Afterwards, we drove on down to Lawrenceville and bowled several games at Arsenal Lanes; we each won at least once and I bowled the best game of my entire life, an immodest 114. During this, we were regaled by karaoke singers, some tone-deaf, some talented, and one insistent. Lara dazzled the room with a pretty lovely Kathleen Turner-esque rendition of "I Feel the Earth Move" by Carole King. All in all, a pretty entertaining and very fun night.
The next day, Chavonne and I trekked out to Trax Farms and had a variety of experiences; we shared our first hayride, which was brisk and intimate. We also challenged and dramatically failed our first corn maze; Chavonne's posterior was a casualty of the slick mud from steady rain the day before. We also took part in a petting zoo where we met a goat, a llama, a pot-bellied pig, a chicken who looked remarkably like Kairi, and three rooting pigs. This was a fairly emotional moment as we saw exactly what the life was we were consuming daily on our plates; Chavonne and I have wrestled with becoming vegetarian and it's truly difficult to defend the practice when you look such beautiful children in the eye.
On the topic of food, we tried fried Oreos for the first time (not recommended for the faint of heart, or anyone), purchased some farm fresh produce and would eventually prepare a delicious chicken noodle soup with them. On the way back, we visited the finest Gamestop I've ever been in, nestled in the shell of a former Long John Silvers (!) with an enormous collection. I purchased Avalon Code, which I've had my eye on for some time, for a mere $19.99. We also visited a clothing store and got a gorgeous pink argyle for Chavonne, so everyone managed to win something over the weekend.
The work week wasn't especially taxing; the pantry saw twenty-four families and seventy-one individuals for the month, and I completed only four Dollar Energy applications. The real meat of the work came from preparation and execution of the BRAVO Luncheon. This year, we placed piggy banks before each guest (the well-heeled and otherwise) to solicit donations for the agency. Such networking is among my most despised aspects of this job, but I'm slowly understanding that although I'm most comfortable with my current grunt-level work, networking enables me to deliver more services for my clients in the long run. It was comforting to note how many more people I knew in the room compared to last year and all in all, it was a wonderful event that I'm immensely glad is finished for the year.
I've finally managed to free the brothers Mario from the stomach and sinus of Bowser and Bowser's Inside Story has as a result become instantly more compelling. The landscape of the Mushroom Kingdom is positively littered with buried beans, tantalizing the player with promises of magically and improbably enhanced agility and power. I'm looking forward to liberating these from their loamy prisons and progressing further in the quest for redemption.
Finally, in the spirit of the season, Chavonne and I carved an absolutely jocular gentleman pumpkin named Lorenzo yesterday evening. Chavonne has never in her lifetime handed out Halloween candy, let alone trick-or-treated herself, and this is a way for us to slowly ramp up our involvement with this bizarre holiday. Lorenzo, with his snotty nose, keeps a buoyant vigil over our home day and night, welcoming potential X-Men and princesses alike. Chavonne baked some delicious pumpkin seeds and again, all was well in the Wright home.
All in all, this was one of the most wonderful weeks I've had in quite some time. I hope that whatever you choose to do this holiday, you enjoy the company of someone you love.
Lorenzo was so good to us! I loved having wholesome, home-cooked food with you.