November into December

This week I returned to the office after Thanksgiving,* and it's fun to see all the lights downtown. That's one thing I missed not working downtown 2018 to 2021. 

Even the temple construction cranes got into the spirit.

And I put some USB- and battery-powered lights in my cubicle.

*Speaking of Thanksgiving, last week I forgot to tell this story: I saw a coworker a few days before Thanksgiving, and he asked about my plans for the holiday. He asked if I was going to eat copious amounts of food, and I said "cornucopious amounts." He asked if he could use that dad joke.

Also speaking of Thanksgiving, we had some leftover mincemeat from the pie my mom made for her parents. I turned them into cookies, but I quartered the recipe, which meant some adjustments—I wasn't about to use a quarter of an egg. I was happy to discover that I know enough about baking to recognize that the batter didn't look right, so I added some oats and more flour to fix it. They weren't as good as they would have been with a regular recipe, but they still had a nice flavor.

I bought a lot of fun things this week. I should be buying gifts for other people, but I have bought things for myself instead. (I did, however, donate STEM supplies at one of the giving machines.) I bought a Hanukkah Squishmallow,

Is that religious or cultural appropriation? It's so cute I don't care.

a wreath,

spicy candy canes,

The pineapple flavor is especially good!

spicy cereal,

it was on clearance

and new snow boots and boot sneakers.

I still have boots I bought at Walmart on my mission back in 2008, but these new ones are more comfortable and they're easy to put on! 

I also got my new Christmas tree pants. I haven't washed them yet, so I'll have to see if the trees fade away like the candy canes did.

I have been making my way through my Christmas playlist. I still collect and buy music, and my playlist now has 1,762 songs (but that will go up when I finally get my copy of the Super Deluxe edition of A Charlie Brown Christmas, which hasn't been delivered yet). I started the playlist back in 2012, and ever since then I've just appended my new additions to the end. So it's fun to start at the beginning and go through the Christmas seasons of the last ten years by listening to the playlist. In 2013 and 2014, I was interested more in quantity than quality, so there's some pretty terrible stuff to slog through (but one of the purposes of Christmas music is nostalgia, so I keep it in). The United Way of Utah County made some CDs for charity in the mid-2010s, which were amazingly good, but sadly they don't make them anymore. Today I made my way out of 2016 and into 2017, which means some of my favorite albums are still coming up. I didn't add as much for 2022 as I have added for previous years.

Yesterday (December 3) I did my usual eleven-mile run to the Bountiful Temple. On December 3 last year, I did a thirteen-mile run in North Canyon. Though I'm sad the trail season is over and I won't be back in North Canyon until April or May, I'm so glad we are getting the necessary snow.

I suppose the most important, interesting part of the week was Saturday evening, and I just made you read through all the nonsense to get to it. In October, I attended the Faith Matters Restore Gathering. Faith Matters is now launching a magazine, Wayfare, and last month they sent out an email asking if people wanted to be involved. I volunteered to help with editing. Since I joined late in the process, my editing is minimal. But anyway, last night I attended a launch party for the magazine at a former church in the Avenues.

I am so awkward in social situations, but a former Sundance coworker was there, so I caught up with her. I got a copy of the magazine, and it is my job to proofread it before it officially goes to press. I helped with some footnotes a few weeks ago, but now I really have to commit to helping out, because they put my name in the masthead.

Wayfare, you've got just what I need!

Reading this issue will let me know if I want to continue helping out in the future! The work is pro bono, but it should help me make connections and build my resume, since I don't know what my job will look like come January.

Since late July, I have been attending a mid-singles ward in addition to the family ward. Not only does the singles ward help me form social connections, but the talks also resonate more with me. But I've attended both wards since I've been teaching the youth Sunday School class. Today they released me from my calling, so I will officially be joining a singles ward again.

Today, Merriam-Webster's word of the day is "celerity," which means "swiftness of motion or action." But to me, it looks like a combination of "celery" and "celebrity," which made me think of the episode of Lost in Space with Dr. Smith as celery. 

The talking carrot turned Dr. Smith into celery with great celerity.

My blogging takes less time now that I'm not doing pumpkinundation roundup!