At this point, things aren’t changing much. As time progresses, I find sitting up easier; I can walk a little farther each day; I need slightly fewer painkillers; I nap a little less. So I guess we say, “Progress is being made,” and leave it at that.

Yesterday Ian, Benji, and my parents flew to California for Thanksgiving with my sister, brother-in-law, grandmother, and other family. This left me all day to spend quietly by myself.

I started by watching The Irishman, a movie I had heard about and wanted to see. It’s 209 minutes long, though, so I didn’t expect to ever actually carve out time to see it. I was wrong.

I’m no movie reviewer or even movie buff; I don’t know or appreciate what makes a good movie a good movie. But I really enjoyed this one. It reminded me of Grand Torino and 3:10 to Yuma, movies I appreciate but maybe don’t need to watch repeatedly. I liked the pacing and the way the scenes told little stories in themselves. I liked and appreciated the acting, although the dearth of real women characters ended up bothering me quite a bit. I liked the way it ended, not with closure but the sense that maybe Frank has finally gotten what he deserves, even if he doesn’t have the moral compass to understand why.

I hope to find Once Upon a Time in Hollywood so I can watch that in the next day or so, too. I’d also like to see Ford vs. Ferrari, but I think that’s still in theaters, and I don’t yet have the energy to go out for that long, even if it’s only sitting in a chair most of the time.

Anyway, yesterday my father-in-law kindly picked me up so I could join them and Ian’s grandparents for Thanksgiving. It was a smaller, quieter, more low-key Thanksgiving meal than I’ve had in a long time, but I was thankful to spend it with family. But after a couple hours, I started feeling really exhausted and dizzy, so my father-in-law took me home again.

I fell asleep before 6:00 pm. I woke up at 8:00, took painkillers, and went back to sleep. I wish I could say I slept well, but as usual, I woke up several times in the night, and I woke up for good about 4:00 am. Nights are not my favorite. Even if I take opiates, after sleeping about half the night, I’m awake on and off the second half of the night. I’m trust that as I heal and can sleep in more natural positions, this will abate. Meanwhile, naps are my friend!