November

12 Books

This month I read The House on the Strand by Daphne du Maurier. This was another entry on the “If you like Outlander, you’ll like this” list. The story was compelling, but the ending was very unsatisfying, so I give it a 6.5.

12 Recipes

This month I made chicken taco filling in the crock pot. It was nothing to write home about, but I did like how easy it was. Again, I give it about a 6.5.

12 Blog Posts

Click here to read some thoughts about public transportation.

12 Ways to Meet People

I tried a new Meetup group this month. This one is for people who like theater. The leaders of the group set up all sorts of group outings to shows all over Chicago. If I get tickets through the group, there is almost always a discount. Plus, I’ll have someone to sit with! My first show with the group was called Hellcab. It’s about a day in the life of a Chicago cab driver. There are about 30 mini-stories all involving different passengers he picks up. It was very good.

The disappointing part is that only one other people showed up from the Meetup. The weather was pretty yucky, so I’m hoping that was the problem.

12 Small Steps Forward in my Career

On November 13, I submitted a grant proposal to NSF on which I am listed as the Principal Investigator, or PI. If the project gets funded, I will get to direct the work! I’m very proud of how it turned out and excited about our chances. I won’t know for a while, though.

12 Fun Events in Chicagoland

The Chicago Cultural Center hosts all sorts of free events, but until now I hadn’t been to any. This month I went to a talk about promoting equity through good design of public buildings and spaces. The venue was nice, but I did not feel that the talk was really about what it was advertised to be about. Still, now I’ve been to the Cultural Center.

12 Crafts and Creations

I made these super cute finger puppets to give to a kid for Christmas! I haven’t decided on the lucky recipient yet, but I hope someone will enjoy them.

  

12 Pretty Things for My Apartment

Green Star Mosaics is community organization that installs mosaics in low-income communities and schools to beautify the spaces and promote community. They run classes to raise money for the project. I took a class and made these pretty tiled coasters.

 

12 Things that Help Me Feel Good about My Appearance

My biggest struggle, appearance-wise, has lately been my weight. My clothes are fitting much tighter lately, and it’s made me self-conscious. So I finally got rid of some of the clothes that were extremely tight and resolved to work seriously at losing a couple inches from my waist and hips. I’m limiting my drinking and eating out, exercising in a more rigorous way, and trying to be more sensible about portions. This isn’t fun, but it’s what I needed most.

12 Grown-Up Things

I spent a boring and tedious few hours cleaning out a ridiculous packed file drawer. Now I actually know what’s in there.