A Week in My Life

It seems that my internet presence has been noticeably lacking this week since a couple of you checked with me to make sure I was still alive :) I was actually sick for most of the week, and while I was semi-operational, I didn't feel like sharing much of anything with the world. Now that I'm better, I'm ready to share the fun parts of the last week with you.

Sunday was a gorgeous day in Seattle so I went to the Washington Park Arboretum to look at the colorful leaves and get some exercise.

I apparently was not the only person to get that idea. I think that about half of Seattle was there with their kids/dogs. The arboretum is big enough, though, that I was able to get some beautiful shots away from the crowd too. I just had to do a little off-roading to get there.

One of my favorite spots at the arboretum is the pond. The ducks are so fun to watch.

On Thursday night after family supper, we had a pumpkin carving contest at the house. Since I have the pumpkin carving skills of a two year old, I teamed up with Natalia. She carved and I provided artistic direction :)

These are some of the jack-o-lanterns that we came up with. The one that looks like it's throwing up won the contest. Natalia's/Mine is the geeky pumpkin with glasses on. (It even has a pocket protector, but you can't see it in this picture).

While others were carving away, one of my students and I sorted through pumpkin guts to get the seeds out. Later that night we roasted them. They were amazing.

Other fun (but not photgraphed) events of the week: 1. I got my pearly whites cleaned on Tuesday. I know that I've said this before, but I really do think that small hands should be a job requirement for dentists.
2. We did our annual Trick and Treat social experiment on campus yesterday. This year we threw in a twist. "You have to give your second candy bar to a person supporting a different candidate for President from the one you're supporting." Students loved the idea and played along well. We met about five people voting for McCain, a couple of Ron Paul hold-ons, and more than a few Obama supporters.
3. Tonight I made chicken jambalaya for a few of the people at the house. It turned out great and we had some fun talking about our crazy Halloween experiences.