A bad back ruins all the fun.

Ouch! Once again I am the unlucky recipient of back pain. I think if my back had a mind of its own, it would be angry, spiteful, and generally pissed off most of the time. So how does one make a happy back? Well, NSAIDs won't do it, neither will muscle relaxants, nor pain killers. Yoga, only makes it smirk, and wine...well wine will bring a smile for a short while. So, what makes it happy? What make all of us happier people? Less stress, less weight, more exercise, and lots more wine. Ahhhhh...Chateau Morrisette, I'm due for a visit. The perfect place to get my new rain barrel and more wine.

School, mining, and spring.

Lots and lots and lots of things happening. First, Z picked his university! Yea! It's VCU! We went for a visit last week since Z, C, and I all had our spring breaks at the same time and S had Friday off.
After waking up early and securing the pups with food, water, and shade we hopped in the Suburban for a ride over to Richmond. Once there, the first thing we noticed was the impressive architecture and strangely, the number of monuments dedicated to Confederate soldiers. Anyhow, we made it to the university for our tour of campus and another tour of the engineering building. All in all, Z was impressed, but non-committal since he really wanted George Mason to come through. Since that hasn't happened yet, he chose VCU.

I'm glad Z is able to look forward to this in excitement and eagerness. I'm also happy for him, but it will be hard to say good-bye when we leave him at his dorm. Anyhow, I've gotten to a point in life that I know is the pathway to an empty nest. Hard to believe it's happening to me, but it is.



Living in VA means living near/in the heart of coal country. As you can imagine the coal mining disaster had all of us glued to the television for days on end hoping against hope that those last four men would be found alive. Of course, we knew they were dead, but the idiot newscasters just kept leading us on and on. After watching those grieving families, you kind of wish that there really were angels who swooped down and picked those men up and flew them straight up to heaven. I'm too old to brainwash myself with that kind of thinking, but it makes you appreciate those that can. At least they can try find some comfort with their love-ones deaths. Anyhow, we use too much coal. It's a messy process getting a hold of this energy source, and then we burn the crap out of it to make our lives better. Environmentalists and other people around here are pretty upset about coal use, and this accident is feeding their anger even more. I don't blame them, the misuse of the land and the people mining it is atrocious. I don't know the answer to settling this issue, probably building nuclear power plants is out of the question as well. I guess I'll turn off all the lights, pump up the old bike tires and ride down to my community garden plot to start my part towards conservation.



Finally, I'll just add that I so glad it's spring time and the snow has melted. The sun is out and the warm weather is here. We did not avoid all of mother nature's fury over the winter, but we came out pretty well. One rain barrel had the bottom of it pushed outward where the pressure from the ice had just snapped the boards in two. We pondered over the issue for a while before coming to the conclusion that the barrel is probably bonfire fuel. Other than that, all that snow and ice melted away to reveal a beautiful spring.

Skunks

Tis that time again...Mr. Skunk is waking up form his long winter nap. As usual, Moose and Mr. Skunk have had a disagreement. You know, it wouldn't be so bad if Moose would just let bygones be bygones. Unfortunately, he won't. Two days ago, Moose came home and smelled up the entire house without even coming in. He simply sat at the kitchen door, reeking, and wondering why he wasn't allowed in to eat.
S and I had to go to work and the kids to school so Moose was on his own for the day. That night, S and I finally were able to wash the skunk oil off his coat. We used a mixture which neutralizes the skunk oil, one quart hydrogen peroxide, 3/4 cups baking soda, two teaspoons dawn dish detergent. I've used it before and it really works well. Unfortunately, Moose will need another dose soon since he apparently was hit dead on on Mr. Skunk.

Went down the mountain yesterday to pick up the repaired sax which C had dropped during band class. On my way back I stopped at Starbucks for some beans and a coffee. Instead of buying a fancy $5 drink I opted for a double shot of espresso. Put a little cream in it and went on my way. Wow! Was that good! Not only did my double shot shoot me up the mountain in no time, but I dashed into Dick's, Walmart, and into the bank. Need an afternoon pick-up? Then by all means get a double shot of espresso.

World's best fruit

Which do you think is the worlds best fruit? Avocado or banana? Both come in their own lovely little package. Clean, sanitary, no need to wash before eating. Can there be anything better? Safe for everyone, even babies! Avocados are healthy and delicious, good for your skin, and full of vitamins. Bananas are also healthy and delicious and full of potassium, which is really good for you, especially if you are a tennis player.
Sooooo, my pick is the avocado. I just LOVE them! If my camera was cooperating right now I would show you how beautiful Cypress' avocado was before she smashed it into a delicious mound of guacamole. If I could eat an avocado everyday I probably would, but at two bucks a pop, I have to regulate my consumption. BOO!

Snow, lots of snow!

I shoveled the walkway today since it was covered with about a foot of snow. I went outside with the thought that I would do a little before giving in and asking Z and C to take over. Surprisingly, I was able to shovel quite a bit. I felt great and my back didn't hurt at all. Surely, I burned off the ten tater-tots I had for breakfast this morning. I did have Z and C finish up the last part of the walkway for me as I hung on my inversion table to make sure my back wasn't going to do something weird.


Here's a peek at some of our lovely white stuff. Oh, we're due more on Tuesday...whew!













Good news from Z, he was accepted to Old Dominion. We are so proud of him and we're hoping more schools will come through for him. Old Dominion is really far from our home, about 7 hours southeast towards the NC border, but we visited it this summer and it seemed really great. Zack is interested in the Physics/EE dual degree program they offer. It is a five year program, but he doesn't seem to mind since we keep telling him he has to go to grad school too.



I've been cooking up a storm this weekend since the snow has kept us home. Made vegan lemon cupcakes today. Yum! They were great, and I even dusted them with powdered sugar since powdery white stuff is the norm right now.

Sitting in the kitchen looking at fuzz-ball-furry-butt over here and wondering when he'll ever stop shedding? Seems like I"m always pulling fur missiles off his hiney. Einstein doesn't much like it when I follow him around yanking small bits of hair off him, but he always gives me sweet little kisses when I'm done. If someone around here would open up a dog wash, I would pay for a one year membership right off the bat. Somewhere I could go and bathe the dogs, dry them with a towel or hair drier, and then bring them home squeaky clean.

This isn't me, but what an awesome idea!