Purrcy likes all the people who visited for T-day, and no-one extra was staying overnight here, but it was just ... a lot of feet, and voices, and hands. Today has had to be very clingy and relaxing, to wind down.

---

I was able to let go completely and have E&P do almost everything for T-day because of a combo of pain & exhaustion from pain. We ate at 5, so early in the day there was dining room table clearing, and giving bills to me in my study to look at and pay. And I remember asking Dirk to bring me the shoulder-shaped ice pack, and later him coming in to ask me a question and all I could was just ... stare at him, because even as the pain went down the exhaustion from it surged forward and there was nothing left.

So Purrcy & I had to lie in bed a lot of the time. I couldn't really fall asleep, but I continued binge-reading.

This week's binge-read was Sarah Monette's Doctrine of Labyrinths 4-book series, now re-issued under her Katherine Addison pen name, the better to pull in fans of The Goblin Emperor and the other books in The Chronicles of Osreth. I found them a quick read and enjoyable enough, though partly because I could see how many elements there are in these early works that she re-worked for the Osreth books, and which elements she decided meh, don't have to do that again.

Reused elements: stories within the story; labyrinths; lower-class people having important POVs; palaces being full of servants who know stuff & who you'd better get to know; theatrical costumes are a great way for a woman to get upper-class clothing even if she's not upper class; aristocrats are mostly assholes.

Element she realized she didn't need to reuse: POV character who's an asshole. OMG Felix is *such* a yaoi character, I now see why when Melusine came out & I was hearing about it 2nd hand your opinions were *so* divergent. Because on the one hand, he's just the Maximum Poor Little Mew Mew ... on the other hand, when "sane" he's a total jerk and bully toward Mildmay & anyone else in range of his tongue.

So the series as a whole feels like her working out, can I develop Felix's backstory enough to show how he was shaped into a charismatic abuser, and then can I believably show him becoming a better person? And I dunno if I'll read the series again, because it just is too many chapters from Felix's POV. I 1000x prefer Maia and Thara, both of whom absolutely abhor picking fights, *shudder*.

Purrcy looks very *intent* but not necessarily *intelligent* because ... there was a MOTH! Flying much too high for him to even try grabbing, but a riveting prey item nonetheless. This was from a few weeks ago.

---

Turkey day is upon us!

E&P drove down from Boston yesterday during the day yesterday, though the last part had to be in the dark because the traffic got so heavy from Danbury on, and it was raining.

I'm feeling really good about having surrendered the spatula, because the fact is I'm going through a period where I'm in pain a lot. I guess I haven't mentioned this before, but in the past month or so I've developed tendonitis in my left shoulder, the one that works the cane, and also the one that controls the mouse--because I've got such long-standing pain and weakness in the *right* hand.

The pain often (usually?) wakes me up after not-quite-enough sleep, and it really drags me down. elayna just mentioned Essentrics, which I can stream on NJ-PBS, and I'm going to try doing that 3 times a week and see if it helps. Otherwise I feel as though I'm gradually accumulating chronic pain vampires that are gradually sapping my ability to function. And I've got to find a way to beat them back other than "lie in bed for hours a day, under a heating blanket & cat, reading".

Menu this year, as last:

- roast spatchcocked chicken, plus turkey legs & thighs
- roasted garlic gravy
- Our Stuffing Recipe™
- roast veg, asst.
- "Indian Pudding"
- Our Cranberry Sauce™
- salad
- pumpkin pie, apple pie, whipped cream

Alas, my brother has a bad cold and won't be joining us. It's not COVID & not the flu, so there's that, but he's too snotty to travel. Since he won't be around I think I won't make turkey gumbo tomorrow, I'll just make stock, do the gumbo on Saturday.