Ever too early for Molten Chocolate Cake?

It might surprise you that the answer is yes.

I attend a lot of events. Last night's was a ton of fun, but it had one key flaw. They served the delicious molten chocolate cake 20 minutes before the Keynote speaker began. As I know her personally and was excited to hear her speak, it was disappointing to see half of the room leave before she got started. The event was essentially over before it really began.

Now, a dessert buffet, where one can go up after the speaker is done and mingle with others over coffee and such, seems like a much better call.

Quarters for Laundry

They are the bain of my existence. When I was in college, my mother would send me a roll of quarters every so often to help me out. Now, I am on my own, and I need to scrounge up my own quarters.

I finally got myself to the bank during banking hours to get a pound of 'em, but it turns out they won't serve you if you're not a member. I guess I will have to keep on giving the confused cashier one dollar and 17 cents when the fruit/gum/chocolate comes to 67 cents. (For all of you that took Hypercard instead of Math, my change in that scenario is 2 quarters.)

Apple Picking

I went apple picking for the first time this past Saturday. After a lot of debate as to whether it should be Doe or Honey Pot, we ended up at Applecrest. It was fantastic. There are still 7 varieties available, the activities were numerous, the kids were playing, the sun was shining, and we tasted (illicitly?) along the way.

With a little nudge from Tom that we stop to pick up an Apple Corer on the way home and a couple of calls to my mom as to what ingredients I needed, I *easily* baked my first apple pie. I brought it to Aquene's birthday party. I got lots of compliments. (Thanks Mom!)

I have to throw in that I also had my first night on a stage in a karaoke bar with Ky and Steve, but it is certain not to be my last. Whatever was in that pie, it gave me a little extra singing ability (or so it seemed by that point in the evening).

In other highlights, I had a fantastic reunion with the ChemE women and a beautiful fall-colored drive out to the Cape for Jim's send-off.

Columbus Day

I want to salute Columbus for taking credit where credit was not necessarily due. His day was a good day, as was the entirety of the weekend that was all the more enjoyable because I knew it would be a long one.

There was fun in the sun -- on the roofdeck and at the 10k (kudos to Sandra and I). There was even greater fun after dark as I hit some of my favorite spots each night with some of my favorite people -- Tonic, Kashmir, Eastern Standard and Tapeo. Got to celebrate birthdays, too (Paul and Ruthie have almost caught up to me!). Big thanks go to Alison for helping me to finally get curtains up -- it was getting beyond ridiculous. Now, if I can just get to those light fixtures!