things and stuff

In no particular order:

1. I have a job interview scheduled for Tuesday morning. This is in relation to the civil service job I mentioned nearly a month ago. I applied in mid-November, had my exam in late November, received my exam results last week, and now finally get an interview. Bureaucracy moves slowly! I am not the only person being interviewed, of course, but I really hope I get the job. It would remove about 70% of my current stressors in one fell swoop.

( cut on general principle )

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2. Still working my way through online training for Not the IRS, blargh. Oh well, at least I get paid for it! They're making a first tentative January schedule this weekend, though if I do get the civil service job, obviously I will have to change my hours.

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3. I hate Yuletide, I hate Yuletide, I hate Yuletide. I am about halfway to the minimum wordcount, but not remotely halfway through my planned story. *headdesk*

Ah well, I think I know where to butcher it in order to get a coherent thing posted by the deadline, if necessary, and then I'll try to get the extended proper version up before the archive goes live next week.

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4. Bought gifts for Mom and Vicky on Tuesday, which I will wrap sometime this weekend. Thank goodness for Ithaca's weird little specialty shops on and around the Commons. I also bought little extras for Mom, Dad, and Vicky, got Mom to buy a thing in my name for Dad (which I will wrap and pay her back for when I get to NJ), and went halves(ish) with Vicky on a gift for Aunt Cara. And I got all my holiday cards mailed out last Saturday, which is always a good feeling.

My card list has changed a bit over the years as my older relatives have died and I've tacked some former coworkers on. I've also started sending cards to Cat and Susan's parents addressing them by their first names, which feels kind of weird -- making the shift from 'my friends' parents' to 'adults I know as a fellow adult' -- but has not caused the sky to fall, so eh, whatever.

(I duck the issue by not using names at all when directly addressing them, because that is still a step too weird for me, but at least I'm not calling them Mr. and Mrs. M (or G) anymore. Progress by inches!)

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5. You know, screw it, I think I'm going to post ch. 16 of "Guardian" on my journal tonight even though I haven't finished editing and reposting the previous chapters on AO3. That will give me time to get a little feedback before I stick ch 16 up on a permanent archive, and I have never claimed to be a very patient person. When I finish a thing, I want a reaction NOW.

So yeah, gimme a few minutes and I'm going to do that.

[Fic] "The Guardian in Spite of Herself" chapter 16 -- Naruto

"The Guardian in Spite of Herself" is the sequel to "The Way of the Apartment Manager," which can be found in final form on AO3, or in beta draft with comments on my journal. It also has fanart.

Summary: Chapter the Sixteenth, in which Naga and Suisen demonstrate how not to dance with a partner, Yukiko and Seichi discuss assassination and dead relatives, and, to the author's relief, Kakashi's interrogation skills end up irrelevant to the plot. (4,425 words)

Note: Well, that took far too long! Even if you only count from July 2015, which is when I got serious about returning to this story, that's still six months and that's ridiculous. I will try to do better with chapter 17, but seeing as I always say that, I completely understand any skepticism on your part. *wry*

[ETA: The slightly revised final version is now up on AO3! (ff.net mirror)]

( The Guardian in Spite of Herself, chapter 16 )

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Anyway, all feedback is pounced upon with great appreciation! Seriously, if you see anything that looks weird or unclear, or that could otherwise stand improvement, please tell me.