pumpkin carving

My ex-husband, Eric, and I always had a tradition of pumpkin-carving parties. In fact, now that I think of it, we MET at a pumpkin carving party in college. Well, we had an art class together, but that party was the first time we hung out. Anyway, once we moved to Eugene, every year we would have a bunch of friends over for dinner, wine, and pumpkin carving, all of us crammed into the living room of our second-floor apartment because it was too cold to be outside. Those are great, warm memories of times with wonderful friends. The tradition went by the way-side once we moved to the Oregon coast, but it's one I've missed.

So yesterday David and I had "the family" over to carve the pumpkins that Christina and the girls and I got last weekend at Green Bluff. I even invited Eric's girl friend BECAUSE I AM SO NICE AND EVOLVED AND I KEEP TRYING, damn it. I also happen to know that Halloween is her favorite holiday (insert your favorite witch joke here). Ahem. She thinks it's just wrong that Eric would want to continue to have a friendly relationship with the mother of his daughter. Yeah, that is just WEIRD, isn't it??

Hey! Maybe Eric and Christina should get together. Then we really COULD be one big, happy family! Oh wait, I already tried to make that match when we were all in college together...Alas, I ended up with him. But that's another story. Anyway, here is Eric, Anna, Skyler, Piper and Christina.

Poor David awoke yesterday with a cold so he spent much of the day resting. However, he did rally for our usual Sunday afternoon cooking ritual. On Sundays we spend some time preparing food for the week, as we know we aren't motivated to cook in the evenings after work. We almost always make marinara sauce (to use for home-made pizza and pasta) and sometimes lasagna. Yesterday I made butternut squash pasta and brownies and David made the most wonderful pumpkin rolls from on of the Moosewood Cookbooks. After carving pumpkins, we all sat down to dinner together. Eric got his "baby fix" by playing with Christina's girls; I know tht he regrets not having another child, and the girls miss their own daddy like crazy. So it was good all around.

I went to bed feeling incredibly blessed to have my ex-husband and one of my dearest college friends nearby to be part of our family now, AND to have a warm and loving new husband who welcomes my ex into our home.

As my sister says, life is good.