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?