Morrisons in Nashville

In the Meantime--Saving East Nashville's Pets

2010-06-01T19:20:00.000-07:00

At the same time that we were helping with the election, we were fostering and training a slew of four-legged strays.

These lucky pups have all been adopted by wonderful folks in Nashville:

Dotty

Bess

Here is our latest, little Neko the puppy.

Our MIA Explanation

2010-06-01T19:10:00.001-07:00

Dan and I got very involved in some exciting political developments in East Nashville. We helped remove our sitting city council (Metro for Nashvillians) representative.

I provided my PR and marketing services to the campaign, which took up every weekend and evening for quite a while.

Here are a few photos and links:

http://www.newschannel5.com/global/story.asp?s=11496863

http://nashvillecitypaper.com/content/city-news/hollin-bests-murray-unofficial-recall-returns

http://www.wsmv.com/news/21625769/detail.html

And We're Back!

2010-06-01T19:02:00.001-07:00

We've been MIA for a while--I'll explain more later about what took over our lives for a while.

But we're back, picking up where we left off.

We fixed the fence after it was smooshed by a falling tree.

Then we finished the deck.

We took some time off from all of our house projects because 1) it was tiring and 2) we had lots of other stuff going on.

Tree/Fence Situation Still Unresolved

2009-07-01T09:29:00.000-07:00

We are still in communication with Nashville to determine how best to proceed with the toppled fence situation. Public Works said it was Metro property, Metro Legal said it wasn't. We are appealing with Metro Legal by providing them more evidence and estimates for repair.

Here's a better picture of the tree on top of our fence a couple of weeks ago:

Public Works came out today to take down the rest of the tree, which was rotting from the inside out. So, we're still waiting to fix the fence and to replace my beloved cypress...

The deck continues

2009-06-16T17:19:00.000-07:00

This was the update I was hoping to post--we're making progress on the last part of the deck. We had to build the part of the deck that attaches the back door to the rest of the structure in a different way because of zoning rules. We couldn't build a "permanent structure" at the edge of the property line, so we are building this part as a "temporary structure."

I was hoping to post good news...

2009-06-16T16:51:00.001-07:00

I was getting ready to post an exciting update about our progress on the deck and our other house projects. But then the storm came today.

And now our back yard is destroyed. A tree from across the alley from our back yard crashed down on the fence and my brand new cypress trees and crushed them.

The good news is that the tree was not on our property, so there's a chance we aren't responsible for the damage. We will know more tomorrow. Here's the damage:

Community Action at Work!

2009-05-06T10:33:00.000-07:00

Dan and I are in the crowd of red shirts at last night's Metro Council meeting. The video quality is so bad, but maybe you can see us in the second row on the far left side. Me with a red shirt over my long-sleeved white collared shirt. Dan in his Lee College tshirt.

Go East Nashville!

Inspected & Approved!

2009-04-27T08:07:00.000-07:00

After installing stairs over the weekend, we got the deck inspected this morning and it was approved! We are still making some tweaks. We aren't 100 percent finished, but we're almost there!

What will I blog about when we finish the deck?

2009-04-14T10:52:00.001-07:00

I don't know what I will blog about when we finish the deck. We finished the main deck this weekend. Now we need to build stairs and get it inspected. After the inspection, we'll make a few more changes. I know it looks like the deck is sinking on the right corner. It's not. Our yard is so uneven it makes the deck look lop-sided. We have started collecting furniture for the deck. We need a stack of plastic chairs now, so if anyone has any tips on where to get them, let us know!

Turns out the whole thing is over 500 square feet!

Deck Updates

2009-04-06T09:41:00.000-07:00

Dan and I are still hard at work on the deck. We layed the deck planks on about one-third of the entire deck this weekend. Almost all of the pieces are screwed down. We plan to finish by my birthday weekend, so we can celebrate with some neighbors.

Dan's Birthday Bash

2009-03-23T11:59:00.001-07:00

We've been celebrating Dan's birthday for a couple of weeks now, so it's time for the recap:

Friday, March 13 was Dan's official 30th birthday. We got people together at Rosepepper and had some delicious margaritas and cheese dip. As if that wasn't enough, we had cake from Whole Foods and drinks afterwards at 3 Crow Bar.

Here are some highlights:

Dan enjoying his birthday margaritas.

Dan's friends from VU Sociology.

Our Mizzou friends Cara and Jack.

Our neighbors Kendra and Toby.

My coworker and her boyfriend Mary Brenna and Cliff.

Dan's birthday cake.

Former and current employees of Lovell Communications.

Dan solemnly swears to enjoy his cake!

Dan's birthday pose.

Our friend Laura, who we know so many ways...

Another Foster Dog

2009-03-09T14:19:00.000-07:00

We've been in charge of another foster dog for the last couple of weeks, Bo. He is a monster and we'll be glad to see him find a home (where he doesn't destroy things).

He does have one very redeeming quality, though, he loves to play with Hubble.

Deck Update--Long Overdue

2009-03-09T14:12:00.001-07:00

Our update on the deck is long overdue. We have been making GREAT progress, and with the time change on our side we can really get things done.

Check it out:

Next, we nail in all of the joists you see here. Then, we lay the decking! Woohoo!

Another Project

2009-02-02T11:01:00.000-08:00

Dan and I have to be "do it yourselfers" if we want to do anything to our house. That's the way it works with things need to get done and you can't pay someone else to do them.

This time, we decided to replace the kitchen floor. It has been creaking, popping and generally not sticking to the layer underneath it. So we ordered some new flooring and ripped up the old stuff Friday night.

Then the fun started. Turns out, there was been a leak in the dishwasher for months, maybe. The wood under the flooring was all wet and starting to warp.

We have been actively drying out the floor (thanks to three borrowed fans) and are waiting for the water to all come up. It will take another day or so, but it's getting there.

So, we have no kitchen for about a week. We have a microwave and a fridge, but that's it.

Here is the progress:

This time it was Hubble...

2009-02-02T10:58:00.000-08:00

What's a weekend without a trip to the emergency vet AGAIN? This time, it was Hubble.

Apparently, the dogs got into the composter some time yesterday. We noticed the lid was off Sunday morning and put it back on as soon as we noticed. It hasn't been closing well these days due to a previous attempt to pry it open by a neighbor's visiting pet. We thought we got it covered up before anything bad happened. We thought Maddie got into it, so we poured peroxide down her throat to make her vomit anything that she may have eaten. But we never suspected that Hubble would be on the wrong end of this deal.

Luckily, it's winter so there's not actually any compost in the composter. It's just leaves and food waste until it warms up. Apparently Hubble got into the coffee grounds that had been pulled out of the bin.

At the time it was scary, but now it seems comical. If you know Hubble, you know he's pretty high energy anyway. Imagine Hubble after popping a couple of doses of speed. He couldn't walk straight and just vibrated with his eyes and ears twitching constantly.

Once we got to the vet, the worst was over and he was fine. We just had to keep him hydrated so he could process the rest of the caffeine. I felt so bad for him. He about had a heart attack at the vet he was so jittery. He followed me around the rest of the night he was so scared of whatever was happening to him.

Poor guy.

My own LOLcats

2008-12-18T11:17:00.000-08:00

This is my own version of LOLcats with my friend Whitney's cat. Maybe you'll see it on the site.

More Bruges

2008-12-10T11:03:00.000-08:00

Ah Brugges, how we would have liked to stay. Brugges is a little piece of history with its cobblestone streets and Medieval architecture. It's a beautiful little town. Again, our goal was to drink as much beer as possible while we were in Belgium. If you are not already aware, Dan loves beer. And I love Belgian beer. So this whole stop was a win-win for both of us. We saw a sight, has some beer. Saw a sight, had some beer. Here's a little taste:

This is the oldest pub in Bruges. It has been in operation since its opening in 1515.

Here is a dog sitting on a bar stool in the bar. I don't know why this was cracking me up so much, but it was.

On to Bruges

2008-12-09T15:22:00.001-08:00

Bruges is a lovely town. It has become quite a popular tourist destination for Europeans on "holiday." The town hasn't changed much since the 16th Century, making it like a little trip into the past.

Here's one of the windmills that surround the city:

This is the life. Sitting on a bench and looking out over a canal. I could live here...

Deck Updates

2008-12-09T15:14:00.001-08:00

Slowly, we are making progress on our deck. It's not going to be perfect, but hopefully no one will crash through and injure themselves. That's the ultimate goal, really.

We have posts in the ground. After this picture we taken, we completed the process of framing the exterior.

You know you wanna come over and help....

On to Belgium

2008-11-24T15:54:00.000-08:00

To continue the European vacation story, we went from Rotterdam to Brussels for one night. We were told that was all we needed to see Brussels. It's dirty, known for its high crime and didn't have much scenery. Our main goal was to find Belgium beer, chocolates and waffles. And that's what we did!

Bittersweet Parting

2008-11-24T10:48:00.000-08:00

As you may recall from a previous post, we were fostering a dog named Sonic. He is a great guy (except for his superhuman ability to climb chainlink fencing). He is just old, which is why it was so hard to find him a home. Everyone wants a puppy. Everyone but me, that is. I am a huge advocate for adopting adult animals instead of getting a puppy or kitten, which is why we tried to find Sonic a home.

Well, it worked. Sonic is going to a new home today to meet his new friends. He will only come back if things don't work out for him there. Otherwise, he will have a new cat roommate and will make his new home feel very safe.

We will miss him. Goodbye Sonic.

Tiniest Spook You Ever Did See

2008-11-03T11:03:00.000-08:00

Our neighbors had a baby last week, and she is about the cutest little thing. She was only 4 lbs. 10 oz. because she was early. No one anticipated that she would need a Halloween outfit, so I jumped into action on Thursday and brought them a Halloween onesie to the hospital.

Here is the tiniest spook you ever did see:

Notice the rolled up sleeves so it would fit.

Congrats Matt and Ariana!

Rotterdam, The Netherlands

2008-11-03T08:59:00.000-08:00

On our European trip, we spent about half of our trip in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. It is the second-biggest city in The Netherlands and is the largest port city for the country. It has a unique history that I thought would bore me when I arrived. But I was pleasantly surprised.

Rotterdam was essentially destroyed in WWII. Because it served as a major port to Northern Europe, the Nazis destroyed it to control the import, export and transportation. So the city was rebuilt almost from scratch in the 20th Century. Almost all of the buildings you see in this picture were build after the war. This photo was taken from the Euromast, the tallest building in Rotterdam.

You get to sit in the "crow's nest" and spin around to see a panoramic view of the city. We took a little video so you could hear some Dutch:

Some nice German tourists took our picture and we took their picture for them:

In the giftshop of the Euromast, we found my FAVORITE souvenir of the entire trip. I didn't get these but they cracked us up so much that we had to leave we were being so obnoxious. Giant slippers that resemble classic Dutch wooden shoes.

The one on display was GINORMOUS and I could not stop myself from trying it on.

Who doesn't love Craigslist?

2008-10-30T11:13:00.000-07:00

I love Craigslist. I buy as much stuff as I can used from Craigslist. We got our dogs off Craigslist and we sold the Mercury Grand Marquis on Craigslist. (We bought a new car--photos to come)

Now we're trying to get rid of our old scooter on Craigslist. We're not having any luck so far because it's not a high-quality name brand. It's a Chinese knock-off that has its own issues. But, we did get a good laugh when we received this query from an "interested" buyer:

"Would you trade for five large gumball machines, these cost $1000 each? They make you money."

Interesting offer, but I don't think so...

2008-09-29T14:07:00.000-07:00

September 29, 2008

Who is Sonic? I've had some folks ask me who is this Sonic I talk about sometimes? He's a dog that we've been fostering until we/his rescuer finds him a home.

He's a great guy, but I'm not sure if we're ready to commit to having another dog full time.

If you know of anyone looking for a dog, he's great. Don't let my previous posting scare you. The fight was all Maddie's fault. It's not the first one she's been in.

We actually really like Sonic, who gets his name from the fast food restaurant where he was found digging through the dumpster.

He's 7 to 9 years old and is a complete and total mutt.

2008-09-29T12:01:00.000-07:00

September 29, 2008

There's nothing like an emergency trip to the vet over the weekend.

Our foster dog, Sonic, and our dog Maddie got into a big fight over the weekend where Maddie was injured. It was all over food because Maddie has some food aggression that we have to handle before this happens again.

She had a lot of puncture wounds on her body, including her throat. She was bleeding pretty bad after the whole scene so we drove her to the closest vet to see if she needed stitches. The vet said she would be fine and put her on antibiotics.

What are some good resources for finding some help for Maddie before she gets herself into trouble again?

2008-09-26T13:40:00.001-07:00

September 26, 2008

I got the dumbest email ever today. Someone really wrote these words. I still can't believe it.

I posted a listing on Craigslist about some leftover bricks I am giving away after finishing up our patio.

A man we shall call George responded to the posting with this:
"Hello I saw your post on Craigs List I am interested in picking up some bricks. I just have a few simple questions. What is the diameter of the bricks? I am looking for something to build a small doghouse with in the backyard. My worry about these bricks is that the diameter might be too small allowing insufficient support for the bricks to be placed on top. Also, I have designed some blueprints for the doghouse structure, maybe we could review them together and you could give me some pointers or ideas since you seem to be a brick expert. My plan seems solid but I would like to talk to you about the structure I plan on building to ensure top building quality."

First off, cubes don't have a diameter. Secondly, his dog is about to die after being cooked in a brick doghouse. Thirdly, I have become a brick expert somehow.

So, I think I can get George off of my back by telling him
"I don't think these bricks will work for your project."

He responds:
"They might be able to work for you it is only for a doghouse. If you could just get back to me with the diameter and maybe I can scan my blueprints and we can discuss the best way to construct a fundamentally sound doghouse."

Seriously, this guy has got to go. So, I point out the obvious to him:
"I'm sorry. I'm not an expert. I got these from a demo and just lined them up on the ground to make a patio. I have a few leftover. And bricks don't have a diameter. That is a circular measurement."

George did not respond.

2008-09-25T12:09:00.000-07:00

More European vacation:

So after I took my little trip to Frankfurt, I flew to Amsterdam and met Dan at the airport. It took a while to find him since the Amsterdam airport is HUGE. It has a mall attached to it and could have its own zip code.

We finally found each other and headed straight for the train station to go to Rotterdam. Dan had been in Amsterdam for a couple of days and now we were headed to Rotterdam for his conference.

On our train trip, we saw this lovely windmill in the distance:

Our train went through Den Hagg, which is what we would call The Hague, the center of international justice and law. The bicycle parking lot that we saw from the train was great. However, it was not the biggest one we saw.

Everyone bicycles in the Netherlands. I mean everyone. There are more bicycles than people in the country. The entire country is flat and the cities are fairly compact. Everyone at every stage of life uses a bicycle as their primary means of transportation. Babies ride on their parents in a papoose (e.g. Baby Bjorn) until they can hold up their own heads. Then they transition to a little baby seat on the front or back of the bike. I loved it.

More bicycles! And no one wears helmets. They don't have to really, because cyclists have the right of way and designated bike lanes in Rotterdam.

There's a distinct hierarchy of transportation in the country, but Rotterdam in particular. First, pedestrians have the priority, then cyclists, then small motorized vehicles (scooters, etc.) then cars. Cars always stopped for pedestrians and bikes, and never got mad at them. More on that later.

2008-09-16T14:12:00.000-07:00

September 16, 2008

How was Europe you ask?

Well, I love to procrastinate on blogging, but I'm trying to grant everyone's wish. Instead of providing a narrative of our trip (Day 1, Day 2, etc.), I will scatter some pictures around while providing some insight/observations into the life and culture of the low countries.

Dan left on August 18 and arrived in Amsterdam. He began his sight seeing there. More on Amsterdam later.

I left on August 19 after work and flew to Amsterdam through Frankfurt. I had a long-ish layover, so I decided to explore Germany for the few hours I was there.

It took me at least half an hour to figure how how to buy a subway ticket. Very few things are posted in English in Germany. This is not the case in the Netherlands, but more on that later.

So I'm in Germany and I decided to take a trip to the Römerplatz, described by Lonely Planet as "the centuries-old square that is flanked by the imposing facades of the Rathaus (town hall), Paulskirche (St Paul's church) and, of course, the mighty Dom (cathedral)."

It's pretty great to just wander around in. A lot of it has been rebuilt since the war. About the only thing left standing in this part of town after the war was the cathedral. A few pictures of the cathedral are below.

These are from the River Main.

It's really windy...As you know, I love scooters, so I couldn't help myself when I saw this huge scooter parking area in Frankfurt. Love it!

This is one of my favorites. This is proof that the "cat lady" concept exists all over the world.

2008-09-11T09:01:00.000-07:00

September 11, 2008

The Barbie scooter is famous!

Scooter Blues

Eye-catching scooters are popping up on Nashville streets, but riders say they may as well be invisible

By Tracy Moore

published: September 11, 2008

You would think someone riding a praying mantis-like vehicle the color of a strawberry milk shake—in glaring daylight, no less—could make it through workday traffic without cheating death. Not in Nashville, where rising gas prices and the attendant popularity of pump-friendly scooters are creating all new hybrids of traffic hazards and road rage.

Last July, Jan Morrison was driving home from her job at a PR firm in Green Hills. It was 5:50 p.m. on a bright, hot summer day when she reached her East Nashville neighborhood. Cruising down Meridian Street on her blazing pink Buddy scooter at about 30 mph, she approached an intersection. She'd taken this particular route at this particular time often. The cross streets had stop signs, and having right of way made her feel safer.

When she saw a dark-green sedan approaching from the right, it appeared to be slowing down. But as she neared the intersection with every intention of sailing legally through it, she realized the car wasn't stopping. It was rolling right on through.

"I knew I had only two options," says the 27-year-old by phone. "One was to not slam on my brakes, and run directly into the driver's side door. The other was to slam on my brakes and see where it got me."

Scooters use hand brakes to slow down, and after riding for two years, Morrison knew grabbing them too hard could result in the front wheel locking up or the bike flipping. So she braced herself and squeezed. The scooter buckled, hurling her onto her left side. She skidded along the pavement with only a white long-sleeved Oxford and jeans between her and the steaming asphalt. She thudded to a stop, her head stopping directly at the nose of the other car, just as the sedan screeched to a halt.

The story didn't make headlines. If the car had gone two feet farther, it would have. But when a van on Main Street failed to yield a few weeks ago, smashing into musician Will Hoge on his scooter and landing him in critical condition at Vanderbilt, news stations perked up. Overnight, Hoge became something of a local poster boy for scooter awareness.

Interviewed at the scene by Channel 5, Sgt. Bob Sheffield summed up the dilemma scooter and motorcycle riders face every time they buzz into traffic. "I guess the burden of safety is on the motorcycle rider [or] scooter rider," he said. "They are in, I mean, on a much smaller vehicle and, you know, a lot harder for folks in passenger vehicles to observe them."

The comment drew ire on message boards and blogs around town immediately. Local blogger The Musician and the Geek fumed at what she described as a "shining example of tactlessness."

"Too bad Will's thoughtless actions as the 'smaller vehicle' nearly cost him his life!" a post from Aug. 21 read. "Since the 'burden of safety is on the...scooter rider,' I guess it's his own fault that he hit the side of a van!"

But Metro Police Dept. spokesperson Kris Mumford insists Sheffield's message was purely educational. "He simply wanted to say it is important for people on scooters and motorcycles to be aware that they aren't as visible," Mumford says. "It was not his intention at all in any way to blame Mr. Hoge."

That didn't appease scooter riders around town, whose numbers are soaring in step with a national trend toward ditching the gas guzzler for the fuel sipper. They say the subtext is nothing new. They're used to getting cut off, honked at, or worse—ignored.

The risk hasn't stopped Nashvillians from buying scooters in large numbers. Dealers like East Side Scooters on Gallatin Road said they've sold more scooters this month than all of last year. "The demand this year has been insane," says co-owner Josephine Duer. She explains that Nashville's terrain allows scooters, meant on average for maximum speeds of 55 mph, plenty of surface streets to avoid the interstates. "Nashville is laid out in such a way that you don't have to hit major streets to get across town," she says.

And they're not just selling to trendy 20-somethings or kids. "When we first opened, I pictured having a niche group like that, but it's everybody buying them," Duer says. "We've had doctors, lawyers, musicians, men, women, everybody. I've had a couple guys come in who wanted to buy motorcycles and their wives were like, 'No way.' So they came in to get a scooter."

As it turns out, though, scooters are just as susceptible to sideswiping as cycles, which raises the question: Why do many drivers fail to register a brightly colored anomaly inserted into their environment? A term called "change blindness" partially explains it.

"People have difficulty detecting visual changes in their environment—salient changes you think people would find easily noticeable," says Vanderbilt psychologist Dan Levine, whose research focuses on change blindness in natural environments. "There's an enormous amount of info out there, and to think clearly we have to select little bits of it. What we select is generally a reflection of what's important. But not always."

Change blindness afflicts Nashville in other ways. Thanks to a dearth of bike lanes, which have been slow to develop here compared to cities such as Portland or Minneapolis, Nashville drivers are peripherally lazy when it comes to alternate forms of transportation. If we were used to sharing the road with cyclists, we might notice scooters more often. It's a new concept for a city whose rise coincided with the rise of the automobile.

Though they find Nashville a fun city to zip around in, scooter owners Adam Tanaka and Funky McDonnell say they've still experienced their fair share of hostility. They've started an online community called Scoot Nashville for riders to become acquainted and talk shop. Finding safety in numbers, they hold mass rides every third Sunday at 2 p.m.

"People treat it like it isn't a real motorized vehicle," Tanaka says. "Like, 'Get your two-wheel toy off the road.' You go to turn and you have your blinker on and they just get right on your ass."

Or they cut you off, as happened to McDonnell recently. Driving in the far right lane on West End, a woman on the far left crossed three lanes of traffic to pull directly in front of him. Then she stopped hard to make a quick right into a business. Like Morrison, McDonnell had to decide whether to become road kill or take a dive.

"I had the option of taking the scooter down to the ground, or slamming into the back of her and probably going through her windshield—and it would have been my fault," McDonnell recalls. "So I took the scooter down. She had no idea that it even happened."

None of that incensed him nearly as much as what happened next.

"This guy walking down the sidewalk saw what happened," McDonnell says. "He made sure I was OK, then walked over to the woman and told her what she did. She looked up, looked over at me, and then went right back to what she was doing. Didn't even find out if I was OK. I got to work with blood all down my legs."

In spite of drivers' tendency to ignore the latest mode of transport at their peril, the police department says scooter accidents haven't increased. Though given the increase in their presence, they wouldn't be surprised if they did.

Hoge's condition was recently downgraded from critical to stable. In a post on his MySpace page, he describes his injuries with a chilling directness: "My left eye was almost ripped out. My entire forehead looked like chopped ground beef."

Public awareness campaigns are tentatively in the works from some East Nashville residents, but other scooter riders have more ad-savvy ideas. "Maybe bikers and cyclists should wear shirts with half-naked women on them," said a user named Brandon posting on an East Nashville message board. "That should get attention, since it appears that it gets America's attention already—according to every commercial, advertisement, etc."

But in lieu of racy attire, scooter drivers are left frequenting the pockets of town with sympathetic drivers around Five Points, 12 South or Hillsboro Village, or fingering their worry beads. Most have their own mantras, and they all more or less amount to one thing: Drive like you're invisible.

"You get this scooter sense after a while," says McDonnell. "Even if someone doesn't have their blinker on, you just get to where you know when someone's going to pull out in front of you."

Still, scooter drivers like Morrison—who limped away from her accident with bruises, road rash and skin loss (particularly on her feet from not wearing socks) but no broken bones and no serious injuries—find that even after the road rash has healed, the road rage lingers like a stubbornly infected cut.

"I've just turned into the meanest driver you've ever seen," she says with a laugh. "This morning I was driving in to work and this truck pulled up. I don't even think he was going to cut me off, but he just looked like he was getting a little too close. I just laid down my horn and flipped him off. I just can't take it anymore."

http://www.nashvillescene.com/2008-09-11/news/scooter-blues/1

2008-08-12T07:55:00.000-07:00

August 12, 2008

What a terrible picture of me...but a cute one of Hubble. He's on the Tennessean's website!

2008-08-11T10:02:00.001-07:00

August 11, 2008

Pinky is back! The scooter was repaired and is back in full force! I'm so excited to be driving it again.

Here are some pictures that I took of my outfit the day of the accident. Note the asphalt on the left side of my clothes. That's where I hit the pavement.

2008-08-11T09:52:00.000-07:00

August 11, 2008

Hubble, Bubble, Toil and Trouble...

Our little dog Hubble was featured in the Faux Paw Fashion Show, part of East Nashville's Tomato Art Fest this weekend. My friend was coordinating the contest and got me involved because I submitted the winning name for the contest.

He dressed as LeBron Hubble, an NBA star. He wore a tiny jersey and a gold chain to compliment his tiny basketball chew toy. He was a real trooper as you will see from his picts.

Hubble won third place in the contest, which got him a toy and some gift certificates.

He tolerated his torture pretty well, I have to say. He may have been discovered by some folks doing pet product advertising. We'll see if that pans out. I think it would be hilarious to have Hubble featured in some pet ads, but don't want to get my hopes up too much.

2008-07-19T14:24:00.000-07:00

Our home was on the news!

Check out this story about protecting your home against burglary.

http://www.newschannel5.com/Global/story.asp?S=8700673

2008-07-18T11:38:00.001-07:00

Friday, July 18, 2008

I've got some good news and some bad news.

Chronologically, the good news came first. I got a new scooter. I bought it from my neighbor, who will need a car as opposed to a scooter in the near future. It's the most awesome scooter ever, because it is only a year old, starts every time, is a high-quality vehicle and is PINK! Pink isn't really my color, but I love that it has such a big personality all by itself.

Now the bad news. I had been driving it everywhere for two and a half weeks. Then, Monday as I was driving home a car decided to roll through his stop sign at an intersection where I had the right of way. I had two options: crash head-first through the driver's side door or slam on the breaks and see what happened. Apparently, I chose the latter because I opened my eyes when I landed on the pavement on my left side under the scooter. All the neighbors came out of their houses and called 911. Where I landed, it looked like I had been hit by the car.

The cavalry arrived--paramedics, fire truck, police, everyone. I assessed my injuries and found nothing to be broken. I could move everything and stood up without difficulty. Miraculous, really.

I have some massive bruises that are getting more and more purple by the day. I have also lost several patches of my epidermis, which I very much miss. I've been limping around like an old woman in need of a walker. But, I'll recover.

How is the bike you ask? The answer is that we don't know yet. We have to wait on insurance paperwork, police report, etc. to figure out all of that. I will let you know. In the meantime, I will be hanging around the house this weekend, convalescing, as Dan says.

2008-06-10T17:52:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, June 17, 2008

The other task we took on when the Pucketts were in town was cutting down trees around our house. We rented a lift and my dad spent some quality time in the air with his chain saw cutting down trees from the top down. We cut down six small ones right along our back fence that were in the way of a future privacy fence and the utility wires.

We also cut down a 60-foot hackberry tree that was 30 inches in diameter. It was huge, and quite an undertaking to remove.

Who does that? I mean, don't normal people just cry when they write the check to the tree service?

2008-06-10T17:36:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Haven't blogged in a while--been too tired. We've been tired because Dan and I have spent the last month getting ready for our big summer project. We decided that we wanted to build a deck on the back of our house. Our plan was to build a small deck with pressure treated lumber, which is the most economical option. Then, we found an auction on Craigslist for an entire house. An entire house in Franklin, Tenn. was being torn down, and all o f its parts were being auctioned off to defray the cost of the operation and demolition of the house.

We decided to put a low bid on the entire deck of the house, because the deck was huge. It was also made of composite deck material, the most expensive and longest lasting decking material you can buy. Our bid was accepted, and viola, we bought a deck. Too bad it was attached to another building 25 miles from our house.

My parents came to town in May and helped us make a lot of progress on the deconstruction. You can see the deck and house deconstruction process below.

After almost a month, we have torn down the entire deck and it's now in big piles in my back yard waiting to be reconstructed as our brand new awesome deck.

Ours won't be as big as it was originally, because the deck was 1,100 square feet. But, we will have a HUGE party when we're done so that everyone can come over and see our new space. Look out for an invitation!

This is not the whole deck--there's more behind my mom, who's taking the picture.

Making progress.

My dad needed a break over lunch. We worked him to the bone during his visit. More to come on those activities...

This is the whole lower level. All of the the decking is up and we've started removing the joists.

This was as far as we got the day my parents were in town helping. Dan and I did the rest.

2008-04-17T07:36:00.001-07:00

It's my birthday and I'll laugh if I want! And today, this is cracking me up:

see more cute dogs and puppies

2008-03-18T18:58:00.000-07:00

March 18, 2008

This house it is a-changin'...

I am so proud of Dan and me. I had some vacation time that I needed to take before it expired (and letting it go to waste would have been stupid), so I took it off during Dan's spring break. Somehow I convinced him to dedicate the week to working on the house doing the things we don't have time for on any given Saturday. We did a ton of work on the house, as illustrated by the labeled pictures below (notice the grass!):

The privacy gate on the left side of the house is brand new! Dan did it all, and it is great!

Here's a close-up of the gate and new fencing that extends the gate past the back door:

My raised-bed garden in the front of the house for my new herb and flower garden:

My new Leyland Cypress trees that will hopefully fill in and create a privacy screen along the back fence:

The north side of the house that doesn't get much sun now has some little ground-coverings that will spread and cover this shady path:

2008-02-12T07:57:00.000-08:00

February 12, 2008

Goodbye old friend.

We said goodbye to an old "friend" last week. It was bittersweet. I was ready to see her go and had complained openly about her reliability, but when there's a long history in a relationship you still need a little bit of an adjustment period...

Say goodbye to the car that I've been driving since I was 15. I learned to drive in this car, and have driven it for 11 1/2 years. This year would have been 12. But it's gone to a good home. An older man bought it for his teenage granddaughter to drive. Let's face it, that's where this car is meant to be--in the hands of someone who will probably wreck it.

2008-02-06T11:06:00.000-08:00

February 6, 2008

Of course this is way over due. Here are some updates:

A huge storm ripped through Middle Tennessee last night. It bypassed downtown, mostly, and hit the counties between Nashville and Memphis the worst. Here are photos from the Tennessean. The storm hit Jackson, TN collapsing buildings on the campus of Union University and trapping eight students. We and our house are fine--just some tree limbs down around us. My co-worker said that she looked out the window this morning to see a 100-year-old oak pulled up by its roots.

We actually heard the tornado sirens at Vanderbilt University from our house in East Nashville (about 8 miles away).

We don't have a basement, but our friends down the street have a huge one, so we have a place to ride out the next storm.

We are fine, but please keep the folks in Jackson and Fairview, TN in your thoughts after 24 people died in the tornadoes.

2007-11-20T15:08:00.000-08:00

The New Powers In College Football Carry Old Baggage

As Showdown Looms,
Kansas and Missouri Fans
Re-Fight the Civil War
November 20, 2007; Page A1

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- As the universities of Kansas and Missouri prepare to play the most important football game in their 116-year-old rivalry, trash talking is rampant here in a metropolis that straddles both states.

Yet this isn't just the usual back-and-forth about which quarterback or defense is superior. Nor is it centered on the inevitable jokes about how many Kansas (or Missouri) students are needed to change a light bulb. Rather, this trash talking is focused on which state's residents behaved more abominably amid the Civil War.

Fans "go back to the history books and start calling people names for things that started 150 years ago," says Kevin Worley, a Kansas City-based documentary filmmaker who isn't immune to that tendency himself. A die-hard Missouri fan, Mr. Worley suspects that "there's this ancestral hatred of Kansas bred in me" by a lineage traceable to soldiers who marched with Confederate general Jo Shelby.

To most of the nation, the showdown Saturday between second-ranked Kansas and fourth-ranked Missouri will most likely determine which team will play in the national championship game. (To reach that final, the victor Saturday would need to win one subsequent game.)

But to many here on both sides of the state line, the game is merely a proxy for a war that never really ended. Perhaps no other football rivalry in the nation pits against each other states that once fought as brutally as did Kansas and Missouri. Evidence that the feud is ongoing can be seen on the back of Dave Hickerson, a Missouri fan who this weekend chomped a cigar in a Kansas City bar called the Velvet Dog.

He sported a University of Missouri football jersey that bore the name not of Chase Daniel, the team's spectacular quarterback. Rather it said Quantrill. A Missouri hero and Kansas villain, William Quantrill led a Rebel guerrilla unit that in 1863 burned and pillaged Lawrence, home of the University of Kansas, in the process slaughtering about 150 people, including children.

"I don't think there's anything redeeming to be said about [the jersey] except that it" angers Kansans, says Mr. Hickerson.

But Kansans have their own T-shirt that they hope will offend Missourians. The shirt says: "Kansas: Keeping America safe from Missouri since 1854." The shirt features a drawing of abolitionist John Brown, who before his famous raid on Harpers Ferry led murderous raids against farms and families in pro-slavery Missouri. "They're the slave state. We're the Free State. Look who won out in the end," says Heather Knox, a 25-year-old accountant and Kansas alumna who lives in Kansas City, Mo.

On the gridiron, theirs is the oldest major college rivalry west of the Mississippi River. Neither team is usually a contender for the national title; their showdown more often determines third- and fourth-place in the six-team North division of the Big 12 conference. But bitterness on the football field goes back a long ways. The two sides can't even agree on their series' all-time record. Missourians say the series is tied 53-53-9, while Kansans say they own a two-game lead. The point of contention is their 1960 meeting, which the Jayhawks won with ineligible players. That loss killed Missouri's best chance at a national title, and the Tigers have never again reached No. 1 in the polls.

The game Saturday will take place in a neutral site in the city -- Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs professional franchise -- but nothing about it is expected to be neutral. A night-time kickoff means that fans will have plenty of time to drink beforehand. Arrowhead officials, who typically replace about 15 of the stadium's 80,000 seats following a Chiefs game, expect the Kansas-Missouri brawl to leave as many as 500 seats destroyed. Tickets with double-digit face values are selling for $300 online.

Neither school has ever won a national football championship. Indeed, neither team has finished atop their conference since 1969. To fans on both sides, it is maddening to think that the biggest obstacle toward doing so this year is their oldest nemesis. "I hate Kansas more than everything," says Mr. Hickerson. On weeks when they're not playing each other, "I hate Kansas so much, I would rather have Kansas lose than have Missouri win."

This hatred dates back to the 1850s, when the Great Plains state of Kansas became a beachhead for men around the country committed to ending slavery. Many, however, hid behind that noble cause, all the while killing, pillaging and raping their way across the culturally Southern state to the east, Missouri. These Kansas guerrillas called themselves Jayhawkers -- supposedly a combination of two birds, the jay and the hawk.

Today, it is a sore point among Missouri fans that the University of Kansas mascot is the Jayhawk. Matt Gaunt, a development officer for Missouri's agriculture college, concedes that his state's fighters committed atrocities as well, but notes that Missouri never named a team after them. Some argue that Missouri's mascot -- the Tigers -- are named after some pro-Union forces in an otherwise Confederate state.

But the hometown of the Missouri Tigers, Columbia, is still known as "Little Dixie," and many in Missouri remain proud of their Confederate past. It's enough to start former Missouri player Brandon Barnes, who is African-American, wondering whether Tiger fans are "hating the Jayhawkers for something I might celebrate." But then he remembers the time that Jayhawk fans threw ice at him and footballs at the Missouri team bus. "We hate each other for a reason," he said, as he sat in a Kansas City bar on Saturday.

On chat boards, fans of both teams are weighing in. "Definition of Jayhawk = murderer, rapist, low-life scum. Kansas fans are so stupid they think that name is something to be proud of!," said a post on a Kansas City Star message board.

A University of Kansas poster wrote on a fan board: "The Jayhawkers defended Kansas against terrorists and helped make Kansas a free state just before the start of the Civil War."

Here in a city where the line between the two states is virtually invisible, many Missouri fans won't live in Kansas, and vice versa. When Jayme Salinardi, a lawyer, proposed moving to a Kansas suburb that offered first-class public schools, his wife, Missouri-born Heather, refused. "I'm not living on the Kansas side," he recalls her saying. He finally prevailed -- by finding a house that is only one block from Missouri.

The game this Saturday will provide the perfect capper to a college football season where up has been down. Traditional powers like Notre Dame have stumbled badly while upstarts like South Florida have joined the Tigers and Jayhawks in making once-unthinkable runs for the top. Neither Kansas nor Missouri was expected to win the six-team Big 12 North division. That crown was supposed to belong to the Nebraska Cornhuskers, a team that is 5-6 and that lost to Missouri and Kansas by a combined score of 117-45.

Not everyone sees the upcoming game as bearing great historical overtones. Corby Jones, a star quarterback for the Tigers in the mid-1990s, sat in a sports bar Saturday watching with glee as Missouri beat Kansas State, setting the stage for this week's mammoth showdown with Kansas, an 11-0 team that before the season started was expected to finish fourth in the Big 12 North division.

But even if Missouri, 10-1, loses, Mr. Jones, a lawyer, won't be leading any campaigns against Kansas or its fans. "It's a football game," he said. "It's not war."

http://online.wsj.com/article_email/SB119552143273498638-lMyQjAxMDE3OTI1MDUyMjAxWj.html

2007-10-29T14:54:00.000-07:00

October 29, 2007

Dan and I have had a FUN weekend. My childhood friend Lara Kirkham was in town for a conference, and we got to hang out last week and over the weekend.

I haven't seen Lara since 2000, maybe 2001. We have kept in touch off and on since high school. I kind of lost track of her for a while when she was traveling and moving about for the Navy. But, she's staying put for a while until she's done with her duty.

Thursday, we went to see the Nashville Predators for the first time. It was great, because they won and because we got $5 tickets thanks to the Vanderbilt Graduate School.

Saturday Lara and I went to the flea market, which I love, but am a little overwhelmed by sometimes. Lara was excited about going to Hatch Show Print afterwards to get a great print.

Then, dinner was at Rosepepper Cantina, one of the best restaurants in town, and it's in our neighborhood.
Maybe if my mom finds an old picture of the two of us when we were younger, I'll post that, too.

2007-10-23T13:46:00.000-07:00

October 23, 2007

We must be doing something right, because we have grass!

We have been so lucky to get rain all this week, and some last week. Hopefully, our water bill won't set us back too much.

Keep praying for rain!

2007-10-15T08:40:00.001-07:00

October 15, 2007

This weekend, we undertook the biggest home improvement task to date. We have done a lot of smaller projects all along the way, but this was the biggest one-day task ever. We tilled up our entire front yard, and planted grass. We didn't really have grass to begin with--we had a yard full of dust and weeds. Then the drought hit, and we just had dust. Since our house was moved from another location across town, the heavy machinery used to move the house compacted the soil making it feel more like concrete than vegetation.

So, we rented a tiller and got to work with the help of Dan's family. His dad manned the tiller. I didn't think to get pictures of that :-( And Dan's granddad (as the hardest working man alive) helped us out too. We found construction debris, bricks, concrete chunks, rebar, rusty hinges, rocks and all manner of things in the ground.

We pulled it all up, and put down soil amendments (top soil, mushroom compost, manure, etc.).

We tilled that in, and put down more.

Then, came the grass seed and the straw to cover it.

And now, my least favorite part--paying for the water to get the stuff growing.

Otherwise, all of the work is for nothing...

Keep praying for rain so we can have some grass and the poor Tennessee farmers can at least have a fall crop.

We are so proud of ourselves for finally getting such a big project finished. I think we'll take a little break for a while after that.

2007-10-10T12:27:00.001-07:00

October 10, 2007

I've already asked the question--What Simpsons character are you? Now it's time to ask, "What superhero are you?" Dan and I got the same results:

You are Spider-Man

Spider-Man		90%
Supergirl		66%
Wonder Woman		61%
Superman		60%
Robin		53%
Hulk		50%
The Flash		50%
Green Lantern		45%
Iron Man		35%
Batman		30%
Catwoman		25%

You are intelligent, witty,
a bit geeky and have great
power and responsibility.

Click here to take the Superhero Personality Test

2007-10-03T14:18:00.001-07:00

October 3, 2007

Thanks to my boss, the girls I work with and I attended another VIP party last night hosted by Nashville Lifestyles Magazine. We listened to a fun band, and had dinner off of hor'dourves. A good time was had by all.

My main motivation for sharing is to shock everyone with my short haircut!

2007-10-01T11:34:00.000-07:00

October 1, 2007

I'm good at a few things but blogging and gardening are definitely not in that category.

Because I'm a bad blogger, you haven't heard from me in a while. Because I'm a bad gardener, I stared death in the face this weekend. It's a leap to connect that cause and effect, but in this story it's true. Here's the story: I have tried three times to plant bushes along my back fence to create some privacy between our yard and the alley. Of course, a brand new privacy fence would do the trick, but that's not going to happen. So, the second round of plants I put back there are dying. I planned to dig them up and put them in the buckets they came in originally, then park them in a sunnier location to see if they could recover.

So, I start looking for the original planters. I find all but one in the shed. The last one was thrown haphazardly in the back corner of the yard. I grabbed it and carted it over to the plants with the rest of the buckets. After I set it down, I looked inside. I saw a big black spider. Being of the frame of mind that the only good spider is a dead spider, I killed it. But, because I was a zoologist in a former life, I wondered what kind it was. So, I turned it over. And, to my shock and horror I found a bright orange hour-glass shape on the bottom of the body. Since this is the tel-tale sign of a black widow, I promptly started freaking out at the thought that I had just carried this planter (with holes in the bottom) across the yard withing noticing that it could have crawled out at any moment and killed me. That was my first stare-down with the afterlife over the weekend.

The second came a little later the same day. I had to take a shower after my gardening experience, so I went to the linen closet to get a clean towel. Thank goodness I didn't have my glasses on, because I didn't immediately freak out when I saw something scurry from the linen closet. I put on my glasses and saw a big brown spider, which I promptly killed. Thanks to a half-off coupon to the Nashville Zoo, Dan and I learned all about poisonous spiders a couple of weeks ago. I recalled my zoo trip and realized that the unwelcomed guest was a brown recluse.

I hope no one planned to drop by for an unannounced visit this weekend, because you will enter our home to a cloud of toxic chemicals. Don't worry, we won't leave the dogs inside. Just don't plan to drop by if you value your life. I don't think anyone could survive the amount of pesticide I plan to use to rid us of our deadly little roommates.

2007-08-15T12:12:00.000-07:00

August 15, 2007

Who will you vote for? I took this quiz by www.2decide.com and was surprised by which presidential candidates support a border fence and No Child Left Behind. If you are having a hard time deciding who to vote for, take a look at the quiz. My results were unexpected.

2007-08-10T15:16:00.000-07:00

August 10, 2007

One of the perks of working for a cool company is that sometimes you get invited to cool parties. A new magazine launching in Nashville called Style 615 invited our company to their launch party. Several of the girls I work with decided to go because we thought it would be fun to hang out with the beautiful people of Nashville and get some free drinks and hor d'oeuvres. We had fun simply because we got to be members of Nashville's stylish few for a night. Did I mention open bar? I was more excited about the food, but apparently food isn't that stylish, because there wasn't much of it circulating.

We didn't see any celebrities that we recognized, which was a disappointment. But we did see a lot of skinny girls trying to look interested in their conversations while constantly perusing the crowd for someone better to talk to.

Some pictures:

My co-worker Whitney and I posing as though we are completely engaged in the conversation. It looks real, doesn't it?

Whitney pretending to be the focus on this picture when we fact we were trying to capture some of the "style" presented at the event.

These are some of the folks I work with. I had my eyes closed in this picture, but PhotoShop'ed them in from a different picture. Pretty good, huh?

2007-08-06T12:59:00.000-07:00

August 6, 2007

I had an adventure in June that I never told everyone about. In celebration of 20 years in business, my boss at Lovell Communications took my entire office on a white water rafting trip down the Ocoee River in northern Georgia. It was great to get to know my coworkers better since I have only been working here for a couple of months. I attached some pictures of our adventures for your vicarious enjoyment.

That's me in the white helmet second from the left. I just climbed out of the raft and jumped off of the giant rock behind the raft. That was the coldest water I had ever felt.

I'm in the white helmet on the left side of the boat.

I can add more if there are requests. I encourage everyone to go rafting. It was much less scary than I thought it would be. It was a great experience.

2007-07-29T17:51:00.001-07:00

July 30, 2007

My friend Amy at Girl About Town inspired me to find out what Dan and I would look like as the Simpsons in honor of the new movie. I think Amy's likeness is dead-on, but I don't know about us. What do you think?

Jan Simpson

Dan Simpson

2007-06-23T21:01:00.001-07:00

July 18, 2007

For those of you who have been interested in seeing the infamous scooter, I attached a couple of pictures. I try to drive it to work every day during the summer while the weather is nice. I used to ride it in the winter when I worked downtown, but that was only a 3 mile trip. My new job is 10 or 12 miles away, and I don't know if I can handle the cold for that long.

2007-06-23T20:40:00.000-07:00

Memorial Day Weekend:

Obviously, I'm behind on my blogging, so I am trying to catch up. We had the best Memorial Day almost ever. We went to Mississippi with our friends Kris and Brigitte Lange. They are both from Iuka, Miss. We stayed with Brigitte's parents and had an amazing time. We went to the beach at Pickwick Park, rode our bikes around Shiloh National Military Park, went canoing at Tishomingo State Park and went to Brigitte's family reunion and fish fry. We experienced some real Mississippi hospitality.

We also brought the dogs on their first road trip. We brought our two dogs, Kris and Brigitte brought their two dogs, and Brigitte's parents have four dogs. It was a zoo. Maddie and Hubble went a little nuts with all of the land they had to run in. Maddie dove into the pond and loved it.

Maddie and Hubble are tired after their trip.

Kris and Brigitte Lange after our boating excursion.

2007-06-23T20:09:00.001-07:00

June 28, 2007

I have included below the rest of the photos from the Country Music Marathon. This may not interest any of you, but it was such a dynamic event. There were almost 30,000 runners total, which was quite a sight to see. People dressed up in costumes, they said "thank you for being here" as we cheered them on, and they smiled a lot more than I would have in the situation.

This was the crowd of half-marathoners. The full marathoners have just split off, so this is not even everyone!

Elvis worked very hard to separate the half from the full marathoners.

Elvis working hard with his bull-horn.

And Minnie Pearl was there, too! Can you believe this guy ran 13 miles with a wig, hat and dress?! And, I thought running 13 miles without being chased was crazy...

These girls had fun together in their matching princess outfits.

2007-06-23T19:37:00.001-07:00

June 25, 2007

I am such a bad blogger. We have had technology problems at our house recently. Dan's computer was out of commission for a while, which set me back on our updates. I also got a new job (more to come on that), which has kept me busier than I ever imagined.

But, first thing's first. On April 27, 2007, my brother Jeff and his wife came to town for Jeff to run the Country Music Marathon. It was his first, and he was a real trooper. He was completely awake and alert at the end, which I did not expect at all. I thought he would collapse in a heap of confusion after running 26 miles.

The weather originally cooperated, but the sun came out half-way through and slowed everyone down. We had a really fun weekend just hanging out and enjoying Nashville. Here are some pictures of Jeff (he's wearing the purple tank). More of the race itself to come...

2007-04-09T08:56:00.000-07:00

Monday, April 9

Usually my posts are fairly boring updates on our home improvement projects. Not this time!

Dan and I had a very eventful weekend. I got a job offer from a local PR firm that species in health care marketing and PR. It just so happens that my experience is in just that. It started with a freelancing inquiry, and the firm decided they needed a full time helper instead of a part-time freelance helper. So, I got the offer Saturday, and plan to start the 30th.

That was news enough before Sunday night rolled around. Maddie, our Jack Russell terrier, decided some decomposing compost looked good as a nighttime snack. So, she ate a lot of it and poisoned herself. We took her to the doggie ER and they flushed out her system overnight. We picked her up this morning and she seems to be doing okay. Our biggest concern was that the neurotoxins would permanently alter her, but they didn't fortunately.

So, that was our weekend. How about yours?

2007-03-19T19:46:00.000-07:00

March 19, 2007

Nothing much to report, but figured it was time to check in. Our "zoo" as we call the puppies are doing well. They get along swimmingly, and Hubble is now completely house-trained. I will post pictures soon. I'm not one to gush over my animals, but they're fun and keep me entertained when I'm at home.

Dan and I have been super-busy recently with a couple of side projects. I am starting to farm out my writing skills by freelancing in my "free" time for a web design company that doesn't have any writers on staff. So, I work when I'm at home, and I work when I'm at work. We're putting all of our extra income into the Replace The Neon Fund. Hopefully by the end of the year or the beginning of next year, we won't have to take on more debt to do it.

Dan is always busy with school, of course. He is making plans for the summer when he will be doing about three things--teaching assistant for a short class, and research assistant for two different projects.

Nashville is still treating us well. We're trying to meet more people, but don't even have the opportunity to hang out with the people we already know since I work nights. I don't know how long I will be willing to put up with this schedule...

That's our update for now. I will try to post more even though things aren't that interesting for us now.

2007-02-03T21:39:00.000-08:00

Monday, February 5, 2006

This is a couple of days late, but this is what we woke up to Friday morning--our first Tennessee snow of the year. Hubble had fun. He doesn't seem to mind the elements. Maddie is a little more picky and wasn't willing to stay in it for too long. It was fun while it lasted....

2007-01-22T14:46:00.000-08:00

January 22, 2007

More manual labor for the Morrison's this weekend. We collected bricks all weekend from what used to be Fudrucker's in Nashville. It has recently been reduced to a pile of rubble, so we took advantage of the fact that an entire building's worth of bricks were parked next to giant dumpsters. If you're bored, I need help breaking mortar off of the bricks, and getting them lined up. Or if you have any patio furniture you would like to donate, we could take that off your hands to complement the area. Don't you wish you were here to help?

2007-01-19T12:46:00.000-08:00

Friday, January 19, 2007

Here are a couple of videos of the puppies. Hubble is on the left just chasing and chewing his toy. Maddie is on the right getting to an itch that she can't reach because of her added "bulk."

Thanks for watching!

2007-01-16T14:50:00.000-08:00

January 16, 2006

Day one of two dogs:

The dogs are doing well, considering the change. I have never seen Maddie run so fast...literally. Maddie and Hubble run in the yard and chase each other. Maddie has played with another dog for maybe the first time that I've seen.

Hubble lives in the kitchen until he is housebroken. He is still very puppy-like. He likes to play with people, dogs and toys. Too bad we gave away all of Maddie's toys since she didn't play with them...

We'll keep you posted on our progress. Give us any tips you have on training. We're taking them seriously, especially if they mean housetraining as soon as possible!

2007-01-15T13:16:00.000-08:00

January 15, 2006:

Way too long since the last post...I'll post a few catch ups in the coming days. The most recent catch up is about Hubble. Hubble is a Jack Russell/Westie mix whom we have decided to take in. We were thinking about adding a new pet because of Maddie's boredom and lack of activity. We had a play date with Hubble over the weekend at the family's house that is giving him away. His owner is dying and is getting her affairs in order. We want to help out the family, and he got along with Maddie pretty well. We pick him up tomorrow, and get him neutered on Wednesday. It will be an interesting transition. Hubble has no training. His training went onto the back burner when his owner got sick. So, we have a lot of work ahead of us. But, he is easy-going and not very high-strung. He is easy to get along with so far. Maddie is one that isn't as easy to get on with. More to come....

2006-12-02T19:07:00.000-08:00

Saturday, December 2, 2006

Last night was worth bragging about for a long time. Dan and I went to the Dixie Chicks concert last night. I have been whining to Dan for months about how badly I wanted to go, but the tickets started at $50 a piece. Not exactly in the budget.

So our good friend Kris comes through at the last minute, with a skybox compliments of his employer Ernst & Young.

I am such an obnoxious concert-goer. I can't help myself I have to sing along at the risk of annoying other concert-goers. I was so psyched. I loved their performance, their jokes and their songs. They marched on to the stage to the song "All Hail the Chief." Very appropriate.

Security was frisking attendees, so I don't have any pictures of me having an incredible time! I'm sorry that you don't get to see it.

I would give you a full report, but I'm still so excited about it, that I might need some more time to process. Come visit Music City and you can come to amazing shows, too!

2006-10-23T08:44:00.000-07:00

Monday, October 23, 2006

I have really fallen down on my blogging. I am trying to catch up. Although this picture looks very boring, it is actually quite an accomplishment for us. We are very proud of the fact that we uncovered the remnants of an old garage under our yard, and build a shed on it. It took us almost two days, but we finally finished. Before, we had no outdoor storage at all, but now we have a place to store things so people can actually stay in our bedrooms without sleeping next to our bicycles. We cleared off enough of the slab and lined it with bricks so that we have enough room for a little patio when the weather gets nice again.

At first Dan and I thought we would have a Halloween party to show off the house to our friends, but now we're thinking Christmas...I don't know if we'll ever feel like we're done with it.

If you ever get a Home Depot or Lowe's coupon in the mail that you're not using, send it on to us. We can put it to use!

I'll try to keep up with the blogging better. Thanks for your patience!

2006-09-10T20:12:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, September 19, 2006: Go Oilers, I mean, Titans!

Dan and I got to go to our first NFL game last Sunday. It was an interesting experience. Half of the fun was being around folks that we never would have been around on a regular basis.
The Titans lost, and it started to rain a little, but it was still fun. Mostly it was fun because we rode our bikes downtown and bypassed all traffic and parking issues. We earned the right to be smug by riding our bikes.

We were literally in the next to last row...of the entire stadium. But, that's fine with us. My boss rewarded me with the tickets. She seems to like me...

2006-09-10T19:59:00.000-07:00

Monday, September 11, 2006: Discovery of the Patio...

Since we have decided to start inviting people to visit this winter, we need to reclaim our bedrooms from the piles of stuff that are stored in them currently.

So we bought a shed. We started by clearing away some dirt to level out the ground. Thud, thud...as we dig. Turns out, there's already a huge concrete slab under about a quarter of our yard where a garage once stood. How convenient! We kept digging, and it's large enough for the shed to sit on, and for a little patio on the side. We were excited until we couldn't figure out how we would anchor it to the concrete. We're taking suggestions.

This picture shows Dan digging out the slab, and Maddie eating dirt. She loves to chase anything that moves, including dirt that's being thrown onto a pile. She had so much fun chasing and eating dirt.

She did get tired after a bit, and just wanted to guard the pile of dirt. I'm glad somebody was having fun while Dan and I were shoveling and assembling metal pieces...

We're not finished. It will be a couple of weeks since Dan has to travel to Missouri next weekend to visit his ailing grandmother.

Keep Dan and his travels in your thoughts and prayers. He will only be there Friday night through Sunday afternoon, so it will be a crazy trip.

2006-08-09T20:09:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, August 9, 2006:

We're singing at the Ryman! We're real Nashvillians now.

2006-08-08T12:12:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, August 8, 2006:

Dan's week is improving after the lawnmower debacle. In fact, I learned this week that having your lawmower stolen in East Nashville is really a rite of passage. Check out this story by my NewsChannel5 reporter colleague about East Nashville's sense of humor regarding or quirky neighborhood:
http://www.newschannel5.com/content/news/21250.asp

His week didn't just get better because of the news story. I have been making friends with Dan's fellow Vanderbilt sociology grad students. One, Emily, used to work with the Center for Biomedical Ethics in Society at Vanderbilt. After I told her about Dan's research interests, she dropped his name to the director, who contacted him. He will be able to work with her on research within his interest, get paid and get published. And since many professors at Vandy don't expect their TA's to do a lot of work, he will have time to pursue these other opportunities.

Things are going well--we are still piecing together the house and getting settled in.

Don't forget to start planning your visit to Music City!

2006-08-03T14:54:00.000-07:00

Thursday, August 3, 2006:

Nashvillians are serious about their music. I knew this in theory before arriving, but now I have undisputed proof.

Dan and I attended our first Music City concert at the most iconic venue in America--the Ryman. The Mother Church they call it here claims to have the best acoustics in the world second only to the Mormon Tabernacle. So, when folks pay for a show there, they expect to get one. We got one from Ryan Adams, my favorite musician. As a member of the former band Whiskeytown, he was a pioneer of the Alternative Country movement in American music.

At the show one front row audience member tossed an open bottle of liquor onto the stage. It bounced around spewing liquor on Ryan Adams, and he was not impressed. He stopped playing, pulled a candy bar out of his pocket, and started eating it. He stood there while his band stopped and said, "I don't need this." Spectators started booing, and screaming "Kick him out!" Security guards found the perpetrators and escorted them down the aisle. As they were walking down the aisle, the girl sitting beside us told us to lean back because she planned to spit her drink through her straw at the disruptors. We leaned back, but she wasn't fast enough. They were whisked out of the building quickly.

As soon as they left, and the audience was still cheering, Ryan and the Cardinals started back up again. Not 15 minutes later, Ryan stopped again. Apparently a drunk fan in the front row was taunting him verbally and physically. He yelled, "You wanna come up here and say that to my face?!"

Again, the audience was pissed that this disruptor was cutting into precious Ryan Adams time. They chanted to kick him out. Again, the Ryan Adams waited until his disruption was removed before he continued.

The concert was amazing, and not just because it was the most anticipated concert of the year for me. He really put on a great show mixing easy sing-alongs with new tunes, danceable beats with slow ones. The entire show (audience and performer) was great until the last song. His last song was reminiscent of a Wilco concert I attended recently. Ryan moved into an experimental ending to his last song that lasted way too long. It was painful at the end, after the novelty wore off.

After his too-long experimental ending, he walked off the stage, the house lights came up, and security came out onto the stage. No encore? No encore. How disappointing....

I have to continue reliving our concert moment for a long time since this was the first and last concert we will be able to attend for a while. We were so hopeful that music options would be so available in Nashville that there would be a lot of free options. There definitely aren't as many as we wish. However, the Derailers are doing a free show this Saturday night that we will definitely attend.

This place is a trip. You gotta come visit!

2006-08-01T14:28:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, August 1, 2006:

I was so excited for Dan to have a day to enjoy his house a relax a little bit after all of our work. My family had left, most of the house tasks were completed, and I was going to work for my first day.

But, alas, Dan had a horrible day. He stepped outside for a moment only to step on a nail that went through his shoe and into his heel. He went inside, cleaned up, and tried to persevere. He had a tetanus shot right after our honeymoon two years ago when he cut open his hand. He hoped to mow the yard with the mower that we had just fixed. It was donated to us by some friends. We fixed it, and had not even used it yet. It was stolen, along with the gas can.

We may borrow a neighbor's until we can get another one. We filed a police report, but our side of town is known for its illegal activity, so we don't hold high hopes of getting it back.

But, I started my job, and everyone with whom I work is great. They're all very nice, and I think I will really enjoy working with them.

Thanks for all of your well-wishes. Keep them coming!

2006-07-27T07:19:00.000-07:00

Thursday, July 27:

We are in full "do-it-your-selfer" mode here in Nashville.

Our furniture arrived Monday morning, and we started unloading it all. The weather was perfect. It had just rained and cooled off the air, so unloading didn't take long at all. Well, that's mostly true.

In case you were wondering, be prepared for some surprises when you buy a house where no one has actually lived. Our house was completely renovated just before the sale, so no one has lived in it to figure out the quirks and correct the errors in construction. Take for instance the fact that our bed won't fit upstairs in our bedroom. The door that opens to the stairs was once the door to a small closet. It's still the size of a small closet door...with stairs behind it. Even after much review of my brother's trigonometry and cutting out the door facing, we were still unable to squeeze the box spring through the doorway. So, we are currently sleeping on a mattress until we can find a split box spring for a queen-sized bed. They exist, according to our research.

So, my dad is hammering away right now, trying to piece back together the door frame.

After that, we will finish installing the chain link fence, and hopefully install the hood over the range. We have already installed mini blinds and ceiling fans all around the house. The best addition is the overhead light and ceiling fan in the living room. Who builds a house with no overhead light in the living room? Good question.

The dog is completely weirded out by all of the construction and unpacking. We don't know if it was all of the confusion, or if she simply does not tolerate other dogs well, but the interactions between her and my brother's dog could have been much better.

She loves people, so please come visit, but make sure to kennel your own pooch before making the trek. She hasn't been socialized properly from what we can tell.

Oh, the job: I was offered and accepted a position as Web Producer at NewsChannel 5, the local CBS affiliate. I hope to start next week. They were kind enough to understand my unpredictable circumstances right now, and were willing to delay my start date until after the family left. I have been freelancing with them, so know a lot already about the corporate culture and with whom I would be working. They are all very nice folks, following nicely in suit with the rest of their Nashvillian counterparts.

Dan and I have decided that the only way we will move from here is if the move is sponsored by someone else, i.e. the university that hires Dan for a tenure track position. It will happen eventually....

Please come visit! We would love to see our friends from anywhere and everywhere. I learned from my friend Alex Esmon that he drove from Columbia, Mo to Nashville in under eight hours. We made it from Charlottesville in less that nine. My parents made it from Houston in about 13. We're right in the middle of everyone we want to see!

2006-07-10T17:23:00.000-07:00

Monday, July 10:

I have begun settling into the house by painting the walls and other improvements that don't require tools or more than two hands. I have also kept busy with our new friend Maddie. She is a three-year-old Jack Russell Terrier who I have learned hates cats. They are the enemy. Even if they aren't doing anything to her. She can smell them from a distance and freaks out.

Other than that, she's a great house dog. She's the calmest terrier you've ever seen. She likes to lay in her bed with her chewies, and go on walks. You will enjoy meeting her when you come visit :-).

The job search is going well. I am freelancing with the CBS affiliate here as a Web Producer, writing stories, and posting them online. I am interviewing to do it full time, and am also waiting to hear from Belmont, where I had my most promising job lead. Keep your fingers crossed for me.

2006-07-03T17:35:00.000-07:00

Monday, July 3:

It finally happened! Dan and I own a home! And we hit our two-year anniversary! And we got a dog! We've experienced a lot of changes in the last few days, but we will continue to keep all of our friends and family posted of other changes.

Details to follow.....

2006-06-29T12:24:00.000-07:00

Thursday, June 29, 2006:

It's official, we will finally close tomorrow at 11 am. Keep your fingers crossed that it won't be delayed any more....

2006-06-28T10:20:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, June 28, 2006:

Our mortgage broker finally called. He's been rather illusive, and hasn't been making contact with us on as regular a basis as I would prefer. But finally, he called. Too bad he didn't have an exact closing time yet. We will close either Thursday afternoon or Friday morning. Either way, Dan has headed back to Charlottesville and I will sign for the both of us.

Dan will return in the middle of July with the furniture, but until then I will be camping out. I bought a dorm fridge to keep me until we get the real thing. It will be rustic in the house until then. I will be really embarassed when Dan and my folks show up to find the state of the house, I'm sure.

Keep sending on the good vibes for the job search. It's going well. I might be able to do some freelancing with a news station here for the meantime until the permanent offer comes through. I wish I had the connections here to be doing that all along. Next move, that will be the plan. Freelance first, job second. Anyone got any tips for me on that one?

2006-06-27T08:39:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, June 27:

Dan came down to Nashville this weekend to bring me some essentials for living in an empty house by myself. We were hoping that he could also close while he's down here, but that may not happen. We are awaiting new information every day, and we think that we may be closing Wednesday evening, after Dan has to leave. So, we plan to sign some paperwork today so that I can close for the both of us.

So, we'll let you know as soon as there's something more definite about the house.

As for the job, the person with whom I interviewed at Belmont University plans to offer me a position in Branding and Public Relations. She has to do so after some administrative red tape is cut through and she gets back from vacation. It's a great opportunity, but a cut in pay for me, so I am still looking. If I don't find anything different, I will go with Belmont. If I find something with better pay, then I will have to weigh my options.

Dan and I have also been doing something really fun--shopping for a dog. We were planning to get a pet eventually anyway, but our situation in the next couple of months might lend itself to a desire for company and security before Dan is down permanently.

That's all I got today...not much I know, but welcome to our lives right now...every day comes with a new bit of information.

2006-06-21T08:26:00.000-07:00

Let's recap...

I didn't do a very good job of filling in the beginning details of the move for those who may not be hearing the play by play in person.

Dan has been accepted to Vanderbilt University to do his PhD in sociology. He completed his Master's in May (yeah, Dan!) at the University of Virginia. So many factors went into our decision for Dan to apply to other institutions. Several faculty members left his department this year, leading to a mass exodus by fellow graduate students. We could never afford to accomplish our other life goals in Charlottesville due to the cost of living there. Primarily, I didn't like it. I love my friends and co-workers at UVa, but the city was just not for me. I wanted something bigger, with an actual job market. Nashville presents all of those things, while bringing us closer to family at the same time. So Dan applied to a lot of schools in mutually-agreed upon locations. We got into our first choice!

So, since an income is generally necessary for survival, Dan is working in Charlottesville fulfilling that necessity until I find a job here in town. I am busy closing on our house and finding a job until he joins me full time.

Keep the good vibes coming while I'm on the job hunt!

2006-06-20T12:40:00.000-07:00

Jan and Don (agent) entering our house.

Things are going well down here. I am continuing to line up interviews, but heard back from my best lead at Belmont University. I am the preferred candidate for the position in national branding and public relations directly under the director. We really got along. She already planned several interviews for this week and next that she plans to honor. We're hoping to get together again next week for a second interview. I'm also interviewing at News Channel 5 here for a producer position, mostly web, and talking to the Vanderbilt University School of Nursing about my work with the UVa nursing program.

We are definitely closing on the house on Monday. Dan is coming down this weekend to close, and will bring me a few essentials that are required for living in a house by yourself for a while. We're very excited, and a little overwhelmed all at the same time.

We're also considering getting a pet for company and security while I am living in the house alone.

We are in the process of collecting any donations offered from friends and family. We already have a fridge and a lawn mower that have been donated to the cause! Thanks guys!

Meanwhile, I am still staying with Harmony and David Edwards, my connections through Vandy sociology. They are great, and have allowed me to stay in their basement until the house is ready. I will post more pictures soon, and you will have lots more of the exterior and interior of the house.

2006-06-20T12:31:00.000-07:00

Originally written June 14, 2006:

As promised, I am updating you on our adventures and progress as it relates to our move to Nashville. Things are moving along, and every day comes with more news bits and updates.

After having an inspection conducted on the house that we are hoping to buy, we presented a list of demands to the seller. There were several issues that would have broken the deal had they not agreed to the changes or repairs. We have been very lucky—the seller has accepted almost all of the changes. The only changes not accepted were fairly small, and mostly cosmetic. We are thrilled that the house purchase has been progressing so nicely. The seller is also open to closing earlier than our originally anticipated close date of June 30. Right now, we are aiming for June 26. The folks who I am staying with have been so kind. They had a change in their plans, and are allowing me to stay with them until the closing, so that I won't have to move again.

The job search is going well. I have connected with so many people here who have helped me and given me contacts and ideas for the search. I am doing everything possible on my end, and trying to be patient until I hear from the employers with whom I have interviewed. I have a full day of interviews today, and hope to set up more for the rest of this week and next week.

Although the house buying process is progressing so smoothly, Dan will probably have to wait to join me until I have secured employment. He is doing a great job in Charlottesville of supporting us, and packing up our apartment for the impending move. Don't be surprised if he calls you shortly for some assistance in loading up our things.

As soon as the house transaction has been finalized, we will send out our contact information. I will also keep you updated about the job search. Keep racking your brains for any contacts that you may have in Nashville. I appreciate the contacts that I have received so far, and have followed up on all of them.

Thank you so much for your concern and interest in our lives.

Apartment Woes, homelessness insues

2006-06-20T12:20:00.000-07:00

Originally written June 8, 2006:

I drove from Charlottesville Sunday, June 4, 2006 and arrived in Nashville Sunday night. I had planned on staying in an apartment that I had paid to sublease for the month of June. I stayed there one night and realized that the situation would not work. I was the only human in the apartment, but not the only living thing. I was accompanied by millions of roaches, more than I have ever seen in one location in my life, including the trailer in which I spent my youth. It was bad. The mold had taken over various parts of the apartment as well. I couldn't bring myself to go into the shower, and therefore chose to suffer the consequences until I found someone else to stay with on Tuesday night.

The Vanderbilt grad students that Dan and I met a couple of weeks ago came to the rescue. One named Lyndi offered me her floor, which was a wonderful alternative to the pests. She is a great person, and after recently having a baby, her mom skills kicked in and she mobilized. She contacted all of the other grad students in the sociology department to come to my aid. Lyndi offered me her floor as long as I needed it, but found someone with an actual bed and room for me. So, I am currently staying with another graduate student and her husband in their basement. Unfortunately, they have family coming in Tuesday, but I lined up a place today for the rest of the month if I need it.

My good friends the Deaton's hooked me up with their uncle who produces music under his own label. I met with him today, and his assistant's girlfriend has an extra room in her condo. She had a roommate, but she moved out, and now it's just vacant. She has kindly offered me the space for as long as I need. The residents of Nashville have hearts of gold, and are the kindest people I have ever met. In a way, having a horrible apartment has been a great experience--I have met the kindest people in this city, and now have a greater understanding for how much it means to help friends or strangers in need.

As for the house, it was inspected Tuesday, with mixed results. It is livable, of course, but has some state building code violations, as well as some elements of inconvenience. We submitted the requested changes to the seller's agency today, and expect to hear a response tomorrow sometime. One of three things could happen--they accept all changes (which our agent says is unlikely), they reject all changes (which he also says is unlikely), or they accept some, and reject some. I also requested to have the closing date moved up if possible, so I won't be homeless for longer than necessary. However, the closing will greatly depend on the repairs they agree to make and the time they need to make them. As for the job hunt, it continues. I have had several interviews. Some for existing positions, and some for informational purposes. All of the information interviews have netted in many more contacts to follow up on. My last interview for the week is tomorrow afternoon at Belmont University. Afterwards, I hope to visit my friend Rachel for her last weekend in Athens, Ga. I can't place many calls or go on any interviews over the weekend, right?

As soon as Dan and I get settled, we will invite everyone to come visit and stay to experience the warm southern welcome that we have received.

Continue to send on any contacts that you have in the area. We have met so many people that were referred to us by friends elsewhere, and have had great success meeting them. Even if it's not for a place to sleep, or a job, we would love to contact them. Thanks so much for your concern. We will keep you posted on all of your adventures.