working, again

Well, not really, but some work-related stuff happened today.

First, my freelance boss called me to let me know "the check is in the mail." OK, he didn't say those exact words, but I couldn't resist. I think I detected a tiny amount of awkwardness on his part, but I didn't acknowledge it; if he has a problem with me then he should speak up. After apologizing for not being in touch for so long, he gave me a quick update on where things stand with the product. I asked him outright whether or not there was any work for me right now, and he said, basically, "Let me get back to you on that." Which could be code for "I never want to have anything to do with you again," or it could really mean "I'll have to get back to you on that," because he's completely swamped, as usual. So anyway, a nice fat check is working its way cross-country, and that's a good thing.

Minutes after this phone call, I popped into my e-mail and found a letter from one of the editors at ForeWordReviews.com, asking if I had any interest in reviewing any of 7 or 8 titles. I politely declined, since most of them had something to do with healthcare or pharmaceuticals, and the ones that didn't either used acronyms that I didn't recognize or sounded like murder-mysteries (which make fine reads but I have no desire to review). Except for "Bio-terrorism Certificate Program":I admit to having some trepidation as to what, exactly, a Bio-terrorism Certificate Program certifies someone for, I told the editor.

I doubt I will ever write for them again, although if the right title came along I would certainly consider it. The last piece I did for them included very mild but still useful criticism which was cut. It would be one thing if I had only done one or two revisions on the piece but there were substantially more, and I was left with the impression from my then-editor that the last thing to leave my keyboard was what was going to be published. Silly me! Still, if you can't rag on a book for having very bad typos on the first page, there's no point in writing the review at all, is there? Eh. At least they paid me.

In other exciting news, I scheduled myself for the day at Aji Spa on Sunday. In the morning I will go to yoga and meditation classes, and after lunch I will get a massage and a facial. I'm really looking forward to it, even though I am also having fits over how much money it costs. (I'm also thinking I should've asked for an iPod, which would've been a lot cheaper, but there's always Christmas.) It is really a lot of money, but I learned quite a while ago that if someone wants to splurge on you, your job is to be appreciative (Hi, Big!). We can afford it, and DH wants me to have this experience, so I'm going to go and enjoy it.

One of the benefits of being over 40 is that I am finally not worried about what everyone else at the pricey spa will think of me. I've been through a lot in the past few years, and I am what I am, no apologies. In earlier days I would've been nervous about what to wear, my haircut, any number of silly things. While I'm still thinking about what to wear vs what to bring, it's not from the perspective of "Oh, no!" It's more like, ""OK, I'll need my swimsuit to hang out by the pool afterwards..." I'm also considering what to bring for reading materials or handwork, because I plan on hanging out for quite a while. I have no desire to be either single or childless, but it will be nice to pretend that I am for the better part of a day.