Thankfuls, Part 4

Wrapping up this month:

27:  Museums! I cannot remember how old I was the first time I went*, but it was the days before children's museums, so I went to the regular ones on Best Behaviour and was introduced to science and art and history of all kinds. I am not shopping for #MuseumStoreSunday as I don't need things and don't know people who need anything this year (we already have all the "Museum Nerd" swag) but you should as they have really cool items.

* My mother told me that I was two years old: "You were two and I prepared you for a visit to the Art Institute by showing you pictures of some of what we'd see. We got to the top of the stairs and you looked at the painting in front of you and said in your two year old voice 'Oh, El Greco.' The several nuns standing there just about fainted."

The Assumption of the Virgin (1577–1579)

28:  Music!  Do I really need to explain it?  My first concert was also when I was two years old, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra in residence at the Ravinia Festival.

29:  Books, and authors, and libraries.  The wonder of reading**.

30:  The ability to see.  I've never taken it for granted - you don't when you are so myopic that you began testing as legally blind (without corrective lenses) at around age six, plus I have astigmatism, plus cataracts, so I am very aware of vision.    A number of years ago (yes, earlier than many people expect to hear about it, but that's the way of my family, see Day #21, the memory from 2012) I had my cataracts removed, and they were able to correct 12 diopters of my vision, which means I am only about 2.50-2.75 diopters of correction which translates to around 20/225 vision.  I cannot tell you what it would have been before, as most of the conversion charts stop around -6.00 diopters.  I am also very thankful for a skilled doctor who performed the surgeries, and also the people who keep improving the process.  I still find wonder in the power and gift of sight.

** As of today I have finished fifteen books this year, most of which I started this year.  That is three more than the number to which I committed on GoodReads, where I guessed at doing a book a month.  Some months I didn't finish any; other months I finished two.  Given that two of the recent ones were from the "Historical Whodunits" series, and around 500 pages each, I think it's an acceptable accomplishment.

Thankfuls, Part 3

Continuing for the month: 

20:  Credit to people who are supportive, as without encouragement I never would have started making soufflés for my parents!  The soufflés have a story, the short version of which is that after I saw Franklin Habit achieve it without hyperventilating, I decided that I would try it.  I managed one for myself.  When I was helping my parents remove things from high shelves and sort through what was not used, one item was a soufflé dish.  I offered to make one while they decided what to do with it.  They kept the dish and it has become a tradition that I make one every time I visit.

21: Thankful that I have a good boss (although I still miss my old one) and colleagues who work together and support each other well.

       I also posted forward this Facebook memory of a post from 2012:

Thankful for my family, in so very many ways.  (Except maybe the teeth-of-chalk, wide feet, and bad eyes. And my dad's sense of humour about half the time.)

22: Thankful for my uncle's thoughfulness in organizing his finances.  What I haven't talked about much is that when he became disabled in 2018, we found out that he'd appointed me to hold his Powers of Attorney, and also to be his successor Trustee.  Most of his assets were in, or designated to become part of, his trust.  This has made things much easier for me to resolve since his death.

23:  As always on the 23^rd, thankful for my baby brother.  He is hardly a baby anymore, but he’s still the younger by almost three years.

 24: Thankful for the native persons who helped the first Europeans to survive in their new continent.

25: Thankful for a quieter work day, and for leftovers, and the family with whom I ate the original meal two days ago.

When traveling, I write something on my mask -
a quote from a birthday person, or a significant
event that happened on that date.
This seemed most appropriate for flying this year.

26: Thankful for all the small businesses! I do what I can to support them instead of big businesses. I did my share of that today.

Thankfuls, Part 2

10: Thankful for those who survived Kristallnacht, and grateful to those who teach about it so hopefully it won't happen again - even though, in this age, it appears inevitable.

11:  Veterans.

12: Grateful for the ability to celebrate in person, and for my co-leader of the lay-led Congregation Beth Israel services last night.

13: I made progress on projects, including some I've procrastinated about.

14: Thankful for mechanics who squeeze in services before I travel.

15: Thankful for electricians who address all the issues and install or uninstall things quickly and tidily. Also for being able to listen to the Dallas Winds online, and happy they are continuing to make this available for their far-flung fans.

16: A negative COVID-19 test!  That "Mountain Law" tonight with States of Play ended early enough that I could get some sleep before my oh-dark-o'clock flight in the morning.

17: Thankful for Southwest Airlines helping me be a Toys for Tots elf.  (Two large and very stuffed pieces of luggage - my clothing was mostly in a carry-on bag.)

18: Glad to have an extremely busy workweek ending, so I can catch up on things over the weekend.  Thankful to have a job I enjoy with colleagues who respect and appreciate my abilities and knowledge.

19: My father is healing from some medical treatments. Grumpy but improving.

Knitting Update

I finished the Falling Leaves shawl.  It will look better once the ends are run in and it is blocked, but that will have to wait until after I return from celebrating Thanksgiving with my family.

Thankfuls, Part 1

I was busy enough with things last weekend (including enjoying some surprise summery weather) that I didn't remember to post.  Then we had the last few days before the midterm elections, and work has been scrambling to meet some deadlines.

I did start posting Thankfuls on Facebook, thanks to a friend's reminder, and here is what I have so far:

1: A good meeting of the leadership for the Association of Corporate Counsel's Intellectual Property Network. I enjoy working with these colleagues, they are bright and energetic and we accomplish wonderful things for the IPN members.

2: Attending Robert C Fullerton's monthly concert with my grandmother. She really enjoys his music.

3: Thankful for local farms such as Clatter Ridge Farm, which delivered many yummy things for me today from their "online farmer's market", and The Farm Truck at Hein Farm, whose 2023 CSA has just opened for registration. I look forward to their farmstand being open for the holidays, so I can get some goodies as gifts, and a few treats to tide me over until they reopen in the spring.

4: Thankful that I found out in time that my local pharmacy closes on Sunday and I'll need to find another if I have a prescription. This one was conveniently within walking distance from the post office I use, so I will definitely miss the convenience.

5: Thankful to be able to celebrate with others at Congregation Beth Israel for the 18th anniversary of our Rabbi Pincus' arrival. It was good to see Rabbi Dena Shaffer, if briefly, as she joined the festivities.

6: Thankful for technology that allows me to hang out virtually with people I never would have gotten to meet in the Before Times. Today it included people from all over the world who are Franklin Habit's Patreon subscribers, for his weekly "From the Workroom", then the KnitTalk group which is mostly a dozen or so regulars. While a few of us had met one or two others in the past (including with some only-fiber-people-understand stories), and some of us have supported others through group gifts or gift swaps, we likely wouldn't have seen each other's faces.

7: Thankful for lovely weather (unusually summery for the start of November, mid-70's F) and not having early meetings so I got in a nice walk before the work week began. I remember a couple years with major blizzards at the end of October, this is really quite a contrast.

8: Whatever the outcomes (and I am sure some will be unpleasant, given allegations and comments made in the last few months), thankful to be in a country where I have a right to vote as I choose.

9: Glad to have the opportunity to join people in online theatre! I started performing with Plague Mask Players after enjoying a number of their productions. I had a small part in last night's production of Sophocles' Antigone, and ten minutes before we began was asked if I would also take another role, filling in for a performer who had an emergency. It's slightly less nerve-wracking to do it when online, but not by much! I joked about how both of my characters (Haemon and Eurydice) ended up dead - as did most of that family.

I also stepped in to take minutes for the Illinois State Bar Association's Intellectual Property Section Council meeting, because the secretary couldn't attend.  I am glad that the secretary for the Association of Corporate Counsel's Intellectual Property Network attended and took minutes for that meeting. Doing chair and secretary at the same time is quite a task, although I did it for much of last year. Later in the day we had a planning meeting for the ACC IPN so it was quite a day of non-work meetings. I very much appreciate that my job allows me to do these extracurricular activities. Maybe that should be my next Thankful?