What I Did This Weekend

Ha! No, I didn't go to the Grand Canyon! Instead I visited Dallas with my canyon buddies, Charlotte and Sheryl, pictured here on either side of me last September. More weekend deets later . . . I'm very tired and confused what with all the falling back and time zone changes

Nothing, uh, stinks like a big orange.

Huh. Well, the weekend in Tennessee was lovely. It's a beautiful state, at least the eastern part is . . . full fall colors all over. The drive there was just stunning (central and western Virginia are really pretty now too) and we stayed at a lovely house in the Pigeon Forge/Gatlinburg region. If you're familiar with the area, it may interest you to know that it was near - no kidding - Boogertown Road. Seriously. I can't make this stuff up.

So we took a drive through the Great Smoky Mountains National Park in the Cade's Cove area and saw lots of scenery and lots of cars. Apparently it's their busiest time of year. We also saw some real, live bears in the wild! A mother and at least two cubs . . . even though there were plenty of people between me and them, I didn't want to get too close. Also took a stroll through the wonderfully tacky Gatlinburg, which always makes me feel like a paragon of taste and class.

The game was not as bad as possible. The score was pretty close most of the time, and it was a beautiful day. And the river is very nice. On the other hand, the seats were tiny and we were shoehorned in like so many cattle. (Have you ever wondered how they fit so many people in that stadium they're so proud of? Make the seats about twelve inches wide. It ain't pretty, folks.) Obviously the less said about the fans the better. They aren't pretty either.

And to top it all off, two solid hours of the drive back to Virginia were spent just getting through Pigeon Forge along with everyone else in creation. I figured we were entitled to speed through the rest of the state to make up for lost time, but the driver didn't agree with my logic there for some reason.

Ah, the end of a nice, lovely weekend.  (I worked on Saturday and therefore Sunday-Monday is my weekend . . . but if you're reading this, you are undoubtedly already aware of this scheduling quirk.)  Went to the National Folk Festival here in Richmond with RP; we got to hear some fun bands and eat cool ethnic food.  Especially the florentine treat, which was sort of like chocolate-covered almond brittle.  What's not to like about that?

I had all sorts of things planned for today but nanaged to accomplish very little.  I did, however, go to Walmart and get some yarn for the Suzanna afghan I've been planning for her Big Girl Room.  Pretty bright colors . . . pink, purple, yellow, lime green, and aqua.  I got started on it today and am pleased to say it's shaping up to be a pretty fast, mindless knit.

KG, PH, and RP

What an insane couple of weeks it's been! And not likely to improve, either. Exhibit A is the fact that the photo to the left was taken before Labor Day and I am just now getting around to posting it. Sad. (The PH in question is an actor portraying Patrick Henry at the St. John's Church re-enactment. Good fun for anyone who visits Richmond, and free too, though the weekly performances are only in the summer.)

I fortunately had the day off today (long story) because I had to spend time in the car repair shop to get my trunk latch fixed. (Another long story.) They "adjusted striker on deck lid" which set me back $2.50 for the adjustment itself and $40 to figure out what was wrong. Plus an hour and a half of my life that I'll never get back. Bitter? Not me. (Okay, it wasn't so bad, I went to Ukrop's and consoled myself with breakfast pizza while they were working on it, and got some tests graded too.)

Also I went and bought some new running shoes today on account of (1) I've had my current shoes for nearly three years now - the salesman looked at the model and said, "Wow, we haven't sold those in a long time!", and (2) I think the broken-down nature of the current shoes may be contributing to my hip aches. The new ones are nice: Cushiony and supportive. And they're pink!