i'm not a terrorist, that's my peanuts

Today we took the kids to an amusement park. It was raining most of the day, but when it stopped, we were able to hop onto the rides with zero lines. Some of the attendants even allowed us to ride twice. It was great. We brought our own food, hidden in the deep pockets of my fatigue pants. Yes, tactical gear isn't just for carrying ammunition and MRE's. Instead, I'm carrying PB&J sandwiches and zip-locks full of snacks. It beats wearing one of those ridiculous "fanny-packs". I was also wearing a rain poncho, which provided additional storage space. If we had eaten lunch at the park, it would have set us back an easy $50.

But the best moment for me was when one of the roller coaster attendants asked me what the "bulge" was in my poncho pocket - the pocket that sits over my waste. Hehehe. Obviously, I could have made this situation even more uncomfortable than it already was. Instead, I was honest.

"That's my peanuts. D'ya wanna see?"
:)

I even said it with a lisp to make it more ambiguous. He laughed as I revealed my ziplock of contraband peanuts.

no teaching for me, thank you

Well, I came to my senses about the whole teaching gig. Honestly, it was the application that did me in. It made me look bad - really bad. I don't have any teaching experience. I don't have any teaching certifications. I don't have any "special training" so that I can teach specific classes, and I don't have time to be a "sponsor" for any extra-curricular programs. I don't belong to a bunch of professional teaching and community organizations, and I don't have a list of several superintendents and school principals to serve as my references.

Long story short, the application would have been about 75% blank.

It's either that, or I get creative and fill it full of BS, hoping that no other more qualified candidates apply for the same position.

So, yes the application drove me away. But it also made me realize that I wasn't 100% interested in pursuing this teaching position. And if I'm not that excited about it, I'm not going to be that great of a teacher. If I feel the sting of the teacher bug again, I think I'll sign up as a sub first.

room-specific solar lights

We've been considering building a new home in the near future, and have been toying around with the idea of using natural materials and trying to live off the grid. I'm not sure if we'll be able to live completely off the grid, but at the least we'd like to supplement public utilities with natural sources of renewable energy. For power, we're thinking of adding some solar cells, and for water, we'll probably add a rain collection system from the roof. A graywater system would be nice for our garden.

Solar sounds promising but the idea of having to store large battery cells on site bothers me. So I was trying to think of other ways to use solar, and came up with a straight-forward idea for individual room lighting.

When we lived in Colorado, I was surprised to see that most houses are not built with overhead lighting in each room. Instead, many home builders simply install outlets that are tied to a light switch, so that the homeowner can add a lamp. Although it took a little while for us to adjust to that idea, we soon realized that we rarely need bright light and a low level lamp is usually adequate. So I was wondering why we couldn't just add individual room-specific solar lights to our system. I was thinking of using lights similar to common solar garden LED lights. You could encase them in a new custom housing more befitting for a bedroom, and extend the wiring and solar collector to an area of the roof above the bedroom. The cost of LED solar lights has been decreasing, and this would provide soft adequate lighting at night that would last a very long time. It's a rare occasion to need very bright light in a bedroom anyway. Most people choose to dress in front of a bathroom mirror instead.

If you simply install solar power straight "out of the box" it can be quite expensive, although photo-voltaics are slowly coming down in price. But a set of 10 wireless solar LED garden lights will run you less than $60 in most cases. That takes care of basic lighting. Next I need to think about major appliances and these darn laptops. I'm convinced that the key to becoming truly energy efficient while still saving money is to think outside the box and come up with new ways to combine different energy efficient devices.

is teaching for me?

So my wife tells me today that the local high school is hiring an art teacher, and that I should look into it, if I'm interested. It may be just the thing that I need right now. I've been so disenchanted with web design and the internet. Perhaps teaching would be just the thing to revive some sense of better purpose in my life.

I must admit that I am a little nervous about the idea, though. Even though I haven't even applied yet, I'm unsure if I would make a good teacher or not. We're talking young impressionable minds here. The teenage years in particular are very volatile for most people, and I remember how much of a hard time I had as a teen. Can I handle the drama? What about the hormones, drugs and the cliques? Can I inspire and act as a positive role model? (Me, positive?) Can I file the rather large chip on my shoulder and put on a happy face so that these kids feel that they have a future in art to look forward to? All very tough questions for me to answer.

There would also be the culture shift of suddenly working for "the man", since this would be a publish school (local government) position. I'd have to get back into the habit of waking early, dressing professionally, and socializing again (as opposed to waking when I feel like it, wearing my casual duds, and generally avoiding people). I must be crazy to even be considering this. But I could use the stable income, benefits, and the change of environment. And my wife says that I am a very patient teacher.

Then there's the financial cost of taking on such a position. I'd probably have to bulk up my wardrobe a little. (Jeans and t-shirts may not be suitable for every day.) Do teachers still carry briefcases? Or do they carry laptop bags? Or both? Or some newfangled briefcase with laptop compartments (about the size of one of those portable massage tables)? My wife and I may also need to get a second car for when our work schedules clash. Right now, mine is flexible and we've survived on one vehicle for over three years. I may even have to pick up - *gasp* - a cellphone so that we can coordinate our schedules throughout the day.

I'll also have to consider the comforts of home that I'd be giving up; home-cooked lunches for microwave meals and mushy zip-locked sandwiches; great background music for obnoxious teen ambiance; my comfy office massage chair for some standard issue wooden reject that probably gets passed on to the newbie teacher each year. Not to mention the ability to suddenly take the day off without notice...

And what if this job ends up being so much more than your typical leave-your-troubles-at-the-office type job? Can I isolate my newfound stress from my home life? Yes, I know. I should be more excited about this potential opportunity. If I apply and get this job, I could be given the chance to make a real difference in these kids' lives. I could open their minds a little - give them a new perspective; a real paradigm shift. And if I'm *really* lucky, I could even experience one of those "oh captain, my captain" moments, as seen in the movie Dead Poets Society. Or I could be totally unprepared for this very heavy responsibility, have a nervous breakdown, and make some stupid mistake that leaves a lasting negative impression on the lives of two dozen (or more) young adults. Yikes.

I need to think this over some more...

vegas sans gambling?

After reading my last blog post, you're probably thinking that I'm pretty depressed. Or that I am somehow feeling let down by my self-employment experience thus far. Maybe I just need a vacation - something inexpensive and stress free. We had taken the kids to Disney World a couple of months ago, but let's face it - that's hardly what I call a vacation. More like work. Very expensive labor that leaves you deep in debt. My parents have been trying to convince us to check out Las Vegas, but we've been reluctant to go, because we're not into that whole throw-away-money-for-fun form of amusement. However, I am particularly interested in themed spaces, so my wife and I have been discussing an atypical visit in the summer.

Our idea is to spend a few days there *without gambling at all*. From what I have heard, you can usually get a good deal on hotels because they expect you to drop a ton of cash at the slots. Plus, I'm sure that the Las Vegas hotel that we would end up staying in will have lots of entertainment that doesn't involve gambling. If not, there's always the option of taking a stroll down the strip to visit any of the other themed hotels. There's one that mimics Paris that looks promising. Even if we don't pay to see a single show, I'd still enjoy just walking around and reveling at the faux architectural achievements. I'm thinking of this potential trip as a Disney World for adults - something totally plastic, commercialized and unrealistic, but visually stimulating.

I'm sure that our friends and family will say that we're crazy for going to Vegas and not gambling, but I don't care. The only reason I would go would be to see the themed environments. I'd like to one day open up a theme park of my own, so I'm interested in studying what others have done - even in Vegas. I wonder if they offer any "backstage" tours to see how some of it done?

when to call it quits and when to keep trucking

I've been self-employed for about two years now and I have to admit that it has been rough. It's something that you don't hear about very often from the newly self-employed. Instead, all you hear are stories of self-reliant joy and success. I wish I could say that I am now rolling in the dough and that my schedule has eased up a bit, but that would be a light fabrication. I'm still working longer hours than I was working at my last corporate job, and I'm still making less. I knew that it would be difficult and that it was going to take a while to get established. It's not like you just print up new business cards and some personalized pens and the customers come rolling in. It takes a while to really nail that market. But how long is too long?

Has my stress level dropped since I started working for myself? Certainly - at least with regards to office politics. But paying the bills is my top concern now and there are months when it seems as though we may not make it. Sometimes I think I should just give it up and go back to work for someone else.

So when is enough enough? When you tire of struggling? When you run out of backup funds? And if and when I do throw in the towel, will I be able to re-adapt to a life of servitude once again, or will I be too cocky and independent from my self-employment experience?

need pet friendly furniture!

I am so disgusted. Our dog apparently jumped on our new ottoman and punctured a hole in it. Admittedly, it wasn't made of real leather, but black vinyl. But it was cheap, looked nice and I was hoping that it would make a nice addition to our leather home theater seating. Our DVD collection has been growing, and our armoire was out of storage space. The ottoman provides ample room for our movie collection, and we were able to move the kids' DVDs in their as well. It doubles as extra seating when we have guests, too.

But I'm feeling pretty stupid for being "frugal" and buying myself a vinyl ottoman. I guess I should have spent the extra $75 and picked up one made of real leather. It's a shame that the vinyl has to be so cheaply made, though. When I was a kid, my first car was a muscle car with vinyl seats and those things were tough. Only after twenty-plus years of abuse did they start to rip or tear. Like everything else made for consumers today, I guess the old saying that "they don't make the like they used to" is still true.

of heritage and health food

Last year, we tried to go vegetarian. We were getting frustrated with the rising cost of meat, and had seen a rather disturbing DVD presented by PETA. We had also found ourselves stuck behind a number of Tyson chicken trucks on the highway while commuting around town, and decided that we didn't want to part of the maltreatment of animals problem. Our meatless binge lasted about a year.

What really brought me back to being a carnivore was seafood. I could handle not eating hamburgers and steak very often, but fish and other forms of seafood have always been a favorite, if not a staple of my diet. Since I grew up in the deep-fried South, my diet consisted of deep-fried seafood at a young age. Although I have traded the deep-fried for boiled as I have grown older, I still can't seem to let it go. This got me thinking...

Does our heritage influence not only our cultural beliefs, but our health (by way of diet) as well? Do natives of Kansas City (and other BBQ meccas) find it impossible to abstain from ribs and brats? Can Texans switch to vegetarian tex-mex cuisine? Can Southern New Orleanians ditch their spicy seafood specials in lieu of wheat germ and alfalfa sprouts? I'm convinced that there must be a better way.

One trend that I ran across recently is the "superfoods" trend. These are natural ingrediants that provide more than just basic nutrients. They've got essential anti-oxidants and metabolic benefits unknown in other food groups. Some of the more accessible (and affordable) superfoods include garlic, barley, and cayenne pepper. So I've been trying to include them in my recipes when possible. Garlic is a no brainer that can be added to most ethnic cuisines, from Italian, Indian, and Mexican meals to almost any Asian stir fry. The kids don't seem to mind it either. barley can often be substituted for rice or beans in certain dishes. Cayenne is a bit trickier, since a little bit goes a long way.

For the cooking-challenged, there are supplement products like Orovo, which combine ingredients from the superfoods into yet another miracle pill.

Personally I'm going to stick to my home-cooking and try to be more creative to include more superfoods into my recipes. I'm also going to try and cut down on meat intake when possible, although my Southern heritage prevents me from eliminating seafood entirely. It's not that I simply don't want to give up seafood - I also want to pass the recipes and culture down to my own children. These things are very important to me, especially in the ephemeral society that we now live in.

it's 2008 - are you digital-equipped?

Our decision to build a natural home and eliminate unnecessary technology couldn't have come at a better time, what with the plan for all US television networks switching to digital broadcasting. While the rest of America is blowing cash on new digital televisions, converters, and HDMI switches to try and patch all of their non-compliant video components into their new higher fidelity systems, we'll be happily ignorant of the latest reality TV shows. I could probably go on and on about the obvious conspiracy theories behind this forced switch, but instead I'll just laugh at the fact that it doesn't affect me anyways.

We had already given up on cable and television more than two years ago, but we've kept a couple of older TV's around for watching old VHS and DVD movies. Our move to "the sticks" will probably further our retreat from television, as we are considering ditching the TV altogether and using solar-charged laptops for the occasional movie instead. (Watching movies on a laptop can be headache-inducing, so we're also hoping this this will help nix our desire to do it very often.)

Many of our friends and family think we are crazy for giving up television, but we believe that our kids are better behaved and more intelligent because of it. The truth is that television is a little like church. When you haven't seen it in a while, any chance viewing feels alien and uncomfortable and only reinforces your reasons for abstaining from it in the first place.

making your house your own

One of the reasons why I think we're so interested in building our own place in the woods is that we will have free reign to do whatever we like with it. From building materials and style, to energy and utility choices, to landscaping and other site considerations, removing ourselves from restrictive covenants and historic district guidelines will allow us to build a home that best reflects our lifestyle. I won't have to ask permission from some government agency to make our lives more comfortable. Where we live now, I can't even change the color of our exterior shutters without filing a request and paying a fee.

I have to admit that I am having trouble balancing my desire for seclusion with the necessity of easy access. We don't want to be in another standard neighborhood. We'd rather live on a large piece of land, where our nearest neighbors are several acres away. But most of these areas are difficult to get to, unless they are in super-expensive resort acreage communities. Those don't fit into our budget, so we are instead looking at middle-of-nowhere but still close-to town-acreage. I just worry that any money we save by purchasing remote land would be offset by the cost of road maintenance and an upgrade to 4x4 vehicles.

There is one piece of land that we are very interested in right now. It is only 10 minutes away from local grocery, bank, gas, medical center, hardware, and post office, but it is 2.5 miles of winding gravel and dirt road to get to it. It's not very far, but it feels very remote and secluded and there aren't too many neighbors nearby. We'd be very separated from everything, which may or may not be a good thing. We've looked at dozens of other pieces of land, but this is the first one that I truly enjoyed walking. There was something about it that just felt right. I think that part of its appeal is its mix of deciduous and evergreen trees, but with an overwhelming stand of evergreens right near the spot that would be the home site. Where we live now, the oaks drop so many leaves around our home that it is difficult to maintain, and they tend to serve as snake, tick and chigger refuges.

Another concern that I have is that I am not sure that a standard well drilling rig could make it to the property. The county road may be too curved and narrow in places, and I don't know if it could hold the weight. There are foundations from an old home nearby that has a well, but it is a very old house and the well was probably dug by hand (or however they dug wells a hundred years ago). Several books that I have read say to walk away from a piece of land if you can't drill a well, tap a creek, or get municipal water. A few others mention rainwater collection as a viable alternative, though, so that is something that we're going to look into. The price on this land is very reasonable and it seem like it would be perfect for us.

I also think that we are seeing the seclusion of this site as an excuse to really try to live off the grid and much more simply. We'll design and build our own home, and implement techniques such as passive solar to try and assist with heating and cooling. As for design, if we end up purchasing this lot, I believe that the sky will be the limit. There is lots of stone and native timber on the property that could be used, and I have been reading up on natural building techniques such as strawbale and cob. Best of all, regardless of how "experimental" we decide to make it, the neighbors can't complain because there are no restrictions against it.

house as art

As mentioned in my last post, we are debating a move to the country - to the woods to be exact. We have been studying natural building forms and searching for the right piece of land. At first we thought we wanted to be in town, but the lots are too expensive, generally very steep, and highly overpriced. So we've started to look at surrounding areas. It's difficult to find locations that are remote yet accessible, though. In addition, we have to concern ourselves with neighborhood covenants sand building restrictions in certain subdivisions. One of the things that has taken us by surprise is that some of the subdivisions in the mountains are comprised of 20 acre parcels. I've never really thought of such large parcels as being part of any subdivision, but I guess the very word "subdivision" simply implies the fact that the land used to be a large tract, and that it has since been subdivided.

And of course, there are benefits and drawbacks to being in a neighborhood with covenants. While it may prevent anyone from parking a ratty mobile home or creating their own landfill, it can also prevent us from building with whatever materials we want, or in a style or scale that we would like. Fortunately, it seems that we have found a few areas that offer the best of both worlds - the owners have pride of ownership, and yet there is a diverse size and scale of homes being built.

For example, this one neighborhood had typical suburban type homes adjacent to log cabins and a natural home with an artistic flare - complete with a bizarre elliptical roof-line and architectural shingles that crept down one side of the building. The builder also made use of a large load of native stone. I didn't really like his use of plain plywood for some of the walls, but to each his own. It could be a permanent work in progress - as are most art forms. Regardless, he's living in a neighborhood where it is allowed and nobody gives him trouble for living differently. That's what we need, too.

pulling a walden

For decades, individuals have revered the works of Henry David Thoreau. But how many people can actually take what is said in his masterpiece Walden and apply it to their lives? In our case, we're considering taking it literally.

The idea of living in the wilderness is starting to appeal to us. Even if it means boiling our water, building our own home with our hands, and hanging our laundry up to dry, I am starting to see the benefit of a return to the basics. Even if it means that our home is small and our children are ridiculed by their schoolmates for not having plasma televisions and ipods, I think we would be better off. Our ancestors could do it, so why not us? Have we regressed so far into machine dependency that we cannot survive without the aid of the latest technological comfort enhancers?

I think that the reason why most people never even consider a return to a simpler way of life is that they are too old and set in their ways by the time they awaken from their unsatisfying American dream. They've worked their whole life away, for a measly pension (if they're lucky) and regret for not having done more with their lives when they were young. With the frequent use of computers across all industries, you can also add carpal tunnel syndrome to that list of post-retirement blessings. Well, no thanks. When I'm old and gray, I may not have earned much of a pension, but I'll hopefully be in better physical health than my retired peers, thanks to years and years of very little work-related stress. And I won't need that massive vested 401k because my monthly expenses will be nearly non-existent.

If we actually pursue this simple lifestyle of self-sustainment, we may even find that we don't need to rely on things like social security or medicare part d prescription plans when we are older, as we will had time to fine-tune our own health plans, targeted to our own specific inherited health quirks and enriched with holistic and natural products that cost very little.

I'm sure that it's all very hippie sounding, but if our country continues in the direction it is heading (with its unchecked commodification of nearly *everything*), I suspect that there will be many people who feel jealous. Those of us who have removed ourselves from the rat race and rediscovered what is truly important in life will be happier - because that which is most important may be all that is left.

business without internet?

Lately, I've been feeling somewhat disenchanted by the internet again. In fact, I'm getting tired of using computers at all. I doubt that I could ever give up computers altogether, since my business relies on it. But it would be nice to lessen the time I spend using it. Perhaps I could find another type of business to run - something more manual, more blue collar, less "wired" and ephemeral? Only problem is...thanks to their customers' expectations, even those types of industries rely on computers, or they at least pay web people (like myself) to do it for them. It's a shame that they either have to waste time learning about software, or spend their hard-earned cash on it. I'm even part of the problem. Whether I'm looking for a plumber, roofer, or refrigerator repairman, my first stop is the internet, and I know that I'm not alone.

Even if non-web-based businesses aren't reliant upon the internet for their marketing and advertising, many of them use computer software for their time tracking, accounting, billing, and performance management. There are people in our town who don't have computers or the internet at home, and they visit the library often to make up for it. So maybe that is an option. Why not let the library worry about viruses and software upgrades, and internet access?

Perhaps that is my next step in trying to simplify my life. I can't see how it would hurt.

tourism needs recycling

It's difficult to make a living in a tourist town. That's one of my latest realizations. Sure, everybody told me about the low wages and the seasonal work, but seeing as I work from the internet, I didn't think it would affect me. Unfortunately, the limited approach to industry also spills over onto the net. Every business in this town seems to operate within a very thin field of expectation - a rather stale paradigm, in my opinion.

Even some of the more common business strategies (such as trying to offer something new to the town) are absent here. Instead, everyone rides on each other's coat-tails. Everyone complains about the high turnover rate of new businesses, and yet every year we get a rash of new motels, bed & breakfasts, art galleries, and knick-knack Ozark shops "specializing" in crude and funny t-shirts.

On the off-chance that they do attempt something new, it is generally a cheap facsimile of something that was profitable in another town. Sometimes I think it has to do with a lack of "new blood", or people with fresh ideas. Part of the problem has to do with the fact that most of the people with fresh ideas aren't the ones with the funding to implement them. The other problem is that trying to get anything approved by the local city council is nearly impossible. Such is life in a small town...

what happens when help is not affordable?

In my last post, I mentioned that an individual had just died from a drug overdose in my new hometown. It is sad that he died with some of his friends (and possibly some of his relatives) having known of his addiction. Some might even try to pin some of the blame on them, for not pushing him to go for help. Others will say that it was the individual's own fault for not seeking help on his own. But in many ways, I wonder if our society doesn't make the act of getting help more difficult than continuing to indulge in one's addictions.

Kicking a habit is of course very difficult, but simply trying to find someone or someplace that can show you the way should be easier. One shouldn't have to feel ashamed because he or she can only afford local treatment from a government funded institution. Unfortunately, there are so many sources who perpetrate the belief that the only way to get help is to enroll yourself into an expensive private drug rehab institute for some type of anonymous luxury addiction treatment program.

Like everything else in this capitalistic country, rehab has apparently become a commodity. Unless you're willing to pay tons of cash for it, it must not be worth it to even try. At least that's the attitude I am seeing on the internet these days. Put your money where your mouth is.

minding one's own business, or saving lives?

When someone passes away in a small town, everyone notices. It doesn't matter if that person was on their death bed, or hadn't been seen in a while - everyone feels the loss. That's part of being in a small community. The numbers are so small that even a drop by one makes an impact.

We recently lost a young man to a drug overdose in our town, and it came as no surprise to some of his friends. On one hand, I was shocked that this individual's problems with drugs was well known. After all, if his friends knew of the problem, couldn't they have tried to present this tragedy? Maybe. Maybe not. Unfortunately, another one of the problems of being in a small town is that certain subjects are still taboo. Although you hear often of small town people who always want to be in your business, that isn't always the case. Certain subjects are ignored - alcoholics, drug abuse, even some cases of domestic abuse. It is truly a shame, as those affected by these problems aren't very likely to find help if some of their neighbors don't get involved.

Being in a small town, we don't have drug rehabs or organized intervention groups. Trying to see a psychologist or therapist doesn't usually happen either, since those services usually cost lots of money. Although there are national organizations that can sometimes help, many of them can only be located with the help of the internet, and the internet is still a luxury for many small town residents.

Although I had never met the individual who died, his death has seriously affected some of those around me. It's sad and unexpected, but it also serves as an eye-opener that in some cases it is better to be a nosy neighbor and intervene than to mind one's own business. Someone's life may depend on it.

vacation from the tourists

Along with the mass invasion of tourists that summer brings, it also makes us feel like leaving the town. Not permanently, mind you, but for little extended vacations. While bed & breakfast aficionados are swarming into our town, we're swarming away. As soon as my daughter is out of school (which may take a while since they keep extending the school semester due to snow days), we're planning on several trips. None of them are luxury vacations, but all will give us the chance to get out of town and avoid the crowds.

One will be back to Colorado, where we have lots of family to visit with. I'm not necessarily looking forward to this one, as I hate bouncing back and forth from one person's house to the next, as our guests argue with us about spending our time "equally" with everyone we visit. That's part of the fun of presenting your parents with their first grandkids, I suppose. While we are there, I am considering taking the kids camping. Camping in Colorado is fun, and I know of several areas that aren't as crowded during the summer. I'd share them here with you, but that might spoil our fun by exposing them, so...sorry.

We did decide to pick up season tickets to Branson's Silver Dollar City theme park this year, too. It set us back $200 for the entire family, which is pricey. However, if we visit twice they are paid for, and I'm sure we'll go more often than that.

I look forward to the day when our kids are old enough to fly out to the grandparents house on their own, so that my wife and I can do some traveling in Europe and other far-off exotic places that we've been longing to see.

spring is just around the corner

Yesterday, I took a long walk around the neighborhood and noticed that the buds of spring are starting to pop out of the ground. We've still been experiencing some late winter freezes, so I'm hoping that it doesn't effectively kill them off this year. Last year we had a rather dismal display of fall colors due to the late freeze.

As much as I look forward to the spring, and the green that it brings to the Ozarks, there are certain things I am not looking forward to. At the top of my list are the insects that it will bring. Although we don't see too many mosquitoes in the spring (when compared to their summer invasion), we get spiders in the house fairly often. Last year, I managed to keep them at bay by spraying insecticide around the perimeter of the home (inside and out) every few months. I'm going to have to do the same thing this year, as we noticed our first spider in the house yesterday evening. It wasn't a brown recluse, which was a relief, but I know that we have them around here, as I killed a LOT of them last year. It's just a shame that I have to use insecticide to keep them away. I hate the idea that this stuff leeches into the ground and eventually ends up in the hollow behind our house, only to runoff and seep into the underground springs in town.

I also noticed yesterday that there was a stretch of gutters in the yard that I didn't get a chance to clean out last fall, so they are overflowing and "hairy" with an abundance of pine needles. Our deck is looking pretty bad, too, which makes me mad since I just finished staining it last summer. I'm also disappointed in the patio furniture set that we picked up last year, as the arms are already rusting. I guess you get what you pay for - they were on sale. I'm going to have to sand them down and repaint soon, less we get rust smears on our elbows.

We also get to look forward to the throngs of tourists that warm weather brings - hooray for us.