They Looked Great For a While

Last Sunday, after much agonizing over subject matter and scouring the internet for inspiration/patterns, we carved our pumpkins.

There were vampires…

…and skulls…

…and Buzz (Go Jackets!)…

…and even Count von Count, who declined to be photographed for this interview.  (All of the patterns were found on the internet, and I did not save links – sorry!  Except for Buzz…I created that stencil myself.)

You’ll notice I didn’t take too much care with the photography, because certainly, I would set these on the front porch soon enough for a quick photo session, as usual.  Yeah…did I mention the whole flu thing?  By the time it occurred to me to do anything about the pumpkins, it was Thursday.  I attempted to pick up my jack o’lantern, and my fingers went through its bottom.  Oh dear.  Upon closer inspection, we found that all four pumpkins were covered inside with a nice layer of mold and fuzzy, white “hair.”

We moved them out to the front porch, anyway, hoping we could at least light them on Halloween night, but by the next morning, they were caving in.  Since we haven’t set up a compost bin yet, they’re currently awaiting the garbage truck.  You should probably be glad I didn’t take pictures.

Getting Worse Before It Gets Better

The house is slowly coming together, although you couldn’t tell at all from looking at it.

I had a feeling when we made our to do list for this process that the house would get a lot worse before it started looking better.  This is one of the few rooms we hadn’t yet painted.  It didn’t really need to be painted (other than the fact that it was silly-putty-pinky-taupe blech!), but there were a number of scuffs and marks on the walls.  And the previous owner did not use washable paint, so when we tried washing the walls, we got down to bare drywall.  Lovely.

With the painting of the den and the connected hallway complete, there’s only one major project left.  Those built-ins in the picture were handmade by the handsome guy also in the picture.  Unfortunately, at the time of said making a few years ago, we were unaware that one must use a specific kind of primer to prevent knots from bleeding through the paint.  So, the whole set needs to be re-primed and painted.  (Although, ironically, the new wall paint matches the knots perfectly, so perhaps we could claim we polka-dotted them to match?  Hmmm…maybe not.)  Before they’re primed and painted, they need to be repaired in a few places where settling has created gaps and doors that don’t fit quite right.

Once we finish those shelves, however, all that’s left is touch-ups, cleaning, and packing of clutter.  Relatively fast stuff.

And with the end of this post comes the end of NaBloPoMo.  I may not have succeeded per their rules, but I have made thirty posts in the past thirty days, so I’ll call it a personal success.

Seven

No, not the movie.  The MeMe.

Heather tagged me for it, so why not?

The Rules

1) Link to your tagger and list all these rules in your blog.

2) Share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird.

3) Tag 7 people at the end of your post by including links to their blogs

4) Let them know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog

My Seven Facts

1) I have never seen the movie Seven, and I probably never will.  I trust my dear husband’s knowledge of my ability to handle psychological thrillers, and he recommended I pass on that one.

2) I had double knee surgery at the age of 22 for misaligned patellae.  (aka Crooked kneecaps that had rubbed away most of the cartilage in there.)

3) I love roller coasters.

4) My favorite alcoholic drink is Bailey’s Irish Cream, neat.  I can’t understand why you’d want it over ice…it’s sooo scrumptious at room temp.  And when you order it neat at a bar, they give you a shot.  WTF??  I want a glass of it, baby!

5) My eyes were blue for years, changing their shade depending on what I wore.  I woke up one morning when I was fourteen or fifteen years old, and they were grey.  They have been ever since.

6) Most of the Publix holiday commercials bring me to tears, no matter how many times I’ve seen them.  Especially the Valentine’s Day one…the one with the cake?  Moms of boys, you understand, right?

7) I don’t get motion sick.  I am eternally grateful for this, and the subsequent ability to read in the car.

My Tagees

Um, I don’t know that I have seven people to tag.  Let’s try Sheri, Karah, j. (especially since she hasn’t blogged in like forEVER), Diana (because she left me a comment today – thanks!), and…darnit, Heather already tagged Lauria!  Sorry, my blogginess is not yet to the level that I feel comfortable tagging anyone else.  There are plenty of blogs I read daily, but I don’t “know” their authors that well yet.  We’ll just go with four and call it a day, eh?

Not My Fault!!

I have failed NaBloPoMo.

Okay, so AT&T failed NaBloPoMo for me.  They were digging around at the front of the subdivision yesterday morning, and right around that time, we lost internet and phone service.  A phone call last night resulted in the “Well, we may have it fixed tomorrow, but it might not be ’til Saturday,” response.  Lovely.

You will know when service has been restored by the resurgence of thoughtful, beautifully photo-laden posts.  Until then, if I don’t see you before the holiday, Happy Thanksgiving!