No Eating the Guests!

As I sat down on Thanksgiving night, when the dishes were done and no one was quite ready for dessert, I watched my kids together on the couch laughing over something silly. I was filled with the most wonder sense of thanksgiving for my family the way it is.

They have a choice to be here. My brother in law has been part of the boys' lives for the last 30 ~ 27 ~ 24 years. He would come down when we lived in Phoenix, go to spring training and have a lot of time to hang out with the boys at the park, at the pool, at the game.

It seems like forever since those days of building a friendship that has outlasted a twenty year marriage to his brother and a decade since. We still go to games and he still comes to bbq's and holiday dinners. He gets along great with the Hubs, too. He always sweeps in with cheesecake under his arm and heads for the Seven Up in the fridge. 

Choosing family is so heartwarming. So right. We put out the idea of family dinners in the New Year. We live an hour or two apart, and that's a bit of a snag, but the boys were receptive to it.

I am thankful this year that Tim's new rescue Rottweiler did not eat the guests. In fact, Gatsby and Princess Sam got along well with her, so well in fact, that Roxie is on an extended sleepover until Sunday.

There was that moment she jumped up with front paws on the chopping block and thinking about digging in to the turkey carcass while we were at the table, but someone nixed that idea pretty fast.

Roxie's tummy was upset last night and so I boiled up some rice and chicken to settle things down. Now she follows me around as the Food Fairy. (Food truly is the universal language of love.) This morning, she actually laid on her side for me to scratch her tummy. That is a By Invitation Only activity with a Rottie and I was honored.

Sam taught Roxie to run up and down stairs, and just where to stand in the kitchen to be assurred a little morsel from the butcher block. And Roxie took Sam across the road to the farm on the other side, which nearly stopped our hearts until we had them back home and safe. Bad idea, city dog, bad bad idea.

I can hear Roxie snoring on her -no joke- Tempur Pedic dog bed in the living room, which is a relief that she is comfortable without Tim on her first sleepover.  And Sam could barely keep her eyes open after two days of Big Dog play. When the Hubs turned in, she was first on the bed and first conked out. I had to drag her sorry little carcass down to the foot of the bed -- and she didn't even wake up. Off to bed for me shortly, if there's room...