Okay! First off, some of you don’t wait for the infamous “Update!” email to arrive before checking in at Trunzo.com. Normally this would bring tears of joy to my eyes.
But we live in an imperfect world, and I don’t claim to be an expert at this stuff. So…some of you that checked in found a post that wasn’t behaving…
For those that don’t know, I tried like crazy to post a video of Plebe Summer courtesy of the Academy. I had it working (well), and then it stopped cooperating. I’ve taken the post down because it was preventing the entire site from loading in a timely fashion. That’s the bad news…
But there’s good news! I have an expert looking into our “issues”, and once the problem is resolved, I will get the post back up! The video in question is “okay”, but we need to get this working. Real videos are coming! We want to make sure we’ve got all of our ducks in a row!
Let’s talk October! As many of you know, Karen, Paris and I were in New York, New jersey and Pennsylvania earlier in the month. Some of this is covered in the post that’s now down, but play along here, okay? Anyway, one thing you can’t do in Florida is play in the autumn leaves. Being a good Mom, Karen promised Paris that we’d go back “up North” this Fall to do just that! And we got lucky! We had some leaves, and we had some cousins, and we had neighbors, and we had fun!
Paris, Stephen and Troy after Poppop fired up the leaf blower! But wait! More leaf fun!
Unfortunately, I didn’t get any pictures of Grace! There was a lot going on…maybe she was busy helping Grammy or something? Grace! We need pictures!
Oh! Speaking of pictures…
We met Crissy and Kirk for brunch on Sunday morning. Kristin and Cameron joined us too…Nina’s! Everyone’s favorite spot for brunch! Karen and I pull up to the parking area, and what do we see? We see someone dressed in the exact clothes Karen is wearing. Karen is laughing hysterically…apparently this happens often whenever she and Crissy go anywhere together. They swear there’s no planning involved…no phone calls…anyway, Kristin popped this on her cell phone –
Trust me. Even the damn pants and shoes were the same.
Speaking of “looks”, the beginning of October marks the Naval Academy’s changeover in the world of fashion. Gone are the Summer Whites (that so many of us kinda don’t like) — in come the Dress Blues! The blue is actually black, but who’s going to argue with the Navy? Check out the look (another cell phone shot):
Mark on the left (could you tell?), Susie, Alyssa (Susie’s sister), and of course…Cameron (green shoes and all). That was taken on Columbus Day weekend when the mids had TWO overnight liberties courtesy of the most incredible, most awesome-est, best-ever, coolest damn Commandant on the Face of the Planet…
Captain Klunder! Here he is with Mark and friends –
In case you’re wondering, he’s the guy with all the gold on his hat…
Captain Klunder is a true leader. He’s certified qualified to fly somewhere in the neighborhood of 41 aircraft, he’s done the whole carrier thing, and he’s even been filmed in “compromising” positions for YouTube videos just to boost morale. The mids will throw themselves under a bus for this guy. I, for one, will give him a bug hug and a kiss when I see him next.
[UPDATE} 11/3 3:48 AM Mark sent this insight about Captain Klunder after reading the original post:
Dad — Really cool update about Capt. Klunder:
USNA had its Halloween concert in the chapel this weekend It sold out within two hours of tickets being on sale. It’s that good. Anyway, Captain Klunder went to the Friday showing. Mr. Houck (my squad leader) stayed after on Saturday night to help clean up the miles of cables and the mess. As he’s backing up blowing confetti up to the wall, he bumps into someone. He turns around to apologize, and he sees Capt. Klunder on his hands and knees in sweatpants cleaning the floor. Capt. Klunder didn’t even go to the Saturday night show. After he put his kids to bed that night he headed over just to help clean up. That man is awesome. The Commandant of Midshipmen is on the ground cleaning the floor. He is probably the best Commandant the Academy has ever had. Mark
Halloween!
So, a lot of you think that Florida is full of “old” people that shuffle around and hit the early bird dinners. Some of you even think we’re nuts for moving here. Wellll…
Let me tell ya’. Our sleepy little town of Venice was packed with kids trick-or-treating the local merchants on Halloween! It was literally elbow-to-elbow on the sidewalks, and everyone was having a great time! Here’s some afternoon downtown action:
That was the “slow” end of the street. Paris was just tuning up.
So. What was she? C’mon! She was a Monster Bride! Here’s a better look:
And check this out! These next two pictures Paris took herself. She was “trying on” her costume a few days before Halloween, and she decided to help herself to my desk, my chair, and my computer. Kids today are amazing, and she has no trouble firing up my Mac’s iSight camera and having some fun. She did this all by herself…I found these on my computer two days later:
She did the effects by herself too. Not bad, right?
Back to Halloween. “Old” people need to stay young too, and I say this with only the utmost affection…but these two were older than dirt. But they’re having fun!
Seriously…her costume made her look younger…
We had a great time! Paris hit downtown, then she hit the neighborhood. I followed her and a friend around in the limo (i.e. golf cart), and when they wanted to get soemwhere fast, they hopped in and I hit the gas. Karen and the friend’s Mom even jumped in every once in awhile (with Karen riding the back like a caddy…priceless!).