Visitor from the North -- Amongst the Fun!

So coming into the later part of October, it was still hot though getting into the 60s at night and leaves were only hinting at changing still. However, little bits here and there showed signs of a coming fall, like the sale of cider and fresh donuts at a concert in Charlottesville to the fact that I actually could wear my leather leggings and furs at work and not be super uncomfortable. However, I was still adament about dressing for October and not for the weather at hand and was often made fun of for my wishful thinking.

A really exciting part of the month was when Jenny came down to visit for a few days. She came down on a Monday evening and we began a few days of extreme fun, complete with activity checklist. Tuesday we went to both Yorktown and the Jamestowns, complete with biker bar and a cookout in the evening. Jenny enjoyed bonding with Jack's new hedgehog Norman, who we apparently wore out with the excitement for days afterward. Wednesday we ventured to Berkeley Plantation (home of Col. Benjamin Harrison, signer of the Declaration of Independencen and father/grandfather of two US Presidents, site of the first Thanksgiving, site of the composition of Taps, and about twenty other firsts). A storm blew in during the middle of our tour of Berkeley and continued through most of our day trip through Richmond and movie outing that evening. The next and final day we spent seeing the final orientation video (in all, we'd watch a total of five museum orientation films in three days) at Colonial Williamsburg, a 1950s 45-minute VistaVision saga. After a quick visit at CW, we stopped at the home-cooking deliciousness of the Carrot Tree before taking Jenny to the airport. (photos: Me, Pocahontas, and Jenny at Historic Jamestowne; Jenny loves John Smith; Jenny and I beating that steadily beating drum; also later doing the horrid smell dance moves from "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory"; and Jack and Norman.)





(photos: The recycle bin at our house the morning after our cookout; me on the lawn of Berkeley Plantation; Jenny doing a kartwheel on the plantation lawn due to her excitement; looking up the terraced gardens to the main house; and Jenny touching a tree hundreds of years old!)





(photos: The bathroom sign at Colonial Williamsburg; showing our love to Thomas Jefferson in Merchant's Square; and Jenny in front of her favorite house in town.)



After Jenny's visit, I had to go to get cracking on assembling my Halloween costume since Lindsay's big Halloween party was the next night. I went as Tippi Hedren from "The Birds" and had to find both a 60s-esque dress and lots of fake birds. After work that Friday, we assembled our outifts, rendezvouzed at our house to carpool down to the party, and had quite a good time and we've still been piecing together stories weeks later. The night after the Halloween party, it was back to Don's house for another burger burn/haunted house expedition. The local Claremont-ites went all out on their haunted house, though after six days in a row working, plus the tremendous pace of Jenny's visit, followed by more work and active evenings, I was getting to be exhausted. Unfortunately, when my day off came around, I was to be heading to Urbanna for the Oyster Festival with work, but this time by boat! (photos: Heather and Morris as Jack Frost and some sort of WWI fighter pilot; David and Mark as Skeletor and Nacho Libre; Callie and me as Elastagirl and Tippi Hedren; Joe as Fabio (complete with goose and bloody nose -- an incident that happened at Busch Gardens Williamsburg); and Lindsay and Sally as Mugatu from "Zoolander" and Jessica Biel from "Flashdance".)





(photos: Jeff and Varia as Miami Vice and Varia; Callie negotiated a ride on a scooter from Lindsay's friend dressed as Hansel from "Zoolander"; and Jeff, David, Lindsay, and Varia.)