(no subject)

We have now had our three days of events despite the cold. It turned out mom was right to worry about the Chinese restaurants, but there was also the realization that we couldn't go to both one and to a movie anyway, due to her inability to drive in the dark. If the place we've typically gone to in the past is doing take-away again next year, we may look into possibly picking up Chinese food on the way home from the movie. So on the 25th itself we did just the movie, seeing an odd Cannes jury-prize winning film called Aftersun, which definitely dragged at times but was emotionally moving at the end.
Yesterday was the big day, going over to my sister's to watch The Glass Onion, have dinner, and open presents. It was actually a very good thing we were watching it at home and could thus pause as many times as we needed to so my sister could explain things to my mother; she never would've understood what was going on otherwise. Thanks to this, we all enjoyed and appreciated it greatly. It felt like more of a reflection of and commentary on the world as it currently is than anything else I've seen on screen since the new decade started. I ended up getting two sweaters, a hoodie, a jigsaw puzzle, and the third volume of Vox Machina: Origins.
Today mom and I went to the National Gallery on what we think of as our Boxing Day visit, even if it might not be on Boxing Day itself, necessarily. We saw their current shows on Caravaggio and John Singer Sargeant's more Spanish-inspired artwork. I came out with greatly increased appreciation for the latter especially, and the broad scope and nuance of what he painted.
Now the temperature's gone up a bit, but it's still pretty cold out. Things won't really improve until I have to go back to work!