Thanksgiving 2011

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone. I have so much to be thankful for that I could never list it all here. But, naturally, I'll try.

I'm thankful for Eric. (Who, by the way, is blogging now.) I'll keep it short, but that man is my best friend. And I'm marrying him. He gets me, I get him, he makes me laugh so much, he takes care of me better than anyone ever could. He is such a pain in my ass, and I would trade it for absolutely nothing in the world.

I'm thankful for Violet. I don't know how I was ever without a Collie, and my world would be a less bright and vibrant place without her in it.

I'm thankful for Piper. Like Violet, I can't imagine how we were ever without her stoic, silly, serious self. Our co-pilot, Violet's best friend.

I'm thankful for Dewey. He's the token mutt that we never knew we needed until he came along and just fit in like he'd always been there. He's the easiest puppy I've ever raised, thank God.

I'm thankful for my parents and stepmother.

I'm thankful for my grandparents.

I'm thankful for my brothers and sister and brother in law.

I'm thankful for my sweet nephews.

I'm thankful for my upcoming-in-laws.

I'm thankful for the opportunity to start school in January.

I'm thankful for the time to pursue my hobbies - scrapbooking, photography, cooking, baking, reading, Sims, dog training...

I'm thankful for volunteer opportunities.

I'm thankful that we have a car that works.

I'm thankful for my friends.

I'm thankful for my health, and the health of my loved ones.

And since this is a dog-centered blog - holy meatballs I'm thankful for how the dogs behaved yesterday. It was their first big gathering, and Piper's just getting over her reactivity turbulence and Violet's just coming out of her intense, knock-you-over teenage exuberance, and the house was crammed full of people and food and a very energetic child...and we decided to go ahead and leave all 5 dogs roaming freely and hope for the best. (Well, semi-freely - Piper started out on a leash and Gentle Leader hooked to Eric's belt loop, but was quickly released for good behavior.) And it went perfectly. Violet didn't bark once (okay, once - but it was literally one bark), was impervious to any chaos, settled down with a bone. Slept through most of dinner. Let the 8 year old smoosh her against the back of the couch, lay on her, hug her around the neck, put a tiara on her head, anything. I've never been prouder. Piper was equally flawless. She sat calmly by Eric's side through dinner, was reserved but calm with Cassie (8 year old), sat like an angel for pictures in front of the tree. (These weirdos put up their Christmas stuff on Thanksgiving, after dinner.) She didn't have a single flicker of a second of issues with the behavioral problems we've been working through. Dewey, who tends to be just slightly skittish around children, was perfect with Cassie, settled into his open crate to nap during dinner, didn't have a single accident, chewing incident, nothing - he's 16 weeks old. It went off without one single hitch.

This morning we took Piper to Petsmart at 7am for Black Friday. We got there at about 6:55, 5 minutes before opening, and spent a little time in an extremely civilized, friendly line of about 15 people outside. It was very chill in the store, we got a couple dog beds, new collars for all, sweaters for Dewey, a bunch of toys, a Collie Christmas tree ornament, a velvet Christmas collar for Violet, for super super cheap. It was fun and stress-free, and the dogs' Christmas shopping is so done.

Cooking With Collies - Pie Edition.

Homemade graham cracker crust, homemade crust for pecan pie.

Pecan pie.

Dewey got a pre-Thanksgiving bath.  

Mary and Adam.

  

Under the table.

Mary making green beans.

  

Putting on Peep's Gentle Leader.

The (in)famous pearch cobbler.

  

Smoosh.

Watching things from the living room.

Peep's place during dinner.

Dewey's place during dinner. Sound asleep, 3 feet from the dinner table.

And Violet's dinner spot. 

 
Eric's Nan.

   

Eric and Adam trying to find the light that didn't work.

My armadillo ornament. <3

GSD ornament.

  

Such a bad picture of me, but Peep... <3

Cream puffs and other things.

Today for dinner I made chicken florentine, baked potatoes, and cream puffs from scratch. They were the hugest pain in my ass - I screwed up one step very, very minorly, but it caused the cream to come out much too thin (almost liquid) and led me to do all sorts of ridiculous things to remedy the situation (including but certainly not limited to adding whipped cream in hopes of adding some "fluff" - homemade whipped cream, which I made on the spot, which took a while, what kind of person keeps heavy whipping cream on hand but not some damn aerosol Cool Whip? Me.), and ultimately it came out a perfect consistency. The original recipe is here, I tweaked a few things. If you try it, make sure you don't take the cream off the heat too soon. I got jumpy about not burning it and it didn't get to thicken enough.

How did I ever cook anything before I had a trusty and loyal Collie to lay beside me in the kitchen? 

Dewey pulled a huge blanket out of the crate and across the room to make himself a little nest and settle in during the cooking.

They got a little wild.

Thank God for patient Collies. Violet wonders when Dewey's gonna be done being a baby.

She's learning a "bang" trick. Basically the word "bang" and a finger gun cues a "play dead." She demonstrates above.

Gourds.

Eric's cactus.

The incredible potty trained three month old. Dewey, asking to go outside.

 

Red bell pepper.

Cream puffs!

In other news, I decided once and for all today to try to apply to the BSW program at IUPUI. I've been back and forth between a bachelor's in psychology and a bachelor's in social work for months, completely angsty and indecisive about it. Both have pros and cons, BSW program is more relevant to my career goals/plans to get my MSW post-grad, but my big hang-up has been that it's fairly competitive to get into. I'll need a lot of volunteer work and letters of recommendation between now and next fall semester, but when I type that out, not going for it seems like a cop-out, and it is. I'm nervous about starting in January, I feel like I have no frame of reference for what to expect (will it be easier than I think? Harder? Will I be completely overwhelmed? Bored?), and I don't. (More on that another day.) But the way the timing works out, I don't have to apply until I've finished the spring and summer semesters, so I think I'll have my footing at that point, and if I feel like I should stick with psychology then, I can. But if not, I'll be starting on volunteer work now and will be putting myself on a path that will allow me to apply for the BSW program if I feel like I can. I feel good about it. Mary has some contacts that may get me hooked up with a soup kitchen (I'm excited - I love volunteering), and my grandmother's church has some opportunities as well. I'm hoping to get three regular/recurring volunteers positions lined up within the next week or so.