Tonight's festivity

Thanks to everyone who commented and emailed on my last post about pricing. I appreciate the encouragement and the good ideas, and I'll be tweaking things a bit now that I've gotten some feedback.

In the meantime, I'm about to gussy myself up for the dreaded Workplace Holiday Party at my husband's firm. While it will be a free night out -- with open bar -- let's just say that the prospect of socializing with a bunch of lawyers doesn't fill me with glee. For one of the biggest drawbacks to being a lawyer (or former lawyer, as the case may be) is socializing with lawyers. They have a tendency to think that their area of expertise, be it the arcane law of insurance coverage, or the tax ramifications of estate planning, or the intricacies of a complex poison pill provision, are more interesting than, say, knitting. You haven't lived until you've heard a joke where the punchline goes something like "And then I said, 'Bill, I was TALKING about a leveraged BUYOUT!"

My personal gripe about these situations is the way in which when introduced to someone, the first question they ask is "What do you do?" I say "I'm a stay-at-home mom," and I can actually see their faces fall and their eyes glaze over. Occasionally I'll even catch someone (invariably a middle-aged white guy) scan the room behind me to see if there's anyone more interesting to talk to. (As if.)

My friends, I promise you this: tonight when someone asks me "What do you do?" I am going to say: "I am an exotic dancer."

I'll let you know what happens tomorrow, as soon as my hangover wears off.