This Friday we headed to the County Clerks Office to vote and were happily rewarded with only a five minute wait in line- a morning well spent if the predictions for record voter turnout on election day come true. To end the work week we headed to the annual SACM pumpkin carving party. There we carved pumpkins with Michael (host from SACM), Ellen (Michael's girlfriend), Adam (from Mark's department) and others. I made a Cat (continuing my kitty theme) and Mark made a Pirate Skull. Michael and Ellen worked on a very complicated Calvin and Hobbes pattern while Adam worked on making faces. The new carving kits on the market are wonderful- the process of making a professional looking pumpkin is now very easy. After picking out your chosen pattern for the year, tape the pattern onto the pumpkin. Now use the pointer included in the kit to poke holes following your chosen pattern. Lastly use the serrated knife (which makes the cutting very smooth) to cut out the pattern- rather like connect the dots- oh, it is best to cut out the smaller bits first and end with the larger bits.