Day 1103: On the Mend

So last weekend and for a good chunk of this week, Cody was ragingly ill. I started displaying low-key but totally manageable cold symptoms, and on Wednesday night I went to my new belly dance class! It was awesome, in a professional studio with wide floors and mirrors and some fun, creative, beautiful women of all ages, sizes, and levels of experience. It kind of reminded me of the drama classes I took before I moved to America. This is the first dance class I've ever had where we focused on things like carving your own space, interacting with the audience, portraying different emotions while dancing, and getting the giggles out when I make eye-contact with people. Usually belly dance classes are about two things: technique and choreography, so we can dance as a troupe. But these ladies are teaching us to improvise, to be not just dancers but performers, and I really enjoyed it.

I spent Thursday and Friday wretchedly sick. Thursday I at least managed to work, if slowly and ineffectually and regular bouts of spacing out. I managed maybe two hours on Friday before throwing in the towel, at which point I crocheted a bit, watched some Korean drama (bad idea to work a complicated crochet pattern while watching Korean drama) and an episode of New!Who. I think I will give it a shot. Curry loves classic Who, and the others adore New!Who, so I will start with New!Who and then give classic Who a shot. I also took a long nap.

Ivy, much to our dismay, has been in heat, so that means I'm mopping floors a lot, but also she has been less energetic and jumpy and more for cuddling with the people, which is fine by me, but also means we have to get her fixed, and she is going to be sad and sore next week. She stayed outside while I took a good long nap, and then I was rudely awakened from said nap by a knock at the door. I assumed Ivy had escaped the garden and some kind stranger had brought her back, but instead it was vacuum salesmen. Since I was ill and weak-willed I at least let the poor kids do their demo, and then Cody came home.

We went out on a date to a really nice Pizza joint in Provo, which had super awesome Boston-style pizza, and then we watched Batman Beyond cartoons and fell asleep. On Saturday we both slept in, tired, and I put the finishing touches on my novella before sending it off to Kym, our alpha reader who is the gatekeeper - if she thinks a book is not worth it, we will not publish it. My girl Rosebud listened to me read aloud the first chapter, but after that I gave up, because I had a sore throat and couldn't keep reading. Cody and I ran errands - buying supplies for my birthday present, Dingo the puppy - and had lunch together. I talked to my girl Schuldig on occasion of her birthday, which I have not done in a long time. And then I went gaming with my friends.

We see each other so infrequently that we often fall to reminiscing, but it was fun. Sei's husband no longer works long weekends, so he came to play, and Del's husband played DOTA in the background. Del and I sat next to each other, knocked over each other's water bottles, fetched each other's fallen crochet hooks, and it was grand times. I have never gamed with Sei's husband before, and it was interesting; we played off each other better than I expected. Since we are playing versions of ourselves at fifteen (and also fictionalized in ways), there was a lot of reminiscing in the way we were. Also, I was kind of flattered at how the others were amazed at how fast I can crochet. I have been crocheting since I was twelve. I am 28 this year. I guess, yeah, over time, I have become fast at it.

I read all of Veronica Roth's "Divergent" in one day, because it's due back at the library tomorrow and since it's on someone's waiting list I can't renew it. I took notes on a notecard like I always do, and thanks to modern technology I took pictures of the text I was interested in for my analysis. Since I suck at world-building, I focused on those moments I noticed, as well as any other moments that caught my eye. Now I can write my analysis at my own leisure. It was fun, devouring a book like that. Next on the list is The Hobbit, which I started over Christmas break, threw over for three other books, and now can finish how I please.

I should add a new book to my library waiting list so I have the next book when I need to. I still totally plan on making some little doggy saddlebags for Ivy so she can carry books to and from the library for me. A working dog needs a job, right?

Cody has an exam coming up, and for said exam he needs to read a ridiculous number of boring science articles. He was having trouble focusing tonight, so I offered to read one to him. Apart from mispronouncing triethylamine and having trouble figuring out what measurement abbreviations were (kDA, anyone at all?) I was pretty pleased with how I managed to read aloud. When I was on the debate team in high school, I had to be able to read something weird and technical and complicated aloud clearly and well on the first go around, and apparently I still have that skill inside me. I think it helped Cody a lot, but that article was boring as crap, and I feel bad for him.

Here's to healing this week, consuming less honey tea (I am pretty sure we rivaled England in tea consumption this week, and ate more honey than I've ever had in my entire life), learning more, and getting some work on my angel novel done. Finally. I can get back to writing it. Here goes!