Halloween

Well, it was a magical night here, at the Edge Of Reason. Most of our pumpkins were offered up as carved sacrifices to the Night, though one was spared, due to time constraints. It isn't out of the woods yet - I'm thinking there may be a pie in its future - Muhahahaha!

The cats at the Temple of Bast also put in an appearance and added to the flavor of the evening. Miss Puff would very much like to go out and do a little Trick-or-Treating herself!

A couple of Roman Gladiators showed up, conquered us, and pillaged the candy bowl, but they were very professional about it, and no one was thrown to the lions.

The one fellow DID seem a bit strange - kind of reminded me of John Cleese/ Monty Python doing the Twits. I offered him some candy, in hopes of appeasing him, but it just cranked him up - go figure!

The other Roman, who had a few uniform issues early in the evening, was more serious, and awfully proud of his hand-painted shield, which he informed us, he had painted. I especially like his no-nonsense expression.

All in all, a good Halloween - got to visit with old friends, and made a few new friends (had a wonderful visit with a "Lawn Care Technician" and his mom, who were lovely people - very creative and fun to talk to). Hope everyone else had a good evening as well!

An Unprecedented Event

I can't believe it! Every year I take the boys out to the local produce stand, or the Farmer's Market to take their picture with the pumpkins. It started with the Professor, our first-born, when he was a baby, and the expressions on their faces have pretty much been deteriorating since then (and he was pretty grumpy looking in the first shot, as it was).

Maybe it was because today is a Teacher Workday, so they were revelling in being home on a Monday. Maybe it was the extra bonus day of playing Civilization on the computer (though they did have to do extra household chores to earn it, but what's a little vacuuming, against extra time to RULE THE WORLD?), but for whatever reason, the guys actually SMILED TOGETHER in this year's Pumpkin Portrait installment.
Exhibit A:
Don't they look nice? So civilized-seeming. I almost fall for it myself.

Actually, I was confabbing with Bea yesterday and we were congratulating ourselves on the fine upstanding young barbarians we have raised collectively - ie; the young men seen above. Considering what they could be like, I feel pretty lucky to have these two wild but lovable guys.

And they don't clean up too badly either!

I also have to send out many copious thanks to Ms. Q, my resident fairy godmother, who brought me a giant Chinese takeout box of NEW PAINT! I am very excited to have lovely new tubes of artistic goodness all freshly arranged in my paintbox. Let the Painting Begin! Thank You so much Ms. Q - I feel so very loved today!

The Random Autumnal Ramblings of A Mad Woman

First, I would like to thank both The Queen of Shake-Shake and Oh, the Joys for stopping by, reading my little ole blog and leaving a comment. I feel like I'm somebody now! I have been reading both of their blogs for about three or four months now, and consider them to be my inspiration to get out there and write. Thank you both so much! (and now I have to sniffle and blow my nose)

The aforementioned injured cat, Rikki, is feeling a bit better as the week presses on, though he is QUITE irritated at being held hostage indoors. Recalling the Queen's comments about one of her cats behaving inappropriately, in regards to personal hygiene and the litter box, I am desperately hoping that a) Rikki can't read and thus get ideas, b) that he won't independently consider piddling in corners an option. Once he goes there, the rest will surely follow and it will be mass anarchy of the Furry Herd.

Now that October is halfway through and it has finally gotten to where it feels like Fall, I can turn my mind to the yearly pumpkin portrait. Ever since my oldest was a tiny baby, we have taken the kids to our local pumpkin patch, or the Farmers' Market to record the season. The first picture we ever took was this one, of the Professor at two months old:

Pretty darn funny looking, but cute. He pretty much still makes this face, especially when I try and make him eat carrots. Then there was a year at the Farmer's Market, with the fabulous artificial chicken in the foreground to add that special touch. Unfortunately, this is what we affectionately refer to as " Dad's style", where the subjects are always squinting into the light. Any picture my father ever took of us looks just like this: Ah, genetics in motion! And finally, the pumpkin portrait of 2006. Gone are the days of the chubby little cheeks and palpable sweetness, regardless of the poor composition. The Professor is obviously NOT interested in saying "cheese", he doesn't even like cheese, mom. Luckily, in this shot, you can't see the crest of hair that is perpetually standing up. The Bohemian, his younger brother, is a born ham-a-saurus, though his mother dresses him funny. I'm just be thankful he isn't excavating a nasal cavity in this shot: This year's shot will up and coming soon. I haven't gone to buy any pumpkins because the weather has been too warm - I have no desire to dig the guts out of a rotten pumpkin - but All Hallows will be upon us soon, so I guess I have to succumb and go.

We saw some really neat pumpkins online last year that gave us our inspiration for the carnage below, and I ask you: what little boy doesn't love vomit as a theme?! Can we live up to last year's grossness? Should we? Do I really have a choice in the matter? (Well, actually I do, seeing as how I am the fastest carver in the west, or something like that. I feel like I should spit a toothpick out of my mouth, shift my rifle to the other shoulder, and mumble, "I reckon so..." Ah, Clint, I love you!)