Where the "F" did November go?

“The advantage of a bad memory is that one enjoys several times the same good things for the first time.” ― Friedrich Nietzsche

However, no one likes burned cookies when you forget them in the oven. No one likes being forgotten after field hockey practice. Thanks Mom. I'm sure none of the others kids made fun of me. God forbid we forget birthdays, anniversaries, and holidays. What is most unforgivable is forgetting to update your blog. I am so sorry cyberspace. I forgot. Please forgive me. Please don't stop reading my blog. By the way your hair looks nice. Have you lost weight? You look fantastic.

Phew. Now that the groveling is over we can continue. It wasn't like I was sitting on my bum twiddling my thumbs. These past few (more than a few) days were filled with ice cream cake, turkey, stuffing, ham, deviled eggs, mac & cheese, chocolate chip cookies, blueberry pancakes... SORRY! I was counting by food again. Anyway many, numerous, several, multiple things happened while I was "vacationing". Charlie turned 3 and we had a party, with ice cream cake! Not for the dogs. You humane people keep your red paint in the buckets. Thanksgiving rolled through or actually we rolled around after all the food we ate. Matt and I celebrated the day he asked me to marry him. We opened the Christmas decorations box (YAY CHRISTMAS!) Finally, Matt let me bring home an animal from work. What? No, I'm not lying. Don't laugh at me like that. Dreams do come true people.

To back track, Charlie our dog turned 3. We had a dog birthday party disguised as football Sunday. The Redskins didn't even have the decency to win. Worst gift ever. We celebrated with ice cream cake (for the people) and dog treats for the dogs. I did smear a bit of icing on Charlie's tongue so he could feel included. For the record, we have the most awesome friends. Jennifer hunted down candles for the cake and cut it! John led the Happy Birthday song. Chris and Bunni tried to round up the dogs and Collin helped pick out the dog treats. Best of all, they still talk to us. Love you guys. Also, thanks to the grumpy lady at Food Lion who wrote Charlie's name on the cake. I didn't have the heart to tell her it was for my dog.

Jennifer lighting the candles and Matt singing "Happy Birthday" to Charlie!

Thanksgiving is possibly my FAVORITE holiday. It used to be Halloween because, for what other reason,  the candy. In actuality Halloween doesn't bring your family together (unless it's mine). Then it involves costumes, alcohol, and Maryanna's birthday. Still sore we missed that this year. So I made up for it by being at Thanksgiving. 1. There is a ton of food. More importantly it's a lot of good food. Gay starts the Turkey at 7:00 am so the whole house smells good the entire day. 2. My sister discovered a talent for baking cupcakes. That deserves it's own number on the list. 3. Turkey Day Family Football. Somehow it ended up being the Reeds against the Jones'. With Morgan (my niece) defecting occasionally. 4. Dad's tire swing. 5. Seeing family. 6. Secret Santa drawings. 7. Several different types of alcohol. All encouraged and consumed. 8. The noise. If you've never been to a Jones family gathering you'd might be concerned that you've either entered a pub or a large angry mob. 9. Knowing that no matter who walks in the door they'll get a hug, a beer and a plate of food. 10. Having 2 days off so we could see Matt's family too!
Also, my dad is a turkey baby. He was born on Thanksgiving so the holiday is usually a combined birthday. This year my ridiculous cousins gave him "ass-cream". Aptly applied for when he's being a pain in the ass. My step mom said that the cream should have been for her. That, is my family in a nut shell. 

My Thanksgiving 2011

Yikes. It looks like I'm writing a book here. I'll try to wrap it up before you fall asleep on me. On 11.27.11 Matt treated me to IHOP before work as a celebration of an anniversary of sorts. I had blueberry pancakes. They were delicious thank you for asking. A year ago he asked me to marry him. Here we are now- home owners, check. Married, check. Kids... not yet. Grandparents please continue to hold your breath. Feel free to breath though because when we do have kids we want you to be alive. Thanks. If you want a full encounter of our proposal leave it in the comments and I'll write a post about it.

Matt proposing 11.27.10

Finally, I have a kitten in my house. Hehehehe. My evil plan is working. I think. Probably not. He's sick and we're fostering him until he gets better. That's the plan. We don't need another animal. Even one as cool as Bebe. We don't need another animal. We don't.... awww he's so cute. No. Matt (the other Matt, our best man Matt) told me "This sick kitten is your gateway drug and the SPCA is your dealer". Touche, sir, touche. Anyone need a kitten?

Love,
Grace