Once Upon a Pumpkin....

Once upon a time, there were three fun families. They decided that instead of taking an expensive trip, they'd meet in the a town known as the Big Lick. The "bicklickers," as we shall call them for folklore's sake, were known to be friendly and say things such as "y'all." The land was so beautiful that many would come from far and wide (even from VA Beach). While the 3 fun families were contemplating communal living, they thought they'd enjoy God's orange earth by taking a trip to Jeter Farm. (There are pictures below in case you are from a land where orange does not exist. )

On Jeter's Farm, the three families spent time with their young admiring the beautiful fall colors,

going on a hayride,

venturing through a corn maze,


petting (or should I say feeding) some animals at the zoo,
and picking some pumpkins. What makes a perfect pumpkin you ask?

Well, first off, you must be willing to look high and low. It must be perfectly shaped, cheery, and inviting. Appears this man's pumpkin is smiling.

This one has a notable stalk. Quite kissable if you ask me.

This one was hiding amidst some others. Did I mention it may take some diggin' in the dirt?

It must stand out in the patch!

And when you know you've found the perfect one, it will make all other pumpkins pale in comparison!

Oh.. almost forgot. They must be easily transportable! Looks like they picked the best in the patch.

1/4 Indian

When I was a kid, my sister and I would go the Roanoke Indian Association functions with my parents and we always dressed up. Here is a photo of me as a kid in my cute little outfit that showed my belly. I always enjoyed the culture and the dances(the "stick dance" in particular) and the food of course.

So, you may never know looking at me, much less looking at my son, Chase, but he really is 1/4 Indian (the dot, not the feather). My aunt Sabita who Brian and I visited in Mumbai last December gave us this precious outfit for Chase to wear. At the time I received the gift, I was still expecting and so it gave me something to look forward to. It's actually for a 12 month old, but I was anxious to try it on because he's growing so fast.

I think someone wants some mango kulfi!

He's so handsome in his kurta
!

I love this one with his elephant!

Happy Birthday Nu-Nu!

I would like to wish a Happy B-day to my sis, Renu!

Here's a photo of her b-day dessert that consisted of a peanut butter crust (pb, confectionery sugar, butter), moose tracks ice cream, whipped cream and chocolate chips. This recipe was my fave back in college that Kate Early (formerly Gerber) used to make me every bday!

This is Zoe watching me prepare the dessert, hopeful that I'll drop some on the kitchen floor.

Here's the cute couple! (Renu & Bryan)

Just stop paying your morgage

If you want the truth about the bailout, read Peter Schiff's article.

It's good to be back in Virginia

After being in Florida for a few years, I got to experience why it is good to be back in Virginia. This past weekend I headed out on the trail with my Dad and one of his fellow co-workers. It was a great weekend: hiking over 20 miles on the iconic Appalachian Trail in peak Fall color over 3 days...and my dad and I got to see two bears. Here are two of my favorite photos.

From Shenandoah National Park - Appalachian Trail - Beahm's Gap to Compton Gap

From Shenandoah National Park - Appalachian Trail - Beahm's Gap to Compton Gap

The rest of the pictures.



The GPS track and pictures

Shenandoah National Park - Appalachian Trail (Beahms Gap to Compton Gap)

Widget powered by EveryTrail: GPS Geotagging

One more reason not to use Babelfish...

This is a belated thanks to Sara-beth and Eric for their gift to Chase which they got in Japan. Being a translation minor and a lover of linguistics (yep, I'm a nerd), I found this onesie especially funny.

"Hug Hug Chu

The bee is a hard worker very much.
Such hard worker's bee is
called a worker bee."

Chase told me that even though he can't talk yet, he's pretty sure that's not English.

So what's Chase eating these days, you ask?

So feeding isn't quite as pleasurable as I would have hoped. (for Chase or for us)








My dad always made me eat Cream of Wheat growing up and I had the same reaction... bleh! (No offense dad.) This is the face I get after making silly sounds! So Sad!! (ok, so I guess Brian made the silly sounds. Otherwise you are wondering how my arm got so hairy)


But there's some redemption to this blog entry.

Look at those 2 teeth! This is the reaction I get every time I bend over to kiss Chase and tickle him with my hair.

He still prefers his feet to rice cereal any day!

Chase is 6 months!

We just celebrated Chase's 6 month birthday. Even though he cannot eat cake, I figured it was still worth celebrating. I made a cookie pie (topped with fruit). My parents, my sister and bro-in-law, and good friends Cristen and Johnny (and their kiddos) came.

Chase and his Crazy Aunty Nu-Nu

Mom and Dad

Chase and his daddy

Some 6 months stats:

• Physical achievements: Chase has his first teeth, enjoys climbing, and speaking in tongues (I mean babbling)
  
• Developmental achievements: enjoys trips to the zoo (watching Zoe the bulldog a.k.a "the beast behind the bars")
• Mental achievements: recognizes us and checks out the cute Latina girls in his "Baby Palabras" Book
• Spiritual achievements: Chase likes to put his hand in our plate when we pray ( I think he's gonna be a french fry stealer.)
  

God Bless the USSA!

Thank-you Bush!
Thank-you Obama and the Democratic Leadership!
Thank-you McCain and the Republican Leadership!

You have once again rescued the American people, this time from economic disaster. You are a wonderful savior. You were smart enough to realize that the first bill in the House asking for 700 billion was not good enough. You rose up and defeated that bill. You instead sent this bill to the Senate--totally disregarding our stodgy and antiquated Constitution, which states that tax bills cannot originate in the Senate--where you knew a better bailout plan could be constructed. There you added earmarks that certainly make this bill even better, incentives for:

• Makers of children's wooden arrows (even our children should get to exercise their 2nd Amendment right)
• Rum imported from Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands (to help us forget our woes in these troubling times), and
  
• The Wool Industry (keeping the sheep of America employed since 2008)

Now, this plan is truly worth passing: $700 billion for the bailout plus an additional $150 billion in earmarks making a grand total of $850 billion in taxpayer money. This Senate plan will surely get our economy going.

We, patriots of the United Socialist States of America, salute you for your infinite wisdom.

• For knowing that by spending money that we don't have is the best way to fire up our economy,
• for extending a hand to the rich bankers, who made mistakes because sometimes even the rich need to be rescued by those less fortunate,
• for truly believing in the work ethic of my six-month old child and the entire next generation of children, that they will be such hard and studious workers, who will easily be able to pay off this massive debt, and
• for realizing what a quack this guy truly is