Too many things

What an eventful week!

On Monday, I had my interview with the Joseph Smith Papers. I thought it went fairly well, but as I was leaving, one of the interviewers said, "It was nice to meet you," and in response, I completely stumbled over my words and gave the most awkward response ever.

On Wednesday, I got an email that said, among other things, "We interviewed only a small number of applicants who all had exceptional qualifications. I’m sorry to inform you that we have extended an offer to another applicant, who has accepted the offer." 

I'm not disappointed in not getting the job. In some ways, I feel it's a bit of reprieve, because my post-grad fate is not sealed yet. But I was more bothered that they didn't want to hire me. I can't help but wonder what is wrong with me, even though there may be nothing. Was it the awkward response I gave? Was it all the "ums" I said? Was it because, when asked, I said I preferred a laid-back environment to a professional environment? Was it my pink tie? 

But considering it was the first job I've applied for for after I graduate, I'm not disappointed. 

In fact, on Thursday one of my senior editors at BYU Studies gave me a more serious task to do, saying he wants to promote my job title so that I can put it on my resume. I'm nervous being assigned to be in charge of an entire article from the beginning, but I know it's helpful for me. Then on Friday, another senior editor alerted me to a campus job opening, so I'll be sure to apply to that. I doubt I'll get that one, just because I'm sure there will be lots of applicants, but I'm definitely going to try. 

This semester I'm working on a student journal as a senior editor, which means that the other student editors turn in their edits, and I incorporate the changes. I hope I'm a better editor than the other students are. I look at their edits, and I think, "Well, this change works, but that doesn't make it better, and sometimes it even makes it worse." But then sometimes I will look at the final versions of things I edit for BYU Studies. Sometimes I see that my changes are ignored, and I think, "Does that mean I'm a bad editor?" But other times I will see my edits incorporated, and that's a good feeling. For example, this past week I discovered that an author was talking about Fantasia but he meant to be talking about Fantasia 2000. My senior editor seemed pleased with the catch. 

Then, of course, my last post talks about my mom's accident. We visited her yesterday after her surgery. She's been doing pretty well. Yesterday, a respiratory therapist came in and said to my mom, "You're not a smoker, are you?" My mom said, "I'm stupid enough to break my leg on the stairs, but I'm not stupid enough to smoke." After he left, Susanne said that he was a smoker (she knew from having worked in that hospital). Then today we went back to try to pick her up. The medical folks didn't seem to know what they were doing, because they said they were going to release her early, but it took four or five more hours. First she was going to get crutches but not a knee scooter, then a knee scooter but not crutches, etc., even though she was supposed to get both. When the scooter and the crutches finally came, they were the wrong kind of crutches. But she's home now! She's doing remarkably well, all things considered. I had planned to go back to Provo yesterday, but this turn of events changed my mind. (My Iowan roommate's mom recently broke her leg, so he was sending her a care package. I said, "You're a better son than I am," and he said, "But you can visit your mom!" So here's this situation to prove it.)