4th annual pumpkin carving

Adam's artwork


my artwork


hey folks, last Sunday night was the 4th annual pumpkin carving. This started out at the condo with the original members, Laura, Savannah and I. It has since grown to Adam, Chad and Landon. they have come twice now and there are always the occasional boyfriends or girlfriend who join in. This year we had 7 total.

First you must select your pattern and the carving begins. Gutting the pumpkin is always the worst part. Clearing out all the seeds and guts takes time but done well will help during carving very detailed pictures. I'm always responsible for washing the seeds and roasting them. This year we made 2 batches. one sweet and one spicy.

One by one the pumpkin are finished and get placed outside. We wait until dark and then light the candles. It's always surprising how much better they look lite up.
after we check them out for a while we each vote. Laura's cat was the winning pumpkin this year. Although hard to see in the pictures, the cat was very detailed. there were many opporunities for something to break. Nice job lala.

Steeler Nation

It's football season again and I'm dieing to see how my superbowl champs stand up to the test this year. Adam and I upgraded our cable package and now have the NFL tickets. He's much more excited about it then I am but at least I get to see more Steelers and Pennstate game. It comes with the Big Ten channel too. :)

Last Sunday I watched the entire Steelers vs. da bears game. It was a disappointing show to say the least. My boys were totally off their game. Ben couldn't seem to find his groove. the passing game was not good and our running game was not up to par. Over and under thrown balls were common and there were more penalties than I could count, luckily by both teams.

In addition the defense couldn't stop the Chicago run. My favorite player, #43 Troy Polamalu, was hurt and riding the pine. He sprained his left MCL and is out for 3 to 6 weeks. sniff sniff... He is such a fantastic player, always where the ball is, hitting hard and keeping offensive charges at bay. I could really see the lack of his energy and leadership on the field. For me the games aren't as much fun to watch without Troy playing. I loved seeing him come out of no way, hair flying, to make the play. His speed and quickness will be missed. Get well soon Troy!!

The worst part about last weeks game is that our kicker, Jeff Reed, missed 2 out of 2 field goals. A championship team just doesn't do that. I believe we would have won had he made them. At the very least he should be able to hit a field goal from 30-39 yards out, come on. It was painful to watch.

It's going to be a long season if this kind of play keeps up.

beach blanket

It was time to hit the beach again. We spent several nights at a friends condo in Sarasota. The drive after work on Friday wasn't too bad. The 7 hours went by fast as our excitment grew. The weather all weekend was very nice. We did very little outside hang at the beach and chill at the condo. It was a very relaxing long weekend that was long over due.

The complex was a short walk to the beach and it also had 2 pools. The grounds were very nicely taken care of. The complex was very quiet due to school starting up again. We were happy to have the place almost to ourselves.

So You Think You Can Dance

This is the first year that I have been able to watch an entire season of So You Think You Can Dance, mostly due to our new DVR. I have to say the talent on the show this season was really good. I also really like the format of the show. They narrow down to the top 20. They partner up for several dances until they get to smaller numbers. Then they flip flop partners (which I can imagine is so difficult).

If I could change one part it would be how they are selected to go home. America calls in to vote. Seriously who are these people that actually call. I've never met anyone that has called before or admitted to calling. anyway, most of the time I agree with the decision however this year Evan stayed WAY to long. They sent home some really amazing dancers before him, I don't get it. I kept saying, this is the week he's going home, this is the week, this HAS to be the week. It ended up he was in the top 4. Confirming that is show is a huge popularity contest. I really thought Kayla should have won. Here are a few of my favorite performances.

Although to be honest I didn't hear many of the judges comments b/c Adam can't stand the sound of Mary Murphy's voice. and the screaming, for the love...If you watch the videos below you'll know what Im talking about.


sorry folks the video were taken off you tube.

weekend guests

Adam and I have had a few busy weekends. The weekend after the July 4th holiday his folks drove down from Southern MD for a long weekend visit. This was my first time meetings them so I was excited.

We kept them busy all weekend. We stopped by some of our local spots...6ft under, Ria's and Thumbs up. We took them to the Aquairum, the botanical gardens and the cyclorama. I enjoyed the time they spent with us. Adam took some really nice pictures at the botanical gardens. I attached my favorite one.

The next weekend both my sisters came in for a long over due visit. We had a nice girls weekend including a ton of shopping, pedicures and facails. We also went to a Braves/Mets game on Sat. I was really excited for them to meet Adam for the first time. They got along great.