Crafty Carvers

We had a great day yesterday. The weather was beautiful! Although we were inside for most of the day. Over twenty pumpkins were carved by the family. Mostly by the kids. Adults spend most of the time helping the kids cut off the top and clean out the guts. Then we pick through and pull out the seeds for baking. This year we didn't have enough time to bake the seeds due to the delicious dinner and homemade bundt cake. Yummy!

Manual Labor

We're off to help clean up the church grounds today. To help keep costs down they have asked for volunteers to rake, weed, lay down mulch and who knows what else. Considering how long it has taken me to get my gardens ready for the snow/frozen tundra we could be there for a while.

Jordan is coming with us today and isn't looking forward to this one bit. I was thinking the other day as I raked some leaves that she has lived her life in a townhome (at her mom's) - where someone else takes care of the lawn/snow removal. Until we moved into our house, she never had then chance to do any type work. I swore I would never say this but here I go. When I was her age... I was mowing the lawn, raking the leaves, etc. And for Pete, he bailed hay and worked for his buddy's uncle making 3 bucks an hour hauling cement blocks. Ahhh....character. Should be good experience for her, eh? Are we the bad parents? Probably, but neither Pete or I feel you can learn a whole lot from sitting on your tush in front of the TV. Poor kid.

I am actually looking forward to it. I like seeing the 'progress' from cleaning up gardens and preparing for spring/fall. I'm sure that will wear off after a few hours of work and my hands/back and shoulders will be sore tomorrow but it's a good king of sore.

Tomorrow is pumpkin carving day at my in-laws. I'll be sure to take many photos of the kids in various stages of carving :)

Heavy Lids and Old Age

Boy am I feeling old this morning. The show last night was fantastic. The Hold Steady played to a sold out audience and I can attest to the fact that it made them happy. The lead singer, originally from the Twin Cities, was just stoked to have sold out a venue he began going to 20 years ago. As a Twin Cities music fan I understand. How cool would it be to think of yourself with bands like The Replacements, Husker Du, Soul Asylum, The Jayhawks and Atmosphere, just to name a few. I really am blessed to live in a city with a music scene that continues to generate creative tunes. Ahh... as the girls of That Dog sing... Minnneeaapolis, Minnneeapolis.

Nonetheless, as I move on in years one thing has become increasingly apparent. My bed time is early!! I typically head to bed somewhere between 10pm & 11pm. Last night the show ended at 12:45am. I am a bit tired this morning. Getting home at 1:30am and rising at 6am...(yawn)...my eyes are burning and I didn't even drink! At least I have learned that a hangover at work is no fun. Ok, it took me a while to learn that one :)

It was great to be back at the venue. I started going to shows there in 1991 when I started college. I've seen some great acts (Nirvana, Pearl Jam, Fishbone, Primus, Sugar, The Pixies, The Jayhawks), renovations, fights (one last night too), many a drunk patron (many last night) all within the dark black walls with black and white tiled floors. What's not to love about First Ave? I'm waxing nostalgic for my days of youth when I would go see shows once, if not twice, a week. Yes, I've slowed down and have different priorities. But last night reminded me of one of the reasons WHY I love living in this city and how much I enjoy punk rock music.

Free of Firewalls

I have really been dragging today. Not sure if it was the glass of wine last night or the lack of work on my desk but I can't seem to wake up for the life of me. I'm having one of those days where I am REALLY unmotivated and all that sounds good is a nice long nap. (yawn)

Plans for the evening include an opportunity to see one heckuva good band at First Ave. I'm meeting up with some pals to see The Hold Steady. If you haven't checked them out I highly recommend them. For those of you from the Twin Cities you know the lead singer from his days with Lifter Puller.

Did a photo shoot for my friend Jenny's business on Sunday. She is hoping to have a spread in Working Mother later this year. She has had quite the year and I hope this pans out for her as it would be great national press for her business. She just launched it recently (Pete is doing the design work) so keep your fingers crossed! And who knows, you might see Pete and I in a magazine along with some of the others who have helped get this business going. Will keep you posted!

Little Red

As promised....

Flakes

Fall always seems to short. The leaves blow off the trees far too early, leaving only the bare branches to stare at for the next several months. Ahhh...Counting the days to spring. I realized today as I watch the snow fly that I forgot to put the scraper in my car. I just didn't want to admit that we would see snow this soon.

It's not that I don't enjoy the snow. As a hardy Minnesotan, I have been reared to appreciate the opportunity to make snow angels and towering snow forts that last for days when the temps work in your favor. I think if I didn't have to drive in the snow I might look forward to the falling temps and precipitation. Remember when we looked forward to making piles of snow and disturbing the smooth white cover to make a snow-family? Heck, I remember in college when the Halloween blizzard hit what fun we had walking down the deserted streets of Minneapolis with 31 inches of snow on the ground, making snowpeople outside our dorm and letting all the other 'worries' go by the wayside while we enjoyed the chance to take advantage of the time.

As an adult I find myself hunkering down and eating far, far too much (which I also do in the summer, BTW), reading tons of books and generally not poking my face out of my house unless I really have to go somewhere.

My husband, on the other hand, feels the opposite. Since he is his own personal heater, he LOVES the cold weather and can't wait to get on his snowmobile to travel from point to point. While I have attempted to join him and some of our good friends and family in this activity it just doesn't do it for me. The bouncing around, worrying about going to the bathroom, much less the fact that I don't drive like a maniac. Nope, give me my hot apple cider and a book and you can tool away on that gas guzzling, oil burning machine. I'll see you when you get back.

Shifting Gears

After becoming quite addicted to reading blogs friends I have decided to shift gears adjust the focus this blog. It initially started out as a platform to share my photography attempts, but since Pete developed our website I find that I direct interested clients there. So... since I have friends both near and far with whom I like to keep in contact, I'm going to move the direction of this forum to updates on the family and such.

Welcome to the new and improved blog!!

I wish with the inaugural post for this fashion I had more to say. The Whitcomb house continues to be a flurry of activity. I recently bought a new set of lights to help build my photography business. With the holidays approaching I've booked quite a few sessions with existing clients. My prices are quite low so that makes me attractive and I'm willing to come to clients homes when kids are involved - also a big selling point since sometimes those little ones can be a challenge. Hopefully gas prices will continue to stay low or I'm going to have to reconsider my pricing structure :)

Jordan got a cool haircut and color done in the not too distant past. Since she is with us this weekend I'll try to snap a few photos and post them so you may see her in her red-headed glory. She looks quite good in her Minnesota Gopher gear.

This year she passed me in both height and shoe size. It went by so fast I didn't even get to borrow any of her shoes! She still has the metabolism I dream of and can fit into all the clothing I pass her way (as long as it isn't pastel!). Urgh. The curses of getting old. I wish for the days when I could eat anything I desired and not gain any weight. Despite training and running the Twin Cities 10 mile I didn't drop any weight. Seems like in order to keep up with my metabolism I need to be moving ALL the time. Kinda hard to do when you have a job that requires you to be on the computer for 6 out of the 8 hours. Oh well.