn't seem quite so much a chore or stress factor because we know what is important . . .

It was such a beautiful afternoon that Alli and I decided to play with sidewalk chalk while Eli napped.  Of all the things she could think of to draw, she wanted us to draw our family!

Changing times :)

Since we've been at this for awhile, I decided it was high time to change the look of the site.  Given that we just spent the past weekend in Pullman for the the WSU Homecoming festivities, I decided to go for a Cougar theme.  Probably won't last too long (particularly since PLU's homecoming is soon!) but I'm sure the Fishers will be thrilled as it works toward their brainwashing of Alli ("Cougars are the best, you want to be a Coug . . . ")  In all seriousness, we had a such a fabulous weekend over there.  Alli was great on both the drive over and drive back. We, of course, planned to be driving when she would be sleeping ~ such sneaky parents we are!  We arrived late Friday night and woke up early on Saturday to a beautiful, warm, sunny day.

Perfect for watching Zach play in the Alumni vs. Students baseball game. The Alumni lost but only by 1 run and Zach pictched very well ~ 88 mph!!! We had so much fun watching him play again. We took Alli for a walk around parts of the campus, enjoyed some ice cream and then on to the football game. Cougs didn't do so well (63 - 14 ~ ouch!) but they were not expected to so no one was too disappointed. We had a great time in the stands and Alli made it to half time ~ we were thrilled she lasted that long!

Overall, the move to WA has been even better than we hoped or could have expected. We are enjoying being close to the family and are thrilled to see Alli bonding with everyone. She is loving all of her g-ma time! I'm still enjoying the commute to Boston.  It really is not too bad and I find I actually get to spend far more time with Alli than I did when we lived in MA.  Fortunately, it is working well for my work as well so I figure I will keep it up for as long as it is feasible.  Garrett is really enjoying his position at Honeywell. As much as he (and I) enjoyed being part of the Air Force, this is the first time in 8 years that he is excited by his work and it is AWESOME to see and hear this!  Being the go getter that he is, Garrett has begun taking accounting classes at UW.  Although he has his MBA in Finance, he is hoping to ultimately sit for the CPA exam and needs a few more accounting classes before he can do so.  So far, he is enjoying his class.  I find it interesting because with being a securities attorney, I deal with accounting issues constantly and now I can actually have an intelligent conversation with my husband about this ~ woo hoo!  While he was getting his MBA and talking to me about issues, it always went right over my head. But now, I'm actually able to explain some things to him Who would have thought that would ever happen???

As for pictures of the house, I promise to get some up soon. I just want to finish a few more things. More updates soon . . .

The LONGEST Day . . .

Yesterday, I had to go to Wilmington, Delaware for work. The day started out okay; up at 5 a.m. and on my way to the airport by 5:30. I got there and the lines for security were huge. This is not typical for our airport at that time of day, and to top it off, they didn't have the business traveler line open ~ aagh! Fortunately, given that I was on a 7:15 flight, they let me go to the front. So I get through security and get to my gate as the flight is boarding. No time for breakfast. Great news, I have a row to myself so I'm thinking, okay day is looking up. Then we sit. We don't actually take off until 8 and then the Captain says that due to problems in Philly, we are in a holding pattern. We finally get out of that but we're told to go slow. I was supposed to arrive in Philly by 9, jump in a car and be to Wilmington by 9:30. I was interviewing a witness for one of my cases. I finally get to the interview, which was supposed to start at 10, around 10:30. Thankfully, the interview goes well and I'm back in a car on my way to Philly by 1. I was thrilled when I got to the airport in time to jump on the 2:15 flight (I was booked for the 3:15). So I get to the gate only to find that the plane isn't there yet. It arrived shortly and things were looking good. Then the fun began . . . the weather looked fine, talking to people in Boston, I learn the weather is fine there as well. We're not boarding and they are telling us nothing. This goes on for quite awhile. Fast forward to 4 p.m., still in the terminal, sky is starting to look dark, not surprising since severe storms were threatened for the late afternoon. All they are telling us is that they do not know when we will be departing. Fortunately, the gentleman at the desk is kind and tried to answer all questions. He finally admits the problem is both airports. It's not looking good. I call my secretary trying to find other ways to get back to Boston that night ~ no way was I staying in Philly. Trains are booked but I can take a car service. Still not sure what to do, trying to be optimistic that the flight would go. Suddenly, I look up and see one of the junior partners from my office. He too had been in Wilmington and just switched to my flight. I let him know the situation. He's optimistic the flight will go, I'm not. Then he gets a call from his wife, who tells him about the tornado warnings in New England. Decision made, we're getting a car service and the car should be there within a half hour. We wait, no car. I call the driver who says he'll be at least another 45 minutes. By this point, it's 5:30 so we decide to rent a car and drive. Best decision we could have made. No traffic, weather wasn't bad at all and I finally got home a little after 11 p.m. I had to check the flights to see if they actually went and guess what, all flights had been cancelled. YEAH!!! We made the right choice. I have no desire to return to Philly or Wilmington any time soon!

Relief from the heat

Although it has been a very hot and muggy summer here in Massachusetts, we finally got a break this weekend with blue, sunny skies, temps in the mid to upper 70's and no humidy we are in Heaven!!! Unfortunately, we have not had much time to enjoy this great weather because of work, but hopefully that will lighten up a bit in another couple of weeks.


Last weekend, while I was inside reviewing emails for work, Garrett sanded and stained our deck. He did a great job. The only one unhappy was Salem, who was not allowed outside for a whole sunny day - life is tough when you're a kitty!

This weekend, I spent the majority of the time working (I still have 9,000+ emails to review by the end of the week - what fun!) and Garrett cleaned the house (and made me some very yummy chocolate chip cookies). We did manage to take a break yesterday to have lunch at the Cheesecake Factory - sadly, we did not leave room for desert but the food was great. Then we went to Pirates of the Caribbean II - not too impressed but it was nice to take a break.

Fortunately, next weekend we are taking a much needed break. We are going to Las Vegas to visit our friends, the Johnsons. We cannot wait to see them and meet their newest addition, Aubrey. Until then, we will be working hard to make sure that we don't have to bring any work with us - fingers crossed!!!

Hope you are enjoying your final month of summer!

Lots of nothing going on . . .

Not much new happening in Massachusetts. The weather out here has been toggling between blazing hot and torrential rain storms which has made doing anything active outdoors pretty tough to do. Work is still keeping us busy as usual. Nikki's workload is picking up again now that we are well clear of the 4th of July holiday season. She took part in her first mediation last week which she would describe as interesting, yet unproductive. Apparently the other side didn't really want the issue to be mediated and it looks like they may be going to trial. Should add some excitement to her day if that happens.


My week was pretty normal. Lots of meetings.......wrote some reports......etc. We had a change of command on Thursday though which broke up the monotony. My boss' boss who is a Navy Captain (not to be confused with an Air Force Captain) retired and we got a new Navy guy to take his place. Captain Westerbeak (the new boss) seems pretty cool and is in a similar commuting situation as Nikki and I. His wife has an ambitious career and is working in the Boston area while he is in Hartford. Needless to say, we'll at least have that to talk about if I'm ever in a pinch.

Well that's all for this week. Hopefully next week will surpass this week’s excitement level. Shouldn't be too hard. Later.

Another week down . . .

Well, we made it another week. Now we are finally in June and are looking forward to coming home to Washington at the end of the month for the 4th of July! Can't wait.


Nikki worked some haillacious hours this week. On Thursday she left work at about midnight which ended up being a lot earlier than she was thinking. She figured that the clients probably didn't want the kind of work she was coming up with at 4:00 in the morning so she punched out early. This lawyering stuff is definitely not turning out to be much of a 9-5 but she's enjoying it. The important news though, is that after all this time in physical therapy, she is back running and ran 2 miles around the park at Hanscom today without feeling even a touch of pain! We are both really excited that so much progress is starting to be made. Before long, she'll be back to running marathons!

Our last dance class was on Saturday and in the end, we feel like we came out of it with 3-4 dances that we could actually pull off if we ever get the opportunity some day. We definitely got the foxtrot and waltz down. We are also pretty comfortable with the hustle and the tango but there are a whole lot of moves that we haven't learned yet so don't start thinking "dancing with the stars" quite yet. Let's just say we can do the basics if a song came on. We'd probably know a lot more if some of the slugs in our class had any rhythm whatsoever though. We'd spend 75% of the time relearning all the moves that we had down months ago because of all the bumbling going on in the class. "I don't get it"......Agggggghhh!......we've only learned it ten times already!! Oh well. At least we learned some stuff.

It's looking like we both will be about as busy this coming week as last week and there is no telling when that routine is going to end while we are here. At least we have an end in sight as our stay here on the east coast will be expiring in just about a year. YEAH! Other than that, I am avidly looking forward to another episode of Lost this week so I can get caught up with the Z man and finally let him rap about all the craziness that went on this past season (he's wanted to for months). Hope everyone has a great week and we'll talk atcha soon.