Went to Meghan’s family Christmas gathering.

The dude came home Friday for winter break. Our house isn’t large!

Tonight’s kitchen victory: empanadas.

Yesterday’s walk through Llanover Wood and then to Greenwood: 16k steps, 8 miles, 2¾ hours.

Had family (Mom; Greg and Jocelyn and the kids) over for dinner.

Took the day off and baked a pumpkin pie and a mincemeat pie (modern-style, no actual meat).

Walked out to drop off some things for the dude (yesterday afternoon): 2½ hours, 8¾ miles.

The dude’s dorm was without power for a couple days, so he came over Wednesday and stayed through Friday.

Good wind storm and power outage tonight.

The dude and his roommate and their girlfriend came over for dinner tonight.

Finished reading The Ladies of Grace Adieu and Other Stories and “The Wood at Midwinter”, short fiction by Susanna Clarke. All of the stories fit right into the Strange & Norrell setting. The stories in the former are all charming and have the novel’s characteristic humor. The latter is unsettling in the same way as Piranesi.

Meghan and I visited the dude, then went out for an anniversary dinner.

Finished rereading Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke, about the return of English magic during the Napoleonic era. This massive book proceeds at an appropriately stately pace, but the intensity ratchets up a notch every time the gentleman with the thistle-down hair appears. In addition to her well-crafted writing, Clarke’s footnote game is top-notch.

And I am already weary.

Tonight we had one (1) trick-or-treater (Iron Man, age 4).