Hitting the Pavement Lightly

I really need to get out and take some new pictures instead of recycling these old ones. 2 words to describe this past weekend: wet football. Friday night our son played in a fine mist. Saturday my husband and I went to Boone where the Mountaineers played in rain. Thank goodness we had the proper clothing. Oh and both teams won. Due to the wet conditions, I didn't take my camera to either game.
Today is the first day in weeks my back feels better. I put running on hold. I've done core strengthening exercises and yoga for lower back routines. I'm going to do a light run today and see how I do. Sitting at work seems to bother it the most.

Sunshine Ahead?

Overall a pretty good week unless you take into consideration my dirty house and piles of laundry. I prefer not to think about such. Actually I can't say it has been a great week. My back has been hurting so I haven't been able to exercise. There was a situation at work. My kids' attitudes are in full swing and as well as their slob like ways. I haven't ignores these issues but I've only let them affect me so much.

I feel I'm starting to get out of the black cloud I've been under for months and see rays of sunshine (despite the forecast of rain the next few days).
Have a good weekend.

Wordless Wednesday Fortune Cookie Edition

Do taking pictures of words count as wordless Wednesday?

For Those In The Fight and For Those Who Have Fought

I'm not a big t.v. watcher though I confess I had a crush on Ethan Zohn when he won Survivor:Africa in 2002. He went on with his life and prize money to do charity work involving HIV/AIDS in Africa. Now Ethan's battling cancer. His girlfriend of 6 years Jenna Morasca (winner Survivor:Amazon) is right there with him. Sadly they both have lost parents to cancer. He went through one course of treatment only to find his cancer had spread. He's gearing up for more treatment. When he was diagnosed, Ethan decided to go public. His video diaries are on People.com. He's also on twitter @EthanZohn.
I am sure most of you have been touched by cancer. My mother, maternal grandmother and paternal grandfather lost the battle as well as my husband's uncle. My brother won. A friend is doing well after a grueling year long treatment for leukemia involving a bone marrow transplant.
Just a reminder to think of those who are fighting and to those who have lost loved ones. Giving to support research and treatment is great if you are able. I had planned to run a 5k in a few weeks. The registration fees go toward financial assistance for mammograms. Unfortunately my body is not in synch with my heart - my back specifically. I still want to do something in honor and memory of some great people.

Word Up and the Word is Fun

(Warning Fun is used many times in this post) I appreciate your comments and emails about my last post. It's wonderful to know people care and I am not alone in my feelings. I don't have the answers but I've reflected on some of the reasons. To honor my family, I won't go into detail. I do feel I need to have more fun. Yes, I know life isn't all about fun but still. I am positive traveling would help me. Several years ago my husband and I started taking a big trip out of the country each year and lesser trips with the kids through out the year. That has been put on hold - last year due to Mom and then some monetary reasons, too. Also my parents (mainly Mom) watched the children when we were out of town therefore that's no longer an option. I'm determined to take a trip next summer if not sooner.
In the meantime, I will try to make more of an effort to do something fun. Last night my husband and I went downtown to catch a little NFL then later I watched Point Break (Keanu circa 1991 = fun!) Now I'm off to work - not too fun. I've got a girls' night out on the calendar this week. I still aim for more fun with the family. It's difficult when the kids get older and have different interests especially ours - 4 1/2 years apart, boy and girl. Now even with our beloved App football games, my daughter doesn't want to go. Oh well, hopefully I can update you with many fun details in later posts.

Something Has To Change

I'm sitting here late Saturday morning drinking coffee. It's a rare weekend with no high school or college football on our agenda - nice really.
Lately I've felt burdened that life is passing me by. I get up each day and do what needs to be done and that's it. Not much fun. We are great at "to-do" lists. I think part of the reasons behind my feelings are that everything was on hold for the past year with Mom's health situation. It was day to day. We could not make long range plans. Now we've fallen into a routine. Every day, every week etc. seems to be roughly the same. I don't like it. Something has to change. What? How? I am not sure. That's for another post.

Wordless Wednesday

Movies, Music and More

I was sad to hear about Patrick Swayze passing away from pancreatic cancer - the same disease which took my grandmother 16 years ago. I was not a huge Swayze fan. I liked Dirty Dancing and Ghost. Since I am a big Keanu Reeves fan naturally my favorite Patrick Swayze movie was Point Break. An added bonus was it featured Anthony Kiedis lead singer of my beloved Red Hot Chili Peppers.
It was released in 1991. I remember dragging my friend Suzanne to the theater. She was in the "Keanu can't act" camp. Can you believe that? I later tore into my brother in law who to this day claims Charlie Sheen would have made a better Jack Traven in Speed. Charlie Sheen - really?
I find myself feeling nostalgic. I reminisced about movies made 18 years ago. I painfully watched the VMA's with my daughter. I told her about the earlier days when MTV played music videos with a rotation of 5 VJ's: Alan Hunter, Nina Blackwood, Mark Goodman, Martha Quinn, and JJ Jackson. I visited the MTV subject previously in an August 2006 post.
To quote Patrick Swayze's character Bodhi from Point Break: "Life sure has a sick sense of humor, doesn't it?"

Pulling My (unwashed) Hair Out

I love to have a picture with every post. I was going to swipe an image of someone pulling their hair out but with the way things are going, I am afraid I'd get sued for copyright infringement.

Our house is 12 years old. It picked today as the day to fall apart. Well maybe it's been crying out and we've ignored it. We have no water. I got a morning shower in then the water cut off halfway through my son's while his hair was all lathered up. Someone asked me if I had called the water department. Well you know if I lived in a municipality then I would! I don't exactly have city water lines running to my house out here in the country. Secondary there seems to be an unrelated problem of the downstairs air conditioning not working. This may affect the heat later. I can only deal with one thing at a time. Right now it's water. I like to wash my hands, take showers and flush the toilet. I could move on to issues with our cars but that's changing the subject. This post is about the house. The plumber is here. Not the mechanic.

Wear and tear, break downs etc. are normal but still I get overwhelmed when things mess up. I think we've just got too much stuff and can't take care of it. We don't have the time, energy or money to properly maintain what we got. Yet we as a society are bombarded to get more things which continuously become more complex. We are supposed to enjoy such items but often they end up giving us more trouble taking up more time. This is when I start daydreaming about moving to a simple house (with electricity of course) in the mountains with a million dollar view. It would be great for a while but I'm sure we would find a way to make it all complicated too.

UPDATE: Water on. A pretty simple repair but still makes me think I can't keep up with what I've got.

Making Sacrifices and Looking Ahead

I know you won't believe it but I did not go to the season opener: Appalachian State took on East Carolina in Greenville, NC. We are running into a little issue - our daughter doesn't like football. How weird I know. I felt her going to her brother's game Friday night then leaving the house by 6 a.m. Saturday morning to head to Greenville for the noon kickoff in the hot sun would not a good combination. I offered to stay behind. My husband, son, and his 2 friends went to represent the Mountaineers. I watched on t.v. decked out in my black and gold. It was not a pretty first half or start of the 3rd quarter for App. Keep in mind our star quarterback Armanti Edwards was out. (Earlier in the summer he got a bad cut on his foot from a lawnmower accident which required numerous stitches.) The 2nd string QB just wasn't up to the task. Our 3rd string QB came in when the score was 29-7 ECU. Our team got their groove, scored, scored and had a last minute chance to try to win but it didn't happen. The final score was 29-24. It went from a blow out to a great game. Well worth the trip for my guys and all my friends in attendance.
I am so excited about next weekend I can hardly stand it - Friday night will be the first home game for my son's team taking on their big rival. They will be debuting all black uniforms. The fans will wear black to support the "black out". Saturday will be the first home game for Appalachian State in their awesome newly expanded Kidd Brewer stadium.

Friday Night Lights

I could not be a professional photographer because:

1. I lack skill
2. I get so caught up in what's going on that I forget to take pictures.

Reason 2 was very apparent at my son's game last night. I didn't take my camera back out again after the first few plays. His team lost a close and exciting game. Their record is now 2-1. I look at it as a personal victory because it's the first game my son played due to his recovery from mono. He only sat out a few plays to rest.

Mushroom of the Day

We finally got some rain now the 'shrooms are popping up.