Soooooo Proud!!!

This morning I took my oldest for some coffee. We had celebrating to do!!








She is now the proud owner of her very first driver's permit!!!!

Three cheers for my Bo!!!!
Way to go, sweetie!!!

B and Ski's Excellent Adventure: Part Two

First a puppy update: Belle's doing much better. We're walking her every hour since she's, well, let's just say she probably had a lot of IV fluids to work through her system!

!!!!!!MASSIVE SUBJECT CHANGE!!!!!!!!!

(whew) Ok, here are some pics from our mountain getaway. We stayed at the Madison Inn. Let me just say if you're looking for a great little room for under $100 near Asheville (in our case WAY under), you'd be stupid not to at least TRY this place. I was a little concerned that it was a cinderblock building when we arrived but our room, the delightful "Charleston", was decorated with lots of romantic touches that made us feel like royalty, rockstars, or a couple out of the Great Gatsby. Everyone on staff was SO nice. We were the only guests and enjoyed talking a little to one of the owners during breakfast. "I hope you're hungry!" he said and repeated to us. We were, and breakfast (included with our stay) was DELICIOUS!! (birds in a nest, delicious fried potatoes, strawberry pancakes, bacon, oj, coffee--I'm getting hungry just writing about it). Excellent food, intimate atmosphere (Sinatra on the Sirrus radio in the background) and the most beautiful girl in the world at my table. I HAD to take a few pics!

We had a chance to walk around before checkout and take some pics of the outdoor eating areas too. Fountains, waterfalls (right above our room--we thought it
was raining all night), flowers, lanterns--really cool and relaxing. I wish we had time to just hang out and read in the rocking chairs! Maybe next time!

I also wish I had the presence of mind to take more pics of Black Mountain. (again, maybe next time) I really fell in love with the place--totally unexpected. LOTS of funky shops, a bookstore, antique shop, music store, restaurants (we need to try My Father's Pizza for lunch next trip as the German restaurant was quiet, but not very good), even a few night spots. Very non-commerical. It was great!! B already mentioned Ole's Guacamole where we ate dinner our first night. I'm not much into Mexican food, but it was THE BEST Mexican restaurant I've ever eaten at--AND it was dirt cheap. I think we got out of there for a little over twenty bucks including drinks. Wow, what tasty food! I took some pics outside which are more festive than the scary looking pic on the link above. TRY IT!!

So, add Black Mountain to Blowing Rock and Topsail Island on my list of favorite places in The North State, oh, and some day I'd love to buy a home in McAdenville.

Coming soon--pics from Biltmore. Stay tuned!

Poor Old Belle....

Our sweet puppy was spayed today and was gone all day.
She is so tired and sad. She gave us some wags and we have given her some quiet gentle voices and pets. She took her pill and medicine without a complaint and although we knew she didn't want to, she obediently went outside for us before going to sleep. We all feel so bad for her. The poor thing would whine until she got some love and then she would fall asleep again. At one point, I was laying on the couch and reaching down to pet her and talking sweetly to her. She sat up, rested her head on my hand for a few moments and then laid back down on the floor to sleep.

Great product

This is a boring post and I am going to warn you ahead of time. However, recently, on the boards I visit, there have been lots of people who have been asking about clogged drains. So here is my story....

Our house has always had slow drains. I am sure that it doesn't help that my three dds and I have longer hair. A few years ago, the drains were so bad that we were buying drain cleaner once a week for our drains. Since I am so frugal and have the opinion that there MUST be a better way to do things and I was worried about the effect of that much caustic substance in my pipes, I did some research. I couldn't find anything, but about the same time I tired of buying drain cleaner, I chanced to hear someone mention the zip-it. So the next time I went to Lowes, I spent less than $3 and bought this little gizmo.

A zip-it is a long, flexible stick. It has jagged little teeth on both sides. What you do is shove this stick down your drain and then pull it back out. What you pull out is absolutely disgusting. It stinks, and it looks dreadful. But if you do this once or twice, your drains will will be clear. Since I bought this product, I have not bought a single bottle of drain cleaner. When the drains start to slow, I just get out my zip-it and we are back in business. You can even do your tubs and showers!! The only drain I don't do is my kitchen sink.

If you want to check out the website, go here. I will warn you that they have pics of the gross stuff that comes out. It is the best $2 and change I think I have ever spent!!

Alone....at Last!!!

My Ski is the most amazing guy!!

Last November, he had planned for us to go away. Unfortunately, I broke my leg and badly sprained my ankle and we had to cancel our plans. It was such a sad time for me. I had been looking forward to it a great deal and between my disappointment, medication, and the frustration of a broken leg, I really cried over this. However, Ski rescheduled and while the location was different, we had a great time. Through research, I found a great little inn with even better prices. They even gave Ski a discount on the rate that he saw. It wasn't overly fancy, but it was just what I needed.

You see, we have only been away overnight by ourselves twice since having children. Once was when our son died. My parents very graciously watched our three oldest children while we went off to Blowing Rock. All I remember of that trip was basically that I cried the entire time. It was a very sad time, but my friend HIGHLY recommended that we do this and I am so glad that we did. It was the only extended time that we had to grieve together without the children being around us. The second time that we tried was when our youngest was about 1yo and he came with us, so I guess technically, this doesn't count. It was around this time that we had begun realizing that he had food allergies. He wasn't the best companion and to add to that, our hotel room had a power failure and we were moved TWICE during our short stay. This did not make for either a restful time or a happy husband. Oh, and it rained and it was cold...October at the beach.

But this time we had a splendid time. Just the two of us for two entire days. Yes, it rained and sometimes it even poured. But we still had the best time.

We ended up spending one day poking around little shops in Black Mountain. We stopped in a German restaurant where I think I had the driest sandwich on earth. Ski had a Reuben which I think I would have liked, but it was not to Ski's liking. But still we laughed while I took great gulps of drink to keep from choking. There is a cool old fashioned hardware store that was neat to look at. We went to the thrift store and the used book store, of course. The guy in the bookstore told us all about Black Mountain College and showed us books and told us what he knew about it. In that store, I also found a copy of a book of Kate Greenaway plates. It was nothing to look at on the outside, but inside, it was just beautiful. Oh, my!!! I could barely hold it and I could NOT afford to buy it. When I gushed about the book to the store owner, I think it pleased him. When a lady in a Earthy/stone/crystal/gem kind of store found out it was my birthday, she let me pick a stone out. I didn't think about it at the time, but we went back the next day to ask her to make a necklace out of it, but they were closed. I think Christelle will try to make one for me, though. I thought that we could use some silk cord to do it so I could actually wear it. LOL.

We thought about eating at our inn, but it looked kind of fancy and we had brought only jeans along, so we ate at a Mexican place that someone recommended to us. All I can say is WOW!!! It was awesome food!! The owner is Mexican, I guess, and it was authentic food and CHEAP and FAST!! There were lots of locals eating there, so you know it was good. I had chicken mole with poblano peppers and it was soooooo good. I do NOT like hot things and this was really spicy to me, but it was so good that I ate all of it. I just ate lots and lots of chips and went through 3-4 drinks.

In the morning, we were served an awesome breakfast. We were the only guests there that morning so we had the restaurant all to ourselves. Imagine eating breakfast to Frank Sinatra under blue Christmas lights. It was so cool!!!

After checkout, we bought an umbrella at the hardware store and made our way to Asheville. There we toured Biltmore. Since this was only the second time we were there, we were surprised to see that there were Spring flowers in all of the vases. Someone was playing the organ in the Banquet Hall, and we saw four new rooms that were just opened. I had asked Ski if we could see the Gardens since last time, we were there in Feb and there were no flowers. I have been wishing for a visit to Longwood Gardens, or as my father calls it, Dupont Gardens. Growing up, my family would often visit Longwood almost any time of year. My mother loves orchids so she loved to visit in winter when the orchids bloomed in the greenhouses. I really miss having that wonderful place nearby. So I really wanted to see the gardens at Biltmore. Before we even arrived at the gates to the gardens, we could smell the scent of roses wafting up to us. We chatted with one of the gardeners and complimented her on her work. Only two people tend to the two HUGE rose gardens. They only use extra help when they have to dead head. I was impressed!! I noticed lots of lavender on the walls near the rose garden and I can only imagine how wonderful the aroma of both roses and lavender commingling would be. I wish that I could bottle that scent and take it home with me. When will someone invent smell photos?!?!!! Once again, we didn't make it to the farm, but we did stop by the winery.

I will stop here and I am sure that Ski will share more and the pics that we have from the trip.

Howz your week?

Things are CA-RAY-ZEE for us at the moment. Lots of activity going on this weekend through next week. The family's going on our annual trek to see the spider lilies, B and I are getting away for a few days, plus we have an annual pest inspection, vet appt., friends graduating, etc. etc. etc. WHEW!! I'm tired just thinking about it!

So to help you smile your way into the weekend, here's another "so stupid it's funny" video from Ski. Enjoy!

It's those eyes

Ok, we have a newsflash for y'all. We have a dog. Actually a puppy.

A BIG puppy.

Her name is Belle.

Someone on our neighborhood Yahoo group was giving her away for "free" after their son brought him home without checking with his parents (who already have a dog). She's supposedly nine weeks old and is pretty much crate trained and housebroken. The headline of "free Basset" caught B's eye and when she looked at the pictures, that was all it took.

So after three days of new dog ownership, we're all learning about authority, mercy, patience, and unconditional love. We had an old, grumpy basset years ago that liked to play mind games with us (hunger strikes, biting B, etc). We eventually brought him back and he lived his remaining year or two with a single guy, and was grumpy 'til the day he died. We've been burned by canine ownership before.

But so far Belle has been a very sweet, quiet, and quick-learning addition to our family. She seems to be a mix of basset and some breed with brindle (maybe she's a pitbull (= ). She definitely has some hound in her 'cause she sniffs and tracks almost constantly on her walks. Mistletoe, our indoor cat, is still very fearful of her and is temporarily eating upstairs. But Belle and Mocha, our outdoor cat, are slowly coming to an understanding of each other.

Of course H and C are thrilled. They've been asking for a dog for years. And I KNOW it's not free. The receipt for the crate, food, toys, leash, collar etc. etc. etc. show that. And her first doctor visit is on the 29th (yay).

But we're still happy to have her as our newest addition and for the lessons that she, and we, are learning. Enjoy the pics.