Monday, April 11, 2011
Happy Birthday
Happy Birthday Michael! Today is the fiance's birthday. He is a quarter of a century old. To celebrate we had a weekend of "kids again" entertainment. Friday night we went to the circus! Where a two year old proceeded to whack me in the back of the head with her light up toy multiple times. Still, I enjoyed the trapeze and high wire acts. They were just as cool as I remembered from years ago. Then Saturday we had people over for food and drinks before heading to Cosmic bowling! I'm not gonna lie, it was a cool experience. It was fun to relax, have a bit of a lazy weekend, and throw in a few activities from childhood.
Saturday, April 9, 2011
Nashville, Part 2
The Grand Ole Opry. It really was a grand event. First off, let me just say, you think it would be easy to find a destination that had 'grand' in the title. This was not the case. We followed are GPS which wanted us to make a turn into a huge Gaylord Resort complex. Of course, I didn't turn. GPSs are always so wrong. So two or three U-turns later, I made the turn like the GPS said. We proceeded to drive onto the resort campus and saw signs for the Opry; but there were no arrows, no directions, no indication of where to head to find it. Finally, I made a random turn, trying to find a place to ask directions, we rounded a corner, and there it was!
I knew the Opry was a concert hall of sorts. I knew most famous country singers have played there at some point. But i was not fully aware of the history. The Opry actually has 'shows' three nights a week that are broadcast live on the radio. And these shows have sponsors. The sponsors get air time for 'commercials.' The cool part is the broadcast hasn't changed. So the commercials are the announcer reading the script, which means the audience hears them as well. We saw some old timers, a few country music hall of famers, and a couple of today's country radio stars. It was a really neat experience.
Our last full day in Nashville was cloudy with rain. We had already explored pretty much all of downtown, so we started the day in the suburbs. We hit up the Frothy Monkey for breakfast, checked out the worlds only full scale Parthenon replica (why it's in Nashville, we never fully determined) and saw the largest indoor statue in the western hemisphere (which was a frightening replica of Athena). Then we drove to George Dickel's Whisky distillery. Touring the distillery made me realize how gross whiskey is. The beginning fermenting phase smells like yeasty bread batter. Then corn, rye and barley are added. It's distilled and pouring over 'virgin wool blankets.' Then placed in wood barrels and left to improve for 7-10 years. And somehow it comes out tasting good. One cool fact is the barrels are filled with 57 gallons, but after aging they generally only retrieve 36 gallons of whiskey. That's a lot of whiskey evaporating, and they can't account for where it goes. It is one reason why alcohol is called 'spirits.' We purchased a bottle at the end of the tour, which they sold in a commemorative decorative tube. The distillery is in a dry county so by placing the alcohol in the tube they have found a loophole which allows them to sell it.
We rounded off the trip by bar hopping down the row of Honky Tonks. Nashville is a great city for live music. Pretty much every bar and restaurant has someone playing live. Of course, you have to like country music. Luckily, we do!
I knew the Opry was a concert hall of sorts. I knew most famous country singers have played there at some point. But i was not fully aware of the history. The Opry actually has 'shows' three nights a week that are broadcast live on the radio. And these shows have sponsors. The sponsors get air time for 'commercials.' The cool part is the broadcast hasn't changed. So the commercials are the announcer reading the script, which means the audience hears them as well. We saw some old timers, a few country music hall of famers, and a couple of today's country radio stars. It was a really neat experience.
Our last full day in Nashville was cloudy with rain. We had already explored pretty much all of downtown, so we started the day in the suburbs. We hit up the Frothy Monkey for breakfast, checked out the worlds only full scale Parthenon replica (why it's in Nashville, we never fully determined) and saw the largest indoor statue in the western hemisphere (which was a frightening replica of Athena). Then we drove to George Dickel's Whisky distillery. Touring the distillery made me realize how gross whiskey is. The beginning fermenting phase smells like yeasty bread batter. Then corn, rye and barley are added. It's distilled and pouring over 'virgin wool blankets.' Then placed in wood barrels and left to improve for 7-10 years. And somehow it comes out tasting good. One cool fact is the barrels are filled with 57 gallons, but after aging they generally only retrieve 36 gallons of whiskey. That's a lot of whiskey evaporating, and they can't account for where it goes. It is one reason why alcohol is called 'spirits.' We purchased a bottle at the end of the tour, which they sold in a commemorative decorative tube. The distillery is in a dry county so by placing the alcohol in the tube they have found a loophole which allows them to sell it.
We rounded off the trip by bar hopping down the row of Honky Tonks. Nashville is a great city for live music. Pretty much every bar and restaurant has someone playing live. Of course, you have to like country music. Luckily, we do!
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
Invitations
Invitations were sent!!! TWO whole days before my deadline. Which is sooo unlike me. Thanks to the pushers who made me get my butt in gear and stop procrastinating. And who helped complete the project. Otherwise I'd have a huge task still ahead of me.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Nashville
Last Monday I was kidnapped. I was awoken from my warm and cozy bed at 4:45 (AM!) and told to gather my loot and get packing. I was placed in a car (luckily my own, with warm and cozy butt warmers). Drove 11 hours through snow (!) and rain. And wound up in Nashville, Tennessee. Music City!
Actually, I was previously told to block off four days for an undisclosed 'Mystery Thing.' I was then taunted for months wondering what we could possibly be doing. My questions went unanswered. Luckily, my sister was the Mystery Master and, for some reason, I trust her, and knew whatever she had planned would be good. Weeks later everyone knew what we were doing except me! She finally filled me in Sunday night just before bed.
The 11 hour drive on Monday actually wasn't bad. Bridget drove the whole way so I slept a bit, read a bit, sang a bit. And we made an excessive 5 pit stops. But still pulled into the hotel in just under 11 hours! We putzed around awhile browsing the tourist brochures (I love being touristy!) then headed out for some grub. We stumbled upon a honky tonk with live music called the Whiskey Bent Saloon. So we wandered inside and ordered some whiskey. The singer, Taria (like Maria, but with a T) was actually really enjoyable. Problem was they didn't have food. So we wandered next door to Jimmy Buffetville and ordered, what else, margaritas. They were strong. Whiskey and tequilla on an empty stomach. This night is starting well. After dinner found us back at the saloon for the rest of Taria's set. My favorite song she sang, somewhat ironically, was a Guns 'N Roses cover. I also enjoyed a guest performance of Black Velvet from chickadee from across The Pond.
Tuesday brought the Country Music Hall of Fame and lots of wandering around downtown. We found a cute cupcake shop, an arcade (not the gaming variety) that reminded us of Australia, an old war fort and not much else. Downtown Nashville is actually quite small. We walked most of it in one afternoon. Somehow, though, we managed to get behind schedule, which meant we were off to the Grand Old Opry without dinner. The Opry was awesome! I want to talk a bunch about it, so stay tuned for a continuation!
Actually, I was previously told to block off four days for an undisclosed 'Mystery Thing.' I was then taunted for months wondering what we could possibly be doing. My questions went unanswered. Luckily, my sister was the Mystery Master and, for some reason, I trust her, and knew whatever she had planned would be good. Weeks later everyone knew what we were doing except me! She finally filled me in Sunday night just before bed.
The 11 hour drive on Monday actually wasn't bad. Bridget drove the whole way so I slept a bit, read a bit, sang a bit. And we made an excessive 5 pit stops. But still pulled into the hotel in just under 11 hours! We putzed around awhile browsing the tourist brochures (I love being touristy!) then headed out for some grub. We stumbled upon a honky tonk with live music called the Whiskey Bent Saloon. So we wandered inside and ordered some whiskey. The singer, Taria (like Maria, but with a T) was actually really enjoyable. Problem was they didn't have food. So we wandered next door to Jimmy Buffetville and ordered, what else, margaritas. They were strong. Whiskey and tequilla on an empty stomach. This night is starting well. After dinner found us back at the saloon for the rest of Taria's set. My favorite song she sang, somewhat ironically, was a Guns 'N Roses cover. I also enjoyed a guest performance of Black Velvet from chickadee from across The Pond.
Tuesday brought the Country Music Hall of Fame and lots of wandering around downtown. We found a cute cupcake shop, an arcade (not the gaming variety) that reminded us of Australia, an old war fort and not much else. Downtown Nashville is actually quite small. We walked most of it in one afternoon. Somehow, though, we managed to get behind schedule, which meant we were off to the Grand Old Opry without dinner. The Opry was awesome! I want to talk a bunch about it, so stay tuned for a continuation!
Monday, April 4, 2011
Good Things
I woke up this morning and didn't have to go to work! We are slightly over staffed this week and they have been allowing us to ATO. I'm not sure what that stands for, but it basically means if they have too many staff for the unit, no other unit needs extra help, and they are feeling incredibly generous, they will let you stay home. Granted you have to use a vacation day. Oh, and it goes by dates so if you've ATO'd in the not so distant future, and someone else ATO'd in the distant distant future, they get to go first. It can be difficult. This is the first day I have accomplished it. So I was sure the 5:20am phone call would be telling me to get my butt to work. Which made going back to sleep for 3 hours that much sweeter. To top it off I've gotten a bunch of things on my never-ending 'To Do' list done today. Have I told you all how much I love crossing things off lists? So much so that occasionally I'll write an already completed, or just about completed, task on my list. Just so I can cross it off. Now for the icing on the cake. While running around town completing errands...I wore flip flops!! I love flip flops and today was the first day of the year I got to wear them. And it made me happy. April, please stay warm and sunny. It will be a nice change from your cool and rainy reputation.
On top of the little things:
1. Today is 2 months from W-day!
2. Last week I was in Nashville! Which I will most definitely blog about in the near future.
On top of the little things:
1. Today is 2 months from W-day!
2. Last week I was in Nashville! Which I will most definitely blog about in the near future.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)