The final reckoning of 2023.

As so many do when a year winds down, I am looking back at my resolutions for 2023 and assessing whether I accomplished them.  The short answer is "no", but I came close with several:

• READING:  According to Goodreads, I have read 18 of the 12 I committed to read this year, but they didn't have a way for me to record one of the books.  So it's really 19.  I only read eight during the Mark Twain House & Museum Reading Challenge period, so I changed my goal there from ten to eight - slightly cheating, but I really thought I'd get more read during those six months.  When I looked at my list for the year I realized I'd forgotten to include one so added it.

The "No Image" is for "Me", Katherine Hepburn's autobiography.

• COMPLETING UFOs:  I did complete the Magical Miniskeins socks, but I didn't make progress on the shawl - it got packed away during my move and I'm not sure where it is right now.  I finished some, but not all, of the baby blankets.  I made quite a few other things - my tally (and I might have missed one or two) was 99 items in 2023, many for charity, some for family or friends.  I may finish a 100th during the online party I'm attending this evening.
• COOKING:  I did quite a bit, but with the move I stalled on my proposal to cook once a month from one of the historical cooking video channels I follow.  I did experiment out of some of my historical cookbooks, and I think I'll try again on the once-a-month cooking/baking from video channels idea.

I also had an unofficial one: To have one week where my FitBit recorded at least a full amount of sleep (it's set for 6.5 hours), the minimum of steps (250) every one of the nine tracked hours, 10,000 steps per day, exercise the minimum amount (20 minutes together) or more each day, and meet the 8km daily goal.  Needless to say, I didn't make it.  I had some weeks that were close, but a bad night of sleep or inattention when my bracelet vibrated so that I missed steps one hour (usually when traveling or in a meeting), and I missed a metric.  While I feel disappointed in myself when I miss one, especially the steps-every-hour metric, I tell myself it is the overall picture that really matters.  This also helps on days when I miss the 10,000 steps requirement, although they are very few; usually I walk more the next day to make up the difference, and all weeks I have exceeded the minimum of 70,000 steps total.

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People in the USA, and I suppose any other country that writes the date in month/date/year format, is making much of today being 12/31/23 - some term it "the waltz date" or something similar because it recites as 123-123.  The rest of the world either laughs or puzzles.

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There is so much to consider for next year.  A good reminder, for those considering what to resolve in 2024:  "Do not be daunted by the enormity of the world’s grief.  Do justly now. Love mercy now.  Walk humbly now.  You are not obligated to complete the work, but neither are you free to abandon it."  From The Talmud.

Christmas Adam.

Some people joke that since Adam came before Eve, December 23rd could be called "Christmas Adam".

    <rimshot>

Today has been a day of my own, which is not usual.  I am celebrating a slightly belated birthday by having a "jammies day", with no obligation to go outside, so in theory I could stay in my pajamas all day.  I did put on clothing for Torah Study, because most of us are on-camera, and also to get the mail.

I've had great things arriving, whether gifts from friends, or cards and letters.  It's nice to get something other than ads and bills.  I do receive some magazines - mostly fiber arts or cooking, or from the universities from which I have degrees - but mostly my mail is uninteresting.  It's nice that some people still do cards and letters.

Part of my activity for the last couple of days has been to write cards.  Specifically, I am writing thank-you cards for sailors, which a friend of mine in Honolulu distributes as part of her social worker activities.  I'd asked a couple times for recommendations about text, and finally one of the prolific contributors replied to tell me that she looked online for sites with sample text.  I did a hunt and found a couple of sites, using their examples to create my own text.  I'd stocked up on cheerful-looking, or just elegant, thank-you cards at a dollar store, and decided to write as many as would fit into a Small Flat Rate Box, given the distance to ship and the weight of such things.

In a way I am honoring my grandmother by doing this, because she was a fierce supporter of our military, and her second husband, my step-grandfather, was in the Navy.

So those will go off to my friend, as will the final two gifts for friends in Connecticut.

These look much better when on a head, trust me!

When it was clear the hats would not be finished in time, I quickly made some spiced molasses snowflakes to include in their package as the eighth Channukah gift.  I thought the hats would arrive in time for their traditional Solstice woods walk, but nope.  Work has been very busy for me.  So sometime before Twelfth Night, they will have new hats.  The green one is the Joshua Tree Hat from the National Parks series, because the recipient loves to hike in national parks, and I am including a printout of the New York Times' recent article.  The other is Stephen West's Honey Striped Hat done in a single yarn, so it looks like a turtle shell, because the recipient is nicknamed "Turtle".

Now to spend the evening eating roast beef and ice cream (sequentially, not together!), and crocheting or knitting, and reading.  I am up to 15 books read and reported this year according to Goodreads, and I would like to get to an even number.  My current bedside book is thick enough that I am pretty sure I won't finish by the 31st, plus I've been hoarding a seasonal mystery for just this week.  Time to open it!

Helping Others.

'Tis the season, after all.

Some Jews give to a different charity on each night of Channukah.  My congregation sent out a Hannukah Wish List, and I contributed for the video operators for Zoom services, since I now attend remotely and want that to continue.  So it's a bit selfish 

Many Christian people are doing a Reverse Advent, based upon images like these:

  

Reminders also come out that if you donate boxed mac-n-cheese, it's good to donate canned or boxed milk that people can use to make it.  Some people suggest adding a can opener, but you never know whether it will end up with the people who have cans to open.  And many places can use diapers (adult incontinence items too) and feminine hygiene items.  Also cleaning supplies, laundry soap, things like that to help people when all their money has to go to housing and transportation.

Of course there are Angel Trees (at my congregation we instituted Jacob's Ladder, from the story about Jacob seeing the ladder to heaven and the angels going up and down, with the same purpose but avoiding the pagan-Christian association of a tree), and I decided that I would contribute to the one hosted in the local community hall.  I took my laptop so that I could check prices and availability of items, and ended up with five tags:

• A man who asked for a package of black pens.  I chose several different types, and noticed he wears size 6X-7X shirts, so I bought one of those also, a proper one with button front and collar, since I would guess he usually gets just T-shirts.  I hope it fits.
• A man who asked for brown dress shoes.  Unfortunately he's not my father's shoe size, but I found some similar to the ones my father wears.
• A man who asked for a new shirt, also a big guy at 3X.  I bought three for him, different styles and colours, no white T-shirts among them as those are pretty common and somebody who asks for a shirt should have a proper shirt with buttons and a collar.
• A man who asked for tennis shoes - I found a nice pair in blue.
• A man who asked for either a specific type of coat, or camo thermals.  Those proved surprisingly difficult to find in matched sets, so one is a green camo top and solid green pants, and the other is grey/black camo set.

We'd collected a bunch of toys and games and stuffed animals for the local Toys for Tots collection, but they closed those before Thanksgiving, with little notice.  I didn't find out until the local organizer sent out a "too bad for us" message.  Then somebody checked around and the Durham Rescue Mission was happy to take the toys!

Finally, somebody announced a collection of toiletries and such for women and children at the Good Samaritan Inn (also part of the Durham Rescue Mission services), and my mother and I cleaned out the stockpile of toothbrushes (since my parents use electric models and don't need the ones given by their dentist) and soaps (I collect, it seems, and can share) and other items and dropped them off at the pickup house.  They also wanted coats, but I whittled down my closet before moving and don't have ones to spare.

Plus there are so many charities asking for assistance.  I am somewhat choosy in the ones I like, mostly ones that help the hungry, or women and children who have been abused, or people who have been rejected by family for their sexual orientation (which often overlap to the other groups), or a couple sheltered workshops and homes for persons with disabilities.

Still need some holiday treats, or want to plan for a future holiday or birthday?  The latter two run bakeries and ship almost anywhere.  All made with love and skill and VERY yummy.

Eight nights of light and music.

Technically the first night wasn't, because I was in a hotel and couldn't light candles.  But every other night - three at friends' house and four in my own - I lit the hannukiah, said the incantation, and prayed.

My friends are Russian Orthodox and heard of Channukah, of course, but didn't know much about it.  They were interested in the process of setting and lighting the candles, and happy with the pieces of gelt (chocolate money) and gummy candy I brought for them.  I explained the dreidel game, but we didn't play - too busy going to plays and visiting.

It has been a rough Hanukah for many Jews this year, with the attacks by Hamas on October 7th and then the attacks by much of the world as Israel retaliated and defended itself.  So much of the world has been outspoken against Israel, and even supporting Hamas in its declaration to wipe Israel and all Jews off the face of the earth: Nazis of the 21st Century.  It is scary and disheartening.

Like many Jews, I became more open in who I am.  I wore my "Channukah Makes Me Jump For Oy!" sweatshirt last weekend, while at plays and otherwise.  I've been posting the Jewish side of things on Facebook and responding to some friends who are blindly supporting the Palestinians as if they are the only indigenous persons in the region, overlooking the fact that "Palestine" is a name imposed on the area by colonizers, first the Romans and later the British Mandate.  If you look at the historical record, the area was called by other names, which is part of the reason it wasn't chosen for the new country that became Israel.  As Golda Meir pointed out, until 1948 anybody of any religion - Jewish, Muslim, or Christian - who lived in that area carried a Palestinian passport.

Every night, I've posted at least one song.  This year's list:

Night 1:  Rise Up

Night 2:  A Star Wars Channukah because a cousin posted this picture to me:

Night 3:  Burn

Night 4:  Several songs based upon Taylor Swift's oeuvre:  Era-lution of Taylor Swift, the full version of the last song on that compilation - Chanukah ("Shake It Off"), and You Can Light With Me.

Night 5:  Shine  (and by great coincidence, since the video shows people being swabbed to go into a bone marrow donor database, the next day I received notice that "[o]n Sep 30, 2014 you helped facilitate a donor drive in Chicago at <location>. We are thrilled to inform you that a donor recruited at that drive has transplanted a 61 year old man battling Myelodysplastic Disorder."  Yes, I have also been swabbed and am in the database.  It's the second time I've received a notice that somebody found a lifesaving match thanks to the donor drive we held.)

Night 6:  Elton Johnukah and Candles On The Sill

Night 7:  West Side Chanukah Story

Night 8:  From the recent March for Israel, a version of Am Israel Chai ("The People Of Israel Live" or "We're Still Here") - so necessary in the last two-plus months.  And the future.

This year, Hannukah has so much more resonance for the Jewish people.  And I have so much I want to say, but it all gets choked together and I cannot type clearly.  Maybe in another post.

Silly Plays and Shipping Gifts

Last week was busy:  I was in an online production of "Peter Pan" on Wednesday evening, playing Nibs, one of the Lost Children.  Thursday I went to Chicago for a professional meeting, and Friday I flew to Dallas for two days of holiday shows.  I hoped to get out of meetings early and possibly catch a fourth show but that was not to be.  And I considered seeing a show on Thursday evening in Chicago but was enjoying talking to old colleagues and others that it wasn't possible.  Well, I had a surprisingly good evening of being social.

The plays we saw in Dallas are "Santa Claus Versus the Martians", based upon a 1964 film, "Santa Claus Conquers the Martians", which appears on many lists of "Worst Movies".  This is the sixth outing of the play, which parodies the source by playing it as straight as they can, with as low a budget as possible.  It's great!

That evening we went to the latest edition of "The Beulaville Baptist Book Club Presents: A Bur-Less-Q-Nutcracker!!!" which is very silly and also a lot of fun.  It has has been nominated for or won "The Nutty", the annual award for best production of The Nutcracker in the country, several times.

The third show was "Little Women", which a friend directed and for which she'd made all the knitted items the cast wore.  Each one was in keeping with the character and several told a story of the character's development through the play.  She plans to give each item to the actor or actress as their from-the-director gift after the show, and is making hat and fingerless mitts for the crew out of the leftover yarn.  My friend promised to send photographs, because of course we (I went with a knitter friend) could not handle the costumes!

I knitted some, and mostly visited with friends, and ate a lot of Tex-Mex food.

Just before going I mailed several Hannukah packages, and friends are sending photographs as they open and see the goodies.  Because a planned gift wouldn't be ready in time, I quickly made some snowflake-shaped ginger cookies (using an old recipe from a cookbook I collected) and since it was a big batch, some of the Christmas gifts went out early.  I also made sugarplums, which are dried fruit and nuts (pecans, in this case) ground together, then rolled in sugar or dipped in chocolate.  I did the former.  I also dropped several wrapped gifts for people at the Durham Rescue Mission through an Angel Tree program, and since this year's Toys for Tots pickup ended before Thanksgiving (but we didn't find out until afterwards), they DRM was thrilled to receive toys to distribute at their holiday party.

MASKS - of course I keep wearing them, especially with the travel and being out in crowds.  And I add a quote or fact appropriate to the date.  Because I wore one every day whilst traveling:

Noam Chomsky - born on December 7, 1928.

James Thurber (difficult to find a quote that fits
on a mask!) - born December 8, 1894.

Adm. Grace Hopper - born December 9, 1906.

Ada Lovelace - born December 10, 1815.

Rita Moreno - born December 11, 1931.

I keep not reporting on my Resolutions, probably because I don't think I am getting anywhere.  I seem to be in another reading slump - or maybe it's just because I keep picking up long books?

Not much to show.

At work we had a virtual department retreat, so for two days were mostly in those meetings.  I had a presentation first thing on the second day, and no guidance other than the topic, but apparently people liked it and didn't say "but what about ....?" at the end.

So most of the other days were making up meetings and so on with business persons.  So not much time for other things, especially since most of the yarny projects I have are fiddly and need attention.

This weekend my parents needed things done, which we scheduled around football games.  Key was the Michigan-Iowa State game, and the outcome means we will definitely be watching the Rose Bowl.

I've been getting Channukah packages packed to mail, and trying to finish a couple hats, which aren't going to be done in time, so luckily the couple is mixed and celebrates everything from Thanksgiving to Twelfth Night.  The hats will be done and appear before then!  No photos - could be spoilers!

Today is International Day of Persons with Disabilities.  I know many persons with disabilities of all kinds, including family members, and when in law school clerked at the Legal Clinic for the Disabled.  We have a long way to go in terms of accessibility, but progress has been made.

Not a long post this week, because I'm tired, partly due to a late game last night, and partly because today included several hours of clearing half of my parents' garage.  Being the youngest, I got to move boxes.  Mostly of books.  You know the saying?

          >  Friends will help you move.

          >  Real friends help you move bodies.

          >  The best of friends help you move books.

I love my parents.  💕