11/18: laughing

...at jokes from a box of 150 little joke cards.  I got them so that I could give them to students when they needed a smile, but I'll be getting smiles along the way from them too.

11/17: hearing

...the word ululating as I was listening to The Golden Enclaves by Naomi Novik during my morning walk.  On Thursday in Latin class we had the word exululavit, which I had paused on to explain to the students.  I'm excited to be able to tell them about the coincidental timing.

11/16: spending

...some "free" money I got from signing up for a new credit card.  After charging and paying off a certain amount (which I did before letting any interest accrue), I got $200 in bonus money.  Today some of that bonus money paid for another year of Artforum.  I'm very behind in reading issues, but I don't want to think about what it would feel like to not get it anymore.

11/15: the patience

...of two cats at this very moment.  They know it's time for me to feed them for the evening.  Phineas is resting in the cat-bed on a small table next to my chair, and Simon is sitting upright a few feet away, looking at me.  They don't want to bother me, though they want to know as soon as I make my move.  (And they probably want to remind me to make my move but aren't pressing the point except with their presence.)

11/14: pink

...in the sky as I drove home from campus.  Getting to see the beginning of sunset on my drive is some consolation for the shortening days.

11/13: finally

...getting my Real ID.  I meant to do it in spring 2020--and then COVID happened.  And I've kept meaning to do it.  But my driver's license expires next week, so I left the house a little earlier than usual and stopped by the revenue office to combine the license renewal with getting a Real ID.  I could have gone into the grace period (one month after expiration), but I'm glad I got it checked off my list now instead. 

11/12: eating out of my hand

Emma the Cat, that is.  He needs to take a pill a day, and for the past 3 days he's eaten it from my palm (once I've covered the pill in juicy wet catfood).

11/11: time to spare

 ...in Latin class.  I had been packing class-time too tightly, which didn't give us enough breathing room.  On Friday and again today I didn't do that, so we had time for extra practice as well as less rushing.  I'm sure I'll overstuff the lesson plan again (always unintentionally), but it felt good to have two days without unfinished work that needed to flow over into the next class meeting.