California, Here I Come!!!

I was feeling a lot of pressure to write about something amazing now that people are actually subscribing to my blog, and so I bounced all these ideas around about what I could say that would be interesting and I couldn't decide and I started getting stressed and...

...then I got laid off. Yep, this morning at 10:45. So fuck yeah! I've got something to write about now!

Don't be sad though. My first reaction (well, my second reaction) was a smile, because I knew immediately that I was going home to California.

In case you're wondering why I got laid off, here's the scoop:

• First, the firm is about to split the commercial practice and government practice into separate businesses, and that meant a restructuring for both sides
• Everyone was pretty sure that lay-offs would be part of the deal
• I was told this morning that in the assessment sessions last week, every Associate (that was my level, and we were all compared regardless of our time in the firm) was ranked into top, middle, or bottom third; I was ranked bottom third
• The entire bottom third is getting cut
• The reasons for my low ranking centered around my interpersonal style, which was referred to as informal, unprofessional, sometimes aggressive, sometimes defensive, and often awkward
• A secondary reason was that I didn't go above and beyond in my delivered work
• Interestingly, I got good feedback on how I structure and manage work and my thought leadership, which is basically how I anticipate and meet clients' needs, but this must not have been ranked very highly in importance
• You all know me, so you can imagine that if the firm sees my interpersonal style as the main reason for me to go, then this is not the firm for me

I love how life does this. I remember the day that I got back from my second vacation in Sydney, and over lunch I told Umecke that I thought I wanted to move. That was almost exactly 5 years ago. In less than a month I was gone, and in less than a month from now, I will be back.

I can't wait to feel the California sun. I can't wait to eat good Mexican food, or have drinks with my best friends after work, or be part of that dirty sexy hippy lovey vibe that is San Francisco.

If you have an open bedroom, I could probably use it for a week or two in April. I hope to couch surf for a month or so when I arrive, because seriously, papa's broke.

But papa's happy. Yay! California, here I come!!!