Nilly! Sorry this is such a rough holiday season for you(and yours) I am having a "case of the mondays" because I didn't sleep well last night(Sometimes I think my body wants to make me crazy!) This week seems like it will be arduous already(In very routine ways that are nothing to worry about. social worker appointment and the booster I've been putting off, but who wants any of that? Is it any wonder that I go around #blessed all the time? Real life should have a short-term fast-forward or something, I swear.)

I whipped through the new Paladin (Paladin's Faith), so I had to go back and go through the previous three. They hold up on re-reading.

Edit: This was meant to go in Literary. It's Monday. sigh

Hey y’all. Chag sameach to Nilly and Shir and any others who celebrate. I put mine out but haven’t lit any candles yet. Hoping to get some latkes somewhere this week.

Boss is on office duty for two weeks due to surgery, so we have a colleague down from Michigan to help out.

Looks like I may not be going to NC for Xmas - my dad is thinking of asking us not to come, which is sad but probably for the best. My sister currently refuses to be in the same room with me, and my mom was the driving force behind most of the Christmas stuff.

I just inhaled a salad and had already had a chicken and rice bowl. Why for still hungry?

So I make it a point to look for these little lights, these acts of grace and compassion and kindness. I feel that they're so deeply needed, so I try to actively look for them (oh, and if at all possible, I wish and hope that I can also actually do a tiny bit of that myself, for others). And that's what this Hanukkah is, for me.

Nilly speaks for me in this. Nilly and Shir and all the lovely Jewish folks here: chag sameach and may you also find bits of joy and love and courage during the holiday. Shir, in particular your posts about wanting a future that includes everyone give me hope for that future; your courage bolsters my own.

I don't post much these days, but you folks are very important to me. Please continue to take care of yourselves and each other.

I know I've said this a lot(or maybe just thought it and meant to say it a lot) What Karl said. And I say that as somebody with a rep for courage that she mostly doesn't deserve, even though "The hardest thing in this world is living in it," or however that quote goes. Maybe you still haven't had what you are craving, smonster. That happens to me sometimes(and not just about stuff that should end up in Bitches for content.)

One of my coworkers at the library is the wife of the Rabbi and she brought in a dreidel and gelt for the book club for disabled adults today, and they apparently had a great deal of fun! So there is some light in my little world for Hannukah.

Good stuff, flea!

That reminded me to go see if the menorah that usually sits on the receptionist's desk in December was turned on to the right number of candles (it has generally sat there completely unlit unless I wander by and turn it on) and it doesn't seem to be there. Probably packed away where no one has come across it since we have been back in the office (I don't think I thought to look last year. I don't generally go in and out of the building near reception)

'each one of us is a little light, but all of us together are a strong and steady light'.

That is a beautiful truth. If I had heard it before I had forgotten, but I needed to hear this. I'll try a little harder to be a bit brighter.

Looks like I may not be going to NC for Xmas

I'm sorry this is such a grim holiday for you, smonster. May you find some moments of joy.

That reminded me to go see if the menorah that usually sits on the receptionist's desk in December was turned on to the right number of candles

I've been impressed that our lobby has been up to date on this! The residents in our condo are a pretty wide international variety, but the staff is close to 100% Hispanic, so not so much Jewish. We have two buildings and both lobbies are beautifully decorated with Christmas and Hanukkah decorations. I think the building manager lights the candle when she leaves for the day.

It was a very long work day, but helpful that my son covered for my routine day work while I was out working on site. So tired. It has been a long time since we had a new practice and it is easy to forget how stressful the first couple weeks are when the doctors and staff adapt to new software with a full patient load. No one has time to learn new things.

Chag sameach to all who celebrate.

In me-me-me news, I have accomplished the difficult feat of burning food in the microwave. And I don't mean overcooked, I mean full-on end-of-Time-Bandits smoke billowing out of the oven.

Fortunately I did not explode when I grabbed the charred remains, but the smoke alarms did go off and the smell is impressive. I set a water and vinegar mix boiling in the microwave, which also served to test it was still working. I turned on all the fans and opened the door and bagged the garbage and took it out, which seemed to help. I wiped down the inside and left it closed with a cup of baking soda inside, so hopefully the smell will have abated by morning.

• Sigh*