Pumpkins Everywhere!

Mom and I headed to NH for a long weekend with the family. It was a nice, relaxing trip (especially compared to our last one). I got to enjoy not one, but two delicious New England lobsters (pronounced lobstas!), catch Alyssa's HS football game (she's in the band), peep a little fall foliage (most leaves were already passed their peak), and see 22,568 pumpkins! On Saturday, we drove to Keene, NH for the annual pumpkin festival. The town had set a world record in 2003 for the most pumpkins in one place, but was beaten out last year by Boston, who topped 30,000. Despite not breaking a record again this year, it was still a phenomenal site! Pumpkins lined the streets everywhere - The entire festival was so New England-eque, complete with a church in the middle of the town square. I especially loved that no vendors were allowed - All artists and food booths were locally run, with proceeds benefiting local schools and organizations. (My Italian sausage money went to the NH Special Olympics.)

We left early Sunday morning, putting us home with plenty of time to unwind from the quick vacation. The whole pumpkin festival thing got me in the mood for some Halloween carving myself – So, Frank & I created our own pumpkin masterpieces Sunday evening. They looked good while they lasted…I came home last night to find Frank’s ghost eaten out of his pumpkin and little teeth marks around my witch. I’ll give you one guess where those came from…

Some pics for your enjoyment:

Why did they make it on the ark?

I used to be the type of person that would swerve while driving to miss a squirrel. Now I have to admit, the other week as Frank & I were driving down the beltway, a squirrel darted out in front of us and there was no way we could avoid it. Oh well - I felt zero remorse - BECAUSE I HATE THEM! All throughout the summer, the little furry creatures munched on my tomatoes from my garden. I would frequently find green tomatoes scattered around our lawn with a few bites taken out of them. Frank even saw one running across the power line with one of my tomatoes in its mouth! THE NERVE! This weekend, I officially had enough of the rascals. As mentioned in my last blog, I planted tulip bulbs on Saturday - Well, I'm not sure if the squirrels can smell the bulbs or if they just sat there and watched where I planted them, but by Saturday evening, I noticed holes were dug in each spot where I planted the bulbs! Luckily, it seems that I planted the bulbs deep enough that the squirrels weren't able to get to them. I bought some mulch to lay on top, so hopefully that will throw them off the scent! Oh - Did I mention that on Sunday I came home to find a hole in one of my pumpkins!?!?! Yes - one of the little rats had eaten right into the center of my pumpkin! Why, oh why did two of the things have to make it on the ark!?!?!

Check, check, and check!

This weekend could be summed up in one word - Productive! I spent Saturday checking items off of my To Do list - By noon, I had cleaned two of our bathrooms, done two loads of laundry, changed the sheets on our bed, washed the kitchen floor, done a little other housekeeping, planted some tulips in our backyard, and even squeezed in a 5 mile run! The rest of the afternoon consisted of Frank & I running to Home Depot to pick up shelving that we (I) wanted to install in our basement storage room and a run to the grocery store. We successfully hung up the shelves which now provide me with a great storage spot for my Costco goodies and some other miscellaneous items. After dinner at our sushi place, we nested back at home to watch the VT & Red Sox games.

Sunday wasn't as productive, but was certainly just (if not more) enjoyable. After church, I headed out to Long Branch (just passed Middleburg) to meet Rachel, Kristy, and Domenic at the Long Branch Hot Air Balloon & Wine Festival. The day was a little chilly but overall a great fall day to enjoy outside. It was great to see the girls - along with one of my new fav guys - again!

I love packing so much in a weekend - It somehow makes them seem longer. This weekend I'm off to NH for a quick visit with the fam. (Somehow I have a feeling this will seem like a long weekend, too. ;) )

Phantom Ghost

The Phantom Ghost struck our house last night, which meant Frank & I had two nights to pass the ghost on to two of our neighbors. (For those of you that aren't familiar, the Phantom Ghost is a Halloween game where neighbors deliver treats to your front door without being detected. I.e. drop the bag of treats, ring the doorbell and run! Also in the treat bag is a poem to explain the game along with a ghost to display on your front door so other's know you've already been 'ghosted'.) We decided to deliver our two ghosts tonight but didn't anticipate being chased! We dropped our first bag of treats off at the home of one of Frank's soccer kids - I hid behind a neighbor's bush while Frank made the drop and ran. As we were waiting behind the bush to make sure someone came to the door, all of a sudden we heard the kids come running out of the house screaming "we're going to catch you!!!" CRAP! We had to sprint down the street and quickly dart into another neighbor's back yard in order to avoid being caught. Thankfully we were faster than the 8 year olds! :) Our second drop wasn't as eventful - or as tiring! Remind me next year to pick a house without kids!

Surprise!

This week is Spa Week which means $50 facials, pedicures, and body wraps at Red Door (and various other spas) for those who are quick on the draw and make appointments as soon as the announcement comes out. I called a few weeks ago only to find that I was too late. The receptionist asked if I wanted to be put on a wait list, so I figured, "why not?", at the same time thinking nothing would come of it. Well, yesterday I got home from work to find a message from Red Door that a slot had opened up! Swwwweet! So, at 6pm tomorrow evening I will be relaxing at the spa enjoying a facial. Can't wait!

I Got One Word for Ya...

Braces! I'm sitting here watching a recorded episode of Rachael Ray from about a month ago and she's interviewing Shannon Doherty and man, oh, man, does she look rough! (Shannon that is - I would never talk bad behind Rachael's back!) Her face has definitely aged since the West Beverly High days and good Lord, you could park a mini van between her front teeth! Maybe she should take some of that money from the new 90210 and invest in a good orthodontist!

No Soccer!

Frank and I actually got to spend the ENTIRE weekend together...He didn't have any soccer games at all this weekend! (It was a tournament weekend and his teams didn't play.) We spent our weekend together very busy...On Friday night, we headed out to Winchester for my sister's open house at the hospital. You may recall she's in the radiological program at Winchester Medical Center - Her school hosted an open house where friends/family could meet her class/professors and also tour the hospital. Mom, Dad, John (Laura's BF), Frank and I all went to support Laura - We are super proud of her! After the open house, Frank and I headed home to quickly change our clothes and metro in to RFK Stadium to tailgate with some friends before the US/Cuba World Cup qualifier. (When I said no soccer, you didn't think the entire weekend was completely soccer-free, did you??? ;) ) The game was actually pretty exciting - The US won 6-1, which made me happy because the games with more goals definitely hold my interest more! After the game, we headed back to VA for a party at Greg's. We finally made it to bed around 1am and then slept in until 9:30 this morning! It was heavenly. Today we spent the day around the house doing yard work and cleaning out some of our closets. Now, we're getting ready to veg out on the couch and watch Desperate Housewives with bowls of chocolate ice cream. :) What a great weekend with just the two of us! I can't wait for the next soccer-free weekend - I'd better not hold my breathe though, because I'm pretty sure I have another month of the fall season.

Dinner with a side of Rice

Last night I had dinner with some co-workers at the 600 Restaurant in The Watergate. Towards the end of dinner we noticed two men standing near the front door with ear pieces - pretty obvious that they were Secret Service. Of course, we scoured the place for which government official we were dining with - And on the way out solved the mystery...in a separate dining room with the glass doors closed, sat Condoleezza Rice enjoying dinner with a few other people that we didn't recognize. I was quite excited about my mini 'celebrity sighting', but Frank wasn't as impressed when I shared the news after getting home. Oh well!

Where Did the Time Go?

I can't believe we're heading into the second week of October. Where on earth did September go? I'm not sure what we've been busy doing, but the month flew by! I'm hoping October goes a little slower so I'm able to really enjoy one of my favorite seasons. This past weekend, I headed to Delaware with Laura to visit Dad and Angela and got to spend some time outside. Uncle Mike and his family came down for the day, too - A mini family get-together. We played outside with the kids, tried to wrangle the 7 cousins that were there for a group picture for Grammy (what an ordeal that was!), and enjoyed toasted marshmallows over the fire pit. Yummmmmmmmm! After a little more family QT Sunday morning, I was back home with plenty of time to finish some work, do grocery shopping, and make a good macaroni and meatball Sunday dinner. Hopefully the remaining October weekends will be just as enjoyable!

STOP CALLING ME!!!!

Do you think I could eat dinner without being interrupted by the phone ringing? Last night as I was making dinner, Danielle, my sister-in-law called. Ok - Perfectly fine, no big deal; We chatted as I cooked. Five minutes after we hung up, as I was taking dinner out of the oven, I get a call asking if I want to participate in a focus group Tuesday evening. No thanks. As I sit down to eat, the phone rings again - Virginia State Police begging for more money. I politely told her she was interrupting my dinner and asked if she could call back. Halfway through my meal, ring ring...Frank calls telling me he's on his way home from soccer. Ok - great; Can we talk when you get home? Just as I sat down to finish dinner, Discover calls. Seriously? I had enough at this point and said "Unless someone has stolen my identity and is maxing out my card, I AM NOT INTERESTED IN WHAT YOU'RE CALLING ABOUT!" Obviously I need to revisit that Do Not Call List to make sure our number is on it.