... and we all fall down ... down

these past few days have been busy busy busy.

saturday heralded our first camping trip in a very long time. the BH wanted to kayak the cheoah since this is the last scheduled release for the summer. since he was going to run it both saturday and sunday, i decided to traipse along and hang out on santeelah lake while he did that. saturday was absolutely stunning. our campsite was directly on the water - water so clear and blue that you could see all the way to the bottom at 15 feet deep. i left the camera at home, so you'll have to envision the vista our tent afforded us. on unzipping the flap, one could stare across the peaceful, blue lake to the nearby bursting with green-ness mountains ringing it. i spent a few peaceful hours floating on the lake, worshipping the devil god of melanoma and enjoying the spring breeze. at around 4:30, we (the wife and significant other of jim's 2 kayaking buddies) decided to drive down to the river and see if we couldn't catch the boys running bear creek falls - the biggest and baddest rapid (at least - visually) on the river. luck was with us, as we only had to wait about 15 minutes before the BH and his kayaking buddies showed up. the video above is bear creek falls, although that is not the BH running it. he does it with much more style:)

saturday night was spent sitting around a campfire eating weenies and s'moreos (what happens to s'mores when you don't have access to graham crackers but have to instead rely on oreos). we also got ... eh ... inebriated. what else is camping for, after all?? the next day, we drove into robbinsville for a greasy, southern style breakfast, then the men dumped us again for a day running the cheoah. i had big plans that involved the lake, the sun, and more sun-devil worship. the weather had other plans, unfortunately. the day stayed shrouded in grey. shortly after the boys left us, it began to rain in earnest. not to worry - the kitten (whom i haven't found a home for yet) and i stayed in the tent, with the flap open, watching rain fall on the lake, finishing my book, and napping. it was quite relaxing - one might even say rather decadent. i love this whole not being in vet school anymore thing.

today, we got up early and went to chatty to look at a house we found online. it's great, and we decided to rent it. the neighborhood is lovely, full of huge, green trees, neat houses, and old people. it's a 7 minute commute to my new job. the house itself is 3 bedroom 1 1/2 bath with an extra room off the kitchen big enough to be a study or an extra living room or something like that. i'm pretty content with it, although the kitchen is a bit small. we're supposed to move in around june 7th, so the next few weeks will be spent packing, cleaning, and throwing crap away. i plan to throw A LOT of stuff in the trash. i refuse to succumb to the pack-rat tendencies that plague my otherwise perfect family.

chattanooga is a great town. jim and i spent some time roaming the streets of downtown, and it's a really incredible city. both of us kept commenting on how much it reminded of us asheville (indisputably our favorite town). i'm really excited to be moving there. we found a little greasy spoon diner already that we will probably frequent (the longhorn restaurant). small, quaint, with vinyl covered barstools, a homemade cake under a glass cakebell, friendly service, and greasy, southern food...it was perfection.

and on that note, i have some closets that could use my distracted attention...