Pumpkin Carving

Our first Halloween in our new home! We contemplated about the right time to buy our pumpkin and, well, us being us, it ended up being the day of Halloween. Here's a tip: if you wait until the actual holiday all of he big pumpkins are gone. Luckily Jon is crafty and thought of making a pumpkin man out of three smaller pumkins. We had fun working as a team: Jon cut, Lisa scooped out pumkin guts, and Jon added embellishments. We even managed to escape without injury from Jon's Hammer -in-the-Knife trick.

Tree Trimmin'

Fall is here and so are Ma and Pa Bell. While enjoying time together cleaning out flower beds in the back yard and talking about how the trees need to be trimmed we decided to make a go of it ourselves. Dad zipped up to Home Depot and got a saw. The rest was sheer strength and elbow grease. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the hard work outside. Take a look at the before and after photos.

It Won't Be Long Now

After being woken up by Led Zeppelin's Kashmir(cell phone) I looked over to Lisa and laugh, only to realize she wasn't there. I have been in Texas all week and though I have enjoyed myself, it really hasn't ever felt right being away. My cell phone is way loud, and Lisa says "it sounds like Jimmy Paige is beside the bed." It is the little things like that that amplify the distance. However, I will be coming home soon and can't wait to be back at home with my lady. Till then, I'll get by with John, Paul, Ringo, and whoever the other guy in the Beetles is.

pictures and viedoes to come...

Love is Delerious

This photograph is a product of Lisa's joy in laughing at my dermal agony. Everyone thinks being mixed is this "best of both worlds" pecan pie, well, let me tell you, it ain't all it's cracked up to be. Everything you achieve is because of affirmative action, I still get pulled over by police(not light enough?), and I have skinny ankles prone to spraining. The ladies love the curls, but it ain't easy keeping 'em tight. Keeping the balance between the right length, amount of product, whether to go with oil or gel; it gets tough. Well, things got a little out of control so I picked out the hair to see what was what. Little did I know there was a red head with a camera lurking in the darkness. Oh, and I'm sure you're wondering what's going on with my face. Well, despite my fair complexion, my bio-paternal unit's facial hair is very course and abrasive, meaning it curls back in to the skin and raises hell with my grill. So every now and then I have to shave and coat my face in calamine lotion to get the swelling and irritation to settle down(On second thought, I wonder if this could help me in listening to Republicans debate health care and the economy?). When combined with my temporary afro I had the appearance of Jack Nicholson's Joker running smack into Tito Jackson circa 1973. As the calamine lotion worked its magic(a bit of stinging is involved) Lisa giggled with glee, pointed, and proceeded to snap pictures. That's love for you folks. All things being equal, I would probably laugh too. Like when people fall down at swimming pools when they try to jump in to the water. It's hilarious, as long as it isn't you. But it is me, so I'm not laughing. What really stings, besides the calamine lotion and in grown facial hair, is that the lady came home to this that day:

Sweet love and romance. Flowers reflecting the colors and scent of Autumn, filling our home with warmth and serenity. And here I find my picture posted to our blog, with orders to write about the trials and tribulations of multi-ethnic hygiene. Granted, I'm sure she loves it when I laugh when she hurts herself, zone into the Cowboys game when she is trying to tell me something important(or show me a coupon...), or when I leave the grill running for twenty minutes after taking the chicken off for lunch the next day(oops). So I guess that is love. Give and take. Push and pull. The yin, the yang. Alpha..and Omega. I'm out.

A Piece of History

We loaded our bikes onto the car and headed up to Fort Monroe on a beautiful Sunday afternoon. It is the oldest fort in the U.S. and we soaked in all it had to offer. While biking along the scenic sea wall we came along this little historical factoid and found it appropriate to take Jon's picture in front of it. We had all sorts of fun crossing the moat and exploring the fort until the bugs started feasting on Jon on the fort's overlook of the Chesapeake Bay. Just for kicks we started treating our bikes as horses and have now dubbed them "aluminum stallions." Secretly, however, I've given my bike the nickname of Caballo Loco. In Spanish it means Crazy Horse. Very fitting.

Symphonic Led Zeppelin

After a long work week, we kicked up our heels to the sounds of Led Zeppelin played by the Virginia Symphony Friday night. It was amazing to hear so many timeless classic rock songs being cranked out by a symphony. Although we were draggin' our wagons on the way to the show, as soon as it started we were renewed with energy. It was a fun night on the lawn of the NTelos Pavilion amphitheater in Portsmouth and even included a few hilarious steamrollers during intermission.

Oh, and yes, Jon did forget to put on his "Get the Led Out" face for this picture.

Painting

On Labor Day weekend we decided to start painting the house. We had an ambitious plan to paint three rooms downstairs. As it turns out, we have most of one done. After figuring out that the chair rail and floor boards really needed to be removed before we painted, we had to stop and start a few times. As you can see, Jon painted a lot of the hard parts (around doors and windows and cutting in) which gave me some time to provide entertainment. The end result looks great and it's a fantastic feeling to have ownership of at least one room in the house.