Yesterday, my parents and I went to have a family portrait taken. Needless to say, I was not entirely thrilled with this undertaking, having a rather strong aversion to being photographed and the eerie ability to blink at just the wrong moment (it took the ladies at the DMV 25 tries before they got a photo with my eyes open). Fortunately, my psychic blinking abilities were on the fritz last night which helped move things along a bit. Anyway, I only agreed (and reluctantly, at that) because the last time we had a family portrait taken, we looked like this:
Even I can’t continue to argue that it’s not time to get an updated picture… Along with that, Arthur had a vet appointment – he’s looking much happier now that it’s over with and he can relax:
That purple collar is his Good Behavior collar – not that wearing it is a reward for good behavior – it’s one of the many soothing pheromone products that I recently bought for him. So far, so good, but only time will tell…
So we were in quite a rush yesterday evening taking Arthur to the vet and getting all done up for our photo shoot. 
Thank goodness I’m off from work this week and could spend the afternoon making this super-yummy pumpkin and black bean chili from Good Food, Good Wine, and a Bad Girl (I actually couldn’t find a pie pumpkin at the smaller market where my parents live, so I substituted an acorn squash – squash is squash, right?) along with buttermilk cornbread (the same recipe I made here) and honey butter.
Now back to continuing to plan our Xmas eve dinner (I’m having a little trouble nailing down a cohesive menu, but I remain optimistic that it will come together…somehow!)…
Could that be any cuter? Little Anne is adorable! Please post the new photo. I do hope Arthur mellows out. And I am entirely ready for a bowl of chili!