Day 1046: Picking up speed
It seems like my life was going along fairly slowly, and all of a sudden...bam! The end of the year is on its way like an angry freight train and I'm pretty sure the only light I can see is a deadly one.
Things I want to get done by the end of this year: first draft of my novel. Fat chance, right? Wrong. As an early anniversary present, my very sweet husband bought me a very cool bluetooth keyboard that connects to both my phone and my iPad, so I can pretty much write on the go even if I have no laptop. This is actually a pretty darn exciting prospect, and my lunch breaks at work have been much more productive on the writing front.
I also need to turn in all my CLE certificates. I have them. I just need to make copies and send in the forms and being a lawyer is really bloody expensive and time consuming. But I want to keep my law license so my friends and I can make our pipe dream of owning our own indie publishing house a reality. Companies need lawyers. It is the way of America.
I also need to get my Christmas presents all made. Cody stayed late at the forge last night getting started on his knives (I heard something about an acetone bomb when he finally crawled into bed around midnight), so I went shopping for Christmas supplies. I need to write a story for my mom, and heck if I know what to get my Dad, my sister, or really anyone else on my side of the family, but Cody's side of the family is okay with weird gifts, and I can crochet weird things, so I have a supply of yarn and have already been crocheting my way through the first session of conference.
I'm also super excited to go to Texas. I can see some of my old college friends and possibly a writing friend, and also it's going to be warm. When I talked to my Texan colleague on the phone, she said she'd warn me beforehand if it was going to be cold, but I lived in Cedar City, Omaha, and now I'm in Idaho, and I'm pretty sure cold in San Antonio really isn't going to compare. I hear the River Walk in San Antonio is gorgeous, and one of my coworkers who's been down there says it's awesome, so that should be fun. On the other hand, my mom keeps telling scary stories about how weird the roads are, and then my colleague mentioned Texas drivers are crazy, so I'm a bit nervous about that whole business too.
Chicago at the end of the month is going to be bloody well freezing, but I am stupidly excited. I've taken to listening to old con panels on YouTube while I get things done - don't really have to see, but listening is fine, and I'm so excited. All of the actors seem like funny, charming people (although, isn't charm a prerequisite of being an actor? No?), and I thought the Season 8 premier rocked, so I think it'll be good. Now to figure out how to get around Chicago...
Mum and Dad are in China now, so I have a massive pile of their mail I've been dealing with. I feel kind of like a secretary. There is something oddly soothing about stabbing mail with a giant double-edged letter opener my husband made out of a railroad spike. I am doing my best to email frequently - though these days my online time is actually pretty pathetic. Now I get why all my graduated, married, working friends vanished from the Internet.
This week was pretty awesome for Cody and I. When Kenpo was cancelled one night, he took me out on a date. He bought me my anniversary present, and we wandered around B&N (because we're nerds like that, and now I'm eyeing a very nice copy of Craig Thompson's Habibi, but I still have unread books that need finishing), and then we shared a frozen yogurt at the Orange Leaf place. Not sure how well a place like that will fare in the winter here, but it was good stuff, and we had a fun time, talking politics, shooting the breeze, and everything else.
Bellydancing is going really well - I'm getting the hang of the choreography, and I learned some new moves, which is always fun. Kenpo is going all right. I need to brush up on my form some more, practice my universal set, and get my techniques memorized so I can do them on command. If someone says "flashing crane", I've got no idea what that means. But if someone comes at me with a two hand push, I can do it just fine. I just need to practice more. Herbie says I will likely be testing in the next month or so, so I'm pretty nervous.
At work this week, our boss's dad made us food. Baked potatoes, the best pork ribs ever (cooked with a layer of bacon on top), garlic break, some kind of apple cinnamon crumble. It was amazing. It kinda felt like the sort of spread they'd put on for the ranch hands at the end of the day, but then they do have a ranch and a passel of ranch hands (an odd mix of wiry blond boys and grizzled, brawny Mexican men), so maybe that's how those guys get fed. If so, they're lucky.
I got to interview a potential paralegal this week, too. That was super weird. Mostly because the dude was old enough to be my dad and was a lawyer before I finished high school. It was hard to get a read on him - I'm kinda lousy at reading people anyway - but it was a learning experience all the same.
This weekend is conference. Poor Cody had to work this morning, and then I'll probably be playing D&D while he's off at Priesthood session, but he did promise we'd go out for post-conference dessert, so that will be fun. I know everyone is probably buzzing about the missionary ages being lowered. Used to be boys at 19 (with some exceptions) and girls at 21. Now it's boys at 18 (assuming they've finished high school or their nation's educational equivalent) and girls at 19. Interesting. It means the kids in the rising generations have really stepped it up. Go kids!
Tomorrow we'll have conference with the family. Like last conference, Sunday will be spent with Great Aunt Eloise. It's going to be sad, because Grandma won't be there. That will be kind of sad.
Last Sunday we had family dinner down at Cody's parents' place. Kip brought his roommate, Sam, and we ended up hanging out in the family room, jamming on the piano and one of Kelly's many guitars. I hope when Cody and I have kids, music is a big part of our lives.
Things I want to get done by the end of this year: first draft of my novel. Fat chance, right? Wrong. As an early anniversary present, my very sweet husband bought me a very cool bluetooth keyboard that connects to both my phone and my iPad, so I can pretty much write on the go even if I have no laptop. This is actually a pretty darn exciting prospect, and my lunch breaks at work have been much more productive on the writing front.
I also need to turn in all my CLE certificates. I have them. I just need to make copies and send in the forms and being a lawyer is really bloody expensive and time consuming. But I want to keep my law license so my friends and I can make our pipe dream of owning our own indie publishing house a reality. Companies need lawyers. It is the way of America.
I also need to get my Christmas presents all made. Cody stayed late at the forge last night getting started on his knives (I heard something about an acetone bomb when he finally crawled into bed around midnight), so I went shopping for Christmas supplies. I need to write a story for my mom, and heck if I know what to get my Dad, my sister, or really anyone else on my side of the family, but Cody's side of the family is okay with weird gifts, and I can crochet weird things, so I have a supply of yarn and have already been crocheting my way through the first session of conference.
I'm also super excited to go to Texas. I can see some of my old college friends and possibly a writing friend, and also it's going to be warm. When I talked to my Texan colleague on the phone, she said she'd warn me beforehand if it was going to be cold, but I lived in Cedar City, Omaha, and now I'm in Idaho, and I'm pretty sure cold in San Antonio really isn't going to compare. I hear the River Walk in San Antonio is gorgeous, and one of my coworkers who's been down there says it's awesome, so that should be fun. On the other hand, my mom keeps telling scary stories about how weird the roads are, and then my colleague mentioned Texas drivers are crazy, so I'm a bit nervous about that whole business too.
Chicago at the end of the month is going to be bloody well freezing, but I am stupidly excited. I've taken to listening to old con panels on YouTube while I get things done - don't really have to see, but listening is fine, and I'm so excited. All of the actors seem like funny, charming people (although, isn't charm a prerequisite of being an actor? No?), and I thought the Season 8 premier rocked, so I think it'll be good. Now to figure out how to get around Chicago...
Mum and Dad are in China now, so I have a massive pile of their mail I've been dealing with. I feel kind of like a secretary. There is something oddly soothing about stabbing mail with a giant double-edged letter opener my husband made out of a railroad spike. I am doing my best to email frequently - though these days my online time is actually pretty pathetic. Now I get why all my graduated, married, working friends vanished from the Internet.
This week was pretty awesome for Cody and I. When Kenpo was cancelled one night, he took me out on a date. He bought me my anniversary present, and we wandered around B&N (because we're nerds like that, and now I'm eyeing a very nice copy of Craig Thompson's Habibi, but I still have unread books that need finishing), and then we shared a frozen yogurt at the Orange Leaf place. Not sure how well a place like that will fare in the winter here, but it was good stuff, and we had a fun time, talking politics, shooting the breeze, and everything else.
Bellydancing is going really well - I'm getting the hang of the choreography, and I learned some new moves, which is always fun. Kenpo is going all right. I need to brush up on my form some more, practice my universal set, and get my techniques memorized so I can do them on command. If someone says "flashing crane", I've got no idea what that means. But if someone comes at me with a two hand push, I can do it just fine. I just need to practice more. Herbie says I will likely be testing in the next month or so, so I'm pretty nervous.
At work this week, our boss's dad made us food. Baked potatoes, the best pork ribs ever (cooked with a layer of bacon on top), garlic break, some kind of apple cinnamon crumble. It was amazing. It kinda felt like the sort of spread they'd put on for the ranch hands at the end of the day, but then they do have a ranch and a passel of ranch hands (an odd mix of wiry blond boys and grizzled, brawny Mexican men), so maybe that's how those guys get fed. If so, they're lucky.
I got to interview a potential paralegal this week, too. That was super weird. Mostly because the dude was old enough to be my dad and was a lawyer before I finished high school. It was hard to get a read on him - I'm kinda lousy at reading people anyway - but it was a learning experience all the same.
This weekend is conference. Poor Cody had to work this morning, and then I'll probably be playing D&D while he's off at Priesthood session, but he did promise we'd go out for post-conference dessert, so that will be fun. I know everyone is probably buzzing about the missionary ages being lowered. Used to be boys at 19 (with some exceptions) and girls at 21. Now it's boys at 18 (assuming they've finished high school or their nation's educational equivalent) and girls at 19. Interesting. It means the kids in the rising generations have really stepped it up. Go kids!
Tomorrow we'll have conference with the family. Like last conference, Sunday will be spent with Great Aunt Eloise. It's going to be sad, because Grandma won't be there. That will be kind of sad.
Last Sunday we had family dinner down at Cody's parents' place. Kip brought his roommate, Sam, and we ended up hanging out in the family room, jamming on the piano and one of Kelly's many guitars. I hope when Cody and I have kids, music is a big part of our lives.