Brrrr, Joneses and Other News

It's getting cold here; feels very much like autumn, except the trees are still mostly green. We were promised early fall colors this year because of the draught. That's not a good news though since the few leaves that have turned color are yellow-brown and shrivelled.

Time to dress Mark up in warm outfits. And he looks so cute in all of them! But he hates getting dressed and even tries to bite us. And then keeping socks and shoes on is a constant challenge. We pretty much gave up on shoes after the first try. But socks are a must now that it's getting cold. So he'll just have to get used to them (or we'll have to fix some kind of suspenders system).

Last weekend was full of things to do. First we went to the Greek festival and Mark earned his first $6. How come? Well, we arrived before the place was open, but there was already a small line of old folks outside the doors. So they started oohing and aahing over Mark and then literally showered us with coupons good for free admission tickets ($3 each). Too bad we couldn't score any free food this way and ended up spending $20 for a plate of appetizers and a plate of chicken. We couldn't stay too long though 'cause Mark was getting bored. So we walked around our most excellent flea-market and bought some furniture for the living room - an Asian-looking cabinet - very pretty.

Then on Sunday we went to the Tour of Homes hosted by our Home Owners Association. Did I tell you we have like the best HOA?! Membership is completely voluntary, costs only $30/year, nobody tells you what to do, and they arrange annual block parties, tours of homes and such. This tour of homes is quite an event, really; it was even featured in the local Raleigh News&Observer. There were people from all over the city visiting. This year they had 8 homes on the tour ranging from a custom-built architectural marvel that won tons of design awards to some DIY budget renovations. Apart from satisfying our curiousity and checking up on the Joneses, we got to meet a lot of neighbours and had a very good time.

As you can see, we now brush Mark's teeth, both of them. He doesn't like it very much though. What he does like doing with his teeth is biting. When I dress him, something that he hates, by the way, he tries to bite my hand. Oh, and by the way, he started making a sign for "milk"!