The One with All the Pictures - Thanksgiving Week Photo Explosion & Recap

Well - I don't know about you, but I enjoyed my Thanksgiving break. I also know I'm sad it's over, I'm sad that my sinuses could not handle the wild temperature change between MS and VA (almost 70 when we left my sister's, about 45 when we arrived home) and is making me pay for it today and I'm sad that I won't see my sister daily. Well - at least for the next three weeks.

Otherwise - there is naught but happiness here, for those things above are trivial things to be sad about and the past week was filled with plenty of moments to be quite happy about. A season of Thanksgiving and a reminder of the many, many things I have to thankful for.

The drive home on Monday night - shaky, but I love the sunset over the mountains & I love getting to see it on the way home.

The week started pretty quickly - which maybe sounds like a crazy way to phrase it, but I guess what I mean is there wasn't much down time. I worked on Monday, en route to the house on Monday night I picked up pizza at Little Caesar's (and almost face planted off the sidewalk leaving the place...) and we drove all the way to Dandridge, Tennessee before finally stopping for the night shortly before midnight. Eek! Watson did spectacularly all the way to MS - I had no doubt he would do awesome but I think my parents were pretty pleased with his travel endurance. His travel endurance consists of sleeping almost the entire trip - but you know, to each their own.

When we'd stop and take breaks, my Mom and I would walk Watson...until my Dad came out of the rest stop and took over. He'd run Watson around the place, putting him through his paces like some kind of show dog. My Dad was pretty certain Watson didn't just need to skip around and sniff things; he needed to really run and blow off some steam. Hey - whatever you prefer Jeffrey.

Watson - always up for an adventure!

Especially up for a good nap in the car, ha-ha!

Waiting for his Lindsey Beast to get home from work...

We stayed with my sister all week and she was a lovely host - even if she was very particular about how I went about unmaking the bed - ha! I'm kidding Lindsey! Love you! We were bums for most of Tuesday night...well, we were bums for more than just Tuesday night, but then again, it was Thanksgiving Break - so a break was called for. On Wednesday we explored and shopped some in downtown Columbus; I always like to stop in at Deep South Pout, a store that Lindsey introduced me to last time I visited. We had lunch at Cafe on Main - a mainstay of downtown Columbus that had some pretty delicious down home Southern cooking! I have no doubt Watson's favorite part of the visit though; besides getting to be with his whole family, was the dog park mere steps down the street from Lindsey's house. He ran wild and free on several occasions and thoroughly enjoyed every minute of it!

Good ol Southern cooking - fried okra, black eyed peas & mashed taters...with Sweet Tea, of course!

Watson enjoying being king of the "mountain" & getting some Lindsey cuddles.

Sliding down one side of the climbing obstacle...eek!

And here is where so many of the pictures come into play - ha! Of course we celebrated our turkey day exactly as one should; with more food than you could ever actually eat! We had turkey, ham, dressing (stuffing - what do you call it?) mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green beans, corn, lima beans and rolls. Whoosh! We had to wait on dessert (red velvet cake, pecan pie and lemon meringue pie) until we'd taken a little afternoon stroll. My favorite thing on the menu was; as always, my Mom's sweet potato casserole and I'm realizing as I type this that I never managed to have more than my one little serving! Aw man! My little sister is no doubt enjoying polishing off what is left.

I wish I'd had more than one spoonful of this goodness! 

Watson in his bow tie - outfitted handsomely to beg for some turkey & dressing!

After watching the Macy's Parade and polishing off quite a bit of food, we decided we needed to get outside and do something besides sitting on our rear ends! Columbus has a river walk and so we decided to load up, head down to the river walk and stroll around some; Watson was especially thrilled to be included in this, even if it did mean he had to pose for some pictures every once in a while. One thing about packing for Thanksgiving in MS that I didn't really think too hard about? The weather! I looked at it once or twice; it looked like the weather would hover around 60, and then I packed up my bags and didn't think about it again. Well - almost every day the weather topped out at above 70 degrees and sunny! Don't get me wrong, the weather was absolutely gorgeous! I just didn't have anything gorgeous to wear in all that heat! Blegh! I struggled through, one day even wearing fleece lined leggings with a dress...because well, it was what I had!

Lindsey & I pretending we aren't sweating....

There are tons of antebellum homes in Columbus - after we left the River Walk, we drove around and looked at some of them (from the car). I interspersed those photos in here too...and yea, I have no clue what any of the houses are called. But they're pretty...

The Summerlin children with the granddog - who was obviously interested in something besides looking at the camera.

The sis & I - posing & secretly contemplating when we'd start acting wild for photos. 

I promise I'm not holding his head like that - he actually looked!

We made the mistake of parking under a big ol Oak tree while we explored the River Walk and apparently half of Columbus' bird population likes to roost there - the car was covered in crap, no other way to put it. We decided to head through the car wash on the way back to Lindsey's house and let me tell you - Watson was NOT a fan. I'd never taken him through a car wash for the very reason that I assumed he'd absolutely freak out. He did. Bless him.

Talk about being in a panic.

This face clearly says "car washes are NOT okay!"

We started our Friday with a trip to Starkville - and our first stop was The Biscuit Shop - Lindsey was so thrilled to go get biscuits that she quite literally ramped over the curb and into a parking lot across from the shop. She swears she thought it was the entrance to a parking lot...I'm not convinced. She just wanted those biscuits! We had lunch at Abner's, a place I'm pretty sure I haven't been to since I went to college for a semester at Mississippi State...but surprisingly, not much had changed. The chicken was still good, the tea was still sweet and the walls were still covered in MSU and SEC sports memorabilia. We cruised around campus (the calm before the Egg Bowl storm) and hit up a few shops before heading back to Columbus to visit with family and watch a Christmas movie.

Delicious chicken - and sweet tea!

The curb jumper with the biscuits. Ha-ha!

The day before the Egg Bowl madness....

Lindsey's little home - all decorated for Christmas!

Saturday was such an absolute whirlwind - just thinking about all we did makes me feel sleepy; although there is probably more to it than just that. We woke up at 6 AM, left the house around 7 and drove to Collinsville to visit with my Mom's family for a couple hours, then drove into "downtown" Collinsville to visit with my Dad's family and give my cousin a send-off before he deploys on Tuesday. After lunch, we drove back to Columbus to drop Watson at the house and purchase emergency rain ponchos before cruising up the Interstate to Starkville for the Egg Bowl. And when I tell you the first time I felt relaxed (besides when I fell asleep in the car...hehehe) was sitting in those stands, well - that's the truth and is kind of goofy too.

Saturday morning breakfast of champions - biscuit lady biscuits in raspberry, cranberry-orange & carrot cake!

En route to the game with the essentials!

The Junction

The (blurry) view from on high. So many people...so many tents.

I had not been to an MSU game since I was in college at MSU - and folks, that seems like a lifetime ago. So many things have changed but some things have certainly stayed the same. Let me tell you though; that gigantic, massive, absolutely huge Jumbotron on each of the stadium is pretty spectacular...as are the fireworks when a touchdown is scored and don't even get me started on the fire that shoots up when they players enter the field. Wow. Granted, I certainly would have liked to see more of the fireworks...the bulldogs weren't victorious but I still had a really good time and remembered all the wonderful things I love about Mississippi State football.

The new cowbell being put to use - the old one is still boxed up...

M! S! U!

Give me an S! Give me a T! Give me an A! Give me Another T! Give me an E!

That's right - I can ring two cowbells at once - because that's how much spirit I have.

Trying to keep her hood on during the downpour...thankfully it was short lived.

Dak Prescott's last home game with MSU - a fond farewell.

Adios MSU - until next time...whenever that might be.

We drove home all day on Sunday. All day. In the rain. Blegh. I know I was about to go stir crazy and by about hour ten of thriteen, Watson has started just hanging his head in despair that he'd ever be freed from the car. Bless him. The last stop we made, he was like "nope...not getting back in that car..." but of course, he soldiered on and was one thoroughly thrilled little puppy when we arrived at home. I was one thoroughly thrilled person when we arrived at home. The week was wonderful but the drive/ride was long...and I'm glad I won't be driving anywhere again until late March. Whoosh!

Settling in for the journey.

I leave you with my panoramic shot of Davis Wade Stadium - with Lindsey posing, of course.