Even people who don’t like seasons can’t resist Fall, and I like seasons! I won’t even bother with sentences:

crisp air ! fluttering leaves ! orangey-goldness ! fat rabbits (in our backyard, they look tasty) ! crunchy grass

Here are some pics to get you into the spirit. Enjoy!

Here are some pics of our almost new house! (Almost because we don’t close until mid-June, sheesh!). These aren’t lit terribly well, but I think we’ll have better ones soon. Yippee!!

Front of the house!

Living room from foyer.

Living room from foyer.

LR facing south.

LR facing north.

LR facing west.

From LR, through foyer, through dining, to pantry.

Dining room.

Butler’s Pantry.

Kitchen.

Kitchen from other direction.

Stairs to 2nd floor.

Bedroom 1.

Bedroom 2.

Bedroom 3, such bad lighting… hope to have a better pic soon.

Bedroom 4 through half=closed door.

2nd floor bath.

Attic vestibule? I honestly have no idea what to call this…

Finished attic room.

3rd floor bath.

When we purchased our new shredder recently, I was immediately sent into giggle fits when I saw the warning symbols on the machine right next to the slot to insert paper to be shredded:

teehee

What? Where is your mind??? Swing DANCE. SWING DANCE.

Okay, now that we have that straight….

We are all a-flutter as we finally realize one of our first Buffalo goals. At the end of this month, we start teaching our very own Lindy Hop classes!

Being as unorganized as we are wont to be, this is very stressful. However, once we’re out dancing, the excitement and joy more than makes up for the trials and tribulations of preparing, advertising, and bribing friends of friends to come.

Please visit our new site devoted to that swing DANCE thing:

Venus And Mark – Swing Dance Instruction in Buffalo, NY

If you’ve danced with us before, either socially or as a student, we’d be tickled pink (and promise to buy you candy the next time we see you) if you’d go to our Testimonials post and comment about your experiences with us.

Better yet, if you actually live in Buffalo, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE come to our classes! Besides being great fun, swing dance is god for you! It should be one of the 4 basic food groups (Energy Bars, Caffeine, Water, Lindy Hop).*

*Please consult your physician before beginning any new wacky diet that Venus has proposed.

Also, if you happen to have any photos or videos of either of us dancing, please let us know. We’d like to be able to present a DANCE EXTRAVAGANZA! (or at least a couple of good pics and clips) on our dance site to prove that we can actually move-it-move-it.

Swingouts and Circles to all, and to all a good night!

– V

Ok, we weren’t really dead.   I swear!

Things have been a little crazy since our wedding day.  There were a number of cross-country trips, way too much work, and all that unpacking that we never did because we were too busy getting married.

But now we’re largely settled in, and had lovely holidays.

If we’d actually made New Year’s Resolutions, I’m sure one of them would have been to update our blog more regularly, along with exercising more and not cheating on our taxes.  And it’s the thought that counts, right?

In all seriousness, we’ll try not to leave you hanging now that there’s a wee bit more normalcy in our lives.

Hugs and Happy New Year to all!

We were at our family’s cottage this weekend.  It was a great time and a traditional Labor Day out here.  For my birthday we went to the Yard of Ale in Piffard, NY.  I have a fondness for the restaurant.  My father enjoyed woodworking and befriended the owners when they were restoring the building.  I had heard that the food had gone downhill, but we went anyway.

The restaurant has changed hands and is owned by two chefs.  They’re really trying to shake things up because they seem to be selling wine at retail <gasp!>.  Venus came up with the only rational explanation: they’re trying to build a market for good wine.  Cheers to them.

Oh and the food was tasty too.

Buf-Mex at its best!

The Buffalo area has “Mighty Taco”, its own chain of fast food restaurants, similar to Del Taco (so slightly better than Taco Bell).
They’ve been around since I was a kid. Venus likes Taco Bell (ugh), so we stopped at one for lunch. On the way in, we saw this sign.

Apparently, Mighty Taco has created a new sub-cuisine.

In related news, the “El Torrito” in Foster City, CA has “Mexican Buffalo Wings”. Probably the pinnacle of the rival “Mex-Buf” cusine.

It went wonderfully!

Just married!

We’ll toss more pictures up soon.  This one is courtesy of our friend Sharon.

We’ve been steadily working on the wedding for the last few weeks; much to the exclusion of anything else (except work).  It’s almost here and we’re mostly ready.  We’ve ordered a bunch of golf umbrellas in case of rain, but the forecast now says that the thunderstorms that have been a daily occurrence are going to disappear.

Everything seems to be coming together, but I’ll be happy to be married and done.

For the first time in years, I participated in a Northeastern ritual: opening up the summer home.  My family has had a cottage in the Finger Lakes for near on a century now.  When I was a kid, we’d head out there every Memorial Day to open the place up.  It was good to be doing it again.  For the most part, the weather cooperated.  We didn’t get our dock out, but there’s time for that later.