Christmas Decor

This year we got Christmas lights up on the outside of the house for the first time. Typically our street is kind of a dud for lights but we must have set a good example because there were several houses that had at least a string of lights up. We got LED lights so our "white" lights have a little of a bluish tint.

We got our Christmas tree early in December and decided to try one with long needles. It sure smells good but those needles just keep falling off. We went with a combo of white and colored lights. I only ended up using about half the ornaments and that was plenty.

Thanksgiving

This year for Thanksgiving my parents came out for a visit. Mom arrived Tuesday night and we spent Wednesday shopping--for groceries and tableware. Dad arrived that night and we got some of the food prep started. Thursday was, of course, a day full of baking and cooking. We tried a few new recipes--cranberry jello, sweet potato casserole. Plus there were all the old standbys--stuffing, potatoes, turkey, green bean casserole, rolls, gravy, peas, etc. We used a turkey roaster this year so the oven would be free for the other stuff and it worked really well. We also had pie--cherry for Caleb and apple for me. We tried to teach Mom how to play Lego Indiana Jones on Xbox. Quite entertaining. Of course we watched football and the parade. It was a fun day.

Friday the guys were busy and got the Christmas lights up outside. For the first time ever we put them up along the roof and in a couple trees. They did a great job. All nice and straight. While they were freezing outside, the girls were inside putting up some Christmas decorations. It is amazing how much stuff I have but I am not sure what to do with. We rearranged a little to make space for the Christmas tree that we will be getting in the next couple weeks. We ended the day going to see Harry Potter. It was pretty close to the book and so Caleb thought it was a little slow moving.

Saturday before they left we went to see the gingerbread houses at the Eastman house and check out a little art fair on Prince street. It was a busy but fun weekend.

Halloween Fun

Last weekend we had a quick trip out to Kansas City. We ended up only being there for about 28 hours because of some flight delay troubles. (I blame this on Caleb. Before we got married I never had any problems with flights. Since then cancellations, delays, missed connecting flights, etc.) We went out there for a combination Marcell family Halloween party and a farewell party because Caleb's Parents are moving to Portland. When we got there we went right to work preparing for the party. The boys decorated outside and practiced for the spooky story. The girls prepared all sorts of snacks for that night.

Then it was time for the fun. Family photos. Eating. Monsters. Mummies. Bobbing for apples. A bonfire. Root beer floats. Cookies. Cupcakes. Remembering. Pinata busting.  And last but not least dancing. That's right Wii Just Dance was a big hit. Just about everyone took a turn and some people really got into it. It was pretty funny. We had a great time and wish it could have been longer.

Sushi

Caleb went with a couple of guys from church to try out the new sushi at the Pittsford Wegmans. He was daring and got a platter with one piece of every kind. And he tried them all. Some he liked and others were too much for him (the ones with the little balls that "pop" when you bite into them). I think he is crazy and can't bear the thought of cooked fish, much less raw.

The Beard

I provide technical support for the Blackboard Learn product, which develops and licenses software applications to manage e-learning, transaction processing, e-commerce and online communities. The busiest time at work is the is back to school time, which normally runs from August to the second week in October. As as sign of solidarity all the men and work decided not to shave. August 16th was the last day to shave and we could shave again on October 4th. I was going to take a picture each week to track the beard progress but I would always forget. So I have a beginning picture and an end picture. After 7 weeks of not shaving my face hair was 1/2 an inch long. As some of you may know I am not the kind of person to do something just to have all my efforts wiped out in one day, so I extended my beard growing fun with a beard shaving week. Each day of the week following the conclusion of the back to school season at work I shaved a portion of my beard and wore it that way the whole day. The styles ranged from a mustache to the goatee and everything in between.

Start of not shaving 8/16/10

After 7 weeks 10/4/10

Proof it is 1/2 inch

Goatee

Fu Manchu and soul stripe

Fu Manchu 

Mustache 

Back to normal

Grape Festival

Last weekend we took a short day trip out to the Grape Festival. It was a pretty drive down with the trees just starting to change colors. Once we arrived it was kind of chaotic with so many people and cars. The festival is right in town along the street but the street isn't blocked off so there was a lot of traffic. It was mainly your typical festival with all sorts of food and craft and junk vendors. There were a lot of options if you wanted to buy tie-dyed shirts or mittens and hats. There were also a couple of grape oriented booths selling grapes and grape pies. I got some fresh honey. We also got a grape pie to take home and try out. Caleb enjoyed it, said it is like grape jelly in a crust. But for me it was too powerfully grapey like grape cough medicine was added to the grape jelly. On the drive down we saw a roadside stand selling grape juice but we couldn't find it on the way home. I guess we should have stopped in when we saw it. It was a fun thing to do once but we probably won't go back next year.

NY State Fair

This past weekend we headed to the NY State Fair in Syracuse. In the morning the crowds weren't too bad but by the time we left in the evening it was so crowded. There was barely even space to move in some areas. There was a spot where you could get fresh chocolate milk at $0.25 a cup. It was pretty tasty.

They also had a scuplture out of butter. It was pretty amazing--a farm landscape with buildings and animals. And that is a lot of butter.

And of course you can't go to a state fair without stopping to see some animals. We saw sheep being sheared, cows being shaved, and horses competing. There was one girl who was curled up sleeping with her cow. We had a fun time.