Thanksgiving on the Farm

We made our traditional Thanksgiving road trip to spend the holiday with Jason's entire family in Indiana. Thursday was a delicious turkey dinner in Indianapolis at Pat, Kelly & Lily's home. The main entertainment besides eating and watching football was a game of "Who Gets to Hold Lily." Here Jason has won! Friday was spent working hard on the farm! While the rest of us were inside his parents' house eating cinnamon rolls, Jason was asked to drive "The Spredder" through the field to deposit the horse droppings for fertilizer. Farm dog, Buddy, and city dog, Rachel, are both enjoying the aromatic treat!

After Jason was inside and cleaned-up, we celebrated Christmas! Since Thanksgiving weekend is the only time we all get together, we celebrate Thanksgiving, November/December birthdays, and Christmas. My favorite Christmas picture was one my brother-in-law, Ross, wearing the Christmas bows, so I had better check with him before I post that one!

Another tradition is our Friday afternoon bonfire in the front yard. This year we roasted marshmallows before it got too dark and cold.

Ali, Amy, Hilary, and Carter roast marshmallows and keep warm next to the bonfire. One of my favorite parts of being outside on Friday was a game of football that Jason and I played with Rachel. We didn't get any pictures since we were active participants, but a fun time was had by all!

Happy Birthday Jason!

Tomorrow is Jason's 32nd birthday! He will be spending his special day as the driver on our 600-plus mile journey to Indiana where we will be celebrating Thanksgiving with his family. But what better way to spend your day than surrounded by your wife and dog - for 12 straight hours?! :-)

We're looking forward to stretching our legs after the long drive and enjoying some family time in the country. Rachel, especially, is in need of some open field running after being cooped up in the city!

This picture was taken in December 2006 at my company Christmas party when Jason was a mere 30 years old!

Turtle Bay

Last night in blustery Northern Virginia, we settled in for the evening with pizza and the Forgetting Sarah Marshall DVD. We were in for a big treat! The movie was actually pretty good, but the best part is that it was filmed on location at the Turtle Bay Resort on the North Shore of Oahu, Hawaii.

We stayed at Turtle Bay in June 2006 when we celebrated our 5 year wedding anniversary. That trip easily wins the title of "Our Best Vacation Ever." We've done a lot of traveling together, and without a doubt, the North Shore was the best place we have ever been. Hawaii, in general, is awesome - totally worth the price and the hassle of the long plane ride. We can't wait to go back, and I already have an itinerary planned for the island of Kauai; we just need to find the time. . . .

Rachel's First Trip to the Dentist

Here's a groggy Rachel last night after her return home from the doggy dentist. This was her first time in for a teeth cleaning - because a professional teeth cleaning is crazy expensive and requires the dog be put under - but she really needed it. Her teeth and breath were yucky.

She only gave me a tiny peek at her teeth this morning, but they looked so much better! And, of course, to justify the exhorbitant price, the vet takes a "before" and "after" pictures and those were impressive. Although you get charged for those, too, I think!

Look at her shaved leg where they put the IV in her. . . .so sad. Hopefully she doesn't have to go again for a long time.

We're all looking forward to the weekend - Rachel is exhausted from her day at the dentist; I'm exhausted with my first (and hopefully last) cold of the season; and Jason is exhausted because he shares a bedroom with someone with a cold who can't breath through her nose.

Water Aerobics

I've been trying to get back into water aerobics for the past year. I joined the YWCA near my office last spring, but it closed down after only a month. Then summer arrived, so I swam laps at the condo pool in the evenings. But the pool got really cold about halfway through the summer, so mostly I just stood around in the hot tub!

Finally, a few weeks ago, I found a Saturday morning water aerobics class at the local rec center. Here's a picture of my class this week. Nah, just kidding, I didn't take my camera to the pool. Although we did some similar exercises with noodles and some of the participants (and the teacher) are about this age.

I'm probably not a very good water aerobics student, though, since I have taken (and taught) so many classes over the past 15 years. I have a very strong opinion about the correct technique and timing to use for the best workout, so I'm afraid sometimes I just do my own thing. My current instructor really rushes through some stretches, for example, so I'm normally at least one behind him. But, I try to be discreet and keep myself deep enough in the water so as not to be obvious to my instructor or classmates!

My Favorite Things

Inspired by last week's 30 Rock episode in which Oprah guest-starred and there was mention of her favorite things, I have decided to post a few of my new favorite things: My new favorite gum. I was introduced to this brand by Lauren, I believe, who had some of the spearmint kind when we were at training. I prefer peppermint flavored and have enjoyed several boxes of this variety. Sugar free, so I can eat as many as I want, right?

My new favorite snack. I got this idea from Courtney's trick-or-treating blog where she mentioned goldfish crackers for Mallory. I was tired of the old standby, Triscuits, that I keep in my desk, and saw these on sale at the store a week ago. Whole grain makes them healthy, right?

My new favorite winter drink. This is the Starbucks Signature Hot Chocolate, which their website describes as follows: "This sophisticated hot chocolate is pure indulgence, made with no artificial ingredients - just four distinctive cocoas, sugar, natural vanilla extract, and milk!" I have to agree with their description - pure indulgence - so I have only tried it once. But next time I have 7 Weight Watchers points looking for a destination, I'm going to try it again. Until then, it's a tall skim latte.

I Voted

And I have a sticker to prove it! Here's a photo of about half of the 100-deep line that we encountered when we went to vote this morning. Total wait time was around an hour, but it would have been faster had we been in the faster moving A-L line.

At first there was one line stretching down and around the basketball court. Then when we got near the building, they called out two lines to correspond to the check-in books: A-L and M-Z. The A-L line was flying through and people were coming up from the back of the line.

We had two options for voting: optical read paper ballots (i.e. Scantrons like in college) or the touch-screen machines (which I had already heard were being phased out in Virginia at the end of this election). We both used the Scantron ballots - and then the big excitement was that you got to feed it yourself into the counting machine. It looked like an industrial shredder, but I'm sure it was legit! :-)

The wait was long - although not much more than I expected - and luckily the weather was moderate. Jason kept remarking how much better it was today than on primary day when we braved the frigid temperatures on our walk to the polls and home. Luckily that day we didn't have to stand in line.

My big hope for this election: that it's all decided today! Keep your fingers crossed!

Annapolis

Today we took advantage of the mild fall weather and drove the 45 minutes to Annapolis, Maryland, mostly with the intent of seeing the Naval Academy. The fall foilage on our drive and in the city were absolutely beautiful!

We got to the historic area of Annapolis just in time for lunch. Thanks to Lesley for the recommendation of Mangia's (although Jason spotted Buddy's across the street and thought it looked promising, too). We had a nice view of the Marketsquare and City Dock as we ate our pizza and calzones.

It was a little cool out today, but Main Street, the dock and the USNA were all full of people - lots and lots of dogs were being walked and almost as many strollers were being pushed. And, of course, the Midshipmen in their navy blues.

Naval Academy wall with the chapel in the background.

View of Chesapeake Bay and fall foilage from the USNA campus

Maryland's State Capitol Building which is in the middle of a traffic circle.

Happy Halloween - 80's Style

I never realized until this year that Halloween was a big holiday! But, from what I'm seeing out on my friends' blogs, there are parties and costume opportunities for weeks leading up to the big day!

I have greatly enjoyed seeing adorable pictures of monkeys, kitties, horses, and super heros (and one awesome pair of jack-o-lantern pajamas)!

So, I found this picture in the vault - this must be Halloween 1984 (give or take a year). This is the way Trick-or-Treating was done 80's style: put the kid in regular clothes and top it off with a vinyl apron of his/her favorite character. I definitely remember my Strawberry Shortcake years. In fact, the next year I was the peach one. But I have no idea why my brother is a devil instead of a Star Wars figure.

Be sure to note the decorations taped in the kitchen window. We probably had some on the front door as well!