Day 1015: Reading and Writing

So this past week was a pretty good one. I feel a bit redundant, recounting my week when I've already done so in letters. I write letters pretty much every Sunday, two to a couple of widows from my old home ward, and then letters to whoever wrote me during the week. Since the two widows never actually write me back, I just tell them what small, interesting things happened to me this week and then politely inquire after their health and life. One of them has a dog named, of all things, Lucky Bear. I wonder if she has had too much exposure to the Care Bears in her long life of being a mother and grandmother and therefore eternal babysitter, but she's always been super nice to me when I see her, so there you go.

This week in Kenpo I learned my first form, which was super good times. Honestly, it was like learning a dance. A pretty simple, music-free, symmetrical dance. Cody's sensei seemed pretty impressed at how quickly I caught on, and I felt pretty bad for all the praise, because I've been a dancer longer than I've been a martial artist, and learning a dance has always been pretty simple for me. Of course, I need to make sure my stances are correct, and my hand positions are correct, and the form is a lesson in basic blocks, so I need to get it right, but learning the basics wasn't hard. Now I just need to get all the little bits down. Since learning it, I've had major motivation increases with my Kenpo, which is nice. We actually went down to Kenpo on Thursday because Cody had a chem test on Tuesday, and he didn't get home till ten.

On Friday I got my car fixed by Uncle Steve, Cousin Kit's dad. Cousin Kit is a pretty good mechanic in his own right, but he works at the shop, so I went to Uncle Steve instead. He was very nice, and he let me borrow Kip's car because he was done with it. I'm too short to drive Kip's car, and I was pretty terrified. I was a lazy slob who spent the rest of the day at Cody's parents' house watching Lie to Me on their X-box Netflix and poaching on their cereal, crackers, and fruit. Cody came down from school to hang out until Steven showed up. Steven had a fight with his girlfriend, and also his truck is fixed, so he was trading his dad's truck in for his. (I traded Kieran's truck in for my car when it was done, and it seems Uncle Steve's place is a revolving door for Cody's family's cars.) Steven came into town and we went out for burgers with Cody's mom, which was good. Afterwards, Cody and I played music in the basement, and that's some of the best drumming and guitar playing I've done in a long time, so I was pretty pleased with me.

Saturday was mine and Cody's three-month anniversary. We slept in till noon, because both of us needed it, and then Cody did homework. We went to the temple on one of his study breaks, and on the way home we stopped by the grocery store for some necessities. Bad idea - it was a war zone, and we couldn't figure out why. Until Cody made mention of it on facebook, and someone pointed out it was Superbowl Eve. People were buying food for parties. It made sense. Because I'd been stuck in Blackfoot all day Friday, I did my cleaning and laundry on Saturday, and poor Cody did more homework. We celebrated our anniversary over a homemade dinner and sparkly grape juice (which, naturally, I spilled on the carpet), and then slept.

Sunday was a good day, except Cody came down with a cold. He'd worked hard enough on Saturday he didn't have to do uber amounts of homework, so after church we went down to Blackfoot to hang out with his family. Turns out his father also has the flu, so Cody's mom and I talked while Cody did homework. I finished the stitching on the tatted mask I started earlier this week, and even worked on some bobbin lace. I called my mom, which was awesome, and Cody felt ill, so he napped a little. I got to play with one of the new iPads while I was showing Cody's dad how to use his, and in the process found a new iPad game. Probably a bad idea, but oh well. I'm enjoying it. Growing dragons was one of my favorite stupid hobbies in law school, so naturally I picked it up again. It's free, since I prefer free games as I am cheap, and it has cute graphics, so all is going well.

I worked on my novel slowly this week, and my drabble blog. I have lots of ideas. Now I just need to write them down. See how well that goes, eh? I started typing up the one novel, and I need to work on it more, but I want to watch Becoming Jane and make some lace, so there you go. I picked it up when I picked up the next disc of Season Seven Smallville from the library. I have so many things I want to write, and I also want to practice kenpo, and play music, and...agh! I don't know how Cody does it.

Best part of last week, however, was getting stuff set up for this week. Okay, going to the doctor and getting told I need an MRI wasn't so fun, since I'm claustrophobic, but it was a step in the right direction to getting my headaches cleared up, and that's what counts. Today the lady running the machine was nice to me and gave me headphones so I could listen to 1950's rock'n'roll on Sirius Radio while I was in the machine. I made the mistake of opening my eyes once and very nearly hyperventilated, but I survived.

Last night Cody's mom gave me a lead on a lawyer job, so I sent off a resume and a cover letter today. It's a paralegal position at a civil litigation firm, and I think I'd have lots of fun there, but who knows. I applied for a bunch of jobs last week, and on Friday while I was moping around in Blackfoot I got an email from a guy offering me a paralegal position at a mortgage compliance firm, and the interview was earlier today. I was super nervous, and they're worried because I'm overqualified for the position and might be leaving anywhere in the next year or year and a half, but it looks like a nice place to work - fairly low-stress work, all things considered, and a nice, casual atmosphere, so maybe for a while I can retire my suits. Everyone was super nice, and I think I'd like working there. I think I aced the interview. Apparently it's an interview tradition at that firm to ask really weird questions, the first of which was, "If you could have any superpower, what would it be?"

I had a great answer. It's the answer I've pretty much always gone with - Telekinesis. Master it at a molecular level and you've essentially got pyrokinesis. Get really good at anatomy and physiology and biology and you can use it to mimic biokinesis. You can use it to make yourself fly, or manipulate the weather, or reach things you're ordinarily too short to reach.

The guy was super impressed.

I guess my inner nerd paid off.

Now I need to make some chicken stew for my ill husband, watch a cute girl flick, practice kenpo, and continue my dragon-raising ways.

Here's to getting a job.