Thawing

Laverne has decided that this is not a terrible place to be. It took her most of the day to reach this conclusion, but she is seeking out affection and accepting belly rubs a little gingerly. She isn't eating or drinking very much and she seems reluctant to do her business in front of people she doesn't know very well yet (I mean, I can sympathize with that feeling), but she is doing so much better tonight.

Today I finished my portion of the revisions for paper #3. You guys, I feel SO RELIEVED. It is likely that my co-author will recommend some minor final tweaks, but we're almost there. I told a friend tonight that I feel like a crane came along and removed a house from on top of me. I have been so squashed down by the weight of that task. It was so much work! Yikes! Academic publishing is a weird little ecosystem, because it is entirely possible that the editor could look at our stevedore-esque efforts to address every single concern raised in the review process and say, "...nah, reject." But I'm not going to think about that right now.

Today I made the Penitential Cranberry Sauce and the cornbread for stuffing, and whoops, I should have turned off the stock in time for it to cool. I'm not sure there would have been room for it in the fridge, though. Hm. Maybe I will put it in the Instant Pot overnight on the slow cooker setting.

A 16-pound turkey awaits my ministrations. I didn't get around to placing my turkey order until later than usual, and the butcher shop couldn't get me a fresh turkey smaller than 16 pounds. Nobody wants big turkeys this year, the guy on the phone explained. All right, I said, 16 pounds it is. It will be fine. We go through an astounding quantity of food when the college kids are home. If they're scrounging around for snacks tomorrow night I'll tell them to go gnaw on the turkey carcass.

Tonight's burning question: will Laverne finally break down and pee before we go to sleep for the night? Tune in tomorrow.