KJ

Well, hello. There's no way I'm going to catch up on over six months of life in one DW post, so I'm not even going to try. But the highlights:

1. ( Work stuff )

2. 2022 was a bit of a year for me on the health front. ( Health and medical stuff. )

3. So yeah, I turned 50 in March. Time comes for us all. I didn't get my act together for as much of a celebration as I might have liked, but my friends R & S hosted a birthday brunch for me along with enf, whose birthday is the day after mine. Then T and I hopped up to Napa for the day where we had a fancy lunch and bought many tasty treats, and it was a gorgeous day, a welcome respite from the five million storms we had this winter (maybe you've heard about those; fortunately we live in a neighborhood that isn't at risk of floods or mudslides, but there were a lot of messes around us and I sure got tired of rain).

4. We continue to live in pandemic mode, even though much of the world has moved on. I do still wear a mask in most indoor settings and avoid indoor restaurant dining as much as possible (T won't do it at all). Maybe it's not necessary, but the fact is that, between cautious behavior and good fortune, I still haven't gotten COVID (as far as I know), and I would prefer to keep it that way. And it's not a big deal for me to wear a mask on transit, or in the grocery store, or at the theater, etc., even if most other people aren't. T's unwillingness to dine indoors, even in the worst weather, is starting to become a concern, but now that spring is upon us it will hopefully be less of an issue for awhile. The bigger deal is that I've finally coaxed him back onto an airplane, and we're going to take our first two real vacations since September 2019: Hawaii at the end of the month, and Maine for a friend's wedding in July. I am super excited for both of these trips and can't believe that Hawaii is only about two weeks away! Unfortunately, though, the trip conflicts with WisCon, so I won't be attending in person. It was a tough decision but ultimately it made the most sense for me. I do plan to attend at least some events virtually.

5. CW for pet loss and cancer. ( About Tori )

Yesterday (Friday) was my birthday. I took the day off of work, spent the morning relaxing, the afternoon playing DA:I, and the evening eating crab for dinner and then playing Gartic Phone with friends. It was supposed to mostly be Among Us after a round of Gartic Phone, but GP was so hilariously ridiculous that we played it all night instead. It's an online implementation of Telephone Pictionary, which is one of my favorite party games, so I'm not at all sorry we shifted gears. Today I had a backyard visit with a friend I hadn't seen since the initial lockdown began, and tomorrow I'm having a backyard meal with other friends, so all in all, as a birthday weekend, it's been pretty nice, especially by current standards.

Also tonight I finally wore T down -- he signed us up for Disney+ and we watched the first three episodes of WandaVision. No spoilers please (although I've picked up a few hints of what might be going on Twitter and in other places); I am very excited to see where it all goes. I will definitely watch The Falcon and the Winter Soldier as it airs, or at least on the same weekend. I also need to catch up on The Mandalorian and probably some other things as well -- any recommendations?

Last but definitely not least, I set aside my m!Trevelyan game, because I think I'm to the point where I played DA:I endgame too recently, and I'm rushing him through when I really ought to give him his due. So instead, I rolled up a new Warden for the first time in five years? six years? (I went back to look it up, and the actual answer is NINE. July 2012.) It's finally time to play Tabris; she's a rogue, likely stealth-and-sneak because that's my favorite mode of gameplay in DA:O. I got her to Ostagar, and oh, starting up that game again, Denerim, Duncan, the music, random dogs barking everywhere in the background and, of course, Alistair... it does the heart good. I don't quite yet know who Devin Tabris is going to be (though she killed Vaughan with gusto, and while she had less than zero interest in an arranged marriage, she still put on the wedding ring that was on Nelarose's body -- all that must mean something), but I look forward to getting to know her.

Early this month, I mentioned that I was thinking about our Thanksgiving menu. We made our holiday-dinner-for-two tonight, and it came out really well! After I posted the above, I talked with T a little more about favorite holiday dishes, and he put in a request for stuffing. Since most stuffing recipes make a lot of food, I went looking for smaller-scale options, and I found a recipe promising chicken breasts and stuffing for two. We decided to try it out, but I still really wanted mashed potatoes and gravy, so it was a starch-fest. Fortunately, I enjoy a good starch-fest. For a vegetable, we made green beans with browned butter, sage, and hazelnuts.

The final plate.

And then dessert was leftovers from yesterday, pecan pie for T, pumpkin cheesecake for me.

Now we are happily stuffed and watching the recording of AOC's nwe Among Us livestream with special guest Jagmeet Singh, Canadian politician, all around a fine way to spend an evening.

..that even though Thanksgiving is three weeks away, and we have no gatherings of any sort planned (although I need to ping my family about virtual possibilities), I've already started creating a holiday menu for just T and myself?

I've never done a big Thanksgiving on my own -- I gather with extended family for potluck, and since I've never hosted, I've not been responsible for the turkey and usually not the traditional sides (although we've done potatoes a couple of times). T and I would never eat a whole turkey on our own, not even a small one, so I don't think we'll go that route. As I think about this, it occurs to me that turkey isn't the definitive Thanksgiving food for me, anyway. That honor goes to mashed potatoes, gravy, and pumpkin pie. So I think we will most likely roast a chicken instead of turkey and use that to make the gravy. And homemade mashed potatoes. (For the pie, I'm okay going store-bought.) Since, again, there are only two of us, I don't know how big I can go in terms of other dishes, but I want at least a couple of vegetables, maybe a baked good, another side? And then we can eat the leftovers for a week.

Have any of you ever done traditional holiday meals for two? Recommendations and/or advice very welcome!

I am pleased to report that on this Groundhog Day, which is also a palindrome day — 02/02/2020, the rare palindrome day that works no matter where you live — Punxsutawney Phil, groundhog extraordinaire, has predicted an early spring.

Enjoy!