Thanksgiving

I figured I should probably post about our Thanksgiving weekend before Christmas arrives, so here I am in front of the computer because, you know, I haven't been in this position long enough today. Anyway, we had a very nice Thanksgiving this year. Jarrett and I left for North Carolina Wednesday afternoon (after an emergency visit to the vet in the a.m. -- I woke up Wednesday morning, couldn't find Merckx in any of his usual spots in the house, found him in the back room [completely unusual], and noticed he had chewed a rather large area on his hindquarters... there was missing hair... some blood... but after a cortisone shot and some antibiotics, he's doing better) and drove straight to High Point to Jarrett's mom's house, with just a brief detour to drop of Merckx and grab a bite to eat with my parents in Charlotte.

On Thanksgiving Day, we had dinner with Jarrett's mom's side of the family (and my parents, who drove up for the occasion) at his aunt and uncle's house, which happens to be beside his grandparents' house, across the street from his mom's. As you can see from the group photo above, there were quite a few of us, and we had a lovely time catching up and eating a yummy meal.

Since my parents were there, I was able to ride back to Charlotte with them and leave Jarrett with the car in High Point so he could spend some more time with his family and, most importantly, so I could get up at the crack of early the next morning with my mom to take part in our After-Thanksgiving-Shopping Extravaganza. We've done this for as long as I can remember, and there was a time when we were living in Oregon that four generations of us girls would be out shopping -- literally until we dropped. Anyway, my mom and I had a nice time. We did some shopping, had our Mexican lunch, and saw a movie -- August Rush. It was a cute movie -- completely far-fetched with a decent cheese factor, but I enjoyed it all the same, and would totally recommend it if you're in the mood for a movie with a very happy, emotional ending.

By the time Saturday rolled around, we were of course ready for another huge turkey dinner, so my mom and I cooked while Dad and my brother watched a little football here and there and enjoyed the smell of the browning turkey. Jarrett arrived just in time to eat with us, and we all sat down to the best stuffing you'll ever put in your mouth -- and the rest of the food was delicious too. Later we had the pumpkin cheesecake (with bourbon whipped cream -- ummm... YUM!) for dessert, and we all curled up like big, content cats and watched The Incredibles on television.

I'm really enjoying the holiday season this year -- I think it's a way for me to escape what is still the craziness at work and just let my senses unwind a bit. This Thanksgiving was the perfect way to kick it off.

And now we have even more fun at our house. Our best friends, Kate and Tim, arrived with their German shepherd, Timber, last night to stay with us for an undetermined amount of time. They sold their condo in the DC area, and have moved back to Decatur, which we are very happy about. They will be with us until they find the perfect place to live, so it will be fun -- and maybe a bit crazy -- being roommates for awhile. Merckx is already loving his new adopted sister.