Giving Thanks

Chris and I went to his parents' house in Savannah for Thanksgiving this year.  We had a full house!  Chris's brother, Ben, his wife, Daeon, and their two girls, Kaelyn and Alayna were there, along with Chris's mom's sister, Robin, her husband, Gregg, and their two daughters, Kelsey and Taylor.  Chris and I came in late Tuesday night, Ben and Daeon came in even later Wednesday night, and Robin and Gregg got there just in time for our Thanksgiving steak lunch on Thursday.  I baked two sweet potato pies, even though there were only a handful of sweet-potato-pie-eaters in the house.  I just couldn't have Thanksgiving without a slice.  Thursday night, all the girls went to the movie theater to see Breaking Dawn: part 1 (that was my second time to see it!).  We had a blast without all the boys there to bug us.

Precious Alayna in her pink elephant pajamas

So, I made these Christmas Tree shirts for the girls.  I spent pretty much all day Monday sewing them.  I put them in a Walmart bag for the drive so that I wouldn't get them dirty.  Unfortunately, Chris thought the bag was trash, so he dumped them in a garbage can at a gas station somewhere between Tuscaloosa and Savannah.  

On Friday, all the golfers headed out for 18 holes, while Daeon, Chris's dad, Dave, and I went to the jewelry store to buy Chris's mom, LuAnn's Christmas gift.  Everybody had a late lunch of Daeon's famous jalapeno cream cheese stuffed shrimp kabobs (except me and Chris, who don't eat shrimp).  Taylor has taken up crocheting, so she stayed busy making scarves and hats for everybody.  She was working on a gorgeous green scarf for me, but she didn't get it quite finished before they had to leave Friday night, so I am anxiously awaiting receiving mine in the mail!  

Beautiful Kaelyn in her princess pajamas

LuAnn's baby boy, Moose, who I am pretty sure stayed in this exact position for several minutes.  

On Saturday, Daeon, LuAnn and I went to a cooking demonstration at Kitchens on the Square, a little kitchen gadget store downtown.  Our instructor showed us how to make a delicious bacon-wrapped pork tenderloin dredged in brown sugar, which I cannot wait to recreate for Chris (post to follow).  She also made a flavored butter that was delicious--just add chopped, dried cranberries and orange zest to softened butter.  She stored it inside a butter bell, which is a container that keeps butter fresh for spreading.  For dessert, we had carrot cake twinkies with cream cheese filling!  Of course, everything she used in the demonstration you could buy in the store, and we got 10% off of our purchase.  None of us had ever heard of a butter bell, but we were so impressed that all three of us bought one.  I didn't buy the twinkie pan, even though I was tempted.  I decided it was not in the best interest of my waistline.  I did buy a microplane, a precious elephant-shaped cream pitcher, a butter bell, and a hilarious kitchen towel for mother that said: "Let's eat, drink, and bond over shattered holiday expectations."  We shopped a little more downtown, and then headed home to watch the Crimson Tide roll over the Tigers.  Disappointingly, we came home to cold, rainy weather on Sunday.

Atticus was so happy to see his Macy

All in all, it was a good trip.  We got lots of family time in, Macy got to hang out with her best buddy, Moose, the weather was wonderful, and we got plenty of play and cuddle time with Kaelyn and Alayna.  I even learned how to change a diaper!  I think Alayna's still trying to get over the emotional trauma of it.   For some of the highlights of the visit, check out Daeon's youtube video:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qq2svRAQcjI&feature=email   (skip to the end for my elephant act).  I absolutely love going to Savannah, but it never seems like we have enough time in the city!  Sometime in the near future, I'm going to make Chris take me just to see and do touristy things!

My favorites

The Adventures of Atticus the Cat: the Christmas Tree Catastrophe

Since we rescued him in May, Atticus has become the main character in the majority of our stories.  He is adventurous, clever, playful, affectionate, and a giant pain in the rear.  Our house is his jungle gym, our belongings his playthings.  No matter how many toys he has available to him, Atticus will always prefer to swat small things off of tables, turn drinking glasses over, and use our couches as scratching posts.  

In the first installment of The Adventures of Atticus the Cat, I want to tell you about Atticus's first meeting with our Christmas tree.  Though I plan to wait until after Thanksgiving to decorate for Christmas, I decided tonight to go ahead and put my tree together to make sure all the parts were in the box and all the lights worked.  Chris is gone on an audit trip to Gilroy, California, so I thought I would use some of my free time to get a head start.  Macy and Atticus were both very interested in the tree when I started taking it out of the box and unwrapping all the parts.  The tree is pre-lit and is divided into three sections. After I put the tree together, but before I plugged it in and started fluffing out the branches, my phone rang, so I stepped away.  When I turned back to the tree, Atticus's yellow eyes were peering out at me.  

What are you looking at?

I don't see what the problem is here.  

After laughing and taking a few photos, I started yelling, "No, Atticus! Get down!" I reached in to pull him out, and that startled him, so he started trying to find a way down.  You may know that cats are excellent at climbing upwards, but they are not so great at finding a way back down.  He reached out toward the mantel, knocking over picture frames (which I caught before they hit the ground and shattered, thankfully), and I used the opportunity to snatch him down.  I gave him a little spanking and put him down.  I thought that was the end of the story, but he immediately started right back up the middle of the tree!  I started yelling and clapping again, but he was perfectly happy perched up in my tree, and he would not be scared out again.  He started chewing on the cords for the lights and on the branches, so I knew it was not OK to leave him alone.  When I reached in to grab him, he tried to bite and scratch my hands, and then he moved around the tree where it was harder for me to reach him.  At that point, I flew off the handle.  I grabbed him around the middle (with no regard for my safety from his claws) and tossed him out the door--partly as punishment and partly to keep myself from beating him senseless.  I think he learned his lesson because he has not tried to climb the tree again, but maybe he just learned to wait until I go to bed.  

That sure is a strange looking Christmas ornament.

Welcome to my world.

On an unrelated note, I have deduced from his singed whiskers that Atticus has also recently had a close encounter with one of my candles.  He is lucky he is so darn cute.

Love,
Jillerina :*

Bama Glama Premiere!

It is official! Bama Glama will premiere on December 16th at 7 p.m. CT, with our wedding as the first episode!  I am a little nervous to see how it turns out, especially now that I know how much editing, scripting, and re-writing took place (see my earlier post).  While you are watching, please bear that in mind!  I can assure you that no matter what happens on television, from my end, there was no drama, and everybody was happy.  I am looking forward to seeing some of the technical surprises that took place during the processional and ceremony that I missed, and I also want to see our guests' reactions to everything, but I am not looking forward to seeing myself (I just hate hearing myself talk; don't you?).  Be sure and tune in!