Well, that's it - I'm a paralegal again, I guess

I start on Monday as a paralegal in the District Attorney's Office. The only thing that could possibly change that is if someone from another office or agency made me a firm offer today or tomorrow. Otherwise, 8:00 a.m., coffee in hand, I'm there.

I think I understand now how abused wives get corralled into bad marriages.

Okay, I'm not saying it'll suck. Maybe it won't. The work itself is interesting (much more so than the impression I originally had of it being a glorified copy clerk). I'll be pulling together charging documents on meth lab prosecutions. Kinda fun, in a legal/governmental way. The pay is more than I was expecting, and the benefits are phenomenal. Although it means staying in Albuquerque and not doing the big move to Santa Fe, I'm pretty damned happy in my situation here - cool housemate, low expenses, supportive environment, dogs and cats. I just was thinking how fun it would be to live in Santa Fe and have the aesthetic and pleasure portion of my life racheted up a few notches. But I could do more to make life more fun for myself here in Abq. I mean, hello, pottery class, fer Gawd's sake! And there's leather night at the Manhole.
Oh well. Oh well.

"Our revels now are ended." What's that from? Shakespeare?

I spent the last ten years flying by the seat of my pants, and it was fun and scary and challenging and fulfilling and VARIED. It was radically different from my previous government career, and in many ways I got what I wanted: to find out what it's like NOT to be nestled in the secure - and stifling - world of government service. Now I willingly return to that nest, grayer and more frayed around the edges, but ready for the peace of mind that comes with security. It ain't too exciting, and it's not much of a story to tell, and yes, I'm settling.

Am I doing the right thing? I honestly don't know.

There is a huge irony in this, though: my successful vacation rental business, the business I devoted five years of my government "break" to growing, the business that was going to bring me all the things I thought a government job couldn't bring me - excitement, creativity and riches - collapsed because my beloved business partner got addicted to meth and destroyed it all, including himself. Now I'll be helping to put meth manufacturers in jail.

Strange world.