My Quest for Water

Does it sometimes seem like it’s really hard to get everything together and get out the door on Monday morning?  

It does for me.  It seems like whenever something breaks or I leave the house without something I need, it happens on a Monday.  This brings me to today’s quest for water.

Shortly before leaving for work this morning, I filled up my water bottle and set it on the kitchen counter.  Then, I made my PB&J sandwich (one of my go-to choices when I didn’t pack or plan anything the night before) and packed it in my work bag. 

I arrived at work and unpacked my laptop and notebooks, but no water bottle.  It was still sitting on the kitchen counter.  Thus began my quest for water. 

Photo Credit Here

I went downstairs to the vending machine to buy a bottle of water.  

It was out of water.

Next, I walked to another building to buy a bottle of water from that vending machine. 

It was also out of water. 

My next stop was the cafeteria.  

I was finally able to buy a bottle of water!  

The elusive bottle of water!

Tomorrow, I will be double-checking my work bag to make sure I packed my water bottle! 

So, what about you?  Are you more prone to forgetting things on Monday?  

Here’s to the rest of the week being smooth for everyone! 

These have nothing to do with my quest for water, but they're pretty, so I wanted to share them.

So. Much. Rain.

It has been raining almost non-stop here in western North Carolina for two weeks now.  Last night on our local news they said we have received the equivalent of six months worth of rain (based on yearly averages) since this started. 

We’re under numerous flood advisories and warnings, some of which are extended through Saturday morning.  Surrounding counties have been hit worse than we have so far, especially with landslides.  Several roads are closed.  More rain is expected tonight, tomorrow, and Friday.

Our house and neighborhood are fine so far.  The yard is soggy, and the sump pump has been working non-stop, but that’s it.  It does seem likely that we’ll have to take the slightly longer way to work tomorrow, though.

I took this picture yesterday morning on the way to work while I was stopped at a red light.

I took this picture this morning on the way to work while I was stopped at a red light. 

As you can see, the water is much higher in the second picture, just 24 hours later.  I wasn’t able to get pictures, but it was higher when I came home for lunch, and even higher when I came home for the day.  Based on the amount of rain we’ve had this evening, I highly doubt that section of road will be open tomorrow morning.

Our chances for rain start to go down significantly on Saturday, and there are even a few sunny days in our forecast for next week.  I am definitely ready for some sunshine!

How’s your weather?  Are you getting desperate for some sunshine?

Innocent Bystander

The innocent bystander

A few nights ago we were watching TV in the living room, and we heard a very ominous sounding crash from the bedroom.  We decided to investigate since it sounded like the kind of crash that should really be checked on.  And Caroline wasn’t in the living room, which meant there was about a 99.99 percent chance she was involved in the crash.  Usually when Caroline is involved in something it includes mayhem and destruction. 

We went into the bedroom to find Caroline watching the water from the gigantic water bowl we keep in there gush across the floor.  We didn’t see her do it, but we’re pretty sure she knocked the bowl over while she was running around doing her speed kitty routine. 

The perpetrator 

We cleaned up the water; lots of towels and sopping, and dragging the soaked dog bed to dry out outside.   We also checked to see if Caroline was wet.  Her front paws were a little wet, so we dried them off and went back to watching TV.  We were a little surprised that Caroline had managed to spill that much water and not soak herself, but she seems to very rarely be the victim of her own misdeeds. 

A few minutes later Howard came wandering into the living room, absolutely soaking wet.  The poor little guy was totally soaked.  Our theory is that he was just hanging out in the bedroom when Caroline knocked over the water, and happened to be close enough to the bowl to get doused.  He probably ran, not wanting to get any wetter, so we didn’t see him while we were cleaning up the mess.

We dried Howard off and gave him some treats to make up for him being the innocent victim of Caroline’s antics.  Howard loves treats, so he seemed pretty happy with how it all worked out.

Lime Basil Water

Basil is the one herb that consistently thrives in our yard.  It doesn’t matter where we plant it, or how much we neglect it.  We always end up with lots of basil.  I’m not complaining.  I love basil, and I love finding new ways to use it.  My latest way of using basil is incredibly simple, and incredibly delicious.

We all know we need to drink plenty of water, especially during the warmer weather, but sometimes it’s hard.  Plain water can be a little boring.  Adding lime and basil brightens it up a little bit, but the flavors are still fairly subtle.  

Lime Basil Water:
1 gallon of water
½ cup basil leaves, rinsed
1 Tbsp lime juice.

Combine all three ingredients in a pitcher, stir, and refrigerate.

Enjoy!

Recipe Notes:
I like to use this style pitcher because the ice guard keeps the basil leaves in the pitcher, and out of my glass.  The basil flavor gets stronger over time, so if you don’t drink all of the water within about 24 hours, spoon the basil leaves out, otherwise the flavor becomes a little too strong.  I use plain tap water.  I know it’s not the case everywhere, but the water here tastes good and doesn’t have any strange odors.

Another Rainy Day

We are getting drenched here in our little piece of the world.  It has been raining off and on (more on than off) since Thursday night, and really picked up yesterday.  Rain is definitely not one of my favorite things.  I prefer sunny skies with puffy white clouds. However, I am working on keeping a more positive outlook, so I’ve tried to come up with some things that I do like about rainy days.  I managed to think of five, so here they are:

1.  I don’t have to water the garden.  Mother Nature is taking care of that for me today, so no need to drag out the hose and watering can.  That’s one thing off of my to do list for today.  I’m also told that lettuce likes the cooler, rainy weather.  I’m hoping that my pots of lettuce will begin to thrive since we’ve had so much rain. 

2.  My husband enjoys overcast days, and really likes the rain, so he has been very happy with the weather

lately. 

3.  The cats are always incredibly snuggly when it’s rainy.  There’s nothing quite like cuddling up with a purring cat (or four) on a rainy night.

4.  Soup!  Rainy days are perfect for homemade soup.  Tonight it’s chicken noodle soup from the slow cooker. 

5.  Emma looks really cute walking around in her Thundershirt, and it seems to make a huge difference for her to wear it. 

So what about you?  Do you like or dislike the rain?  Are there things you like about rainy days?

Pedal Boating

This is a slow week at work for me, so I took a vacation day yesterday, since it was one of my husband’s days off.  We usually only have about four days off together every month, so we grabbed the chance for an extra day. 

We have been talking about going pedal (or paddle; it seems to depend on which park or website you’re looking at as to which they call it) boating for years.  I had never been, and my husband hadn’t been in over ten years.  We had tried a few times when we were at parks or other places that had them, but we always seemed to be too early or late in the season, or we arrived just minutes after they stopped renting out boats. 

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Tretboote.jpg

So we decided that yesterday would be the day that we went pedal boating together.  We went online and found out when the boats were rented and picked the place that seemed the most promising, which was Lake Susan, in Montreat, NC.  It’s an easy day trip to go there, so we set out in plenty of time for pedal boating.  It was a wonderful day.  It was warm and sunny, so I was happy, and there was a breeze and some shady spots, so my husband was happy. 

We actually arrived about an hour and a half before they started renting boats, so we had time to walk around the lake and browse in the shops.  We arrived at the dock just as they were opening up to rent the boats out, and ended up being the first boat out.  We also ended up in the only pink boat, which made me happy.

I enjoyed it a lot.  It was actually quite a bit easier than I thought it would be.  We had to dodge a swan with a bad attitude, but other than that it was very peaceful and relaxing.  I’m happy pretty much anytime I’m in or near water, so I had a great time.  My husband is always happy going to the mountains, so he had a great time. 

It was nice to take a day in the middle of the week, and get away from phone calls and responsibility and just spend some time with each other.  It was even better that it was outside, on the water.  I think we’ll definitely be exploring the pedal boating opportunities at other places now.