Unbalanced

The examen, based on the spiritual exercises of St. Ignatius, helps a person hold onto what spiritually nourishes him by looking at what is giving him consolation in his life or causing him desolation.

I thoroughly enjoyed the long Thanksgiving weekend with my family. I stayed with my aunt, uncle, and cousin. My brother and his wife came over for Thanksgiving dinner. He looks so much better than he has in the past. This also marks the first time in three years that he wasn’t in the hospital over Thanksgiving. I made leached mashed potatoes (with roasted garlic) for him because I knew he would eat mashed potatoes regardless. My grandmother wasn’t there as she had flown home the week before after receiving a good report from her oncologist. So many family health-related blessings to be thankful for this year. I went to the mall with my teenage cousin on Black Friday afternoon (which wasn’t so awful), then we played cards and went out for dinner while her parents attended a dinner with my uncle’s boss. Saturday afternoon I met up with a friend from grad school who’s now a law student (yikes) for coffee. Sunday found me and Tugger back home, enjoying our solitude.

This weekend I was supposed to go back to see my cousin dance in the Nutcracker ballet. My brother, sister-in-law and I had tickets for Saturday evening’s performance. However, it started snowing mid-morning on Saturday and they were forecasting one to four inches of accumulation. Since I don’t do snow, I did not go. I watched the large, wet flakes fall from my cozy position on the couch after a necessary, quick midday trip to the store for toilet paper. (Tugger played with the TP while I slept Friday night, creating his own “snow” from the last roll. Grrrr… I usually don’t replace the roll twice in five days.) It stopped snowing before midnight and the accumulation was limited to cars, rooftops, and yards. I’m disappointed to have missed the opportunity to see my cousin perform, but am happy with my decision and thrilled that there wasn’t more snow.

I and all my fellow Fellows each received our first choice placement for next year. I finally now know where I’ll be spending part of my time, still waiting on the when and with whom.

About a month ago I had problems with my subject moving during an experiment despite anesthesia and set out to “find a better way.” I found that others have forged this trail before but in a mechanical rather than biochemical fashion. Adapting this for our use seems to be a good solution. The problem is that I have no engineering background. After many emails to individuals I have never met, I found someone who is willing to help. That set off the chain reaction of trying to schedule two professors to be in the same room at the same time. With one having been in Chile last week and the other departing for Japan this week, this was not an easy task. Hopefully the meeting will go well tomorrow.

In summary I am most grateful for health, comfort, and safety for myself, my family, and my friends. I am least grateful for Tugger’s mischief and resultant consequences, unknowns, and uncertainties. Oh, I’m also grateful for the fact that this is unbalanced and heavily weighted toward the grateful side!