October 31
[ Taken October 25, 2009 | fall scenery | Dayton, OH ]
Happy Halloween
The office encouraged people to dress up and held a costume contest yesterday, which is quite a step from last year. Last year they told people NOT to dress up, but said that if anyone wanted to wear “the garb of their native land” (quoting from memory here) they were welcome to. Ouch. Maybe someone informed them of what general staff reaction to last year’s policy was, or maybe they just lightened up a little bit.
I didn’t dress up. Didn’t really feel like it, to be honest. Though now I feel like I ought to have at least thrown on my tailcoat and a fedora over my jeans and t-shirt. Because how often do you really get the opportunity to wear a vintage cutaway swallowtail coat?
Not many people dressed up, and of those who did there were a lot of the old standards – witch hats, cat ears, guys wearing dresses, clown wigs and noses, and the like. There were a few good ones that I saw. One person was dressed like Dr. House (from the TV show) and looked exactly like him – right down to the style of running shoes and the cane with the flame detailing. Another person (and this was the most clever costume that I have seen in a while) dressed up as a huge potted flowering plant, with a sign on the pot that proclaimed them to be a “Bloomin’ Idiot”. Hee hee.
John and I don’t really have any plans for the night. We do have a bowl of candy, but the weather is grey and heavily overcast and chilly, so who knows if we will get any trick-or-treaters. Not that we normally get a lot anyway. Maybe we will watch a movie, maybe we will just play some games.
There is a can of Young’s Double Chocolate Stout in the fridge that I plan on drinking later, and I will probably also have some mini candy bars.
Happy Halloween.
October 25
[ Taken October 25, 2009 | Maple | Dayton, OH ]
[ Taken October 25, 2009 | Japanese Maple | Dayton, OH ]
Today was the first nice weekend day for a while (and probably the last nice one for a while the way that the fall has been going) so John and I went over to the arboretum to wander around a bit and enjoy the color.
October 21
[ Taken October 18, 2009 | Percival helps with the beer | Dayton, OH ]
[ Taken October 20, 2009 | Merlin likes spicy food | Dayton, OH ]
It has been pointed out to me (by my Mom… thanks Mom…I guess a mother never stops prompting her kids to get their work done in a timely fashion) that I haven’t written anything here in a while.
That isn’t because I haven’t been doing anything interesting… more like I have been doing too much stuff.
So…
The leaves are turning here in Dayton, and one of my short term resolutions is to tear myself away from work (I have had a series of Really Big Important Deadlines for the Really Big Important project that is my main responsibility at work, which has resulted in me working very long days as well as on the weekends) long enough to at least go to the arboretum with a camera and enjoy the color while it lasts.
We have also had the first frost, which means that the garden is officially over for the year. We brought in (and ate) the last of the vegetables, and I clipped huge bunches of rosemary and sage to dry for winter usage. John also chopped up all of the dying plants and vines and turned them over in the soil for the winter.
We brought in a couple of medusa peppers that we had in pots on the back porch, which the cats promptly started to eat. So the cats like spicy food, apparently.
John and I went to Cleveland for my Grandma's 92nd birthday.
We put up a batch of Oktoberfest beer.
I went on a business trip to New York City. I didn’t have a lot of “fun” or do a lot of sightseeing. I spent most of my conscious hours either in meetings or doing networking activities (drinking and dinner) with the colleagues who I had spent all day in meetings with.
I went to the Halloween party that the dance studio has every year.
I am sure that there is more… but this will do for now. (Are you happy, Mom?)