Let it snow, let it snow...

Thanksgiving dinner has come and gone making it time to celebrate Christmas in our household!  Actually, we cheated because we started last night.  We couldn't help ourselves.  It was snowing and cold and it looked like the holidays!  Since we had put the lights up several weeks ago while it was still warm they were all ready to go and there was nothing to keep us from turning the timers on, so we did, and we don't regret it.  We actually got several inches of snow through yesterday and today.  Last night we kicked off our holidays with Christmas music, a movie and a fire.  And what better way to celebrate Thanksgiving morning than with pancakes and Ghostbusters.  We made sure that we each got on the treadmill this morning, too, so that we would be able to eat more at dinner, and it was a good thing.  We did dinner at Cortney's parents' house with all the usual trimmings.  Her dad did the turkey on the smoker (really there is no better way!), and there was stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, cranberry salad, waldorf salad, squash, wine, apple pie, pumpkin pie, and various coffees.  New and different this year was the addition of Patty, Curtis' fiance, and her family.  We had a wonderful time sharing the holiday with them, and the excellent desserts they brought, too.  Patty's father evidently has a sweet-tooth from which all the rest of us benefited.  In addition to the pies we had Death by Chocolate cake and riced pudding.  They also brought a traditional Peruvian drink called Chicha (I think) that is made by boiling purple corn to extract the joice, and then adding sugar, cinnamon, cloves, and apple pieces.  The drink has a relaxing and calming affect, yet is non-alcoholic.  We enjoyed it, and we had a wonderful time learning more about their traditions and their family.  Now, again, we are relaxing off the effects of a tryptophan dinner with a fire and a movie. 

Happy snow, happy holidays! 

Football season has begun!

The first game of the University of Michigan football season kicked off at 3:30 today and we were there (thank you Cortney's parents)!  Of course, that meant that our tailgating kickoff was at 12:30 with a smorgasbord of cheeses, crackers, dips and chips, pop, wine, beer, champagne & orange juice, cookies, and chicken grilling.  We love our tailgating crowd!  We had a great time, and we can't even be too disappointed in our Wolverines because not only was it just the first game of the year, but we did win!  Our only disappointment was that we left shortly after halftime to take care of the dogs, thinking that if we left early enough we would get home in time to see the end of the game of TV, but instead that specific channel was out on our cable.  Thanks a lot, crappy Comcast.

Art Fair in Ann Arbor

Every year, on the third Wednesday of July, Ann Arborites everywhere (in Ann Arbor) run for the hills (up north, on a lake, anywhere but here) as visitors from all over the country swarm onto our streets and our restaurants.  Yep, it’s Art Fair week.  Maybe we’re masochistic, or maybe just plain crazy, but we never leave town during Art Fair.  In fact, we met at a swing dance the night of the first day of Art Fair, so we kind of see it is a floating anniversary.    Every year we join the Ophoff family for lunch and then peruse the fair throughout the afternoon and into the evening on opening day.  And every year we buy ourselves an anniversary gift there.  The first year, a cutting board, the second year the letters of our name in photographs, and this year?  A giant stuffed turtle.  Yes you guessed it, we are regressing in age.  But we also got a beautiful safari photograph for the large blank space above our bed.  This picture is fantastic and has been treated to make it appear a little like an oil painting.  It will be like waking up on an African safari every day of the week (without the bugs)!  Suddenly we have an urge to fly overseas and actually go on a safari, but that will be some ways off in the future.  Ah, well, it never hurts to dream.