Came home, sliced up and ate a kohlrabi (very nice, mild and crispy this time of year), because there was not enough veg/fruit in that dinner, and zero of it fresh. Gimmicky onion soup served in a roasted onion, a bit of mango sauce on the scallops, about 5 lingonberries in the sauce with venison.

Will also need to start booking all the museum and attraction tickets for Rome, no way to get in otherwise...

I did get an offer on a simple camel cardigan that would work with the rest of my wardrobe (because elaborately beaded or lacy ones quite frankly would not). I need to pay some bills and think about it first.

Not easy in a small country and a small field, but it is what it is.

These holiday dinners are hit and miss, too, depending on who I'll end up being seated next to. I don't actively dislike any of my colleagues, but I find one of the postdocs a bit tiresome and he can be clingy. The food is usually good, but last year's place was so noisy my throat started to hurt.

(I know what I need to do to up my chances of contract extension, and I am trying.)

I guess the good news is that my former boss got a 2-year grant and is re-hiring the friend who was abruptly let go. However, this might leave me at an awkward place for 2027. I try not to worry too much ahead, as I've got plenty to worry about here and now, but still.

Anyway, the dewormer is routine before the booster, even though I don't think it is very likely he has an actual need for it. He does catch and eat flies in the summer, but idk if that's a plausible vector.

But I guess it's a good thing he's not traumatized by the vet visits so far? Whenever the hallway storage cabinet where the carrier is kept is open, he sniffs and inspects it, and when I take it out, he goes to sit in it...

Which would be easier for me and roomier for him, but no, he likes the simple second-hand plastic carrier sourced from boyf's work friend in a hurry when he was a kitten (apparently her cat hated it). He's 7 kilos! Quite a handful, and I am vaguely worried about the plastic breaking mid-trip.

and he didn't even notice. Whew. I didn't think it would be this easy... Now I need to plan for the next step, which is getting him in a carrier and taking him for his booster shot. It was a bit of a hassle last year, because he doesn't care for the backpack option.

Which is not gonna be enough for a total of three 6-year-old nieces, either. But I have plans for about 60% of presents I'm gonna get. And I bought a couple of mini proseccos (we don't drink enough for it to make sense to get a standard size bottle).

I am assuming a cold snap might arrive after Christmas. And that once I get used to full-on winterwear, it will be very confusing to have to pack clothes for Italy, which is barely a month away now (eeek!).
I have done basically zero shopping besides a couple of sheets of Hello Kitty nail stickers.

I feel like the sweaters and cardigans I'm keeping are all very good or perfect, few duplicates, plenty of variety. As in, I can reach in and pull anything and it'll be great and easy to combine, for day-to-day-wear at least. Quite unsure about the occasionwear. But it's not like I have plans.