Thanks giving, Week 37

This Tuesday, just as I finished my first full week as a doctoral student, I received in the mail the diploma for my master's degree.  It was an interesting overlap, to realize how much I'd done to earn that diploma and realize that the current program is at least five times as much.  But the former was also a pathway to the latter.

So this week, I'm being thankful for the opportunity to learn -- from the something new every day, like the importance of keeping Oliver parked in the very center of the aisle when there's glass cans of olives within arm's reach, to the big ideas, like the importance of putting aside school learning to spend a peaceful and beautiful afternoon with my boys out in the woods at a nearby park.  I enjoy learning, especially in the formal sense of the word.

And on a related note, I made a purchase today of two skeins of yarn and some size 9 knitting needles.  I have to learn something new for a class project in order to map my learning process against one of the major theories we're studying (does it seem to anyone else like asking medical students to play Operation and reflect on the similarity to actual surgery?), so I figured I'd choose something I'm unlikely to be good at -- anything kinesthetic -- and something that I might actually want to become proficient at in the future.  My mother has the most amazing creative skills -- gardening, sewing, crocheting, decorating cakes -- and I inherited none of them.  But I've always loved her handmade crocheted items the best.  While I'm satisfied to buy local produce from the Farmer's Market, kids' clothes from wherever is closest and on sale, and cake from the grocery store or a bakery, there's something inherently special about a blanket or scarf or hat that someone made for you.  Maybe it's because it's warm and fuzzy.  So armed with my purchases, suggestions from my former college roommate, and whatever YouTube videos I can find to help, I will -- between now and when the assignment is due -- hopefully learn to knit -- some, kind of.  Beyond that, we'll see how much room for learning is left in my head.