One Working Mom, Two Jobs

I interviewed with an Attorney a little while ago, but things seemed to be dragging a bit with summer vacation schedules, etc. He's a criminal defense (and a bunch of other stuff) attorney, and wants someone to keep his court calendar for him. He wanted to bring someone in to help out, but wasn't sure about going full time. So, instead, we are starting out with some part time work. Two mornings a week, plus some additional hours here and there. He's acknowledged that he'd like to gradually add more hours, and I'd like that, but I'm just glad for the experience even if it stays as it is for a little while.

We started the mornings this week, Tuesdays and Thursdays. I'm currently only supposed to be working 4 days at my In House job -- so instead of having a day off during the week, I instead have two mornings off to go to court for my "second job". I'm still learning, obviously, I can't take his calendar off his hands quite yet, but after doing two days of shadowing, I don't think it's too far off.

I've had so much fun, so far. The cases are serious, as most criminal cases are, and quite a few of his clients are in custody as we move the process of getting them to trial, but it's exciting. I mean, it's a lot more "fly by the seat of your pants" than anything I'm used to, and it's been a great learning experience. We're basically on our feet from 8.30 to 1pm, moving from one court room to another, from one client to another, and it's such a fast pace. This afternoon, as I'm able to actually sit down and look forward to the weekend, my adrenaline has finally let up a bit and I'm feeling exhausted but excited.

I stopped by his office this afternoon on my way back to my In House job, and they handed me a stack of papers about 8 inches high of court transcripts I have to read to write a Criminal Appellate Brief, you know... for my free time. Which is basically non-existent now!

When the Attorney committed to the two mornings, I was thrilled. But quickly, I realized that I had accepted a second job without cutting any responsibility at my current job. So, these next few weeks should be exciting!