I spent much of November preparing grant reviews for study section and progress reports for my R01, R21, and BrightFocus grants at work, while also gathering for holiday lunches with my lab and primate research team. Our contractors pulled through and completed our outdoor kitchen just in time for the long weekend. So we took Wednesday off to rearrange the patio furniture, wax the outdoor cabinet, and tidy up our outdoor living space. We spent Thanksgiving morning biking to Pioneer Park where Westley made his first attempt at tennis with his new racquet. Most of my in laws were unavailable or not interested in gathering, but we did invite our niece over for some beef noodles, lemongrass pork summer rolls, and butter mochi, in between trying out Beat Saber and First Steps on our new Oculus Quest 2. Compared to our previous forays into VR, the new headset and controllers felt intuitive and immersive, which combined with my referral code bonus and holiday sales afforded me a few new games like Vader Immortal and Pistol Whip as well. We returned to Vacaville on Black Friday for HomeGoods and Jockey. A new arcade at the shopping outlet got Westley excited, but the pinball machine was malfunctioning. We instead warmed up with Ramen 101 before heading home to set up our Christmas tree and get haircuts. We attended Liam’s Pokemon-themed birthday party at Pioneer Park on Saturday, followed by an afternoon of Assassin’s Creed Valhalla. We had gotten the game for PS4 from a sale, but decided instead to get a PC version for a more familiar interface. Between rhyming games and hunting wolves, this latest entry to the series felt familiar but continued to favor role-playing over stealth-based elements. Having just completed the engrossing end game to Cyberpunk 2077, this was the perfect transition to even greater immersion with my new 49″ Odyssey G9 gaming monitor. With the winter weather setting in, I look forward to warming up in my room with some hot chocolate and family time ahead.