Bounty

I'm thankful to have emerged from the flurry of the heart of the holidays with a feeling of bounty. Yes, I was overwhelmed and tired at times. Yes, too much driving was involved, but our time was bountiful. There was a bounty of family to enjoy -- it was wonderful to watch Q to see how his relationships with different family members have evolved over time.

There was a bounty of generosity -- giving, receiving, etc. Throughout, Q was gracious and not greedy, which I consider true success for many reasons.

There was even a bounty of fun Q activity -- most notably, cleaning with his partner dirt tiger, Grandma Kathy and daily "middle of the night" (aka early morning) walks with Grandpa Iv. He looked forward to both of those activities like nobody's business. In fact, upon reminding him last night that he should sleep until the late morning, he noted that he would of course, because he only woke up early in Maryland because "I'm just so tempted by Grandpa Iv to go on a walk with him." Early rising, but what could be better, right?

On the material front, among other things there were some yarn acquisitions and a Royal ball winder, which will make life MUCH easier. Pics to come in my next post.

I leave you with wishes of bounty, peace, and thankfulness...

Greetings from the depths

....of work, that is. It's a super duper amazingly busy week in the teaching world for me. I am doing the main lecture in my course that I am the teaching fellow for. Two times. That's an extra six hours of teaching. The first session was tonight, and it went well, I believe.

Then, add to that two sessions of another course, where I'll be running class for a small group. Six more hours of teaching.

On top of my usual two hour-long sections which take enough prep in and of themselves.

So, fourteen hours of teaching. Doesn't sound like much, but boy does it take me out of me. But I do so love it.

So for now, I'm waving from the depths of "busyness" and looking forward to emerging triumphant on the other end.

Oh, and that December project is still forthcoming. And 'twill be fun!

World AIDS Day

Just wanted to have today be a day of pause to remember all of those lost to AIDS. To remind everyone that it is still a vital fight -- for all communities, as HIV/AIDS infection rates rise in groups often thought to be at little risk for contracting the disease.

Perhaps visit my aunt's AIDS foundation in Venezuela

Or donate here.

Or just recommit yourself to making a difference somehow -- attending to candidates' stances regarding funding for HIV/AIDS research, keeping yourself abreast of the facts, reaching out.

Just don't forget.