We're having a family dinner tonight to celebrate Jake's 25th birthday, so we'll all be gathered around the dining room table--Tom and me, John, Beth, and Elliott, Jake and Sam.  Chicken and Steak Fajitas are on the menu, along with birthday cake, conversation, and Elliott's adorable antics.  Can't wait!

We are truly blessed as a family!

I'm thankful, too, for our friend, Rebecca, whose hard work and commitment brings all our thanksgiving posts together in one place.

Thanks, Rebecca!

The truth is, though, that as much as I don't like the long hair--as much as I bugged him to get it cut--as irritated as I became as time marched on and he didn't get it cut--I'm thankful that momentary irritations have never really become more than that.  

Hair is vitally personal to children.  They weep vigorously when it is cut for the first time; no matter how it grows, bushy, straight, or curly, they feel they are being shorn of part of their personality.  --Charles Chaplin

Easy BBQ Beef Sandwiches

Cook in crock pot on low for 8 - 10 hours:

3 lb. rump roast

1 jar DelMonte Chili Sauce

1 envelope Lipton Onion Soup mix

1 can cola

Shred and serve over buns.

What could be easier?  Not sure how many it serves, but I'm guessing about 2 dozen.

 It was time to take the dogs outside to do their business one last time before going to their crates for the night.  We called Ivy, who was fast asleep with me on the couch, and, as usual, she sprang into action.  She ran out in the cold, did her business in record time and scurried in.  Eve took her time waking up, as usual.  (Have you ever tried to wake up a deaf dog?)  Once awake, she obediantly shuffled to the front door and waited while Tom put the leash on.  She did her business in record time and got back to the porch without too much trouble.

But that's when the trouble started.  She couldn't find the wide open door that led into the house.  She kept trying to get under the table on the porch.  She may have thought the space underneath the table was her crate.  Tom tried to redirect her, but it was no use.  Then she planted her feet and would not move.  She began to tremble and shake and no matter what we tried, we couldn't get her to move in the right direction.  It was clear that she was confused and afraid.  Tom tried pulling her into the house with the leash, but that didn't work.  She just planted her feet like an old mule. Tom, Jake, and I were all coaxing her and trying to calm her down.  Finally, Jake ran for a couple of potato chips (she can still smell, apparently!) and eventually we got her into her crate, where she obediantly curled up and went to sleep. 

It doesn't seem very dramatic in the retelling, but at the time it was so upsetting.  Similar things have happened before but this was different.  She didn't seem to know where she was or who we were; she's been confused plenty of times but she's never seemed afraid and unresponsive.  Maybe she had a seizure.  Maybe it was a stroke.  Maybe she just woke up on the wrong side of the bed and she was simply confused.

She didn't wake up this morning when I got Ivy up, so I waited until Tom was up before we went in to wake her up.  I wasn't sure what we'd be facing.  She was sleeping hard, but she was alive and she seems to be 'normal' or as normal as is possible for the old girl.  There seems to be no lasting repercussions from last night's events.

So, again, this morning, I'm thankful for my sweet old girl, Eve.  She is a treasure and we will continue to treasure her for as long as we are blessed to have her.

To read more thankful posts, visit Rebecca.

I am so glad I did because I discovered a true gem--my friend, Rosemary, is blogging again!  Rosemary's had always been one of my favorite blogs because Rosemary is one of those delightful, uplifting, encouraging, and 'iron sharpens iron' friends I have met online.

So, already this morning, I am rejoicing and thanking God for Rosemary, and for all my treasured blogging friends.

I know this isn't particularly scriptural, but this is the song running through my head this morning:

Make new friends but keep the old,

One is silver and the other gold.

Perhaps Paul put it better:

I thank my God upon every remembrance of you! Philipppians 1:3

Don't forget to send your thanksgiving links to Rebecca and then visit the rest of the thankful posts!  You don't want to miss out on an opportunity to join into the praises and thanksgiving of God's people!  I'm pressed for time today, but even just looking through the list of yesterday's thanksgiving posts has reminded me of many things for which I must give thanks!

On the trip home, I was reflecting upon how much I enjoyed being with our parents, our brothers and sisters, nieces and nephews, and I was also thinking about how much I had missed being together with our brothers and sisters in our church family for worship this Sunday morning.

God has blessed us with the most wonderful, loving families and church family!

November is the month for giving thanks and Rebecca at Rebecca Writes is rounding up our thankful posts each day on her blog.  It's amazing how reading others' posts spur us on to greater and greater thanksgiving, so join us!  What are you thankful for today?  Leave a note in the comments or if you write about it on your own blog, send your link to Rebecca!

October extinguished itself in a rush of howling winds and driving rains and November arrived, cold as frozen iron, with hard frosts every morning and icy drafts that bit at exposed hands and faces.

J.K. Rowling, Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix, Chapter 19