It has been a long, long time since I’ve seen Gracie happily curled up in her tissue paper nest on the sofa.

She did just that last night, sleeping contentedly for hours. For this, and for many other things, I am extremely grateful.

The orange paper is something she showed great interest in at first. It’s from For The Love Of Chocolate, and doubtless has that nice chocolatey smell to it.

You have no idea how happy I am to see her curled up like that. Two surgeries in less than a month, both in her stomach/intestinal areas, and staples in her belly for weeks—it’s so good to know she’s feeling comfortable enough to curl up again.

Last night was the second night in a row she curled her hind leg around my arm as she came to bed for her nightly (used-to-be) bellyrub. It’s just a nightly petting time now. I suspect it won’t be long before we finally get back to our evening and morning bellyrub sessions.

In the meantime, I give you pumpkin-colored Gracie in autumn-colored tissue paper. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I’m going to be ignoring the news today, I think, and then going to Chesterfield County to celebrate Thanksgiving with my friends and their children. I will be bearing gifts: Chocolate for the grownups, and candy necklaces and candy sticks for the kids.

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving.