hey, it's ok (tuesday) 10.16

hey, it's ok

...to look forward to your trips to whole foods. hello my happy place.
...to use your lunch hour to go buy soap at target. hey, sometimes it helps to just get out of the building.
...to be grateful for God's timing and divine appointments
...to light candles in the dining and living rooms when your husband is getting ready to have a houseful of guys over to play poker. like they cared.
...to be somewhat amused by the debates (and more than a somewhat annoyed at the facebook/twitter/even freaking pinterest feeds of one-sided responses).
...to not really understand the purpose of gender reveal parties. i mean, fun i suppose. but what's wrong with the good 'ol facebook or group text of "it's a boy!"? 
(if i ever have one, you have my permission to remind me of this post)
...to still not understand the tennessee licensing system. in indiana you got your driver's license and car license plates at the same place. it was even called the license branch. here you have to figure out which to do first if you're a new resident and then go to three different locations: emissions testing, county clerk and ...i still don't know what the place is called to get your driver's license. but you can also register to vote at one of those places. and one of those places you go to every four years and the other two yearly.
...to realize that your job is one part baby fever and one part birth control. snuggling a precious cooing 6 month old and then dealing with a full-blown 3 year old fit in the space of 20 minutes will make you one confused woman. 

please to visit amber and her wonderful blog :-) she hosts this fun link-up every week!

hey, it's ok (tuesday) .14

hey, it's ok

...to not hover constantly over the children in your care at an indoor playplace with security including coordinating wristbands. *cough*grandma following a 2 year old*cough*
(i am keeping eyes on the little one. and blogging. :-)
...to use baseball caps for their intended purpose: covering up the fact you didn't have time to wash your hair this morning
...to consider going for a jog armed with a tennis racquet to combat the cicada swarms
...to be slightly confused by this car sticker. i get the rainbow people, rainbow hearts and just plain rainbows. but are they in support of their gay cat? i suppose that's a good thing ;-)




...to refuse to live in fear
...to think that tennessee lawmakers have really gone off the deep end lately
...to have an irresistible urge to tossle cute little heads of hair like this one

thursday's ten: about spring

the skies are blue today and sunshine abundant
flip flops and sunglasses weren't even a question
and i drove to work with the sunroof open and music blaring

seems a perfect day to write about my favorite season

spring!

i'm a transplant to tennessee, even though i've been here over 1/3 of my life now.  craaaaazy.  but there are definitely differences between here and where i grew up when it comes to season changes.

here's 10 things about spring...in my experiences





1.  bradford pear trees line every secondary road in my (new) neighborhood.  they are stunningly beautiful.  unfortunately about 60% of people who live in mid-tn suffer allergies because of them.  sneezing abounds.
2.  faux spring happens here sometime during mid - late february through mid-march.  then it drops to freezing again (maybe even snow!) and everyone gets sick.  then the real spring comes, right about now.
3.  springing forward may mean that we "lose" an hour of sleep one night, and that we have a spring forward hangover for a week or so afterward.  but it also means that there's no more driving home in the dark at 4 pm!
4.  lots of events (festivals, craft fairs) begin popping up as natives crave walking around centennial park and the like for hours.  it's awesome!
5.  flowers in abundance.  my birthday flower (jonquils) are the first to peep out, but so many others follow quickly.
6.  tv is still good.  :)  which means i do a lot of evening tv watching with a breeze coming in the screen door and the soft sounds of wind chimes in the background
7.  at home, the farmers start moving.  around here i'm sure they do too but since i live in the city i miss those tractors and smell of plowed earth.  of course, i DON'T miss being stuck behind them for 3 miles on a 2 lane road with no passing possible.
8.  i do a lot of tanning while walking this time of year :)  finn's parents have moved to a house that's approximately 2 blocks from one of the several entrances to the greenway, so it's perfect for that!  plus, i live 10 minutes away from a couple of gorgeous spots to hike. (one i just discovered last week -- so excited!)
9.   signs of new life are everywhere, which is such a great reminder of spiritual things.  making all things new isn't such an abstract concept when you see it repeated at every season change!  but seriously, the baby bunnies, budding trees, and peeping plants are fun :-)
10.  as much as i want to be active and OUT this time of year, rest beckons too.  and i love that.  i try to log a few hours in the hammock each week, i enjoy my God time all the more when i'm surrounded by such beauty, and on a practical note my allergies force me to rest a little more this time of year than others.  and i don't think that's an accident ;-)

so what do you notice or love at this time of year?

nashville snow drivers

i've written tips about winter weather

and have done my fair share plus of complaining about nashville drivers in the snow

today i'll give you a slight glimpse of what i'm talking about.  which is timely because ICE is predicted today.  oh joy!

as i see it there are a few distinct categories of nashville (or southern) snow drivers

in no particular order (except how it comes to my brain) here they are

the recent transplant

characteristics: doesn't understand what everyone is complaining about, forgets temporarily that tennessee gets less snow and more ice, also forgets that nashville is very hilly

driving style: at least 20 mph faster than everyone else on the road, over-confident

(for tractor trailers, add 10 mph and a whole lot of aggressiveness.  yikes)

the nervous nellie/ned

characteristics: have rarely if ever driven in snow, decide that wherever they need to go is clearly more important than the safety of everyone else in the city, bundled up in a heavy coat, thick gloves and a hat that keeps dropping over their eyes but they are too afraid to take their hands off the wheel to push it up

driving style: at least 20 mph slower than everyone else on the road, frequent braking, hands at 11 and 1 on the steering wheel and sitting at the very edge of their driver's seat

the native

characteristics: is only experienced in driving to his or her local grocery store for bread/milk/eggs but feels that experience is just as good as anyone else's

driving style: speed varies, but braking is frequent

the oblivious

characteristics: knows there is snow/ice on the road and that it's slowing everyone else down, but doesn't feel as if it affects him/her, often spotted with "multi-tasking" items such as cell phone or coffee in hand, or makeup brush poised

driving style: at least 20 mph faster than everyone else, reckless when there ISN'T winter weather, so completely hazardous when there is.  avoid this person at all costs.

 

on a scary(ier) note, here's actual footage of tennessee drivers on ice.  yikes!

and some tips, should you need them.  i kid in this post (kind of) but in ALL seriousness, be careful out there!

(all photos from google images)

you can't make this stuff up: volume 14 (yet another tennessee edition)

do you have a local character (or 20)?

ours is a chicken.

or rather, a person in a chicken suit who protests...stuff. 

short blurb about the chicken. 

AND possibly best of all...

he has a twitter feed


so seriously -- who are the characters in YOUR town or city?

Monday's Memory: the one with the trip back from clarksville

we had been dating for about 2 months

went to clarksville

about an hour away

to attend the 50th wedding anniversary of a family (mine) friend

my parents happened to come down as well, so anthony met them for the first time

we had an event with our kids that evening, so we left in PLENTY of time to get back

unfortunately

this is tennessee

and weird, weird, weird things happen on our highways

that hour long trip

took several

because of hazardous waste on the highway and re-routing

thank goodness anthony had a deck of cards in the center console

although we eventually grew tired of playing slaps

ahhhh, good times

(and yes, we're always paranoid now

when driving back home 

on 24)

Thursday's Ten: i don't get it

this week, in the category of things i don't understand...

1. appetizers for cats. really, fancy feast?

2. twilight teeth. for real, y'all?

3. people freaking out about facebook privacy settings again. most of them i understand, but worrying that your phone number is being published to your friends list? um...you put your phone number up. if you don't want your friends to see it, remove it. easy fix...

4. why no one in tennessee seems to use cages when growing tomatoes. they produce a much sturdier plant than staking them...just sayin'

5. disposable hand towels being marketed for everyday use. i definitely think they can be used in place of paper towels in some situations. but the marketing ploy is basically that your regular hand towels are filthy and this is the solution.

ok, i'm not sure about you, but i'm drying my CLEAN hands on my hand towel...so i don't buy it.

talk about NOT being eco-friendly!

6. little girls who say they deserve to continue on in competition because "we've just been working SO hard for SO long". um, even if you've been working 10 years (your whole life) and are immensely talented, i can point you to some adults who would laugh at that. a lot.

(thank you, america's got talent, for that particular gem)

7. why on earth it's taken me over 24 hours and two restore operations to try to update my iphone to OS.4. omgoodness.

8. why i haven't heard more about hot in cleveland. i mean, it's betty white for crying out loud--and it cracks.me.up.

9. why all the infomercials after midnight seem to be targeted to the older set. i mean, do they really think 60+ year olds are up at 1 or 2 am watching tv?!

10. mashed potatoes from a box. the real deal is the only way to go. end of story.

join me, won't you?

Thursday's Ten: ways YOU can help

i've had so many people out of town ask "but what can we DO?"

i hope you don't mind that today's 10 is ways to help out nashville. it's honestly written because people have asked for it to be. there are tons of blogs and sites out there with similar lists, but i want to specifically focus on what out-of-towners can do.

this is in no way a comprehensive list, and if you live close to our area other blogs (such as nashvillest) will be good resources for you if you don't know anyone specifically who was affected. chances are you DO know someone though and are already helping in whatever capacity you're able to.

for those of you with a bit of distance between your place and ours, here's a short list of concrete, simple things you can do to help those who are hurting.

1. we need donations of gift cards--home depot, wal-mart, target, lowe's, kroger, etc--for people who are rebuilding/replacing ruined items. gift cards instead of items simply because we NEED people to be able to spend money in our city right now.
i've also seen a few people mention gift cards to local restaurants for people who have a kitchen that is inoperable.
here is one place that i know is taking donations of gift cards:
Otter Creek Church

2. are you affiliated with a church in your city? if so, contact a "sister church" in nashville. ask if they have specific needs in their congregation, or if they have specific ministries that are in need of extra donations/supplies for flood relief. most churches down here are taking care of everyone they can.

if you aren't affiliated with a church try one of these:
http://www.graceworksministries.net/ (independent ministry)
www.disasterreliefeffort.org (churches of Christ)
http://www.dioceseofnashville.com/ (Catholic)
http://www.christchurchnashville.org/ (non-denom)


3. text for good! the american red cross will receive a $10 donation to disaster relief if you text "REDCROSS" to 90999

4. bottled water is needed right now. no, it's not the environmentally conscious thing to do, and it hurts my eco mind to use bottled water, paper plates and cups, and other disposable items. but the fact is, one of our water reservoirs was flooded and is currently inoperable. nashville residents have been told to cut water usage by at least half. this means most of us, if we're listening to the pleas, are pretty stinky right now since no one is taking good showers. but you know what? i'm happy to take baby wipe baths and rinse out my hair every other day--or two--if it helps my nashville. we're being asked to limit water usage to cooking, drinking, and hand washing and VERY limited other usage. if bottled water is donated, it'll cut down that much more on city water usage.

5. buy a t-shirt. right now all i have is the facebook fan page, but there should be an online store up soon.

6. for those of you concerned about the fate of animals, the nashville humane society and metro animal services are accepting donations that are more pet-friendly. :) there are also several area vets and kennels that are boarding animals for displaced families.

7. one of the coolest things i saw on facebook earlier this week was that students at my alma mater (Trevecca) were given an opportunity to receive credit by volunteering in the flood relief in lieu of their exams in some classes. how amazing is that? trevecca has always been a school of service, and i'm proud to be an alum when i hear things like that.

by the way, trevecca sustained some damage in the electrical/maintenance facilities, print shop, gym, student activity center, and a couple of athletic fields. yet i didn't find out about that until i read a press release on a nazarene church's website informing the greater nazarene community of this. clearly, student efforts are focusing on what they can do off campus...did i mention i love my university?

trevecca's flood relief efforts: http://www.trevecca.edu/info/newsandevents?id=3955
lipscomb's (i should also note that lipscomb is one of four main shelters housing families who were displaced. the others are the gordon jewish community center, al menah shrine center, and people's church in franklin)
belmont
vanderbilt

i couldn't find any other local universities with flood relief efforts, but i'll keep my eyes open in the next few days.


8. donate monies online
community foundation (in conjunction with the mayor's office)
american red cross
second harvest food bank
salvation army
nashville rescue mission (ok, so this isn't a flood relief specific page, but they serve nashville's homeless population and they were definitely hit hard...so a donation would not be out of place for them. another worthy homeless ministry is room in the inn which several area churches participate in. another homeless project which is absolutely amazing and wonderful is the newspaper, the nashville contributor)

9, visit us. we depend heavily on tourism dollars. yes, opryland hotel and downtown are currently under water. yes, some tourist attractions will be closed for a few months. but let us show you the other sides of nashville, the sides tourists typically miss. we'll be glad to have you, and grateful that you remember us.

10. or come down for a weekend and help families clean out their flood-soaked basements or houses. hands on nashville is coordinating all the FEMA volunteers, so that's a great place to look.

and pray. please. i've stopped watching the news--it's so horrible to see places that i love literally in ruins...and then there are the more personal aspects as i help people i dearly love try to sort out what is salvageable and what must be thrown away. we WILL rebuild, and we will be stronger for it...but right now it's just overwhelming and hard. pray that help will be swift and effective, that clean up will be as smooth as possible, that the city and her people will be resilient.



side note: if any of you are from indiana (southern) or the part of kentucky i'll be driving through to get there and want to send anything down with me, i'll be up thursday-saturday for a wedding. i'll have limited times that i can pick stuff up but please email me or call if you have my number and i'll DEFINITELY meet you and get anything you want to the appropriate place.

i'll also be going to the gatlinburg area later in the month, so if any of you are on the way from nashville to there (or close) i can do the same then :)

and then there was the time that nashville nearly drowned...

(titans stadium)

we're officially in a state of emergency here.
and while there are bad things happening
(anthony's parents had a flooded basement yesterday
his granny's house has 3 ft--at least--of water sitting in it)
i'm choosing to focus on the positive

(the walmart a mile from my place--saturday mid-day)

i don't have any firsthand sensational pictures to post
like many of my friends do
and at first i was kinda bummed about that
then i quickly realized how silly that is

(on the other side of me, less than a mile away)

the fact that i don't have any awesome storm pics
no waves going through my backyard
no rivers down the street

(another major intersection--this one about 3 miles away perhaps)

it means that i'm safe
secure
and dry

many that i love aren't so lucky

(downtown street)

i will say that i don't know the status of the storage unit just yet
(and am oh-so-thankful i secured renter's insurance on the contents of it just friday!)
but the things there are just that--things.
emi is safe
i am safe
anthony and his family are safe

we're good
:)

i'll leave you with a couple of more humorous things from the storm
(because as you can see above there is much in the way of seriousness
but i--we--need to laugh)



facebook status from a friend:
K, now we know it is bad. Naomi Judd just called the TV station to report that her fence has been knocked down and that her buffalo are now roaming wild! Flooded house, yes, but wild buffalo, lookout!!

and further proof that nashville not only doesn't stop the music for water--it also doesn't stop creativity!
"Tennessee's Not Landlocked Anymore"


this one's not funny...just poignant. i love this photographic proof that you can't stop the music here, no matter what.
i think there's a whole blog post just in that statement

...i'll work on it...

Thursday's Ten: Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful...

but the fire heater is so delightful
and since we've no place lots of places to go....
Let it snow, Let it Snow, LET IT SNOW!!

I'm hoping for some white stuff here in mid-TN, but I'm not holding my breath. We're not exactly known for getting it when it's predicted!

However, schools have closed. I'm writing this on Wednesday evening so that I can schedule it to pop up first thing on Thursday and schools.are.closed. Not a trace of snow in the air.

Meanwhile, I'm cold.
Bone-chilled, aching, miserable COLD.

Honestly, if it snows I'll instantly warm up. There's something magical about it.

But just in case it doesn't (because that's pretty likely around here)

here's some other ways to warm up!



1. Scarves, scarves, scarves, scarves, scarves
2. Cuddling with your honey :)
3. a fun hat
4. building a small fire out of bamboo skewers normally used for kabobs...
5. bundling up with enough layers that you'll walk like a penguin
6. letting your leg hair grow so that there's another layer between you and the cold air
(I would NEVER. It's just a suggestion!)
7. using a hair drying for warming yourself up. Honestly, Driving Ms N did that.
8. having a bulldog breathe on you (Moxie's staying the weekend, just in case you were wondering)
9. running
(but who wants to do that in the COLD?!)
10. heating pads. they're not just for pain anymore.

What about you? What do you do when the weather outside isn't to your liking?

MckLinky is up, grab the button and post your top ten!
(It doesn't have to be about this subject)

Oh, and next week we'll do a "most wanted" list. 10 material things you are saving up for or just wanting...





(this just in: the bread aisle at Kroger today via twitpics. if the milk and eggs look like this we'll have plenty of french toast to go around the city!)

C razy News in Nashville (You Can't Make This Stuff Up, Volume 4)

A bank down the road from me was robbed yesterday. By Santa. He claimed to need the money so he could pay his elves.

I wish I were kidding.
In other news, looks like a wet Christmas here, but not a white one. Par for the course!

Wordle, etc

(visit Shannon to join in the fun)



Enjoying a beautiful Tennessee fall day!

(visit Cate to join in the fun)

Thursday's Ten: I Truly Believe

Hi all! Welcome to this week's edition of Thursday's Ten. Today's list is called "I Truly Believe"

you can be serious
silly
or do a combination of the two (which is what I did)
and please include pictures if you can!



1. That all coffee should be this pretty
2. That I should not see the moon on my way home from work at 4:30
3. That rain is for dancing in...and kissing in.
4. That there is healing power in cuddling a baby
5. That freshly grated cheese is MUCH better than that store packaged shredded crap
6. That men are just as attractive when they show their nurturing side...and that they ARE born with it.
7. That the Colts may just go to another Superbowl this year
8. That hearing children sing may be one of the most beautiful sounds on earth.
9. That a person (especially this person) should see the ocean at least once a year.
10. That I am blessed beyond measure.

You know the drill! Grab the button, sign MckLinky and share your list with us!

Bad Haiku Friday

Put a lock and key
Round the state of Tennessee...
No more friends can leave.

Yep. My good friend Laura and her baby girl Israel are headed out next week indefinitely. She hopes to be back early next year, but nothing is for sure yet...

I'm a little over this friends moving away thing.