Harvest Time

Our first successful foray into gardening is almost to a close - the zucchini, summer squash, green peppers, corn, lettuce, and cucumbers are long done, and we're just picking the last of the tomatoes now. The sunflowers did well, too. About half a dozen of them are taller than me. I'd say the tallest is about 7 feet tall. With the tomatoes we've already canned two batches each of salsa and pizza sauce, and there are more tomatoes waiting in the fridge to turn into some fresh spaghetti sauce. At left Abby helps pick tomatoes the other day, and up above Abby and Annika help make tomato sauce, in their pajamas, while sitting on the counter.

Meanwhile: the Tigers could clinch a playoff spot today, for the first time since 1987. Unfortunately, the Yankees and their $200 million payroll are looking really strong, and I could see them taking another World Series this year.

The Office premiere on Thursday was great. I love having that half hour of glee to look forward to once a week.

Oh, just stuff...

Life continues...

We're three weeks into school. Everything individually is fine, but altogether it's a pretty crazy life we're leading. Annika is doing well in kindergarten and liking it, Abby is enjoying daycare "Jenna's house!", my classes are going well, and Lisa is doing well as a pregnant special-ed teacher. She had a checkup a couple weeks ago, and all is well. They found a strong heartbeat, in the normal range for heartrate but slower than our girls were. So, is this a boy??? We'll see....!

My poor Irish got smoked by Michigan yesterday. I quit actively watching before halftime, and stopped altogether shortly into the 3rd quarter. I don't hate Michigan, but I did during the game. However, now I'm sort of hoping that U-M and Ohio State are both undefeated going into their matchup in November. I'll be at the game (yay for Nick and his grad student status at OSU!), and to see two undefeateds go head-to-head in their final regular season game would be great.

Tonight, while taking some cough medicine and looking at me, Annika asked "Dad, why do you have hair in your armpits." I explained that that's just how it works, and noted that I'm good at growing hair all over. "That's because you're a boy," said Annika, but then I mentioned that many women shave their legs and armpits just like I shave my cheeks. She just made a squeaky noise and gave me her "Whaaaat???" look. Aah, parenthood. Also, I'll admit that amidst the baby discussions we've had over the past month, on more than one occasion, she's asked "But how does the baby get in Mommy's tummy?", just as a logical extension of preceding questions. We've totally wimped out on answering that one so far.

Fall is coming...

I know it isn't even officially fall yet, but below is my seasonal beer display.

From left to right, we have Summit Oktoberfest, New Holland Ichabod Ale, Victory Festbier, Samuel Adams Octoberfest, Blue Moon Pumpkin Ale, Leinenkugel's Oktoberfest, Lakefront Pumpkin Lager Beer, and Buffalo Bill's Pumpkin Ale. Yum yum!

We're right in my favorite time of the year, at least sportswise, climatewise, and foliagewise: cooler temps and full foliage on the trees and plants, and then college football and the NFL in addition to the pennant races and ultimately the playoffs in baseball. The food this time of year ain't bad either, although I think winter and summer have better seasonal brews.

Notre Dame vs. Penn State this Saturday! Go Tigers! I hate the Yankees!