thanks...

...for thanksgiving!

blake and i spent the weekend in sylacauga for our first official "harvard family thanksgiving". we drove down after i got home from work on friday (read: in the D-A-R-K...not a fan of driving at night) and got to spend all day saturday and some of this morning down there. it was fantastic and full of excitement...
--as soon as we got there we took jasper out of the car to let her into the back yard for a potty break...she ran out (this is her FAVORITE yard) really excited and went straight to the door...we let her out and then realized (notice the order of events) that there was an OPOSSUM in the yard! jasper froze & then took off! she is fast...really fast...and before we knew what happened she was literally on top of the opossum. fortunately, our ferocious guard dog did not know what to do next. she stayed on top of it while it ran back and forth but never growled, swiped, or bit the critter. (THANK YOU, GOD!) the thing finally got away...blake stepped in...and scooted out from under the fence.
--later we put jasper to bed. it was when we went in to the room to start getting ready for bed ourselves that we realized she had thrown up in her crate. (btw: doggie throw up is possibly the worst smell in the world...i am very grateful that my hubby is capable of dealing with it because i had to leave the room) i took jasper and loved on her (she always feels remorseful afterward) while blake cleaned up. YUCK! thankfully she doesn't seem sick...we think she may have been a little car sick & dehydrated when we got there & then she ran and played for a long time before she got in bed. she seems fine now but we are keeping an eye on her just in case. :) she is our baby after all.
--saturday we had a yummy breakfast & then a DELICIOUS thanksgiving lunch. the turkey was possibly the best ever and then we also had: traditional harvard pineapple casserole (apparently blake's favorite), zipper peas (my favorite), corn casserole (a close second to favorite), oyster dressing, gravy, and rolls. needless to say we were beyond full. the funny thing was we ate an early supper (around 4:30/5) so once we finished we seriously thought it should be LATE. it was literally 7:00. we had 2 more hours before bedtime. hilarious!
--today we got an early start and stopped at the b'ham whole foods market on the way home. what a fun store! jasper got a treat...a stuffed moose that we have named "milton". we spent the afternoon with mom & daddy at their house in h'ville...always fun and comforting. :) i love my parents & lucky for me, my hubby does, too.
--tonight? home-made mac&cheese, roasted broccoli, and spicy italian sausages. mmm...we have leftovers for lunch tomorrow and tuesday (and that will leave our fridge empty during thanksgiving holidays...what a plan!)...and it will taste even better the second time around! blake is cuddling jasper (illegally) in his chair (technically she is not touching the furniture so is it really against the rules?) and we are watching "the amazing race". we LOVE our little house of dreams.
--last but not least...i have big-ish news. saturday i got a phone call from calhoun community college & they offered me a part-time job. starting in january i will be teaching a saturday morning class. history 202 (u.s. history) from 8-10:45... i am still in my warming up phase headed toward excitement. blake is over the moon ecstatic. he is very supportive...i am a lucky girl. of course the parents (and in-laws) are proud...i'm looking forward to a challenge. something to think about and work toward. like, an actual goal.

so that's it from me...i've spent enough time on the baby laptop for one night. my hubby is just so cute holding my sleeping puppy...sure, she weighs 70 pounds...but that doesn't make her any less "our baby". such a beautiful family and life. we are grateful every day...even when jasper throws up and we have to use a ton of oust to be able to sleep in our room. :)
love, me