Sabbaticalling

I want to be active on the blog.  Really, I do. But sometimes there's not much to say.  Whether that's because there's just nothing happening or because I'm following my mother's instruction, "If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all," there just isn't.  Or because there's a lot to say but I don't know how to organize it.  Anyhow.  I just decided that I need to put something down, so I'm going to give you a couple of lists.

A couple of weeks ago I read about someone having a sabbatical and decided that's what I'm doing too. A sabbatical to research and otherwise work on all the projects I normally wish I had time for.  So, here are 5 things I'm really happy to be able to work on.  Five sabbatical projects:

1. Transcribing Grandpa Whitney R. Checketts' missionary journal.  He served in the Texas/Louisiana in the last 40s.  There aren't really a lot of profound spiritual things, but it is so much fun to know him as a person. To see the experiences that missionaries share through time and space. I laugh at various things he's done that remind me of letters from my siblings (some very recently): bikes breaking, wallets being lost, running all over town to organize an branch/investigator banquet, speaking and teaching, administering.  Maybe I'll tell you more about some of his adventures another day (so much was different then).  I love being connected to him.  And I'm excited about having this to share with my family, his descendants.

2. Editing interviews for the the History Committee of the J. Reuben Clark Law Society.  When some of them get up on the website, I'll try to remember to link to it.  The JRCLS is the LDS attorney society (open to people of all religions). Over the years my appreciation and admiration for it have increased, but as I work on these interviews the Spirit has confirmed over and over again that the organization and growth of this Society is divinely inspired and will play an important role in bringing forth God's kingdom on earth.  Oh, I have so much to say about this too, but I'll stop now.  Remind me to talk about Sister Beck in relation to this.  And just in general, I've spent hours on this project so it's my baby now.  That's why I'll beg you to read them in a couple of weeks. :)

3. Learning about International Law & Religion. The Center put out a text on this a couple of years ago (many of my friends worked on it) and I wanted one but can't afford it right now.  Tried to get my law school roommate to get me one but Harvard's library is missing their copy.  Happy news, I still have privileges at Northeastern, so I went to their law school and checked it out (and since I'm faculty it's a good long time).  And I'm learning on my own.  It's a little amazing to me that I actually read, study, outline, and learn this material with no class, no one else to learn with.  But I have hopes that it will lead to greater things and I really want to understand. And honestly, it's fascinating stuff.

4. Sewing.  I don't know of anything that makes me as happy as sewing.  I can lose myself in it forever. Which is one of the reasons I've resisted starting.  I'm afraid I'll never job search again if I can sew.  But the truth is, once I started, my happiness and hope level increased significantly and it actually motivates me to search more and better and more daringly.

5.Teaching individuals.  I'm helping a couple of people learn. The most fun is a guy in my ward who has learning disabilities so has a hard time reading.  In addition he's a convert, so he wants to learn the BofM, but it's hard.  We've started our own BofM 101 class--complete with maps, time lines, pictures of people (plus all the study materials--Church's children story book, Seminary manual, etc.).  It's a lot of fun and we're making real progress.  I love it. Some days I think I was really meant to be a mother.

And of course there's lots of job searching.  And simultaneously learning about estate law (trainings, reading materials, interviewing, going to court, etc.)


5 things I'm grateful for:
1. Food.  Planning menus, cooking, having fun with food.
2. My ward employment specialist.  She's smart and compassionate and wise and amazing and--well, she's a huge blessing in my life.
3. My calling.  Love Family Home Evening.  Adore my committee (they're incredible--this is how a committee should work; how will I function when I no longer live in a perfect ward?). And I LOVE that I am able to serve in something that I can be successful in.  It may sound strange, but having this time-consuming, work-intensive calling right now is such a huge blessing. I couldn't find a hyphened adjective that paralleled the others, but it's equally important that it's something that makes a difference in others' lives--in many ways (not just spiritually).
4. Books. I've read a wide variety of books lately.  I feel like I'm my 8-13 year old self again.  And it's wonderful.  And I'm also thankful that the public library is .5 miles from my house.  I requests books  on-line (we're part of a large library system), they make their way to my library, I walk over and pick them up, come home, read day and night. Repeat cycle. :)
5. Technology, my family, music, being healthy, the temple so close (tomorrow is my work day!!!), my incredible visiting teachee (who lets me give her cooking lessons), great roommates, a caring bishop, public transportation, someone accepting my invitation to come to Sacrament meeting!, elders teaching in my home, days with highs in the 40s and 50s, sunshine, washing machine repair guys, and, you know, a hundred other things.  (I bet I really could come up with a hundred pretty quickly.)

Oh yes, and one last thing I'm thankful for--people who smile back when I smile at them.  Wow, I think it's even better than sunshine.