Success

Ok, I will call this a successful visit to my parents.  Gone are the days when I will call these trips fun or exciting.  Now they are gaged upon how much I can accomplish and how I can make their lives easier and more enjoyable.  Of course I get to see my beloved Pepper again!!  She is so happy at my parents' house.  She runs and plays and gets bolder and more friendly every time I see her.  Now she jumps on the couch and the backs of their chairs and plays vigorously with her numerous toys.  A little grey fuzzy mouse that rattles when you shake it is her favorite item.

 

She is still very pampered and spoiled by my dad especially.  She has a set routine and they both follow it to the letter.  8:45pm and it's time to hop up on the ottoman and have exactly eight cat treats.  My father counts them out one by one and when Pepper gets to treat number eight she leans in for some petting and then hops down.

 

We got a bit of snow the day before Thanksgiving.  Nothing overwhelming, but enough to put a nice blanket of white on the holiday.

 

Although I prepared the entire Thanksgiving Feast  (a task I really do LOVE to do by the way), my father took his place of honor to carve the turkey.  My mother was thrilled at all of this.  After 46 days completely bed-ridden I think she was afraid she would never see a real family holiday again.

 

Since I had prepared the meal my mother thought it only proper that I should be photographed with the bird.  So after we ate one half of it we spun it around to get a good shot!

 

Mom is back to knitting and crocheting again, although at a much slower pace.  We spent several days going through her substantial stash and piles of works-in-progress and picked out a few.  She has set a goal to try to finish some of these projects.  Many are nearly a decade old!

Here she is working on a soft poncho in shades of lavender and grey.  She is faster and more agile then she thinks and was able to finish this in one afternoon and it made the trip home with me!

My father, an avid athlete most of his life, and also a promoter of a healthy diet, could exist on pasta and vegetables every day.  So it was quite a shock that he treated us to Burger King one night. For this amazing feat he received his Burger King's Crown.

My brother and his family had dinner with us another night.  Always an evening filled with laughter to the point of tears as we discuss every forbidden topic and family skeleton!

 

A new puppy has joined their family.  My sister-in-law and niece with Georgia. 

 

 Their older dog Daxter gets some attention from my Dad.

 

On December 1st (way TOO EARLY according to my father) I swapped out the Thanksgiving/Autumn decorations for the Christmas fare.

 

So they are set for the month of December.  The freezer is filled with meals I prepared, a stair lift was installed for my mother to use (she hates it!), many loads of laundry done, boxes cleared away, knitting projects underway and Christmas properly installed.

 Pepper is ready to inspect the tree.

 

I am back home again in Ohio and missing them all very much.  My kitties and Joe are happy to have me back and I am overjoyed to be with them again.  Gymnastics competitions are back in full-swing and the world moves on.