A new page—Quarterly Appreciation Reports—has been added to The Fully Invested Lawyer!
Before I retired, I started creating quarter-end reports that gathered the moments that actually mattered from the past three months. As a true maximalist, I love formally keeping track of my best sunrises, hikes, and meals.
More fundamentally, writing these Quarterly Appreciations always leaves me stunned at how very, very good my life is. The world is not kind. But somehow the world—and the people in it—are often unreasonably kind to me.
It wasn’t always that way. As a child and young adult, I was often deeply sad. Through my mid-30s, I’d sometimes spend entire weekends watching marathons of junk television because I didn’t have it in me to do more. Somewhere along the way, all of that changed.
Part of my aim in this blog is to understand and articulate what changed. These Appreciations—and the earlier, less deliberate forms of noticing that came before them—are part of that change. It seems that attention is itself the engine of joy, and these posts are my way of feeding that engine.
And part of my aim is to express something that might need to be said more often: my life has gotten profoundly better, richer, and more dynamic as I’ve aged. In my 40s, I’m less angry, more generous, and far more interesting than I ever was in my 20s or 30s—because of, not despite, the longer time I’ve had to sort it all out.
My past Quarterly Appreciations follow, and more will be added at the end of each quarter. Please feel very free to leave your own “appreciations” in the comments below.
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Q3 2025: A Sower Learning to Reap
The Kennebec River, from waterfront park in Augusta, Maine I found myself standing on shaky legs during this first full quarter. Learning to live in a world where my worth and identity were no longer anchored to hard work has been harder than I expected. I’ve let myself get a little bored—dipping my toes into that void, then beginning to find my way back.
One month of this quarter was spent escaping the Phoenix heat in a small apartment on the Kennebec River in Maine—near a place that called to me years ago and where I hope I’ll always be able to return.
Experiences:
Swam in a crystal-clear, spring-fed pond; hiked through the cool alpine forest on Tucson’s Mount Lemmon; ran the Phoenix Boardwalk; watched a caterpillar become a butterfly at Butterfly Wonderland—and their magic film on monarch migration; kayaked in Hilton Head; persevered on a tricky hike to a beautiful pebble beach with my sister; saw the sunrise over the Atlantic Ocean, my beloved Kennebec River on a foggy morning, and the Sonoran Desert many times.
Creating:Hosted two karaoke parties; learned to make homemade yogurt, kimchi, and flatbread; grew peppers, sunflowers, and basil; failed to grow okra; launched my first-ever blog.
Wildlife:Saw sturgeon jumping in the Kennebec; dolphin jumping in the Atlantic; a juvenile bald eagle up close; a puffin bobbing on the waves; sea otters; a groundhog; and a bobcat—in my own back yard!
Reading:Read The Wisdom of Insecurity by Alan Watts (1960s-era philosopher whose view of the human condition most closely matches mine); We Solve Murders by Richard Osman (a mystery with a backdrop of kindness and possibility); Botany for Gardeners (phenomenal); Mexico Reborn (firsthand history published in 1939); Studs Terkel’s Coming of Age (a signed copy was 50 cents at Goodwill!); We Set the Night on Fire by Martha Shelley (about the liberation movements of the 1970s – may we find our way back to that spirit). Also re-read Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance, a formative book for me. So many of my life choices and aesthetic preferences can be traced to the first 30 pages or so.
Food: Ate ice cream every day for a week; the most delicious bread, sold by the kindest people, at Stone Broke in Gardiner, Maine; chocolate. bleeping. croissants; delicious Indian food with Tucson friends; delicious New Mexican food with Phoenix friends; lobster and oysters for the first time in my life.
Celebrations: Celebrated the extraordinary accomplishments of my niece and nephew with family meals in Hilton Head; and twenty years of marriage to my good man. -
Q2 2025: Beautiful Ending and a New Beginning
This quarter spanned my last six weeks of work and my first six weeks of retirement. Leaving my career, colleagues, and clients behind felt a bit like ripping my heart out—even though I knew it was the right decision. A final, beautiful business trip to L.A. and an extraordinary Zoom retirement party organized by a colleague were highlights I’ll never forget.
The first few weeks of retirement felt like a very long weekend—clearing my to-do list, finally giving my garden the attention it deserves, and reconnecting with old friends.
Experiences:
Got a room on top of the world in downtown LA; enjoyed early summer blooms, orchids and stunning lights in the Desert Botanical Gardens; listened to Beethoven’s Eroica Symphony from the front row of the balcony at the Walt Disney Center; learned how one of the premier violin soloists in the world overcame stage fright; explored the incomparable Huntington Gardens in Pasadena; explored L.A.’s Chinatown and Biltmore, and the Last Bookstore—a magic place where all three books I picked up were exactly what I needed; saw larger than life sculptures and a giant pool of pennies at the Blanton in Austin; cheered a friend who killed it dancing at Phoenix’s Boycott bar; ventured out to catch the last blooms in a sunflower field on a Maricopa farm and in a lavender field in the red-dirt desert; listened to a blues band while a rainstorm transformed Gruene Hall from muggy to crisp-cool – an unforgettable experience with a great friend in one of my favorite places.
Food:
Ate a grilled banana muffin at Nick’s Cafe in the shadows of the Dodgers’ stadium; the most tender salmon of my life at La Boulangerie in L.A.’s tallest building; the best omelet of my life in Maricopa, Arizona (the “mobster” at Roots Eatery); an extraordinarily flavorful beet dish at Suerte in Austin; a perfect delicious chocolate-banana truffle in New Braunfels; a coffee-caramel ice cream cone at the Red Barn Creamery in Show Low.
Gardening and Harvesting:
Planted sunflowers, cactus, agave, okra, and basil. Harvested peppers (lots!), basil, nasturtium (so delicious), oregano, lettuce, parsley, and lemongrass; used a huge sack of lemons from a friend’s tree to make homemade lemoncello, lemon cupcakes and lemon bread.
Learning:
Befriended ChatGPT; learned WordPress, and how to do Zoom, email and calendars without my work account; discovered the gathering place for a flock of peach-faced love birds; learned to roast garlic and make homemade ricotta.
Fitness:
Worked out at the fanciest hotel gym and my beloved local Anytime Fitness; ran beside wild sunflowers in a Texas meadow and Phoenix’s Murphy Bridle trail; hiked to see the sun rise on my beloved Shaw Butte; danced with good energy in Dr. Snake’s class.
Celebrations:
Celebrated leaving the law with: salmon tips at Flint, toasted ravioli at Anzio’s, Thai food in downtown Phoenix, an unforgettable Zoom call, and a karaoke party.
Transitions:
Sold, gave away, and cleared out many things that I am no longer using—tangible or otherwise.
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Q1 2025: Snowfall and Other Magic
I hadn’t yet decided to leave the law in this first quarter of 2025. I was still dumbstruck by my own extraordinary good luck in life. This quarter included two beautiful snowfalls (an incredible thing for a Phoenician!), family connections in Virginia, and—in Mexico—the kind of pure magic I’ve come to expect whenever I get together with two of my truest friends.
But I was starting to feel like it was all a bit too much. In the words of Ferris Bueller, life moves pretty fast—and I think it was moving fast for many of us in the first quarter of 2025. I was hanging onto every kindness received, trying to use them to get my footing.
Experiences:
Stood in the snowfall in Colonial Williamsburg and in a hotel parking lot in Burlington, Massachusetts; watched the sun set over the mangroves from a rooftop, the Charles River from the window of an Uber, and the desert from the bridge at Tempe Town Lake; dressed up fancy for a night on the town with a friend; rocked out to Light My Fire in a Mexican rock ’n’ roll club; watched incredible dancers break new ground—and Star Wars characters celebrate art—at Tempe Center for the Arts; saw Fabergé eggs and a bald eagle in Richmond, Virginia; swam in the Caribbean Sea and in the world’s tiniest swimming pool; experienced the magic of truly uncommon friendships.
Movement and Growth:
Danced down the beach and on a rooftop; ran a half marathon in Mesa and a 5K the next day; walked along the edge of the Caribbean Sea in a flowing pink dress; failed to escape from the Westgate shopping mall; triked and danced; meditated on sound at Tempe Town Lake and in my hot tub.
Food:
Ate coconut shrimp with my feet in the sand, jackfruit under a fancy chandelier on a Phoenix rooftop, and goat cheese ice cream in a magical garden; learned to make chocolates from cacao butter; enjoyed arancini with two of my oldest friends in Brookline Massachusetts, and a sandwich at the Cheese Shop in Williamsburg. In Phoenix: margaritas, pretzels, and ramen .
Kindnesses received:
A man with kind eyes gave us lucky hats in Mexico; friends offered advice on evicting cockroaches from our Airbnb; a new friend invited us for wine on the roof of her penthouse apartment; an old friend gave me an extraordinary book about her life; a fisherman taught me how to call the murmuration; a best friend gave me grace.
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Q4 2024: Energy and Stillness
I wrote my first Quarterly Appreciation at the end of 2024, when I was gearing up for a trial that was postponed within a few days of opening statements—twice! Looking back, I marvel at the person who could do all of this: keep a half-marathon training schedule while preparing for trial, then spin on a dime to plan a whirlwind road trip through central California once the postponement freed up a few days.
I’m thrilled—and a little proud—to have had so many heady times like those. Part of me mourns that relentless energy. But for better or worse, it doesn’t live in me anymore. Even then, I was craving a quieter life—as evidenced by the many hours I spent in that period watching the big Mesquite tree behind my garden fence.
Experiences:
Saw the Fireflies at The Broad in Los Angeles, the Sensorio in Paso Robles (extraordinary!), and the world’s most elaborate Christmas light display in Cambria, California; watched elephant seals basking in the sun and coatimundi foraging in the Arizona high desert; saw the sun set from a train running along the edge of the Pacific Ocean, a garden in Mission Canyon, a hillside in California’s wine country, conference rooms in tall buildings, and over the Sonoran Desert countless times.
Movement, Creativity and Growth:
Ran along the Santa Monica boardwalk and in a rocky trail by the side of the Pacific Ocean in Cambria; finished a half-marathon and a midnight 5K; created three Halloween costumes for five Halloween parties.
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Celebrations:Celebrated friendship over Ethiopian food in downtown San Luis Obispo; Thanksgiving with traditional dishes and good friends; a “friends Christmas” with gifts and cheer at Timo.
Quiet times:
Spent countless hours in my backyard hot tub; worked in my garden; rode to the coffee shop on my trike; got fit with friends; and shared “puzzles and podcasts” with my good man.
The Fully Invested Lawyer 
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