I'm still doing medical transcription, but I am working at night now from 7 pm to 3 am. It is pretty crazy. I do okay with it. I only run into trouble when I have to mesh my nocturnal schedule with the real world. For example, my ward moved to 9:00 a.m. this year so I have only been getting about 3 hours of sleep on Sundays, partly because I feel anxious before church and have a hard time falling asleep and partly because of my work schedule.
I also have a new calling. When I got back from California in January they called me to be a primary teacher. I teach a class of 4-year-old kids. I like being in primary and it's easier for me to feel comfortable at church when I have something to do. But man the kids in my class are wild. They are all sweet kids but I am usually exhausted by the time church ends. It might have something to do with the lack of sleep. Luckily I can go home and take a nap for a few hours after church.
I started a medical billing and coding class in February. I am 43.5% done with it so far. I think that's pretty good since it is supposed to take 4 months if you do the program 40 hours a week and I already have a full-time job besides this program. I am hoping to have it done and be certified by the end of the summer. Then hopefully I can find a better paying job and work during daylight hours.
Since Christmas I have become obsessed with Wii Fit. I asked for a Wii for Christmas in the hope that I would use it to work out. I haven't actually lost any weight, but I feel better and I went for a bike ride last week without dying or throwing up so that is some sort of progress. I think getting scores for everything feeds my perfectionist drive, and I feel inordinately proud when I can do one of the games perfectly. Whatever it takes to get in shape I guess.
So between working out, medical transcription, cleaning my condo, working on my coding program, and hanging out with Heather's family my days are pretty full. Heather has been great as usual with making me feel included and letting me participate in her family's life. Still no social life to speak of. My nocturnal schedule makes that a little hard. But I am getting to know people in my ward better including some of the other singles, so hopefully if I can get a daytime job I can start going to some activities.
My condo is pretty much decorated except for one wall, but I can't afford the shelves I want to put there at the moment so that is indefinitely on hold. It's a little sad to be done because it was so much fun. A great big thank you to Mom and Dad for helping me with so much of it. Dad was surprisingly patient with helping me hang up a ton of things on the walls during his last visit. Mom and I had a lot of fun picking everything out over the last year or so. There is still a little work to do on Mom and Dad's room so we can probably still squeeze in a few more shopping trips. Hopefully the condo will be a comfortable place for everyone who comes to visit here in the future.
Last but not least, I started teaching Heather's three oldest kids the piano several weeks ago. It is pretty fun but reminds me how much I have forgotten since I stopped taking lessons 15+ years ago. They are really sharp kids and are picking it up pretty quickly.
I just realized this totally sounds like one of those letters people send out with their Christmas cards. I should've taken a picture of me in a reindeer sweater for this post. Unfortunately I'm trying to be more responsible money-wise, so reindeer sweaters aren't in the budget. Maybe for Christmas. Cross your fingers. You know it would be awesome.
