Catching Up
In which I briefly come out of my cave of silence..
It’s been a weird 8 days since I last released a blog post. Blogging daily for 30 days wasn’t easy but it became a pattern, a habit. Then, nothing. Silence.
I’m not good at silence, I tend to fill up the empty space with noise by talking or putting on something to listen to or watch. I eventually did start to enjoy my blog silence and let go of feeling compelled to come and share something here. But, alas, that never lasts very long because a long break turns into months to years worth of break. Before I started my first Substack (that went to Ghost then came back here, ahem), I had last blogged in 2023. Not something I’m trying to replicate.
Health Updates
We’ve all been spared any sort of seasonal illness, at least so far. Everyone but my MIL has had their COVID and flu vaccines, and she’ll get hers as soon as her very long round of steroids are complete. Speaking of my MIL, she had some issues with falling and water retention when her cardiologist switched her mediation but she’s back to her original meds which have helped tremendously. Now that she’s mostly back to normal, we’ve scheduled a procedure to start to remedy some long-standing issues with her teeth. Lizzy is doing well with her clear aligners, and I start my own set in January to correct some of my teeth that have started to move such that I can’t clean well around and between them.
Observing Advent
Some time I’ll share the whole story, but I’ll summarize my last 15 months or so as it relates to church and my faith as complicated. I am, though, trying to start towards moving away from some very difficult times back to it by observing advent in my own ways. This has included reading the daily posts from Kate Bowler and participating in the not-at-all-religious Avoidance Advent from Bad Art Every Day.
I’m also going to try out a couple churches over the next few months to see if I find somewhere that feels like home. I thought I knew exactly what I wanted from a church, but Matt made me realize after a long conversation that I really don’t, except a more traditional style of service with is fully welcoming to women, the LGBT+ community, and folks from various socio-economic backgrounds. I specifically want to check out Lutheran, Episcopalian, Anglican, and Disciples of Christ congregations as each has some similarities to the United Methodist tradition I’ve been a part of most of my life. (If you’ve got other suggestions for similar denominations in the US, let me know.)
Reading
On a far less serious note, I ended November with a total of 12 books read, though I’ll save that for a future post. My holiday reading is going well. I’ve finished 3 books plus a novella, nearly finished another book, and decided to DNF another not even 30 minutes in, annoyed with the behavior of both the FMC and MMC. I’m strongly considering “banning” myself from audiobooks for the month of January to focus on those I’ve got in print or as eBooks. I don’t have long of a commute and can use that time to catch up on the podcasts I’ve been almost entirely ignoring (with exception of those related to books, ironically enough). I will also mention Libro.fm has their credit bundle sale going on through 11 December; you get 10% off the purchase of credits whether they’re for you or a friend.
Craftiness
I’ve been doing some knitting which has been nice. I made a baby sweater for a coworker and finally finished up some socks I started back in August; I used the Baby Surprise Jacket (link to publisher’s page for book it was published in) from Elizabeth Zimmermann and Monkey (link to Knitty) from Chloe A., respectfully.
I’ve now got two crafty projects in work: a pair of socks for a coworker and a secret embroidery project. The socks are a basic 2x2 rib in the Smells Like Halloween colorway from Sock Obsession from several years ago. And I’m not sharing the embroidery project that I’m making up as a go along as it’s for a friend for Christmas.
