A few days back I got an innocuous DIY email that normally I would have deleted. Something caught my eye on this one, though: pumpkin carving templates. I was intrigued. Apparently this is a "thing". A click here, a google search there, and I started thinking, "hmmm, I could do this." So, I convinced Mark to go pumpkin hunting** yesterday and we came home with nine: three big, three medium, and three small.
We both tried our hands at carving yesterday, and here are the results:
Mark's is the skull and mine is the witch. Pretty good, I must say.
So, today I was feeling bold, and chose this pumpkin, a big one that's nice and tall, too.
I thought, why not two carvings on the same pumpkin, so this is what I came up with
And got my tools out
Viola, the results
I've got six more pumpkins to go...but not today.
**We drove, maybe, 2 miles down the Lynnway to a stand setup with hundreds of pumpkins; but "pumpkin hunting" sounds so much more, well, Autumnal.
What a beautiful October day, today! Autumn is definitely here. One reason I like this time of the year is that our electricity bill is usually the lowest. The heat is not on yet, fans are off, and no need for air conditioning. Although, it is getting nippy at night, so we'll see how long we can hold out before turning on the heat.
This is a photo from Saugus, MA overlooking the Saugus River from the bike trail, taken last weekend. I think we have about one more week to wait for some really good color along the coast.
So far the Autumn is going well. School has started back up and I'm taking my last two courses: Economics (MBA 630) and Global Management (MBA 780). I've enjoyed my return to school, but it will be very nice to be done this December. Especially if graduating coincides with a job offer from the Foreign Service.
Speaking of which, I checked and I'm #8 out of 17 cleared candidates on the financial management register. I'm feeling pretty good about that. According to the Foreign Service Institute's course schedule, there is a January orientation class scheduled. Congressional budget willing...it will happen and hopefully I'll get an invite. Not much more I can do other than wait, I guess.
Oh, I bowled a 214 last week. Honest!
