Oct. 19: Punkins ‘n trees

Meh. Autumn is totally overrated.

Every day for the past week it’s been freakin’ cold in the mornings. Foggy too. It gets dark early and chilly before the sun even sets. This makes being outside the suckiest suck-fest of all suck-fests that ever sucked. (It’s possible that is a slight exaggeration.)

We all piled into the minivan and took a trip to the pumpkin patch today. It was cold and muddy and there were orange things everywhere. I’m not a fan of cold or mud or orange. But because I’m mother of the year (I am, right?) I went along for this annual adventure. Katie and Jack had a good time. I didn’t hate every minute.




I chose a pumpkin that’s the perfect shape and size to make a mummy jack-o’-lantern. It’ll be similar to this but cooler.



(See, when you do this kind of jack-o’-lantern you don’t have to risk cutting off your fingers or touch pumpkin guts. I highly recommend it. Technically, I suppose this means it’s not a jack-o’-lantern, but why must you suck all the fun out of my Halloween?)

Jack wants a sith-o’-lantern so I’m pretty sure Daddy will end up carving that one. By the way, if you’re looking for good ideas, Google “pumpkin carving patterns.” And if you get one of those cheap little carving kits, and have more patience than I do, you can actually make some pretty great jack-o’-lanterns.

The maple trees that line the streets in our neighborhood are all doing weird things. What’s weird is how they’re being autumnish; some are nearly bare, some have changed color, and some are still all full and green. These are two of the trees in front of our house.



The maple is a bit ahead of the birch in dropping its leaves, but they are both going to make a big mess in our yard when they’re done shedding their summer coats. You can already see the maple leaves all over our sidewalk and street, and I am sooo not raking.

(I really hate raking.)

(And fall.)