nanila | Network

Basic summary: Everyone has secrets. I’ve kept a few big ones from my two best friends, and I know they’ve both got plenty of their own. After all, Embry and Adam never told me why they stopped talking to each other the night we graduated college. And I’ve never told them that I’m bi—or that I’ve been in love with both of them for years. I’m also definitely not telling them I’ve nearly run my family’s tree farm into the ground and we’re about to go out of business right before Christmas.

But when I crash off a ladder hanging up holiday lights, they come running like Santa’s elves. They’re both very grumpy about facing each other again, but I can’t be mad that I’ve finally got my two favorite people in the world in one place. Wait until they find out we’re all sleeping in one bed…

At least their feud is put on hold when they discover what a mess I’ve made of my business. Soon the three of us are scrambling to pull off a Christmas miracle together and save my family’s farm. And maybe it’s the magic of the holidays, but now a whole lot of feelings and long-buried truths are coming to the surface—and our long-time friendship is starting to become something much bigger.

Will we survive the season? Or are all my dreams about to be crushed this Christmas?

My thoughts: Look, I'm not a fan of Christmas but I am of polyam and I'm so glad I ended up reading this. The humor hit me pretty fast, then the charming Jeb before I learned more about Embry and Adam and came to love them too. I loved how all the characters in general fit in!

My favorite part was the hurdles the three had to go through. Sometimes a relationship can be too instalove or instalust and it's all fluff with little tension or angst. In this book, Embry and Adam do not get along for a while because of something that happened between them, Jeb is caught in the middle and misses the '3way' chat they had going in their college days, and while Jeb's parents are off taking a well-deserved vacation after running a tree farm for years, Jeb ends up running it nearly into the ground and feels like a failure - on top of getting hurt trying to put up Christmas lights on his own, which leads to Embry and Adam dropping everything to come help him before people come in droves to buy his trees.

I really appreciate the personal touches the authors put in, like that the three MCs names come from their own names, the 'demon' goat Sherbert etc. Their acknowledgements page about it was so fun.

This was my first attempt using TTS (Audify on my iPhone) to listen to a book that doesn't have an audiobook version and it worked really well, though I still made sure to glance at my phone to check things now and then. Embry's all caps in chat was hilarious, and the running joke about texting each other when they're in the same room. And the chat group name! Oh, and Jeb's taste in music!!

I'm very excited to read the 2nd in the series which follows the firefighter/mayor Doug, his friend Zeke and Max. I will also absolutely reread this someday. It just hit me at the right time in the right away! Gotta be honestly though I don't like the cover, it's just kind of a nothingburger, I don't even know who that is on the cover.

[There are two polyamorous groups (one a closed triad), Embry has two dads (one trans)]

My rating: 5/5

the weather today is tired

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I got word this week that South Bend Memorial is extending my contract. Merry Christmas to me! I really like this hospital.

Im almost caught up from my August layoff. Woof, I was going to write a bit, but Im tired.

Happy Thursday Recs to all those who celebrate! And I guess anything else that might be going on, IDK.

Do you have a rec for this week? Just reply to this post with something queer or queer-adjacent (such as, soap made by a queer person that isn't necessarily queer themed) that you'd, well, recommend. Self-recs are welcome, as are recs for fandom-related content!

Or have you tried something that's been recced here? Do you have your own report to share about it? I'd love to hear about it!

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community: thursday recs

No-stress Multimedia Multifandom Microbang! No sign-ups, no check-ins, and optional addition to AO3 Collection. This looks to me like a lot of fun -- AND YAYS FOR NO STRESS -- and a lot of creative options.

Click here to see the comm's DW page and get more details.

the weather today is creative
coordinates near the lake they call Michigan

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Christmas Eve Day!

It was chill for both of us, and we both needed it. Jameson did a little work in the morning but before lunch he was ready to shut his laptop until the new year. He gamed while I wiped my small tenor trombone down and put it back in storage (neither Epic nor Main Street Phil are likely to call again while I'm home) and broke down a bunch of boxes for recycling.

I did a quick dash to Publix for toilet paper, napkins, and apple cider vinegar which I hadn't realized we'd used up. It was 10am and already packed/crazy at the grocery. I was happy to get in and out. I do wish I'd made a plan for dinner because I could've picked up ingredients. But I didn't. Oh well.

After lunch Jameson and I went for our neighborhood walk. It looks like this.

But if you zoom in on one section, it looks like this:

This is because as we were passing a house on the first cul-de-sac, a big brown chocolate lab came bolting out of a house and ran right up to us, play-bowing and bouncing the whole way! His parents were mortified (he had escaped while they were pulling in groceries) and tried to herd him back in the house but of course he was not having it. We ended up sort of zig-zagging up to their door acting as though we were going inside too, to trick the dog into going in. Hence the zig-zags on our map!

The humans screamed a "thank you!" at us as they quickly slammed the door, and we laughed and walked off. Jameson worked at a vet's office when he was young and his family also owned large dogs. And I've worked at two kennels. We were the right people for this activity :D And what a lovely energetic dog!

The rest of the walk was uneventful, we just chatted about what a crazy year it's been and about our plans for early 2026. Jameson will have a lot of work to do for Disney, a lot of upcoming events that will require his skills. I will go back on tour. We both have things we want to buy. We have plans to invest more in the house (new carpet and tile, a new sliding door for the pool deck.) Once I sell my car I want to buy a second large tenor to stay at home so I don't have to worry about my ONLY trigger trombone getting damaged by an airline. Things like that.

Back home we got showers and had a small snack. My Aunt called and we chatted briefly to wish each other Merry Christmas. I bought some last-minute gifts for everyone...it's one of those lame gift card years. And we ordered tacos for dinner.

Cannot believe that tomorrow is Christmas Eve. As we relaxed in front of the TV (we watched Krampus!) I kept asking myself: do I have everything? Have I missed anyone? Did I do enough? Although that's not what Christmas is about.

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Christmas Day!!

I was up at 8 to have coffee and send my lame-o gift cards to family via email.

One of my sisters and my brother and his fiance got flight gift cards, supposedly good for any airline.
The other sister with three kids got a gift card to a nice Italian restaurant, really just for her and her husband and NOT the kids!! They have enough stuff!!
And my third sister got a 5-qt Kitchen Aid mixer, which we all chipped in to get since they're kinda pricey, but we wanted to get her the best one that we could! She was so happy she said she might cry.

When Jameson was up we had cinnamon rolls from a can (sometimes I make them from scratch but not this year....give me a break, guys, I'm a touring trombonist not a 1950s housewife) and exchanged stockings. It was mostly an assortment of candies with a few small toys and gag gifts mixed in. I got Jameson marzipan and Sour Patch Kids because I know he likes those things, and a new Koosh ball (I got him one last year too.) He got me a dark chocolate Terry's orange (I love them!) and some Japanese gummies which, unbeknownst to him, are some of my favorites because they have an amazing texture!

We watched Home Alone 2. Aaah the Twin Towers....and actual phones....and being able to get onto the wrong flight! How things have changed. Then it was time to exchange presents.

Jameson got me three different kinds of sake, some gourmet chocolates (mostly dark, he knows me so well!), and his big gift was gift cards for Uber, Target, and Buc-ee's! I am VERY excited for the Uber gift card since I plan to sell my car.

His parents got me a notebook with a funny saying on the front, a watercolor book and paint set, and this really cool little pottery that is supposed to strip herbs when you run the stems through those tiny holes! If it works with thyme it'll be worth whatever they paid for it.

My sister Kate sent homemade gifts, which is standard for her and which I adore! This year it was homemade granola (delicious, I ate some right away), spiced brown sugar peach butter, vanilla pear butter, and avocado shea body butter. She had made an herb butter spread also but was afraid to send it (I reassured her that this was the right choice as we are still at 80°F (26.6°C) down here.

My sister Raven sent a thrifted shirt, she happened to find a Full Metal Alchemist one for me and a Queen one for Jameson! Good finds!
And Jonah has sent something that hasn't arrived yet.
I never expect or require gifts from anyone, ever...all I truly want is to share a meal with my family members the next time we're together. Everyone was so generous, and I love and appreciate all of these great gifts!

As for Jameson, I got him some bootleg Queen records (he knew these were coming, I bought them for him on tour), a big cast iron griddle pan for the grill, a "Shart Survival Kit" gag gift, a Mountain Dew mystery gift which turned out to be some hideously corny sunglasses, some TikTok-viral rice krispie treats in a variety of crazy flavors, and his big gift was a 3D-printed LEGO wreath! It is not LEGO-official but looks like the real deal, and it comes with lots of attachments. I'll buy him more attachments for other upcoming holidays (St. Paddy's, Easter, Halloween, etc). It is very cleverly designed.

His parents got him an ergonomic mouse, the Game Boy LEGO kit, a Funko Pop, and Kevin Malone's chili cookbook. We had weird lunches of leftover half-chewed burritos and stale Christmas cookies, and watched Emmet Otter, then Jameson listened to one of the bootleg records and gamed while I prepped some things for our fancy dinner like the horseradish sauce and the rub for the tenderloin. I also typed up this post, and sorted my MOUNTAIN of candies and treats into my Home Candy Stash Tupperware and my Tour Travel Stash Tupperware. At some point Jameson's parents called and we thanked them for our gifts, and we texted back and forth with our families all afternoon.

In the evening I cooked up our fancy dinner: peppercorn-crusted tenderloin with horseradish sauce, mashed potatoes, lemon zested asparagus, and crescent rolls. It turned out quite good, the beef for once was perfectly cooked and decadent. We are incredibly fortunate to afford a beef tenderloin each Christmas.

And now we have cleaned up the kitchen, put the trash out (fingers crossed that it'll actually get picked up!) and are relaxing with full tummies. I'm so grateful that I got to have Christmas with Jameson.

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Friday: Jameson has a rehearsal for a NYE gig in the morning followed by a massage, and I've got Candlelight at night. I'll probably practice and do a little cleaning or something ahead of that.

Saturday: Spending most of it in Fort Lauderdale, we're taking the Brightline train there to see our friend Lea perform in a local production of Frozen!

Sunday: I think we might actually be free, so I will make us chili and cornbread :)

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silwritersguild has posted about a free copy of "The Fëanorian Zine" which you can download as a PDF.

the weather today is busy

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Oceans are supercharging hurricanes past Category 5

Warming oceans are fueling a surge of extreme, off-the-charts storms—so powerful that scientists say it’s time to invent a whole new hurricane category.

Deep ocean hot spots packed with heat are making the strongest hurricanes and typhoons more likely—and more dangerous. These regions, especially near the Philippines and the Caribbean, are expanding as climate change warms ocean waters far below the surface. As a result, storms powerful enough to exceed Category 5 are appearing more often, with over half occurring in just the past decade. Researchers say recognizing a new “Category 6” could improve public awareness and disaster planning.

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