Part time

Today I took K out for ice cream. He was excited to have it be just the two of us.
As we ate our ice cream, K asked, "How's work going?" A very adult question.
I said I liked my job, but lately I had been working more than I would like.
He said, "So I guess you didn't get a new job."

In the not-too-distant past, I concluded that I needed to get out of biglaw and started seriously looking at alternatives. When K asked what a "job interview" was, I told him I was looking for a new job because I wanted to see him more. He thought that was a great idea.

For reasons I won't go into now, I eventually decided to break up with my recruiter and give part-time a chance at my current firm. What's happened is this:
- I've been billing more than part time, but less than full time.
- I haven't been staffed on any huge deals, and haven't done any M&A at all. (Both fine with me. I like M&A, but the schedule is brutal.)
- I sleep more and sometimes get home in time for dinner.
- I have a late night about once a week.
- When a snow day or a sick day happens -- nearly every week, this winter -- in general I don't have to panic as much (or stay up until 3 a.m. the day before, my usual MO). However, these days have absorbed a lot of the "reduced" part of my reduced schedule.

I told K, "I decided to stay at my job, but take less money and not work so much. You've been seeing me more, right?"
K replied, "You didn't come home two nights in a row."
I said, "I know, but... it's been better, right? I've been coming home earlier?"
K said encouragingly, "You've picked me up a few times." But I know that tone of K's. It's when he's humoring me to make me feel better.

So I'm spending my Saturday night doing something familiar -- fighting off exhaustion while working on a draft that needs to be complete by first thing Monday morning at the latest, and occasionally taking breaks to complain here or to search job boards.