Well, friends, we will be looking for a new dog food. Natura Pet, which makes several different pet foods including California Natural that we feed to our dogs, has been sold to Proctor & Gamble. The song, “Another One Bites the Dust” comes to mind. I can guarantee you that even though Natura Pet says, “we will continue to deliver the high quality products that have earned consumers’ trust”, the food ingredients and formulation will change and become another big box dog food that’s crap. I believe you are what you eat. That goes for our pets, too. Yes, it’s more expensive but they’re worth it. Period.

Looking for an alternative to the typical soft drink? Trying to avoid HFCS (High Fructose Corn Syrup)? A co-worker, Andrew, turned us on to this brand. The ingredients are much better than what you’ll find in Coke or something similar. The ginger ale even has Vitamin C.

We don’t drink much soda but when we do we’re now reaching for one of these. There are a bunch of different flavors. Check them out at Ward’s.

Everyone in Gainesville knows this weekend was graduation weekend. Our neighbor and friend, Mandy, who has been toiling to obtain her nursing degree invited us to her pinning ceremony on Friday. I could not attend, but Mir did. Mir said it was one of the nicer ceremonies she’s attended. We are just proud to see Mandy reach an important goal in her life. Next up is studying for boards. Not to be outdone, her housemate Thomas graduated in Nuclear Engineering and is head to MIT for graduate school. Way to go both of you!

We were at Ward’s and Mir saw this beer and thought it sounded interesting. So, we bought a six-pack to try and this has become one of our new favorite beers. Lisa is a beer snob and very rarely drinks American made beer but this one she likes. It’s made in Mississippi of all places. So, next time you’re at Ward’s pick it up and try it.

It’s not often we allow our grass to grow to this state. Even Mr. Contractor mentioned the height of the lawn. We think he doesn’t want it to distract from the beauty of the addition. Not to worry – we mowed Saturday and it looks pretty good right now.

Went to a fun party yesterday – there was food, live music and nice people. Sort of restores your faith in humanity. A nice way to spend a Saturday evening. Thanks Terry and Tom – we had a really nice time!

All dogs were bathed today! The cleanliness won’t last long, especially since the backyard is a sand pit and likely to stay that way until the remodel is finished and we can throw some $$$ at it.

It’s hard to believe that the college basketball season is officially over. We attended the UF Women’s Basketball End Of Year Banquet yesterday evening. As usual, it was very enjoyable. Coach Butler and her staff handed out awards to the players and we said a final goodbye to the fabulous five seniors.

I’m optimistic about next year. The undersclassmen seem to have a close relationship. Together they said their goodbyes to the seniors in a very special way. I really like how this group works together. And I think there’s going to be some good team leadership next year.

Here’s to the UF women’s basketball team! Go Gators!

Like many, we attended the Spring Arts Festival on Saturday. We timed it so we arrived just as the Orange and Blue game was starting. Worked great – never felt claustrophobic.

The art was nice – we tended to gravitate towards art that made us smile or laugh. We considered purchasing a couple of pieces but then decided to wait until the remodel was complete.

As we headed home we walked through the Thomas Center gardens and encountered some live music. We sat for a few minutes and listened to some “jazz” (some tunes were, some weren’t). We then strolled over to the kids area and saw some really neat art created by some talented young people. We were impressed. The art exhibitor for the children indicated that the kids – even as young as 6 – priced their own work. That explained the $500 price tag on one of the pieces.

We also noticed that the bas-relief and sculptures had been recently painted – and beautifully I might add. The turtle above is one example.

In the evening, we took Boxer for a walk and were surprised to still hear music coming from the Thomas Center. We headed that way and sat for a few minutes listening to a fantastic band – GruvTherapy.

What a great day!

An aside: Why the title “Here Comes the Sun”? In high school a group of us had to film a movie for our humanities class. We decided to film the Spring Arts Festival and set the theme music to “Here Comes the Sun”. So, whenever I hear that song, I think of the festival…and vice versa. In fact, I’m humming it right now.

Ciao baby!

Happy Spring!