Hello, dear reader,

My several weeks of travel officially caught up to me because I spent this last week sick. I don’t get sick very often yet when I do, it’s usually a doozy. This one was no exception, and for that, I’ll spare you the details. 🤒🤧😷 I’m feeling much better at this particular moment, so I’m hopeful I’m on the up-and-up in time for Thanksgiving. But man, did it mean an unproductive week this past week — and I know that’s okay. In fact, getting sick is usually my body’s way of telling me to just slow down and rest already.

Yesterday was the last day of school before our short Thanksgiving break, and I’m stoked! I’m eager for a week at home with the kiddos and making the best food of the whole year. 🥘

5 Quick Things ☕️

1. I recently wrote a short piece for America magazine about why the supply chain crisis + holiday season dovetail perhaps has a silver lining: “What if instead we recognized how little ‘just right’ gifts actually matter?” (Also look for it on the last page of the latest paper magazine, if you subscribe.)

2. On a related note… “To most consumers, Prime looks like a lovely convenience offering free shipping, and it’s hard to find better prices elsewhere. But the reason …is because it forces everyone else to sell stuff at higher prices.” Why I’m doing my darndest to avoid Amazon this holiday season. (It’s not easy.)

3. ALLLLL my spidey senses are up about this whole Metaverse ridiculousness, and I’m not alone. Here’s just one reason why — “I don’t want an avatar. My prayer life is focused on eliminating the avatar I already am.”

4. Maybe it’s because I’ve got a kid that’ll be college age in just a few years, or maybe because this is in my backyard, but I’m intrigued by this idea and I very much agree with the reasons for its inception.

5. And finally — because let’s not get entirely sturm und drang this week — I recently showed this to one of my classes, and they loved it. I’ve seen it repeatedly and it gets me each time. 🐶

A Drink With a Friend 🥃☕️

…There’s actually no new episode of Drink this week — womp womp. This is a surprise to us all because we had every intention of recording until I got sick, and trust me, you wouldn’t have enjoyed listening to my raspy, ridiculous voice. Seth gives a thoroughly entertaining quick update, but in the meantime, behold our new logo:

…And behold the available merch, should you desire to add this to your holiday wish list:

I’m loving it all! Head here or here.

Currently Reading, Watching, Listening 📺

• The Ketoserts YouTube channel, both because it’s calming and because the recipes are legit good

Quotable 💬

“Do not spoil what you have by desiring what you have not; remember that what you now have was once among the things you only hoped for.”

— Epicurus #

9 Days… ✨

Advent is just over a week away, beginning on Sunday, November 28! Now’s the time to order Shadow & Light, whether it’s for you for the first time, or for someone you know would enjoy it:

Order it on Amazon

Order it on Christian Book

Order it on Barnes & Noble

Order it on Bookshop

And hey, go ahead pre-order its sister companion to Lent/Easter: Bitter & Sweet! It releases February 1, 2022, and by ordering now, you’ll be ready for the season and you’re telling bookstores to order plenty in stock. And thank you in advance!

Elsewhere 📍

Tsh Oxenreider ☕️ @tsh

Once I shifted my definition of ‘education’ to— 1. The passing down of culture, and 2. To learn to love what is beautiful, good, & true —it changed how I viewed the purpose of school, my kids’ formation, and my own lifelong education. 1/2

2:18 PM ∙ Nov 16, 2021

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Tsh Oxenreider ☕️ @tsh

We don’t learn to get jobs. We learn to become more fully human, more who we’re made to be. 2/2

2:18 PM ∙ Nov 16, 2021

Question For You to Ponder… 🤔

If you picked up a pen and listed 20 things you’re grateful for right now, how do you think your mindset would shift for the rest of the day? (Give it a try.)

Have a good weekend!

xo, Tsh

p.s. November seems to be turning out this way for me.