Hanging With Dogs And Family

Tin Tin

Kaia And Mitch

Well, it's just 8:00 and I have been up since 6:45, first with Rami who was up earlier and made a pot of coffee. Then, the dogs joined us, both Kaia and Tin Tin, and now Marisa. It's going to be unseasonably warm today, a high in the 80s, then drop to the 50s tomorrow for Thanksgiving. 

Marisa And Tin Tin This Morning

Yesterday was taken up mostly with an eight-and-a-half-hour drive, from Kansas City to a Dallas suburb called Old Lake Highlands. We left at 7:00 and arrived at Beth's a 3:30. The first seven hours were fine, mostly on RT 69 South through towns with names like Muskogee, Checotah, and Eufaula, all in Oklahoma. It was beautiful country, flat lands of course, with vast farms with towns interspersed every thirty or forty miles. Once we got into Texas, however, on #75, it was driving hell, two, then three, then four lanes of back-to-back traffic, going north and south. Going was slow, maybe 20 to 30 mph in 70-mile zones but we made it finally. 

With Tin Tin

A Relaxing Morning With The Dogs

Beth and Marisa and the dogs welcomed us, and Kaia, seemed to recognize me because she came right over for me to be petted. Rami was still downtown working and Mitch was upstairs working from a bedroom. They also have a new dog since we were here last Thanksgiving, a rescue dog called Tin Tin,  and he is very affectionate and friendly. We had not seen them since July so we quickly caught up on Beth's teaching and Marisa's acceptance to Med School at UT Austin, quite a plum. Ramiro was home by 5:00 and Mitch finished working so we enjoyed an Old Fashioned or wine before dinner. 

Rami With Mitch And Marisa

Old Fashioneds Making

For dinner, Beth made an Ina Garten chicken recipe using chicken thighs, lemons, and onions with rice, it was delicious, with lots of lemon/onion gravy. After dinner, we relaxed, what else, cuddled with the dogs and mostly talked about usual,  school and work Mitch and Marisa's lives, and the family June trip to Africa.  All of us were tired and went to bed by 9:30 at the latest.