Happy Christmas Eve! Hope Santa is on his way to your house tonight. Dear Mom, thanks for the "Slush Happens" mugs and Santa Claus cookies! And dear Grandma, thanks for the peanut butter fudge! It makes us feel a bit closer to home tonight. We miss everyone dearly. Love, A&K

IT'S A BOY!!!

Meet Tucker, the newest addition to our family. He always has such a funny little grin on his face.

He came home about 3 weeks ago. I saw him at a pet store, which I hate admitting. But he was on clearance because no one wanted him, which of course meant that I immediately wanted him. I waited 2 weeks, visiting him everyday, and actually wishing someone else would take him home. But since they didn't, he came home with me. I checked with the vet, and she said it was actually a great store, locally-owned, without those stereo-typical-pet-store-issues. It made me feel a little bit better. This is a picture of his first bath.

I was worried about Jake. We've been wanting to get him a friend for a while now, but were worried about bringing home a dog that may turn out to be aggressive. Tucker is a Westie-Poodle mix, and seems to be just right for Jake...now.

But it hasn't always been that way. When I took them to meet at the store, they were best friends...but when I brought Tucker home, Jake hated him. One time, Adam gave them each a Dingo bone (if you have a dog and haven't given them Dingos, your dog is really missing out!). They each sat down, chewing on their Dingos, until Jake casually walked over and peed on Tucker's bone, and then returned to his own. Jake, who's never marked his territory in his life! Adam put Jake in time out for that one. :)

Also, if you've been to our house, you know there is no shortage of puppy entertainment. I would guess that Jake owns in excess of 30 toys. Jake prefers things that are stuffed and squeak, so Tucker found a little rawhide that Jake had NEVER played with...until Tucker found it. Now Jake has to have it. All the time. He carries it to the water bowl. He carries it outside. He carries it to bed. Just so Tucker can't have it.

Adam tells me they're just like brothers. Jake is warming up to Tucker now. They enjoy playing together and Jake enjoys having someone to chase him and keep him active.

Jake will always be my first love, number one puppy. I have to tell him that all the time. But Tucker is such a sweet little guy too. Check out those spotted paws.

I walked up on this the other day...no arranging of the stuffing for a better picture, I promise. This was Tucker's soft teddy bear for his crate...but clearly someone got to it. Poor decapitated bear! Don't worry, I sewed his head back on.

I'm here...
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The end of the semester is always so stressful for me. I do it to myself, really...because all the over-committing I've done all semester finally bites me you-know-where. Ahh, the life of a grad student. :)
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Anyway, I had a bit of a breaking point this morning. I cried. Thankfully I don't do that much anymore. And thankfully it was only in front of friends. But we found a solution...the details of the problem I have decided I probably shouldn't share on a public forum....but it was school stuff.
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Anyway, so my breaking point a few short hours ago had me wishing for happier times. And I thought of Thanksgiving pictures, which I have yet to share with my blog readers...although at this point I'm not sure how many I have left.
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Long story short, Adam and I flew to Texas on Thanksgiving, arriving on Thursday afternoon in time for the Cowboys game and to surprise my mom that evening. She had no idea we were coming! Anyway, on Friday mom and I went shopping and then Adam and I went to dinner (tex-mex, of course) and a Christmas tree lighting with mom, Milt, PaPa, and Sharron. It's a yearly tradition that I so missed last year being in Detroit. Afterwards, we went for coconut ice cream at Wild About Harry's. On Saturday Adam and I attended the Baylor vs. Texas Tech football game, and then headed back to Michigan on Sunday morning. Here are a few pics:



I hope to be back with another post soon!