Finally Fall

The weather here has been amazing this weekend.....most likely what all of you have experienced for at least a month now. Cool temps at night and mild during the day....perfect! We've been trying to get the house more fall-ish the past two weekends. Last weekend I went to buy pumpkins and mums. We don't grow pumpkins in FL so they have to be imported to roadside stands at intersections or in church parking lots....not exactly how you picture pumpkin picking. So standing in a grass lot next to the SuperTarget I retrieved my $9 pumpkin trucked in from an Appalachian grower......oh, and a bale of hay. My sister said that in Idaho they charge 28 cents a pound for a pumpkin.....so for $9 she can buy a 32 pound pumpkin. I'm moving.

Here's some fall pics:

Our "fat cat" pumpkin

The scarecrow won't cooperate and sit still for a picture

This scarecrow needs a new arm.....

Friday night we went downtown to the Florida Theatre to see a legend, Tony Bennett (alright people, stop your laughing). The evening started with dinner at a hip little burrito place downtown right around the corner from the venue....super yummy veggie burrito, although they were the size of our heads. There's a very small park across from the concert hall where we sat and enjoyed the beautiful weather while waiting for the show. The Florida Theatre was built in 1927 and still has all of the original architecture and decor of that time (except for the bar with the flat screen tv in the front....pretty sure that was new). In this part of FL we have a lot of old spanish influenced architecture (thanks to the spanish explorers) and this theater was no exception. What can I say about the concert? Phenomenal! Tony Bennett is one of those performers that sounds just as good live as he does recorded. At 82 he is still a cool cat! We had a great time and enjoyed every minute of the music and the stories he told.

Update since August

We lost touch for a while, but we're back with another update to the blog. In September we went to a conference in Bonita Springs, FL, about 30 minutes south of Ft Myers. Since we flew and needed a rental car, Bill rented us a convertible, which is lots of fun except in South Florida, where the sun is scorching. So needless to say, the top could only come down at dusk! Bill gave several lectures and also won "Best Poster" w/ a co-worker at the Poster session (you take your research and data and put it into a specific poster format for others to see and ask questions about while you stand next to the poster for an hour.....not terribly fun, but interesting). This year was my formal debut into the research world with a poster of my own; it outlined an experiment I had conducted this spring. Although I had several thoughts of crawling under the table my poster was standing on, I held my own and am happy that I did it.

The resort we stayed at was awesome. The first morning I watched dolphins from our balcony looking out into the Gulf of Mexico. Although we didn't get to partake in any of the amenities (several pools, boat tours, etc.), I did find time during an extended lunch break to hit the spa.......my first time! I enjoyed a massage (discount for conference members...yippee!) and the facilities in the spa. And seeing how it was a Thursday, no one was there and I had the place to myself! In the evening we found what we have dubbed "the best mall ever" and had a very yummy dinner. We would most certainly stay in Bonita Springs again!

After the conference ended, we headed north to visit Cheryl and Stephen in their new home in Cape Coral. It was weird to see many houses still with their hurricane shutters up since T.S. Fay; they weren't taking any chances with the other named storms out in the Atlantic. We took a tour of Cape Coral, stopped at a marina, and then headed down to Sanibel Island, the sea shell capital of the world. After lunch at the "Pink Flamingo", we headed across the street to search for shells of our own. The water was amazingly warm and the weather was absolutely gorgeous. The next morning we headed back to Tampa for our flight, sad that our visit was short, but eager to get home after so many days away. The bonus? It was overcast that morning, so it was top-down all the way to Tampa! Finally!

Not much going on since then.......school and football as usual. Bill is still searching for a new car....hopefully with things taking a downturn in the economy we can find some better deals. It better be soon too b/c our trade in is making some funky noises! I'm sad to see it go b/c it was a good little car and has served us very well. But I'm waiting for the day when Bill calls to say it's on fire.

Two months from today and I will be at graduation! Maybe there is light at the end of the tunnel! I know that Bill is counting down the days with me for sure. Then it's off to CT for Christmas! We hope that we will be able to see everyone during our visit. Bill has been lucky to be able to travel for business up that way and visit, but it's been a whole year for me and I'm anxious to get back. Pray for good weather! (I guess in the winter anything short of ice is good weather).

Off to study for Midterms this week......hope everyone is having a great fall.........Go Red Sox!!

Video of Bonita Springs resort....the audio is distorted from the waterfall noise, but the picture is pretty.

The "Pink Flamingo"

Cheryl & Stephen's house

My "study buddy"...never leaves my side