It’s November.
I’ll give you a second to wrap your brain around that.
….
Insane, right?
In celebration of the what is possibly my second most favorite month of the year, because you simply cannot deny the fabulosity that is the blustery cold autumn-to-winter transition air, pie, flannel or Thanksgiving, I present you with a true November treat:
I’m always up for trying new things. This, surprisingly, wasn’t too bad! I was a little uncertain upon first whiff, but it tastes just like root beer with a smidge of pumpkin pie spice added. Nice for a fall evening at home, curled up under a blanket with a candle burning and a good book close by. Mellow and subtle. Give it a try if you’re feeling festive.
In other November news, I think it might officially be time to break out the gloves, coat and other winter gear. I wore an adorable brown cable-knit sweater skirt with bright red tights and brown boots to work today…and it just didn’t cut it. I was cold walking across that bridge in the wind, gloom, and bone-chilling mist. Adorable but impractical. Looks like I’m in for a long winter of fleece-lined tights, hats, mittens and pea coats. I’ll get used to it….eventually. But, in the meanwhile, I repeat my plea: SEND ME WARM CLOTHES.
Also, I think my wisdom teeth are going to find themselves homeless soon. I’m super bummed about this. I honestly thought I was going to skate through life, right around the braces and root canals and cavities and tonsils and appendix and wisdom teeth….somehow managing to avoid it all, as I have so far. I think my luck is running out. Two nights ago, just before heading onstage for a post-show talkback I suddenly noticed, “Huh, my jaw feels funny. And what’s with this headache?” Woke up the next morning with the same annoying and bothersome, yet not necessarily painful, symptoms. One quick glance on the WWW was all I needed to confirm Ted’s suspicion that a stiff jaw, headaches, a funkily angled back tooth can only mean one thing. I’m praying the pain holds off for the next busy week-and-a-half full of workshops and talkbacks and matinees and Texas vacays (OH, YES…It’s happening!) before I have to get serious about this. Think good thoughts!
And finally, at the beginning of each November, come the first of the month, everybody starts in on “30 days of thankful.” You know, the “Today I am thankful for turkeys” shindig. At the beginning of last year, as a New Years resolution in fact, I made a commitment to write down five things I was thankful for that day, in a journal, every single night before I went to bed. It’s a simple thing. Takes hardly any time at all. But in ten short months, you’d be amazed by the difference it makes. I take far fewer things for granted. Not a day goes by where I don’t recognize the food on my table, the roof over my head, the job I have, or the people I love as tremendous blessings. And somehow, with just that simple daily act of acknowledgement for the things I do have – my good health, a hug from a friend, a funny conversation, a productive day, a tasty dinner – the things that I would have normally caught myself complaining about a year ago, don’t even enter my radar. I have happier days more consistently. My priorities are clearer. I focus less on myself and more on others. I like to think that the act of recognizing the good things in our life and the things that we appreciate doesn’t need to be limited annually, to 30 days in November. If you feel so inclined, I’d like to encourage you all to start something similar. Five things that day that you are thankful for – that’s all. It takes a pen, a notepad, and two minutes. It can be as small and detailed as “the construction workers didn’t wake me up at 6:15 a.m…..they waited until 7 a.m.” or “my new yellow sweater is cozy and makes me smile” or as large and general as “a happy marriage to a loving, supportive spouse” or “a job that I enjoy going to every morning that provides for me and my family.” There’s always something to be thankful for, no matter how hopeless or impossible your situation seems, and while November is a great time to think about that, carrying the tradition through the year is even sweeter.
Happy November, friends!
