Miser family pumpkin update

 Life continues to be rich and full in the Miser Family household, and this week we're particularly rich with pumpkins.  And muffins!  And pumpkin muffins!

Can you "spot" Cruella DeVille and her little Dalmatian?  (At first, I thought they were cows, but the grandkids set me straight).  

Last year, our next door neighbors decorated the heck out of their front porch with scary screaming things.   I (a) love their exuberance and (b) am glad they didn't do the same this year.  Instead -- out of deference to the fact that our small city has had 1/10 the number of Covid deaths that China has, even though China has a heck of a lot more than 10 times as many people as our city -- they put up "Do Not Cross" police tape up to block off their front porch, and they erected giant inflatable spiders and other spooks in the backyard, where they've created an awesome maze and adventure park for their grandkids. 

I like this approach: don't scale back on the usual traditions; instead go creative and make a new kind of experience,  one that'll bring a new kind of memory.  Our family is planning to do a similar kind of experience-swap-out for Thanksgiving this year.   We're trading the traditional feast that feeds extended family and as many students we can cram in the house, with something other-thankful.  We're not 100% sure what this will mean:  tentative ideas are that we'll learn to bake pies together; go for a Thanksgiving family bike ride; learn about the history of the indigenous people who used to populate this area, and maybe even undertake a chalk-art installation in the parking lot across the street. 

The cold weather and leaves mean that the gutter business is raining down dividends, and N-son (who occasionally works with his friend's gutter business) has spent part of this weekend helping his friend scope out I-daughter's gutters, which need replacing.  It's nice to see these connections and interconnections!

Okay, let's turn to this week's interview.  Of all my many kids, the one who has always been the most laser focused on whatever is in front of her is L2.   When she was in middle school, she was so intent on being the very most perfectest on all her homework, that her dad offered to pay her on the following scale:  5¢ for an A, 10¢ for a B, 25¢ for a C, and $50 for a D or F.  L2 never earned more than spare change, needless to say.   And she hung out with people who kind of magically showered her with amazingly non-Miser gifts.   My guy and I used to joke that L2 was destined to marry either a multimillionaire, or a missionary.   That being said, let's see what L2's most recent adventures have been like.

What things were you doing a year ago that you're not doing now?

• First and foremost, I was drinking alcohol – now sober since June 1, 2020.

• I was dating a guy who was totally wrong for me.

• I was living and working in Chicago at Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine. I am now doing that postdoctoral fellowship remotely from Minneapolis – who would have ever thought I would willfully move back to Minnesota back when I first moved here for grad school??

What occupies your days, nowadays?  (Sometimes people ask, "what do you do?", meaning, "what's your job?", but many people in our family don't have traditional jobs or paid employment at all, so this is a more general question).

• I am on the academic job market, so writing and applying to various jobs from liberal arts professor to research professor in a cancer center takes up much of my time. 

• I am also teaching a class in the Master’s of Public health program at Northwestern (on zoom -- picture to the right says "First day of teaching! 2020, MPH classes taught from the floor of my bedroom".)

• Working at a new job Saturdays and Monday afternoon/evening at a weight management clinic in Burnsville, MN.

Tell me a bit about your hobbies

 

• I have gotten really into Pilates during quarantine. I am currently doing a 30-day October Pilates challenge with two other friends that has been a lovely accountability and abs(olutely) fun challenge.

Five years from now, what kinds of things do you hope you'll be doing that you haven't done yet or aren't doing now? 

• Volunteering at my new church...surprise, I go to church now, and I have started volunteering at the food-handing-out associated non-profit situation called Manna Market.

• Alcoholics Anonymous – I am not sure if this is considered a hobby, but I spend a lot of time doing it between my own program, meetings, helping and supporting other people getting sober. As of mid-October, I am also officially on the leadership team of Hollywood Young People’s Alcoholics Anonymous (HYPAA; yes, you read that right, in Los Angeles because everyone just does zoom anyway). I went to one of their zoom meetings because I wanted a 10pm meeting…and time zones made that possible…and fell in love with the LA energy and the fact that there are just so many sober young people – just a different vibe than a room full of old men chain smoking in the Minnesota suburbs. Of note, there are also many awesome meetings in Minnesota, not all just elderly chain-smokers – although I shouldn’t knock those because those dudes often offer some great wisdom.

When you treat yourself to a bit of "me" time or special indulgences, what does that involve for you?

• I bought an infrared sauna during quarantine so doing a session in my infrared sauna.

• My new apartment (more info below) also came with an electromagnetic meditation chair so a quick meditation session in the chair – or just in general.

• Making morning beverages…mate (was obsessed with mate cups in Argentina 20 years ago – so came full circle on that) mixed with some coffee, almond milk, and some vanilla stevia has been my morning drink of choice of late – sounds weird, but I am in love with it.

Five years from now, what kinds of things do you hope you'll be doing that you haven't done yet or aren't doing now? 

• Preparing tenure materials…or thinking about doing so

• Dealing with balancing children (or thinking about them) with my own work and my husband’s (see what I did there…yeah I’d have to meet someone I want to marry first, but five years is a long time)

• Sponsoring newly sober people like myself…or perhaps even people have been sober 4 years…to my then 5+ years of sobriety

Describe some of your favorite household gadgets or treasures. 

• I am so grateful for all my gadgets and treasures!!! 

My living situation is pretty darn crazy and must be some kind of act of God…I was renting a bedroom where I had a mattress on the floor from a guy from Craigslist looking for apartments to officially move back to Minneapolis…Then a guy from my Alcoholics Anonymous home group who also happens to be an interior designer (so the place is BEAUTIFUL) decided to move back to Michigan to work things out with his husband. He sent a group text telling us to come please take anything we wanted…I came that afternoon because I wanted this lovely meditation chair he had, learned that he and his roommate were both moving out…and when I told him I had been looking for an apartment in this neighborhood he told me if I took over his lease I could keep EVERYTHING. I now have an apartment full of beautiful art and statues and furniture and china dishes and silverware made of silver that I never would have bought myself. I feel so grateful every day when I wake up in my remote control king bed. I don’t feel like I deserve any of it, but I know it was the first of many signs that I am finally on the right path with work, volunteering, sobriety, and everything I am putting my energy into. I also actually keep my room and home clean!! (If you know me well, you know that is a big deal).

Are there any questions I should have asked you, but didn't?

???

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And that's the news from our family, which continues to be pumpkin in our adventures.  May you and yours be similarly muffin.