Saturday we went tubing on the Dan River. It was fun, but the water was low. This meant that a.) I was bored with the trip about 1.5 hours before it was over and b.) the "butts up" call was heard often, but sometimes not in time. It is very rare that you bruise your ass on rocks while kayaking. There was one area where the current was so bad that all of us had our feet swept out from under us. There was also a time where I jumped out of my tube and landed next to one of these. It looked at me for a moment and then swam away. We'd seen another snake earlier (same species, I believe), and everyone freaked out that it was a cottonmouth. I had to assure them it wasn't because a.) it was a slender snake and b.) no triangular head. Then, "How do you know all that?" Because I read up on these things? I have a fear of poisonous snakes, so I find out how to identify them. Seems logical to me.

On another note, the northwestern Piedmont of NC? Stunning. I suspect the job market is very bad, however.

Yesterday, I did some unpacking. Cdub and I went on the search for the TV stand, which is from Target. However, we skipped the Target close to us figuring they wouldn't have it. We went to 2 others before they called around to see who did have it. We picked it up at the North Hills one, but it was damaged, so we returned it at Cary (closest to my house!), where we bought one in perfect condition. Then we spent 2.5 hours putting it together.

This morning I picked blackberries (I'd like to make them into a sauce, for like angel food cake. Anyone have a recipe?) and took Jasper to the vet. The new vet. Where they want me to pay $200 every year for bloodwork to monitor for diabetes, kidney and liver problems (which, hello, he's not going to let me do much about) and send him to have dental X-Rays. And they charge me for a full office visit every time I bring him in for a shot. I am so switching back to my old vet, even though they are about 25 miles away.

Coming up: more unpacking, weeding, a pedicure, mini turkey shoot, and fireworks.