my mama ain't no gunslinger

this past weekend, our calendar was so full with halloween-related commitments, that by saturday, i was starting to feel burned out and grumpy at the mere thought of them. francis was REALLY wanting to go to the pumpkin patch...which wasn't on the calendar. but it was a sunny day, and our last chance to go, and so... go we did. we thought maybe we could do a quick pumpkin trip this year, and get back in time for our other plans, but...well...have you ever tried to do a quick pumpkin patch trip? granted, francis did find the pumpkin he wanted within the first five minutes in the patch, but after driving for 45 minutes to get there, i said: why don't you look a little longer? go run around!... so we wandered and gathered such giant pumpkins, and got a little carried away; we ended up having to put back half of them because then we wouldn't have enough cash left to do the corn maze. so we sufficed with one large pumpkin, one medium, and one small: a nyssen-size family of pumpkins.



we entered the corn maze and were really glad we wore our boots, even tho it wasn't raining. the trails were oozing mud puddles ankle deep, and francis had a blast sloshing thru it. greg decided that if we were going to do the maze, we were going to do it right: no cheating and cutting thru, even tho by the end of october, the maze was quite a shambles, with corn splayed everywhere from people running amok in the maze. there were 12 "targets" to reach inside the maze, with hole-punchers to mark your tickets when you reached them. even if we could see the marker, but were on the wrong side of the corn, greg still insisted in following the map, (which, by the way, was a poor one) and taking the long but correct way to the markers. francis liked this way too. it was quite an adventure. i didn't mind it...but, after a few hours greg's resolve began to weaken. and well, we only cheated once! at the very end. we were trying so hard to be good examples, but, in the end...we thought, well, it is only a corn maze, after all. we can't stay in here all day!



after that, we dilly-dallied around the farm: francis and greg rode the zip-line, francis stomped in more mud puddles, fed the goats, shot 'em up in the fort (and by them i mean us), rode the tire-horses, and braved the scary "boo" barn. francis was having so much fun we didn't really want to stop and leave and rush to his school's harvest party. apparently, neither did francis. he volunteered to skip it; he said all he wanted to do was go home and carve the pumpkins. which was fine by us!
(i posted more pics on my flickr of the day's adventures...)



back home, greg emptied the pumpkins, and i set to work separating the seeds to roast them! ugh! i hate this part! anyone know an easier way to do this? all i know how to do is painstakingly separate them one by one in a sink full of water. it took me two hours! greg says: why do you bother? and i said: because. it's only once a year. and we like to eat them. it somehow makes the adventure come full circle. a day in the patch. a night of carving. and when we we are done and exhausted, we can relax, and eat freshly roasted pumpkin seeds...the fruit of our labors.

francis set to work drawing his design for his pumpkin. when he was done, he showed it to us. it was a very detailed drawing, quite small for his gigantic pumpkin. i said: hmmm...you want to put the angel of death on your pumpkin? he said: mama. it is NOT the angel of death! i said: is it the grim reaper? he said: NO! it is NOT the grim reaper! i said: WHAT is it? he informed us that is was a: masked man. and he wanted it on his pumpkin. greg shot me a look, so: far be it from me to stand between a boy and his pumpkin! too often i try to direct him: "but wouldn't you like to do this instead?" etc etc. i let greg take over, and greg did his best to carve it, per francis' very detailed instructions. and he was happy with it. greg and i were both pretty tuckered out by this time, it nearing 10 pm. our pumpkins do not display the creativity nor effort we put into them last year. i asked greg if his was hannibal lector. he said a bit disappointedly: no, it's supposed to be C3PO... and mine is simply singing the opera, but manages to look a bit scary...







on sunday, we went to our friend's annual halloween party, and francis had previously been planning on going as a toucan again (his grand idea from last year) but he changed his mind last minute, again, and wanted to go as: the masked man, the picture he drew for his pumpkin. i started to balk. "i'm not sure i'm comfortable with you going as the angel of death." "MAMA! I TOLD YOU: IT IS NOT THE ANGEL OF DEATH!" (and then he muttered: and anyways, the angel of death is still an angel.) greg convinced me that it was practically right out of lord of the rings, so... on sunday, after his soccer game, we hit the goodwill to look for black fabric with which to concoct a cape. francis had it all planned out: what he would wear, but most importantly, he would be carrying his sword. greg's costume this year was, specifically, luke wilson's character "anthony" robbing the bank, from the wes anderson movie "bottle rocket". i didn't know what to be. i told greg he should be paladin, from the 50's western "have gun will travel", which we've been watching alot of lately. but he didn't have a black shirt or black jeans. and then i realized: aha! i have a black oxford shirt and black jeans! and brown leather boots. and a western-ish belt. i stuck two of francis' cap guns into my pockets, and borrowed greg's big brown hat. the only thing missing was the mustache, which, frankly, i refused. greg said it was grand. francis said: "mama, i don't think you should be paladin. you should be paladin's secret twin sister, paladina." i said: no way! i'm being paladin. he brought it up again in the car, that i REALLY should be paladin's sister. and i said:"francis, do you have a problem with me being paladin?" and greg said to me: "i really think he has a problem with you being paladin."

it isn't that he doesn't have the imagination. the boy has imagination plenty. i thought about it a bit more, and tried to think of it from his perspective. dad dressed up like a bank robber? cool! your mama dressed up like a hero-gunslinger? might be a bit much to swallow. maybe...
i mean, after all, i'm having issue with my son wanting to be what he wants to be. (last year, a toucan: so cute! and this year? only nine and already: the-grim-reaper-who-is-not-really-the-grim-reaper-but-is-really-a-masked-man)

(sigh) so it's wednesday, and freezing, and tonight we will bundle up and go wander our neigborhood, ooh and ahh at clever pumpkins, and collect candy, in that strange american tradition. and he can be his medieval sword-carrying cape-wearing masked-man or whatever he is. and i will just be his mama...

gettin' over it, the weather, that is

where does the phrase "under the weather" come from? when did it come to refer to someone being sick? these are questions i googled the other day and got some answers. i don't want you to think i named my site: "ill". when i was in highschool, the office lady, upon receiving my longwinded explanation for why i had been out-sick, would take my excuse form, and in big red marker, would write: I L L over what had been written. she was bored by excuses. she just wanted to know: sick? yes or no.

i thought of under the weather, because, simply and literally, i am UNDER it, the weather, every day. the clouds form a low ceiling, and i am under them. what i am trying to do: is get over it already. i got a chance to get literally OVER it this weekend...

for how much i complain about the gray, i really don't actually mind the rain. i like the sounds that come with rain: the slurping of tires as they drive past my window, the patter of raindrops on windows, and the tinny pings on the roof i don't get to hear anymore because we have no roof above our heads...just our neighbor, snoring.

we experienced extreme rain as only the east coast can pelt out, this weekend on our whirlwind visit to pennsylvania for a friend's weddding. while still in the air, we flew over storms for the last half of our trip, and francis got to see the black night sky light up as if a giant flash-bulb had gone off, lightning illuminating the clouds as far as the eye could see. he said it looked like bombs were going off. he was thrown into full-on war mode, and proceeded to shoot down the nazi's for the rest of the flight. when we landed, we were in the lull of a tropical-like storm, complete with the humid 70 degree heat. i stepped outside the airport and gasped, and quickly peeled off my wool cardigan and tweed raincoat, quickly down to a t-shirt.





my parents picked us up, and we drove into downtown philly to drop greg off with the boys, where the bachelor party was in full swing. it was midnight, and the city was alive with people. my dad commented that he hasn't been to philly in awhile, that he should really come down some day...and he took us on the "scenic route" thru historic downtown, past independence hall, past the art museum and it's famous steps from "Rocky". he pulled over and asked francis if he wanted to run up the steps. i thought he might, but he didn't want to. maybe the dark? maybe too tired?

we got back to my parents, and ended up not getting to bed til 3am. (greg didn't get in til 5!) it's not actually so bad in the evenings, since they're 3 hours ahead. it's the mornings that feel like death...where 9am is really 6am...and "sleeping in" til 10 is still earlier than i get up for school! our morning hours were all we had for friends and family, from 11-3, (the rehearsal being at 3 and the wedding at 5 the next day) so we got up, coffeed up, and had nice frazzled rushed squeezed visits with friends and my parents and my two sisters.

friday, the day of rehearsal, torrential downpoured all morning, but was still very warm! just a t-shirt and rainboots! (i had checked the weather before hand, and had brought my boots). but by the time we were decorating the barn, most of the rain was gone for the day, only to come back strong once we got back home! saturday, it was sunny: our friends karen and kevin got married at sunset...in lancaster, at a historic little site, with a big barn, decorated with christmas tree lights, and lanterns, and bundles of fall leaves. it was truly beautiful. we danced the night away, courtesy of kris k, and then husband and wife rode away on a motorcycle, by candlelight, her white dress flowing, glowing in the night...

back at my parents, we had a houseful of friends crashing after the wedding. we had a bonfire out in the orchard, awake again til 3am. boys and fire make very happy companions! it was a fine time... another long leisurely breakfast in the tearoom next morning, with multiple pots of coffee, and donuts, and eggs, and sausages...

so soon we had to depart, too short was our visit.

we are home now, back to work and school on monday was a bit rough. slowly getting back to our real life. (i posted some new pics from our trip on my flickr.) for being only a weekend excursion, it felt like a week. it is good to be home tho, i guess even in the rain...

october skies and other things

not much to report: after two weeks of gray and rain, today there is some sun, which throws me into delusions of hopefulness that it may last the weekend...

i finally faced reality and washed all our summer clothes and bedding and packed it all away; i normally relish the changing of the seasons, but this summer was so weak i was just really hoping for an indian summmer, but no...

however, i DO love fall, and having grown up on the east coast, it has always been a favorite season. here in seattle, you gotta catch it while you can, for the rain quickly turns the leaves to mush, and the gray dims the brightness of the colors falling to the ground. francis and i have collected a few leaves already, (it's tricky finding dry ones) and placed them into books stacked around the house. he still loves collecting leaves, and i find it so endearing. (i've posted some photos on my flikr page, if you want to check 'em out...)

yes, i do love the changing of the seasons! we finished eating the last of the summer plums, and now we're looking forward to: clementines! pomegranates! digging out the rainboots, and wool sweaters, tweed coats, and plaid scarves; making hot chai and hot chocolate... turning the radiator on "high"...

we're flying out to PA next weekend, to stay with my parents, to attend a friends wedding, and i very much look forward to seeing: friends and family, and the east coast october sky and colors, if only for a few days...

um...what else?

francis ran three and a half miles (!!)in his school jogathon fundraiser, and collected over $400 for his school! he ran a mile more than last year! i gotta say, we were very impressed!











i finished reading the sherlock holmes book and decided NOT to read it to francis; it ended up being a murder mystery, and a bit graphic, so now i'm reading to him "adventures of huckleberry finn" (after francis finished reading tom sawyer, loved it, and wanted whatever came next.) i got a couple chapters into huck finn before i realized... hmmm...i'm glad he's not reading this by himself, because there's a lot of language editing i need to do. so i did a little research. i find out it's been banned variously and continuously since its publication, but has also been, by some, considered one of the great american novels of all time. so. i guess i'm abrigding it as i go along, but- francis is really enjoying it. it has adventures, of course, however, it's heavier than tom sawyer, and it opens up discussion for the times, slavery, our country's history,etc. etc. which is good.
francis told me that if he lived in the times of martin luther king jr, that he would have "voted for him". i asked what he meant. and he said well, he was trying to get people equal, but some people who even went to church weren't trying to get people equal and didn't even want them equal, and that even tho he (francis) went to church, he would have voted for martin luther king jr. because he, too, wanted everyone to be equal.

and THAT just about sums up a good day...