Snowquester

We have been really lucky here in northern Virginia the last couple of winters.  It has snowed, but not enough to even bother shoveling.  Whenever it snows just a little my husband and I debate whether to shovel or let it melt.  If we don't shovel and it doesn't melt, well, our driveway will be an ice skating rink.  I get excited each year for the first snow fall because it is so pretty, but shoveling really really sucks.  It looks like our luck has run out though.  I live somewhere on the line between blue and purple.  C'mon blue!!!

It's March!

 

I made it through another January and February!  Yipppeee!!!!  As you all know, I hate the cold weather and winters here in Virginia.  March is the point where emotionally I believe winter is over and good times will be here again.  I suffer a bit from the winter blues each year but this year was not so bad since it was the first year where I recognized it and tried to do something about it rather than wallowing in it.  Soon there will be the smell of mulch in the air and my husband will be glued to the TV watching March Madness.  There will be a sprinkling of nice days where everybody wants to be outside and on their decks.  Daffodils will start popping out of their winter homes.  I know it is still technically winter and a big snow storm is brewing for next week but as Barry Manalow said, "looks like we made it".

 

Who Says You Can't Go Home

Jon Bon Jovi got it right when he sang Who Says You Can't Go Home.  My husband and I left California seven years ago for a lower cost of living.  True, we now have a nice house, good jobs and an easy commute, but we've come to learn that those aren't the things that really matter in life.  We are thinking about quitting our jobs, selling the house we love and heading back to the Golden State.  For him, it's to be closer to his parents.  For me, it's just home and where I feel like I belong.  In California we'll have a horrible commute, a smaller more expensive house and who knows what kinds of jobs (if any) given the state of the California economy, but it's what we want. 

I don't think we are alone in this thinking either.  Right now two of my acquaintances are driving across the country with all their belongings and dogs in a truck to go back home.  One couple is going from California back to Tennessee and another couple is going from Minnesota to California.  Both just want to be home.  This just goes to show that no state is better than another, it's home that matters.

Only in the South

Over 900 news laws went into effect on July 1 here in the Commonwealth of Virginia.  Here are a few I felt the need to comment on.

CONCEALED WEAPONS. People with a concealed weapon permit can carry a concealed weapon into a restaurant or bar but cannot drink. Previously, people who wanted to carry a weapon into a restaurant or bar had to "open carry," keeping the weapon exposed.

Who is going to know if a person with a concealed weapon is drinking unless the weapon is no longer concealed???

ASSISTED LIVING AND ALCOHOL. Assisted living facilities will now be able to serve alcoholic beverages. Residents of assisted living facilities will also be able to keep alcohol in their rooms legally for the first time.

Now this one I agree with.  People shouldn't be denied alcohol just because they are older or need assistance.  They should also be able to serve drinks to their guests!

DRINKING WHILE DRIVING A SCHOOL BUS.  Any person who possesses or consumes an alcoholic beverage while operating a school bus is guilty of a Class 1 misdemeanor.

Seriously???  This just became a law?  The kids in my neighborhood are not allowed to walk to school and have to take the bus because they have to cross 1 major street, but up until now the driver could have a bloody mary on the way to school?

No Smoking

Smoking is no longer allowed in restaurants in Virginia! There are a few exceptions, such as it is allowed in outdoor areas or if there is a separate room entirely enclosed with a separate ventilation system, but I doubt many restaurants will go to the expense to allow this. What about bars you ask??? Virginia does not have any stand alone bars! This is all quite shocking to me given Virginia's history in the tobacco industry. I was in college when California enacted the same ban so to move here and have smokers in restaurants was quite disgusting to me. Only a few that I go to actually allow smoking at all, but it really does drift throughout the restaurant. I'm all for people doing whatever they want as long as it doesn't hurt other people...but smoking in public DOES hurt other people, so just do it by yourself or only around other smokers. Thank you.

Southerners Taking Care of Southerners

The drive to the resort we went to for Thanksgiving was a little under a 4 hour drive away. Most of the drive was in Virginia and then we crossed over into West Virginia for the last 10 miles or so. Here in Virginia the police do not drive around in traffic looking for people driving in an unsafe manor. They hide....often in unmarked cars. If you get pulled over, you get a ticket, not warning to just slow down. We were driving anywhere from 75 to 84 MPH and the speed limit was 65. On the drive there we passed a couple cops hiding, but felt like we slowed down enough in time to not get a ticket. Phew! On the drive back, I got really nervous because we passed a couple cops while going well over 80 and still did not get pulled over. I finally figured it out...they were only pulling over people with out of state license plates! It became comical at how fast we would pass them and then see cars from other states pulled over. Every time we passed a car that was pulled over, I would look to see the plates and then laugh that none of them were from Virginia. I do believe this is one of the first perks I have found from living here. Unfortunately this rule doesn't seem apply during the morning or evening rush hour.

Where Did Everybody Go?

Today has been a weird day around town. Everywhere we went was empty. The lunch place we went to only had 1 other couple in it. We went to dinner at about 7pm to a place that usually has a packed bar and restaurant and it wasn't busy at all. Then we went to the grocery store to get dessert and it was empty. Then we went for a walk and didn't cross one other person on the path. Where did everybody go? It's been very odd. My only guess is that since it is the first weekend of summer that lots of people have gone out of town?

Some of the people we did see today that stood out:
- A woman that appeared to be for hire in the strip mall. I live in a cookie cutter upper middle class suburban neighborhood where you don't normally see this kind of thing. I couldn't come up with any other reason for why she was there dressed like she was acting like she was.
- An older man using his cane to push the crosswalk button to cross the street. I wish I could have gotten a picture of this.
- A teenage girl dressed in a neon yellow dress and neon pink & green striped socks. I really hope she was on her way to an 80's party. She also had on bright a pink glove...once I saw that, I was pretty sure there was a reason for this outfit. She also seemed embarrassed by us seeing her.

Who knows what tomorrow will bring...