More pumpkin

Derrick and I were lucky to have several houseguests last weekend - Rick (Colorado), Kate & Dan (Arkansas), Engle (Tennessee) and my sister (AR). It was a fun mix. We grilled burgers and made s'mores over the fire pit. Engle brought the Wii so we had some Guitar Hero challenges as well. I also made a recipe Kate found for Chocolate Pumpkin Cake and Cupcakes with Orange Cream Cheese Frosting. They turned out great, but next time I might try store bought or just vanilla icing. I think I'm just not a huge fan of homemade cream cheese icing, but it turned out well.

Now I'm back into my thesis world and hope to stay focused for the next few weeks. Data collection ends this Thursday so that's another big hurdle that will be cleared!

Derrick's birthday is Saturday and I think we'll cook dinner and watch football - his perfect evening. Then... can you believe that Thanksgiving is NEXT week?! I really, really can't but I'm excited to go spend time with family. We'll head to Kentucky for Thanksmas with Derrick's family mid-week then I'll head to AR Friday. Thanksmas is a great holiday where the whole family gathers for a Thanksgiving dinner followed by Christmas gifts and treats. Kind of like the O.C.'s Chrismukkah. By the way, this "mish-mash" Christmas/Hanukkah holiday even has a web-site Chrismukkah.com, so funny.