Pumpkin Patch!

It's October, so it must be...pumkin-carving time! Which means it's pumpkin patch time, 90 degree weather be damned. On Sunday we met my former college roommate (and bridesmaid, and longtime close friend) Charon, her husband Wes, and son Cameron for an outing to Butler's Pumpkin Patch in Germantown, MD. It was a lovely drive once we got off the highway, reminiscent of Oregon -- except, as I noted to Drew, the trees were all wrong -- and lots to do, although we were perplexed and annoyed that the entrance fee was $11 per person and all the fun stuff to do cost extra, like pony rides and the like. Still, we all had a great time. Cameron, who is almost 8, was very sweet to Rachel and she had the time of her life, jumping off bales of hay in the hayloft, going on a hayride to the actual pumpkin patch and picking out our pumpkin, petting some goats, leading me through a hay maze, going down a huge slide multiple times and refusing to be scared or let Drew join her.

Charon and her husband live close by, in Alexandria, and they are so happy to have us here. "It's so great to have you here, you belong here," Charon said, and the affirmation was great to hear since I still feel connected to Oregon somewhat. (One of Rachel's friends there, Lila Ann, was asked to draw a picture at school and drew a picture of Rachel). They have a cabin in the Maryland mountains and have talked about us going there to visit, which would be great. I'm having lunch with Charon later this week and she invited me to a wine tasting next week; we hope to convince Pam, one of my other bridesmaids, to come down from New Jersey and we can all be reunited again. Yay!

On the way home Drew got a bit lost trying to get us off the highway and to a grocery store, but he persisted and we found it. "We're a no-quitter family!" Rachel exclaimed, and if that's the most resonant lesson she takes away from her childhood, then I have done well as a mom, I think.

Today a storm rolled in and it has cooled down quite a lot. I'm still unpacking the house and am coming to the end of what I can do without Drew's help; he's in charge of shelving the books and I can only watch. So, I've set up some meetings with folks who may have job leads. I've also been cooking a lot, which I missed doing during the three weeks we were on the road. I made a phenomenal mushroom soup with parsley-flecked dumplings tonight that Drew and Rachel LOVED. Next up: Turning the half-finished brick grill outside into a working cooking station, and dusting off the old writing chops.