everyone has one

I want a scooter. But I don't know where I'll be living in the next few years, so I've decided it's not the best investment. I don't want to end up living in Hermitage and riding my scooter downtown.

Our gift shop manager has one (blue with red/yellow flames). One of our gift shop employees has one (red). One of our food/beverage people has one (blue and silver, I've heard, although I haven't seen this one). And somebody else that works here has one because I keep seeing a light silver one by the "bike rack" (photo on right).

But for the record, I wanted one first!!!

today is lisa's birthday

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISA!!!

tires

So I have a screw stuck in one of my tires. Luckily it's stuck straight in with nothing on the screw head sticking out. And it's stuck on the "fleshy" part, not in a tread or anything. I noticed it on my way to my car this morning. Since that last time I drove my car was last night around 7, and it's now after 8 am and still looks okay, like it hasn't lost any air, I'm going to stick out the work day and take it to a place after work.

A couple (other than the obvious) things suck about this. 1) I'm going to some end-of-the-season party being thrown by a coworker tonight and I have food to make (antipasta salad; got the recipe from the Real Simple Magazine website). 2) I've never had any experiences with car repair places out here so I have no idea where to go. 3) I've never had any experiences with something stuck in my tire, so I basically have no clue what I'm doing. But I did call Dad and he asked me questions about how it's stuck and whatnot and seemed pretty positive I'll be fine to have it parked out here. And at least I have AAA, so if it does turn into a flat I'll give them a call and have them put the spare on (hey, I pay for AAA, I'm not gonna put the spare on myself!).

On another mixed note, yesterday my supervisor told me I need a suit for a meeting today. So I think, "Okay, I'll go home and try on my suits to make sure I can wear one of them." After all, I've gained about 20 pounds in the last few months, so who knows. So I got home and... couldn't find my suit pants! The other suits I looked at were definitely not working. Awesome. So I drove out to the mall, went to Dillards, found the petite sale section, and tried them all on in my size. Usually it takes a good 6 hours or so to find one or two good suits that fit well and don't cost a fortune. But I found one. Yay! AND, yesterday morning I found $50 in a purse I'd never used that my mom gave me. So that paid for almost half the suit. Suits are expensive!!

At least it's Friday!

B.A.C.A.

I was watching the news this morning and they showed this group, B.A.C.A. (Bikers Against Child Abuse). They go to court to support children of child abuse and help them feel safe/unafraid of their abusers. They meet the children before their court date, tell the kids who they are and what they believe in, give them a B.A.C.A. teddy bear with their hotline phone number on the back, and will even camp out overnight if the children want them to. Then they go to court in their B.A.C.A. gear (lots of black leather) and sit through hearings/trials to support the kids if/when they have to go on the stand.

These bike (mostly) guys are HUGE with lots of tattoos. And they're empowering abused children everywhere and making them feel safe. Isn't this great?!?

On a completely different note, I've been reading books about Boston terriers and other dog owner books (a great one I'm reading now is an ASPCA book about dog ownership). So last night I had a dream that I had one maltese and one beagle puppy. It was awesome.

pet store

Yes, I went to the "Puppy Mill" we also refer to as the pet store. And they had 3 Boston terriers and I played with one. I wanted to take him home but 1. it's a pet store. If I'm going to get a purebred I want to get it straight from the breeder to learn about the line and any hereditary problems and from someone that knows about and loves the breed. 2. It was Sunday afternoon and you're supposed to get a dog when you'll be home with it for a few days before leaving it alone for a whole day. And 3. after getting a library card and checking out 3 books about Bostons and a book by the ASPCA about dogs, I've learned I know absolutely nothing about dogs and refuse to take a living being and attempt to keep it alive and healthy and happy without knowing anything. So I'm reading and taking lots of notes. Did you know pugs and Bostons, because of their nasal cavaties, don't handle extreme heat well? Well, now you do. Yeah, that's right, I'm going to do this dog owning thing the right way. But I really did want to take him home. He was completely adorable, was good at playing with the toys instead of my clothes and shoes (mostly), would give me the toy when I asked, and when he was tired he was ready for me to hold and love him.

Sigh. And I guess Chris should be with me because he'll be partly responsible for taking care of the dog and we want to be sure everybody's happy with everybody. Chris is livin' it up in VA Beach for a week without me (I'm completely jealous, seriously).

Also, I got to talk with my old roomie Katie, who I haven't talked to in a month or so, and it's always a great time catching up. I love my current roomie Melissa, don't get me wrong, but I miss Katie bunches!

granny, events, etc.

Granny's home (yeah, I don't know... I wouldn't want to be home either) and my uncle and aunt have been staying with her until my parents get out there so Dad can install new doors. Mom and Dad are driving, again, out to Oklahoma and are stopping tonight on their way. Poor parents, that's a whole lot of driving back and forth in the last few months.

Chris and I met Big Kenny (see photo; Chris didn't take this one) of Big and Rich at a MuzikMafia show at Fuel downtown Tuesday night (Big Kenny: "Hi, I'm Big Kenny." Chris: "Yeah... I know."). He's a really cool guy. Now I really feel like I live in Nashville. Damien Horne and Michael Inge did a great job and it was an awesome way to start the 4th of July holiday.

We (Chris and I, not Big Kenny) went out to our friend Katie's for a barbecue on the 4th. Burgers and hot dogs done on Katie's new grill, homemade mac'n'cheese, rice pudding, apple crisp, and other goodies abounded. I'm not really used to the legal fireworks in Tennessee (Virginians, think big firework shows). But it was cool because we could see a few from Katie's back deck.

Chris is going to VA Beach for about a week. Although I know we'll miss each other, it will be a great opportunity for him to visit family and hopefully shadow a wedding photographer, and a great opportunity for me to have some girl time and go to the gym. Then he'll be back in time for us to go to Chattanooga next weekend!

Nashville

A new tv show on Fox! It's going to be a part-reality part-documentary show about the music industry. It will feature local music venues, coffee shops and restaurants. Fridays at 9 beginning in mid-September.

Sweet!

news

Mom's mom (Granny) is in the hospital. The doctors think it's something wrong with her gall bladder but we don't know much yet.

Granny's been living by herself since Papa passed away about a month ago. She'd been afraid to stay home alone but wanted to be brave so she was staying by herself.

While my uncle was at the hospital with Granny, Granny's house got broken into. Someone kicked the door/deadbolt/entire door frame in. Before they broke in, though, they cut the phone line. They stole everything of value like Granny's jewelry, all the electronics (which probably wasn't worth it since everything is like 10 years old), and all the cash in the house. Some of the house was trashed, where Granny had everything valuable; the rest of the house was left untouched. Sounds like the person knew where things were.

Mom and Dad are going to drive back out to Oklahoma and will probably stop over in Nashville during the weekend. I guess Mom's really not doing well. Understandable.

I'll update when I know more about how Granny's condition is.

iphone

I'd love to get an iPhone, but I happen to be on my parents' Sprint plan, and they pay for it, so it's either buy a new expensive phone and pay for the service (I'm sure it's cheap), or continue paying $0/month. Plus, I'm totally waiting until the iPhone has GPS service and collaborates with Google. I mean... really... Apple came up with the iPhone, why not a Google GPS? Although, Google told me to get on I-40 and merge onto I-24, and so did my GPS, and it's totally illegal.

In other news, I still don't have a puppy. But we did go clothes shopping for Chris over the weekend. Then Sunday we went to church, met Katie for lunch, and saw Live Free or Die Hard. As for church, we've gone to Fellowship Bible Church twice now and we both pretty much like it (building/location, message, worship music). Now to tell you about Live Free or Die Hard. It. Was. AWESOME. Now, I'm not the best movie critic to pay attention to because as long as I'm entertained by the movie I usually like it, whether or not there's a viable plot or not. But this movie really was awesome, with some great one-liners. I'm A Mac did a great job, and he and Bruce Willis seemed to work together well. A+! Although some scenes/details were pretty unbelievable (example: an unmarked, non-military non-government helicopter would not get into DC airspace), the action scenes were awesome, there were no obnoxious explanation dialogue scenes (where you think, aren't they being chased? Do you think they should sum things up a little quicker?), and the action scenes were awesome. Okay, I know I said that last part twice, but that's how awesome they were.

Okay, I'm ready for my 4th of July vacation day now.