Balancing Life and Work

This afternoon, the Women Law Students Association will be hosting a reception as part of Women’s Week 2010.  (Technically, there’s an International Women’s Day, not an entire week, but hey, our students are achievers.)  The theme of the reception is “balancing life and work.” Naturally, I will have to be leaving the reception early because, as part of that work-life balance, I am tasked with schlepping one member of my household to basketball practice.

The subject is, of course, one that underscores the days of all lawyers, not just the women ones.  When the WLSA folks first emailed me about attending the reception, I thought they wanted me to actually do a presentation on work-life balance, which panicked me a bit because one of my techniques for attaining work-life balance is to try to think about it as little as possible.  And, philosophically, to think about “life” as containing “work,” rather than as being in opposition to it and thus requiring some balance.  Another word for that philosophy is “denial.” 

But you know, that technique kinda works for me, all the same.  In a recent example of striking a blow for mental health, I took off a couple of days to go to a beach with my family.  While there, I indulged in a mindless magazine that had an article about work-life balance.  My daughter, reading over my shoulder, said, “you don’t need to read that.”  I tilted my head back so I could look through the bifocal part of my glasses in order to scrutinize her thoroughly for signs of sarcasm, but no, she really meant it; I  ought not to waste time reading articles about it because I own that.  That’s a pretty thrilling victory, honestly.  Apparently my occasional total breakdown-panic-attacks have not struck her as an indication of complete imbalance.

Now, my philosophy of denial and occasional bitter mental-health failure notwithstanding, one doesn’t survive a decade and a half of a two-lawyer, two-kid marriage without picking up a coping tip or two.  So here’s one—a recipe for what a friend of mine on the faculty refers to as weapons-grade garlic pasta.  It contributes to work-life balance because eating together is supposed to be very good for people, and I think that’s generally true so long as everyone behaves reasonably well—and this is a meal that you can put together in the AM so that it’s ready for you whenever you get home (especially if you’re not really fussy about things like “side dishes” and “vegetables”).

This sauce makes enough for about a pound of pasta. You can probably stretch that.

Dice the right amount of tomatoes for the number of people you want to feed—about one medium size tomato per person, or more, depending on the level of tomato love in the group.  Put them in a plastic bag and add a half-cup of olive oil and a splash of sherry vinegar (or red wine vinegar, if it’s easier).  Add salt.  Chop up about six cloves of garlic, add them to the bag, and shake everything gently to mix.  Put the bag in a room temperature dark place for the whole day. (I use my microwave.)  When you get home, put on water for the pasta and take out the plastic bag.  Add some capers if you have them, and some pitted olives—green, black, whatever you have, as long as they’re tasty.  Stir it up. Then take two big balls of fresh mozzarella and dice into about ½ inch cubes, and add to the mix.  (Tuna in olive oil works nicely too—one or two cans.) When the water boils, add the pasta shape of your choice and cook till al dente.  Drain, and put the pasta back into the pot.  Pour the sauce from the bag into the pot, and put the pot back on top of the still warm (but turned off) stove.  Stir it all up. If you like, stir in a tablespoon of butter till it melts, and serve.  Enjoy.  And for the next 12 hours, don’t breathe on anyone who hasn’t also eaten this dish.

-Dean Z.
Assistant Dean and Director of Admissions