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... as opposed to making stock, which was someone else's task today. (Though I did pull together a passable udon last night, and put roast beef in the oven for lunch, and set out butter and sugar to mold into bourbon balls...)
For reaching this moment, I give heartfelt thanks. And for these things as well (among others not listed for, among other reasons, the sake of discretion, sheer absent-mindedness, and running out of time on a school night):
1. This winter's first Christmas cactus bud, which appeared this past weekend. The plant is one of three divided from one my mother owned:
2. Friendships! Friends showing up at the ER, bringing by or sending food, customizing clothing, running errands, prepping the house, feeding and brushing the dog, keeping the convalescent amused . . . Friends commissioning work from me. Friends enjoying and promoting my writing. Friends sending postcards and letters. Friends hiking around Radnor Lake and strolling around Cheekwood. Hearing from and seeing friends I've known from high school. Friends getting back in touch (after gaps of many months or even decades) as their circumstances permit. Friends commiserating with me over the brokenness of the world and celebrating with me its marvels.
3. Honorary family: they are generous beyond expectation and patient with my shenanigans. My big sister recently sent me fresh bay leaves from her yard. I am wearing a yukata originally given to my late granddad-of-sorts by the Japanese parents of his son's wife-to-be. My big brother (one of those friends from high school) is storing the biiiiiig, beautiful hat I loaned to the girlfriend of his former roommate for her first visit to Keeneland.
4. Hats! I didn't get to Keeneland myself this year, but I picked up a feathery fascinator at a hospital fundraiser and got to wear it to a circus (with a gown given to me by aforementioned big sister). (Plus the friend's girlfriend tried it on and it looked super-cute on her, which was in itself a delightful moment.)
5. I really enjoyed working with the women on my new (i.e., post-caretaking-leave) hospital shift.
6. Though I'm again on leave from that gig, this time because of a new job. I'm enjoying the work a lot.
7. Something I finally got around to trying this year: riding Nashville buses.
8. Another first-time-for-me thing: stand-up paddleboarding.
9. Another first-time-for-me thing: swimming at the community center.
10. Another first-time-for-me thing: covering a tennis tournament as credentialed media.
11. Upgrading to a better camera. Game changer!
12. ... someday. (Though it's already made a world of difference in my ability to focus -- literally -- on sports and plants.) Attending 12th and Broad's Art Camp and recognizing that while I do want to develop my photography chops, right now (and even near future) isn't the time. I'm okay with that, and I'm thankful to be at the point in my life where I'm better at discerning the difference between what I actually want and what I think/feel I should want.
13. Another first-time-for-me thing: finally visiting Nashville's Bangkok Market. Fish balls and moon cakes! (Haven't yet worked up the nerve to defrost the durian, though.)
14. I was nominated for a Rhysling Award for the first time.
15. Winning some of my battles with bureaucrats.
16. Successfully growing French hollyhocks, French marigolds, zinnias, and Christmas peppers.
17. Another first-time-for-me thing: checking out (and checking seeds out of) the public library's seed exchange.
18. Much to my astonishment, a quartet of tomato cuttings (two in water, two in potted soil) in my house are still alive.
19. Hosting the graduation party for a friend who received her doctorate.
20. And a party the next day, too, because there was so much food left over.
21. And the lessons learned, such as the fact that potato salad will get overlooked if mac and cheese is also on the table.
22. Having a reasonably stocked pantry that frequently allows me to resort to Plan B when Plan A is no longer in the cards.
23. A supermarket in my neighborhood now sells sushi.
24. For when Plans B, C, and D don't work out, or I don't have it in me even to boil water, there are two excellent burger joints in my neighborhood. (The Pharmacy and the Crying Wolf.)
25. My neighborhood also includes a terrific wine store, bakery, yoga studio, and hair salon.
26. The lotion warmer I picked up via eBay works only intermittently, but when it does, ooh la la!
27. My mother would be aghast at how much I pay for makeup, but it's just the basics, it's quality stuff, and getting expert help with figuring out the right foundation color is priceless. (Which is to say I finally got around to buying a new pot of powder last week, having realized that my previous concealer + compact were no longer right for the job.)
28. Having green hair is still more fun than should be legal.
29. Completing a bookbinding + calligraphy project I first sketched out years ago.
31. Also a long time in the building: being featured at Houseboat.
32. My first poem in Stone Telling.
33. Also? Poems published online by the Poetry Storehouse, Goblin Fruit, unFold, and 7x20.
34. In print: poems in the Texas Poetry Calendar, the Dwarf Stars anthology, and the Rhysling anthology.
35. Fantasy tennis winnings: two virtual gold medals and two actual bags of Sugarpova.
36. That one of those medals was the result of Stan Wawrinka winning the Australian Open (and Dominika Cibulkova going on a tear) was even better.
37. All those fast horsies with "Kitten" in their name... (Side rant: I was skimming an entry list this morning that included a horse named Self-Destruct. He seems to have survived his name so far -- he's already five -- but jeez.)
38. My public library has a good range of Pimsleur CDs. Italian and Arabic ahoy!
39. Coloring pages! Specifically Havi's monsters, Kapit and Elson's anatomy guide, and the Southwestern Ohio Daffodil Society/American Daffodil Society sheets.
40. Yet another first-time-for-me-this-year thing: flying in a seaplane.
41. The dog nosing around my feet.
42. The BYM annoying the dog. :)
Hoping this finds all y'all warm and well!
For reaching this moment, I give heartfelt thanks. And for these things as well (among others not listed for, among other reasons, the sake of discretion, sheer absent-mindedness, and running out of time on a school night):
1. This winter's first Christmas cactus bud, which appeared this past weekend. The plant is one of three divided from one my mother owned:
2. Friendships! Friends showing up at the ER, bringing by or sending food, customizing clothing, running errands, prepping the house, feeding and brushing the dog, keeping the convalescent amused . . . Friends commissioning work from me. Friends enjoying and promoting my writing. Friends sending postcards and letters. Friends hiking around Radnor Lake and strolling around Cheekwood. Hearing from and seeing friends I've known from high school. Friends getting back in touch (after gaps of many months or even decades) as their circumstances permit. Friends commiserating with me over the brokenness of the world and celebrating with me its marvels.
3. Honorary family: they are generous beyond expectation and patient with my shenanigans. My big sister recently sent me fresh bay leaves from her yard. I am wearing a yukata originally given to my late granddad-of-sorts by the Japanese parents of his son's wife-to-be. My big brother (one of those friends from high school) is storing the biiiiiig, beautiful hat I loaned to the girlfriend of his former roommate for her first visit to Keeneland.
4. Hats! I didn't get to Keeneland myself this year, but I picked up a feathery fascinator at a hospital fundraiser and got to wear it to a circus (with a gown given to me by aforementioned big sister). (Plus the friend's girlfriend tried it on and it looked super-cute on her, which was in itself a delightful moment.)
5. I really enjoyed working with the women on my new (i.e., post-caretaking-leave) hospital shift.
6. Though I'm again on leave from that gig, this time because of a new job. I'm enjoying the work a lot.
7. Something I finally got around to trying this year: riding Nashville buses.
8. Another first-time-for-me thing: stand-up paddleboarding.
9. Another first-time-for-me thing: swimming at the community center.
10. Another first-time-for-me thing: covering a tennis tournament as credentialed media.
11. Upgrading to a better camera. Game changer!
12. ... someday. (Though it's already made a world of difference in my ability to focus -- literally -- on sports and plants.) Attending 12th and Broad's Art Camp and recognizing that while I do want to develop my photography chops, right now (and even near future) isn't the time. I'm okay with that, and I'm thankful to be at the point in my life where I'm better at discerning the difference between what I actually want and what I think/feel I should want.
13. Another first-time-for-me thing: finally visiting Nashville's Bangkok Market. Fish balls and moon cakes! (Haven't yet worked up the nerve to defrost the durian, though.)
14. I was nominated for a Rhysling Award for the first time.
15. Winning some of my battles with bureaucrats.
16. Successfully growing French hollyhocks, French marigolds, zinnias, and Christmas peppers.
17. Another first-time-for-me thing: checking out (and checking seeds out of) the public library's seed exchange.
18. Much to my astonishment, a quartet of tomato cuttings (two in water, two in potted soil) in my house are still alive.
19. Hosting the graduation party for a friend who received her doctorate.
20. And a party the next day, too, because there was so much food left over.
21. And the lessons learned, such as the fact that potato salad will get overlooked if mac and cheese is also on the table.
22. Having a reasonably stocked pantry that frequently allows me to resort to Plan B when Plan A is no longer in the cards.
23. A supermarket in my neighborhood now sells sushi.
24. For when Plans B, C, and D don't work out, or I don't have it in me even to boil water, there are two excellent burger joints in my neighborhood. (The Pharmacy and the Crying Wolf.)
25. My neighborhood also includes a terrific wine store, bakery, yoga studio, and hair salon.
26. The lotion warmer I picked up via eBay works only intermittently, but when it does, ooh la la!
27. My mother would be aghast at how much I pay for makeup, but it's just the basics, it's quality stuff, and getting expert help with figuring out the right foundation color is priceless. (Which is to say I finally got around to buying a new pot of powder last week, having realized that my previous concealer + compact were no longer right for the job.)
28. Having green hair is still more fun than should be legal.
29. Completing a bookbinding + calligraphy project I first sketched out years ago.
31. Also a long time in the building: being featured at Houseboat.
32. My first poem in Stone Telling.
33. Also? Poems published online by the Poetry Storehouse, Goblin Fruit, unFold, and 7x20.
34. In print: poems in the Texas Poetry Calendar, the Dwarf Stars anthology, and the Rhysling anthology.
35. Fantasy tennis winnings: two virtual gold medals and two actual bags of Sugarpova.
36. That one of those medals was the result of Stan Wawrinka winning the Australian Open (and Dominika Cibulkova going on a tear) was even better.
37. All those fast horsies with "Kitten" in their name... (Side rant: I was skimming an entry list this morning that included a horse named Self-Destruct. He seems to have survived his name so far -- he's already five -- but jeez.)
38. My public library has a good range of Pimsleur CDs. Italian and Arabic ahoy!
39. Coloring pages! Specifically Havi's monsters, Kapit and Elson's anatomy guide, and the Southwestern Ohio Daffodil Society/American Daffodil Society sheets.
40. Yet another first-time-for-me-this-year thing: flying in a seaplane.
41. The dog nosing around my feet.
42. The BYM annoying the dog. :)
Hoping this finds all y'all warm and well!
Wow
Date: 2014-11-28 03:16 pm (UTC)From:Re: Wow
Date: 2014-11-29 02:50 am (UTC)From:Re: Wow
Date: 2014-11-29 12:58 pm (UTC)From: