Week 49

Sunny campus walk

Crafting with Cats, Part 1

Campus Christmas reception

Candles in the window, Margot on the lookout

Game night

Whitworth tree lighting

My dad is in the hospital. He was admitted on Friday, but he'd been in pain for a week before going in. There are a lot of things battling in that hardworking body of his right now, and a lot of unknowns. It's hard to be so far away. That is top of mind right now, and the rest of the events of the week feel insignificant; blogging about them feels simultaneously silly and a much-needed distraction. Dad's an avid reader here and I know he doesn't want me to worry.

Going through these kinds of things make everything else around me feel meaningful, and I mostly feel it through every day interactions with people. I am reminded of how many of them are also going through trials, and here they are, being kind to me. We are here to build each other up. I'm mostly grumpy in these winter months, but I'm trying to remember this.

Reading

I'm enjoying Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.  

Recipes

Joel made risotto with sausages this week, comforting as always, which I paired with red cabbage. I also tried out the "Kale Salad That Started it All" from Joshua McFadden's Six Seasons book, which I supplemented with leftover cabbage and grilled chicken. I especially love the dressing: half a garlic clove, minced to a paste (I just use the microplane), whisked with 1/4 c. Parmesan, juice of one lemon, a healthy glug of olive oil, 1/2 tsp. salt (or to taste), freshly ground pepper. It's creamy, almost like a caesar dressing.

I also made carrot bread and nacho popcorn for game night.

Making

I finally have something fun to show for this category! I few weeks ago I picked up a used copy of Martha Stewart's Encyclopedia of Crafts at Auntie's Bookstore and had the thought, Maybe 2019 will be my Year of Martha. I'm always on the hunt for ways to format my life around passing fancies. In looking for wreath inspiration online, I came across this link on Martha's website for a muslin and canvas leaf wreath. Because I had planted that craft inspiration seed weeks earlier, I thought I might as well start now.

As with pretty much all projects that look simple on paper, this took a little more time and troubleshooting. The gold thread kept getting caught in my sewing machine (I took my machine apart, cleaned it, and successfully put it back together again, and it works like a dream now); I cut way more fabric strips than necessary; I dropped the giant can of spray starch on my toe (also, spray starch is probably horrible for the environment and smells terrible and has left a gross film on my ironing board); and I had to re-glue a lot of the leaves to the form after twisting all the other stuff around it. But I still had fun making this. The total cost for materials was about $15. I am considering this one a success.

Crafting with Cats, Part 2

I also started the new knitting pattern I mentioned last week. The whole point is to incorporate peaceful meditation as you knit, to ponder the meaning of peace, to be present. But when you're trying to watch Modern Family as you cast on 300+ stitches only to find out you didn't give yourself enough yarn and have to start over...twice...it creates the opposite effect. I got up the next morning for a re-do, in peace and quiet, probably as the designer intended, and am now one row in. I need this kind of project right now, and I hope I'm able to give myself the space and time to do it.

Listening

What is it about Wednesdays? They have been some of the hardest workdays, aside from maybe Mondays, I have experienced lately. I rode the bus home Wednesday night and immediately called up Spotify to help me detach from the work day and reclaim some headspace. I turned up Andrew Bird's latest track, "Bloodless." This is probably the best thing to listen to after a long day on a dark cold light, with moody blue lighting overhead. Opening line: "They're profiting from your worry..."