Before I launch into any discussion of how great a weekend Megan and I had, I have to shoot a beaming ray of hope into everyone's heart. As you know, Megan lost her job this last month and things have been a little tough for us. Of course we've had plenty of blessings and have had a number of small miracles that have kept us afloat. But there is a hope that things might be getting a whole lot better for us soon.
Here's the straight dope on all this: Megan has a 2nd interview with a company she interviewed with last week. We're fairly sure that this interview will be the job offer itself, so Megan could be employed again soon. Also, I applied for a job over at the map collection in the science library. It's a job that would pay me a whole bunch more than I'm currently getting paid, and I'd have the benefit of not working here, which is as big a perk as anyone could ever give me. I have an interview for that job set up for Thursday. So this week will really be a big one for Megan and I. We could have a massive positive shift in our careers by the end of the week. So we're asking for your hopes and prayers on our behalf.
Megan has a pretty good chance of getting the job she's interviewing for. In the first interview, the guy was really impressed with her portfolio (as is everyone who sees it. She does good work). This second interview will be with the boss man who has power to hire her. If he's as impressed with Megan as everybody who has ever met her, she should get the job. It's not a done deal yet, but we have plenty of hope for this one.
As for my interview, there are a lot of reasons to be positive about it. First of all, Karina (Todd's wife) is on the search committee. If I got the job I would be her superior, which would benefit her as much as it benefits me. I know she's pulling for me, so that's good. Also Jeremy, who is one of the two student workers I would be over is a guy I work with here in this library as well. He and I already have a good working relationship, so I'm sure that will factor into it as well. Also, in the phone call with the head librarian of the science library, she asked if Nick, my coworker, was my supervisor. I told her that he was just my reference and that the boss man was my supervisor. She asked if she could contact him and I told her, "Sure, but you're probably not going to get as glowing a reference from him as you will from Nick." She responded, "Yeah, I know." She was the one who rescued the last two people who escaped from this place, and she called Nick for his opinion of Jeremy before hiring him. Nick told her that Jeremy was good, so she hired him. So Nick's influence with the head librarian there will be a good thing to have as well. It feels so much like things are just falling into place that I can't help but get my hopes up. Of course it's more important to me to see Megan get her job, but I really hope that we both get the jobs we're interviewing for. We'd have a lot more money, but I'd also have a lot more sanity, which is more important. Every prayer I send up this week will be pleading for us to both get these jobs. So that's the most important thing you need to know right now.
Megan and I had a really good weekend. It was probably a product of all this hope that was floating around. There were a few times where Megan and I were just laughing or smiling for no good reason. We discussed over and over the positive effects that could come if we both get new jobs. The last time I had this much hope and was excited about anything was over a year ago when I thought there was a good chance that Megan would actually date me.
Friday was when we both found out about our interviews, so when I got home from work, we decided that we needed to take a little time to celebrate. We have been going to the dollar movies about every other week, but because we've been poor we use rolls of quarters, dimes, and nickels to pay for everything. This weekend we decided to go see "Hancock" despite its bad reviews and whatnot. Megan and I slammed down our change for tickets, popcorn, and a drink and as we were walking into the theater I asked her, "Are you ready to be severely disappointed?" She said, "Yes." So basically, we had pretty low expectations for the movie. We were pleasantly surprised. I think if you're expecting "Hancock" to be the superhero movie to end all superhero movies, you'll be disappointed. But if you expect a big budget movie with good special effects and a plot line that may or may not completely suspend your disbelief, you'll probably enjoy it. I'd definitely watch it again, given the chance.
On Saturday we woke up way wicked late. We had been house sitting, so we had to drive all the way back to the boonies of Chandler after the movie, which was the late show. So we rolled out of bed, threw the house together, and got back home around noon-ish. I spent some time throwing a bunch of mp3's on the old ipod, which is Megan's new baby. I caught some glimpses of what turned out to be a wild weekend of college football (top teams losing, non-BCS teams tearing it up e.g. BYU?!) and then Megan and I set out for our regular Saturday things. We dropped by DI, where we found nothing that we needed to own (I actually have a lot more fun at DI than Megan does. I feel bad about that). We dropped by the reptile store where a number of cute little tortoises caught our fancy (If Megan and I both get our jobs, don't think we won't go right for the tortoises. We really want 'em). After that, Megan remembered that she had the women's conference, so we grabbed a quick lunch and she headed out. I then spent the time while Megan was away, looking at video games and dreaming. I then came home and played video games, which made me feel a whole lot better. In other news, I'm getting better at Circus Atari all the time.
Sunday was fast Sunday because of conference next week. Megan and I both bore our testimonies because we really have been blessed this month. It's been a real test of faith, but I think we're passing. Church was really good. Our financial clerk was back at church for the first time in 5 weeks. He's a med student and had to work Sundays for a little while. I didn't have to do the tithing, which was fine with me. I pulled the records I needed to pull, printed up an ordination certificate, and got out of the clerk's office without too much hassle. All in all, it was a good Sunday.
After church, Megan and I had a delicious meal to break our fasts. She cooked up a stew and we had biscuits to go with it. By the end of the meal we were both exhausted (you know how fast Sunday can do it to you) so we caught a quick nap. Afterward, we pulled out the old cribbage board. Megan holds the all-time lead on me at two games to one. She beat me in the first game in an embarrassing loss. I had barely rounded the final corner when she put it home. In the second game, I had the queen mother of all great hands. Let's just say that everything I had was a counter. I've never seen a hand that fantastic and it'll probably be a long time before I see another one. My one good hand gave me a good enough lead to hang on for the victory. So Megan still leads three games to two in the all-time rankings, but I feel like I'm sitting a lot better than I was. Before my one lucky hand, she had a three to one edge on me, and was leading in that game as well. I think she pulls out the over competitive gene in me. Things were a little tense before I pulled out the win in the last game.
Anyway, we had a nice, long, pleasant weekend. It was exactly what we needed coming into this week. There is so much riding on the events of this week, so it's hard to not feel a little excited and anxious. Of course we'll keep you posted on any and all developments and as I said before, we really appreciate all your prayers on our behalf.