The day started out great. I had the foresight to put the trash out when I got home last night, so I was able to sleep in this morning without fear of missing the trash pickup. Then I went to a vineyard for a friend's birthday, enjoyed all of the wines we tasted, bought two at decent prices. Went home and was able to catch the last two panels at the OUTLaw conference thingie. Drank beer at the reception afterward. Grabbed dinner with a friend.

Then things went downhill.

Not really in the mood to go to see The Killers or Grindhouse, I fully intended to take advantage of the fact that I had the house to myself tonight and watch Justice League Unlimited, Season 1 on DVD. Only I don't own it. And my Blockbuster doesn't have it. No problem. I have an I <3 Video account, and if anyone in Austin is going to have the entire set of Justice League DVDs, it's them. WRONG. So I went back home sad and alone with no Green Lantern and Hawkgirl to cheer me up. (I almost rented Ducktails, but decided against it.)

As I was leaving I <3 Video, the wind picked up and it started raining. And then I was home with no plans, no Justice League, and nothing to do. So I called my mom.

Continue downward spiral.

The first part of the convo was great. Grandma's birthday's on Monday, don't forget to call her. Nephew crawled to the top of the stairs tonight. Sister doing well at work, promotion to manager likely in near future. Etc, etc.

Then she started talking about jobs.

She means well, and she's trying to be helpful, but it's a touchy subject with me, and the conversation quickly went sour as soon as she insisted that the "right job" for me was out there somewhere and I'd get it. She also violated Rule #6 with the words "don't worry." Conversation ended with me trying not to cry and eventually hanging up on her, but only after screaming that I never should have come to law school in the first place and that I should have just taught high school history like I'd wanted to and cut my losses back when I only had $30K in loans. It was pretty dramatic. And unnecessary.

So now I'm home alone at 11 on a Friday night with no Justice League, no job, no plans, and now no Mom to talk to because she's probably pissed at me that I hung up on her.

Woe.

The following conversation took place at my parents' house last night when my cousin the police officer arrived.

"Ruth! So good to see you! Can I grab you a beer? How's the job hunt?"

Oh God. Why can't employed people understand that this is no longer a polite question to ask? We wouldn't rush up to them and roar, "How's your job going? Finding it impossible to drag yourself out of bed each day yet?" Everyone knows that searching for a job during your last year of law school is not the happy-go-lucky free-for-all it was when you were a 2L and the honest answer is more likely to be, "Actually, last night I tried sleeping with the hiring partner at [Big Law Firm] in a foolish attempt to get into the litigation department there, but he turned out to be gay and surprisingly ethical so the whole job thing didn't work out in the end," than "Super, thanks."

No being a natural liar, I ended up mumbling shamefacedly to my cousin, "Fine," at which point he boomed, "So, you still haven't found a job yet!"

"Ruth! What are we going to do with you!" Said my Aunt. "You 3Ls and your parties! Can't put it off forever, you know. Tick-tock-tick-tock."

"Yes, how does a girl in your shoes manage to get to this point without being employed?" roared my Uncle, waving his beer in the air.

I ran straight for the sector of my family that wasn't obsessed with my job prospects (read: my infant nephew), and spent the rest of the night watching him try to reach for his reflection in the crib mirror, figure out to grab his plastic keys, and then try his hand at long division. I figure today, he and I will tackle the world AIDS crisis after his nap.

How was your Thanksgiving?