Halloween... MUCH later than I intended

So, a week ago, today.  Jay and I carved one of our pumpkins.  We spent a long time looking for just the right tools and pattern, and finally we nailed it.  I've wanted to post this all week, but crazy things have happened to prevent such a publication... like driving to College Station for ABSOLUTELY NO REASON.  (Not that I'm irritated that I lost my entire Saturday, or anything....)

Anyway, here's a story about a married couple carving their first pumpkin together:

 First, Tina cut the top out using the appropriate tool.  It was kind of difficult, but she prevailed.

Once the top was off, Jay and Tina took a peek inside.  Gross.  The opening at the top was barely big enough for Tina's hand to fit inside...








But it did!  So, Tina put her hand as far into the pumpkin as she could.  She had to make sure she got out as many of the seeds and as much of the goop as she could. The process was not quick, and it was not clean.

There was a great deal of goop and a great many seeds to extract.  And yes, Tina's arm was stained orange and smelled of pumpkin for the rest of the day.





 
But where did the seeds and goop go?  In a bowl, of course!  The bowl is big, so it doesn't look like much, but trust us: there was sooo much stuff inside the pumpkin.

After the pumpkin was thoroughly cleaned out, Jay and Tina attached the pattern to the pumpkin with masking tape.  Jay then began to puncture the pumpkin, carefully tracing the pattern.  (Tina helped, too, but there is no photographic evidence of this.)

Once the pattern had been completely traced on the pumpkin, it was time to take the pattern off, and begin the carving!









Jay made the first incision, working to cut the delicate parts out first.









After some pretty good progress working together, Tina took over for part of the carving.  It's amazing she can see with all that hair in her face!  Fortunately, no one's fingers were cut and no accidental slice damaged the pumpkin. 

 Finally, the carving of the pumpkin was complete!  Tina and Jay had carved a spectacularly spooky spider and web into their pumpkin.


















 

 The only thing left to do was put a light in it (Tina and Jay opted against the traditional candle, and instead selected an LED light source--much safer, and no one had to reach a hand in to light or extinguish a flame, or remember to do so.)





 Jay and Tina, and their neighbors, got to enjoy the pumpkin in its full glory for approximately three days.  After that, it quickly began to turn black from the inside out.  Super gross.  Fortunately, the pumpkin is outside, so the mold and smell are also outside. 

 Kind of gross looking, right?

Really gross, right?

Yeah, they're glad this is outside.










Tomorrow--or maybe tonight--the pumpkin will go in the trash... if Tina or Jay is brave enough to carry it.