Snow and Halloween

There's this song that periodically comes on while I'm listening to my iTunes called college by Animal Collective. It has a habit of coming on when I'm thinking about college and the majority of it is just odd noise with "oooing" going on. But at the end they sing "you don't have to go to college."

Sometimes I take that as a sign. Maybe they're right!
Oh Animal Collective…you're trying to brainwash me.

Onto the snowy day fun!

That night, as the snow gathered, Tess made sugar cookies out of her leftover pie crusts and I began my pumpkin pie filling…I didn't get very far though, since peeling a roasted pumpkin takes a huge amount of patience and once I finished peeling 3 roasted pumpkins, my attention span was worn out.

All the while we listened to the final book of the Twilight saga, not knowing that we had actually skipped the third book, and were thoroughly confused. I must say that Stephanie Myer got way too into her writing in the fourth book. It drags on and on and the plot is stagnant. At least with the first books she had a moving plotline! sheesh!

We continued listening to the riveting story of Bella's deathly pregnancy of a half vampire fetus while we carved pumpkins. This was my first year not using a pre-drawn carving, and I'd say it turned out pretty well. Here is the lil guy:
one of his ears fell off…that, i assume, is why he is so mad.

And Tess did an Edward pumpkin, complete with the swoopy do.
It turned into a pretty awesome night. And the next day? It was our day off! So I slept in until 8:30 (i'm sure my college friends are laughing at me) and laid in bed reading until about 12:30 when I finally gave in to my grumbling tummy. It was a beautiful yet blinding day. There was about a foot of snow on the ground, which made the whole house seem much cozier. But the sun was also out, so if you looked out a window for any length of time, once you turned around you would have spotty vision. It was really neat though. Kind of like being at a ski resort.

And what's even better is that shortly after I descended from my "apartment" Jen and Kai's friends, Tom and Robin arrived with tons of food and conversation. They're really neat people and guess what? Tom is Amy Cash's uncle! Mrs. Cash was my algebra 2 teacher, so it was crazy meeting her family… so insane. I still can't quite get over it.

After much chatting, a tour of the farm, and an amazing late lunch, Tom and Robin loaded their cats up and left on the journey back to the city. I was glad to not have to take care of their two big ol' cats anymore. They were perfectly fine, but Sophie was diabetic and had to have a shot of insulin twice a day. Once I got used to actually giving the shot it just became kind of annoying having to add on an extra 15 minutes to the chore routine. Now that they're gone chores take a good… 3 minutes? I've gotten so lazy. Chores used to take at least an hour. With the colder weather, though, the high tunnels don't have to be raised and there's nothing in the greenhouse to water, really. We give the amaranth a dose of water when the hose isn't frozen–which isn't all that often.

So the day off was pretty eventful and fun. I'm glad I decided to stay at the farm. Oh yeah! And it was Jen's birthday. So in the morning we also had bacon…MEAT. And Robin brought over an assortment of meat and cheeses…I was in heaven. I'd recently been craving some meat and to my amazement, my wish was granted. Halloween was a pretty awesome day too. Tess and I transplanted some of the pea plants into high tunnel 3 since so many of our sugar snap peas were eaten as seedlings… boo you, rodents!

We also thinned some of the Kale that we planted in high tunnel 3, we moved it from the crowded upper row to the deserted lower row. We also cut more wood. It was then that I realized how little physical work I've done here lately. The chainsaw was difficult for me to hold up for a long period of time!! And on Sunday I noticed when I crossed my arms that I couldn't feel my muscles as well… and then when I showered that night I also realized that my belly was getting smaller again too. UHG. All the changes my body went through since I've been here are just withering away right before I go home. No one will believe I ever looked any different. It's frustrating, and even though at first I complained about gaining weight, I would take my muscles along with my slightly tubbier belly any day.

So I've got about 2 weeks left of the internship. As a coming home present I need some 30 lb weights. That'd be really nice! And a massage…good heavens do I need a massage.

Did I mention–about 2 weeks left of the internship!!? That's insane! Time has flown by. Just FLOWN. I can't communicate how crazy the fact that I'm almost done working here is. It's simply inconceivable.

Now let me get back on track…halloween… after lunch we sat around wondering what to do about costumes. I had nothing to work with. Just my farm clothes. But then Tess and I began playing with the mustaches Jimmy gave to Sebastian and I decided that I could go as a dude. Simple enough. I often look like a dude on the farm anyway.
So I was a dude, Tess was a cat, Jen was a farmer, and Sebastian was batman. We were a motley crew. And we went into Jeffersonville, did some trick or treating and then became part of the parade which went about two blocks and ended at the firehouse which provided cider and cookies. It culminated in a costume contest that we ducked out of and instead ordered pizza, went home and watched Harry Potter.
I was surprised with the number of people that did double takes when they'd walk by. There were also a couple of people who complimented me on it. I would've probably done pretty well in the costume contest.

While we were waiting for the pizza 3 girls walked in, probably all about 15, and mind you, there's snow on the ground. And they are dressed as…skanks. The youngest looking one actually had her butt hanging out of a dominatrix cross cop costume. The kid working behind the counter, also probably around 16, was so mesmerized that he gave Jen's change to the dominatrix chick!

And I just wonder…what kind of mother would let their daughter go out like that!? It's insane. I'm glad I never had the urge to dress like a superskank. It's embarrassing.

On the way back to the car I carried the pizza, and that was when my costume was complete! I just needed the prop-a pizza box. And it all came tougher. I was a pizza delivery guy. Simply perfect.
It was a pretty awesome Halloween. No, there weren't any parties. And I never did the Time Warp along with a bunch of other crazy kids my age. I didn't get much candy and I still even worked. But the company I was with made it amazing. I have so much fun with Jen and Tess. We are a humorous crew. I'm really going to miss them. They've become my friends.. my family even. And if we're all in good spirits a day which starts horribly can end with me feeling high from laughter.

What's weird is that when I talk about Jen to my friends I say she's my boss. And that's completely accurate, and I respect her and everything she asks me to do. But I feel like it's a deeper relationship than that. But it has to be, ya know? We've lived together now for almost three months and you can't live and work together without forming an intricate bond.

Oh man, and I lied. Monday we pulled all the tomato plants from high tunnel 1 and the greenhouse. It was Tues. that we worked with seedlings and cut wood. And after lunch on TUESDAY Michelle and her son, Nicholas (a good friend of Sebastian's), came over and we all learned how to make mayonnaise and ketchup. Tess and I also whipped up some fries and that was our dinner! Fries with our homemade dips. And after I had already gone up to bed, Tess told me around 9 that she was making her fudge cake…so of course I had to go down and eat it, and while I waited I made cinnamon rolls. Didn't turn out quite right, but they're okay.

And that brings me to today, which was truly uneventful. Just packing for CSA, showering, napping… we shall see what tomorrow holds.