Sunday Salutations: Thanksgiving Recovery
We discuss my least favorite flavor combo and recap our Chaos Critter Holiday. And pictures of all the mammalian Critters!
Happy Thanksgiving recovery weekend!
This marks the end of pumpkin spice season and the beginning of the horrid chocolate mint season. Two of the best flavors in the world are blended together into a horrid mismatch that ruins both. Don’t get me started on the fake mint flavor; it might as well be paint. Chocolate and mint should be separate. Not equal, just separate, because chocolate is always better. It is one time when mixing flavors is just a mistake. Whoever came up with it should be put out to pasture, or better yet held up as a sign of senility to all cooks in the land. Anyone who says differently has very different taste experiences from me, who of course is the only true judge. (I am looking at you, Tod, you heathen.) I joke… mostly.
That said, I hope everyone’s Thanksgiving was wonderful. Ours was a sweet interlude in our normal chaos. I am getting over being sick and just starting to regain the capacity to think again. Tod’s family is a blessing, and my sister is a marvel. I am so thankful to have them in my life.
As for our critters, the cats stayed at home. They are not much for traveling. Well, I think Beleth would be, but Aki needs someone besides Fluffy to stay with her; otherwise, she yowls. You have never heard a cat yowl until you have heard a sad calico. So Beleth stayed housebound. But Crokell and Dante got to have a bit of fun and visit our extended family.
That said, Dante has informed me he did not enjoy this Thanksgiving. He was confined on leash the whole time, given stuff that made him groggy, and was not allowed to jump onto the bar stools or other fun items. He has, after all, just become an “it,” but he hasn’t realized that yet. Poor guy. He got dragged to the vet on Wednesday, which actually is one of his favorite places because they love him, pet him, and only poke at him a little. But this time, he was poked and prodded and was oddly sleepy and hungry, having not been fed for almost a whole 12 hours. You don’t know puppy dog eyes if you can’t tell when your menace is “starving” from a full 12 hours without food. The horror. Not even Aki’s story lives up to it. But after that he was home, except we have all these odd rules for him, like he isn’t allowed to jump from couch to couch, so he says Thanksgiving and growing older are just, well, a dead bore.
Crokell is more placid about the whole thing but did love getting to lick Woody’s face. Why Tod and his brother enjoy being slopped so much, I will never know. Even I, who understand that drool is love, have my limits. Still, he is doing pretty well. I need to work on some physical therapy with him for his back leg, and he is very sure that I don’t need to brush him as much as I do. I shall tell him my New Year’s resolution is to give him regular baths; he might decide to start his own business, “Newfie Kisses for Treats” or something, just to avoid it. After all, if he is working, he just couldn’t take time off for something as frivolous as a bath.
But enough silliness. I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving and are recovering and looking forward to the changes coming next year. I know I am. Onward and Upward. Or at least onward, we go.
Writing Update
Tod and I have been working on a draft for another IP piece. Writing for IP is so different from other kinds of writing. It isn’t that the story doesn’t build itself through the characters, but rather the challenge of jumping into someone else’s world. Even when there is magic or fantasy, the process is good practice for maintaining continuity, because you have to follow established lore, established worlds, and established politics. It feels a bit like writing historical fiction, since there are so many minor details to check.
Because of that, I actually think this is wonderful practice for when we build our own IPs. I’ll need to keep track of all the small and niche details, like what name orders mean in one region and what they mean in another, how the politics work, and all the other little oddities from accents to eye makeup. (Including where the oceans are! -Tod) Right now, our words are being reviewed by our writing group for the story itself. Hopefully, the work lives up to expectations, and we haven’t muddled the “chocolate and mint” flavors of the story’s culture into confusion.
Chaos Tip of the Week
Chocolate should only be cut with nut butter; anything else is just a muddle.
Bonus Tip: Not all dogs are affected equally by sedatives… It appears unrelated to body mass,mass, at least in our Chaos Critters’ home.
Critter’s Weekly Question
What are two flavors you cannot stand mixed but are common combinations in at least some form of cooking?
~Anna and Tod
Ahhhh. Dante is so handsome!
I thought this was going to turn into an: Oh, no, he ate all the chocolate! post. :D Those happen.
When we had Bixby fixed, he was the most miserable Aussie in the world. Had to be heavily sedated, he was so upset and depressed. Thankfully that wasn't during the holidays!
I love Pumpkin anything! And it needs to be properly spiced. But I DON'T like pumpkin spice in my coffee. Yuk.