this time i really am done traveling for a bit

back again from another trip. and though you've read it before, this one really was the last on the books for a while. after matt was here in august and september, it seemed like my turn to venture toward ohio. as probably will not surprise you, there was one weekend in october that worked for both of our schedules.

random digression before i even get into anything. i found these barefruit cinnamon apple chips at the airport. they are deliciously awesome. i know that only dy's kids believe in my ability to find delicious and healthy treats, but these really are phenomenal. what else would you expect from something that combines apple and cinnamon? i hope they are also sold at non-airport type places.

matt picked me up in columbus on thursday evening. and though i admit that i may have been biased a bit by the situation, i think even the most objective of bystanders would it was an absolutely gorgeous fall day. there is a little shack with a patio that we have been eyeing repeatedly on drives from columbus to athens, so we finally decided to stop. to my relief, right after we parked, matt announced that he was going to be better about taking pictures (sound familiar?) and immediately took a picture of the building. you can ask him yourself how that turned out for the rest of the trip. it was a cute place, though. matt can comment on the quality of the barbeque (i had a salad). i can comment on the awesomeness of being able to sit outside on a beautiful fall day with my fiancé AND the adorableness of the little pigs carved into the tables. i don't know if kara reads this blog or not, but if so, i feel like she's going to like that.

there was a lot of working and catching up over the course of the weekend. it kind of felt like i hadn't been to athens in a while and we ended up with a really full schedule. we did get in some pumpkin carving time with one of matt's high school friends and his girlfriend. that's my very scary looking pumpkin in the middle. oh MAN, i wish i would hurry up and live somewhere that gets trick-or-treaters.

in case you're wondering, matt's is on the left. he was pretty adamant about going with the traditional jack-o-lantern. and you must admit that it turned out pretty well. and was the only one made sans pattern.

Hot Tuna

SouthEast Engine

Ha Ha Tonka

sunday night turned out to be a really nice surprise for us. we had learned a while ago that the jayhawks were coming to town, but did not know that it was as part of NPRs Mountain Stage series. this turned out to be an absolute treat. i would highly, highly recommend this format for anyone who is interested in seeing some new bands sprinkled in with one or two bands that you like. the format of the show was fixed around the fact that NPR was making a live recording of everything for their radio show and podcast. five bands played for approximately one half hour each. the set up and tear down was minimal and you got to hear bands you were familiar with along with some new bands. it's NPR, so the bands that you like play the stuff that you really want to hear and if you end up not liking some of the bands, that's okay because you only have to sit through about 5-6 songs. in the spirit of full disclosure, i should say that two additional things may have contributed to our enjoyment of this event. first, while we were standing in line waiting for tickets, a very, very, VERY nice couple gave (yes, gave) us their two extra tickets which just happened to be two seats in the middle of the second row. second, the bands that we didn't know very well were awesome. seriously, awesome. i would go see either one of them again. i run a little bit hot and cold with indie-folk stuff, but there was a nice contemporary spin on it by both southeast engine, a band that originated in Athens, actually; and ha ha tonka, a band that comes from southeast missouri. i know, right? what are the odds that one of us would go from columbia to PA to WI to OH to hear a band from missouri? they've got to be slim. but we loved them. and if you have a chance, you should go see them.

The Jayhawks

now it is back to work again! i am once again hopeful that a very productive work week is headed in my direction. it's always kind of hard to tell, but i'm up for it if the fates will nudge one toward me. there is a deadline this week for submissions for a conference next june and a number of meetings, of course, but otherwise, it's analyzing data and writing for my foreseeable future. i'm not complaining, of course. i love it all. i just wouldn't mind a few breathtaking results every now and then ;)

happy fall to all. have a lovely, lovely week!